We left the dock in Norfolk expecting Kenny on Loon to follow, but just as he slipped his lines we saw he was having a problem with his engine.  We stayed out for a while, until it became obvious that it wasn’t going to be an quick fix...., so we re-docked.  It turned out that Loon had a fuel pipe problem.

 

After fixing Loon’s engine, we were ready to leave, but we ended up waiting a further day for a strong Northeaster to pass through.

 

We ended up having a lively sail up to Deltaville and we convinced Kenny that we could anchor in the Rappahannock River, where we had done so on a previous occasion. On our arrival we soon realised from the fetch there would be little or no shelter from the onshore wind, but we eventually managed to find a vaguely sheltered spot further down the river, near the shore. Kenny followed suit, but I’m sure he must have wondered why we had recommended this spot (but it was flat calm the last time we were there!)   Kenny came on board for dinner and we said our farewells, as this was our final destination and Kenny was heading north to Boston.    The following day, we had to wait for sufficient water to get through the entrance and after fuelling up we headed into the lift out dock where Adam and a few of the guys from Zimmerman’s were waiting to take our lines.  We had previously stopped at Zimmerman’s on our on the way south to have the generator exhaust replaced and they were more than happy for us to leave Nimue there, whilst we went back to the UK.

 

With our delayed departure from Norfolk we only had 2 days to get Nimue winterised and ‘put to bed’ before our flights back to the UK.

 

We managed to get the sails off and packed on Day 1, but when Nimue was due to be hauled on the morning of the Day 2, she wasn’t ‘playing ball’.  She was stuck in the mud and wasn’t going to budge, but eventually the slings positioned to ensure she came out smoothly.  The next big job was to get her winterised, as we weren’t certain of our return (anticipated March 2013) and winters can be freezing in Virginia   We had purchased gallons of antifreeze in Norfolk, which we put into anything with running water e.g. engine, water systems, toilets.  We then had an issue with winterising the water maker, which necessitated a trip to the Pharmacy to purchase a few gallons of glycerine!  Fortunately, Zimmerman’s lent us the use of the yard vehicle; a big ‘red neck’ truck, which Michael did find rather difficult to climb into and commented that a Stena stairlift would be useful!

 

Finally, Nimue was ready and so were we, for our departure back to good old Blighty..............again!!