Heading out on the ICW

Saturday November 1, 2008
So much to see leaving Hampton, Virginia and heading to the ICW to start the journey to the south.
This one just has to be a pictorial. I was shooting pictures all day like Naval yards, cool buildings, and freighter container packers, landscapes and architecture. The ICW starts with a lock at Great Bridge that only takes you down the differential of the tide between Elizabeth River and Albemarle Sound.
We anchored for the night in a Swamp at Buoy 32 as the other places were reserved and there was no room for three Canuck boats. It was calm and peaceful at the anchorage. We were happy to get a call from Peter (our Nova Scotian friend) who had news for us that Albert was home in Nova Scotia and recovering quite quickly. We got his number in Canada and called and he said he feels great he just cannot do anything. They winterized the boat in Solomon's and may return there after Christmas to bring it back. It was great to hear his voice and Dick was the one talking to him. :)
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Sunday November 2, 2008
We were planning for an early morning getaway but mother nature had another idea. As lovely a day as we had had on Saturday the night went down to almost freezing again and so we awoke to a thick fog which burned off fairly quickly. The area of the ICW is more remote and we saw a lot of trees and birds. Dick and I saw a bald eagle but I regret the shot was facing the sun and impossible to capture.
We stopped at Coinjock, North Carolina at the Midway Marina and Motel to get diesel and a pump out.
It was another sunny but cooler day and we decided to keep going and try to get over the Albemarle Sound and threw a bridge. If time ran out we would stop at an Anchorages and go threw in the morning. Guess where we are tonight. We sent the night at an Anchorages just north of the bridge. It was a little more open to elements so we did not get much sleep due to the rocking of the boat. We tried to call home but our phone had no networks available. As if not having the internet is not bad enough now we have not phone. :(
Monday November 3, 2008
Historical Day in Canada but Nana and Poppa will miss Miss Elyssa's First Birthday. She is one years old and I cannot believe where that year has gone. We were anchored at Little Alligator Creek last night and headed to Belhaven, North Carolina. It was along day on the ICW with power boats going by and leaving us in their wake. The country side is mostly forests and swampland. When we passed over the Pungo River we got to put up our head sail for some of the time. When we were arriving at the anchorages at Belhaven Nice Butt hailed Vertigo 1 on the radio and it was grand to hear they were in the same place. We took our dinghys ashore and meet in the middle. Nicki and Max invited us back to the boat and when we got to Nice Butt Wayne was having a conversation with our Mentors Heather and Murray Rand. How cool is that. The Rands have been doing this for more than 10 years and have been a wealth of information to us.
Tuesday November 4, 2008
The historical election day in America!
Dinghyed into town to do our laundry and Dick found a library to do emails. When we got back to the boat we meet some people who said there was Rotary Club lunch for $7.00 per person. We decided to go since it was on the way to the grocery store. When we were at the lunch we meet a wonderful couple who have been sailing for 8 years and their home port is in Scotland. A gentleman by the name of Cecil Smith a town developer and historian offered to show us around and we spent the afternoon learning about the area. He drove us out to his grade school which is now a museum and we had a look around. Of all the gifts we have discovered on the trip nothing is more heart warming then spending an afternoon with such a gracious gentleman.