Moving North

Monday April 20, 2009

Layover day in Belhaven
In the morning we headed into town to do our Laundry. The laundromat is still there. We had a visit with the lady that owns it. She tells me they have this one, a car wash and two other Laundromats in Washington (county). She eyed us up as boaters and when I said how did you know shes said “you have those silly bags, your talk sounds different and you talk to everyone and people round here do not do that.” The Cafe is gone and the Hairdressing Salon is under new management. I asked her if the woman that ran the Cafe had another location and she said no. Our kindly informant is an older lady and had not been well lately but she was home sick and got so depressed her doctor told her to go back to work. She loves to sit in the laundromat and talk about the Lord. I might still be there talking to her but my husband showed up and the weather is picking up and we need to get back to the boat before the waves get any higher. We were anchored for that day and you would swear we were out for a sail in rough seas the whole day. At times all you could do on board was lay down and read. The day was long and frustrating but it was better than being outside in the thunderstorms and high winds. We need to get water and diesel but the River Forest Marina has not up to speed yet. The part to fix the pump on the diesel did not come today and they did not repair the broken pipe from the pump out. Dick ran into the dock master at the Ace Hardware where he picked up a small radio for us. Our on board one quit working after all the torrential rain we had in Savannah and I was missing having the news and tunes.
Tuesday April 21, 2009
Onto Buck Island, North River, North Carolina
We had decided to make up some time as we had a gorgeous day to move, we were up early and avoided waiting for the local marina to open to get some fuel. We had traveled to the Alligator River Marina and it was still early and we had a following sea and so we decided to get across the Ablemarle Sound. The marina is just after the Alligator River Bridge and if you go keep the green on the port when you head in. The marina is clean and pristine and first class service from a “Country Singer” type guy. The southern accent only adds to his charm. The docks if you decided to stay are only $1.00 per foot. If it had not been such a great day to travel we would have stayed.
It made about 71 statutory miles then we land our craft north of Buck Island for the night. We had picked up about a million flies, all different species. The insects can sure ruin a seasonal day in the 70's.
I could not wait to tie up and get the kettle on for a cup of tea. When I went to get some water for the kettle we had no water. All (40 gallons) had vanished. This is not the first time this has happened to us. We carry bottled water but it always seems to happen when you are stuck out in the boonies. We had dinner and retired early for the trip tomorrow.
Wednesday April 23, 2009
Free Dock between Bridge and Lock, Norfolk, Virginia
Wooho we made it to Virginia. We had two thunderstorms to go through and the wind was on the increase when we came through the Great Bridge Bridge south Norfolk so we decided to stay at the free dock. It offers some stores and fast food joints. There is no wifi but the Veteran's Association gave us water to fill our empty gerri cans. Dick picked up some groceries and managed to make it back to the boat before the heavens opened for the tenth time today and we had another down pour. Things cleared up later and we put the dinghy up on the deck and took off to buy some dinner. We made it over to the mall area and all the stores were closing. I managed to slip into the Hancock Fabric Store and pick up a quilter's pencil to mark dark fabric. Just a little something I thought I would have to wait until I got back to Canada to get when I have a car.