I’m told the last 4 days have been the first nor-easter of the season, ARRRG!
Marty (the owner (picture)), David and I left Deltaville Virginia on Thursday in the worst conditions I’ve ever seen on the Chesapeake. IT WAS BLOWING HARD, and it’s still blowing like hell 3 days later. We really pushed the boat the first day and took a good ass kicking. Marty was happy about it, as it was a good shake down as and he had never run it that hard. The second day we made it to Norfolk and transited the great bridge lock.
On day 3 we were really chilled to the bone with no relief. I decide to make hot buttered rum. I called Sam for a recipe and made a batch. It really warmed our souls and put a nice smile on everyones face. I made them with water, brown sugar, honey, oranges, raisins, and a healthy shot of “sailor Jerry” rum with a pat of butter on top, YUMMY! They were steaming hot!
That night we ran hard aground just before dark in the alligator river trying to enter an anchorage. The GPS showed us in the center of the channel, oh well. It added a bit of excitement but we managed to get off using a full jib in 25 knots of wind. We managed to get into the anchorage and had a really rough night in 35-40 knots of wind and rough conditions. Nobody got much sleep.
Well its day four and we just pulled into Slade creek North Carolina. We have good protection from the wind and sea but it’s still cold. Marty just got the generator going and the heater, time to thaw out and get some dinner on.
Tomorrow we may make it to Beaufort, or at least close. If we get a weather window we will head off shore and make a run for Jacksonville.
I’m having a great time but I’m really missing the girls. It’s been hard working away from home for the last month. It’s good to know we are going cruising soon.
If anyone can put in a request for some warmer weather I’d appreciate it.
Cheers.
Sail far and live slow.
– Alex