Portsmouth to Coinjock

Our first day at sea… but first let me back up to day four and a half. We drove from Cape Charles to Portsmouth yesterday afternoon, arriving in time for lunch in a cute little coffee shop with wifi and good food. By two o’clock we moseyed over to the marina to meet our friends Don and MA. By the time we were unpacked and had caught up on recent news, it was time for cocktails by the pool, followed by dinner and then sitting around talking before bedtime.

There are nine boats in our flotilla – ranging from 25-feet to 46-feet long. Most have only one couple, but a few have guests, too. Four of the boats will leave after the first week, but the remaining five will do the whole trip of two weeks. All are power boats, but range from those that like to run at 8 knots (nautical miles per hour, and about 1.15 statute miles) to those who like to run at 18-20 knots, so there is a wide variety of leaving and arriving times for the group. Our boat is 44-feet long, sleeps four and runs most comfortably at 18 knots, so we will often be among the early arrivers.

The overall plan is to travel early in the morning, arriving at the next port mid-day or early afternoon. Most people spend a couple of hours cleaning up the boat, then hit the swimming pool, and meet back together for cocktails around 5:30 followed by dinner. Then we will stay the next day in the same spot to have time to visit or do off-the-boat activities. So back to day five….

This was the day I really wanted. We left Portsmouth and cruised down the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River. This took us past both the Portsmouth and Norfolk Naval Shipyards. Neither was filled, but there were big navy ships drydocked in each. Then we traveled down the river thru a series of lift bridges and then into the Great Bridge locks. The boats rose about six feet in order to move into the next part of the ICW. We had a bridge schedule and had to get from one to the next within 30 minutes to make the “next” bridge opening. Part of our group was late at the last bridge and ended up having to wait an additional half hour to pass thru. Since they were already the slower boats, it caused them to end up two hours behind us.

Once we passed out of Norfolk and Portsmouth there was not a lot to see except marshes and osprey, but there were plenty of both. It must be baby-raising time for the osprey, since we saw a number who appeared to be bringing food to their nests. It was a pleasant run of five and a half hours before we arrived in Coinjock, North Carolina.

Coinjock is literally a narrow spot on the waterway with two marinas. We have completely filled one of them and other boats we traveled with are filling up the other. This is where we pick up another canal portion of the ICW and we will move on in the morning headed for Manteo tomorrow night.

We have gotten caught by an afternoon shower, so everyone is resting or doing inside chores. If the rain lets up, I will run up to the marina office and get the wifi password so that I can upload this [and the last one] today.

So far it has been fun. I have behaved myself and gotten enough sleep.

Written Monday, July 27, uploaded July 28.

Days One to Three and a Half

The Eastern Shore truly is the jewel of Virginia, and we have spent three and a half beautiful days. We stayed in a development of homes and rental units right on the Chesapeake Bay. Our house was a block back, but with nothing between us and the water, so we had a gorgeous view, but afternoon sun.

The development is so pretty from the water. All the houses are painted pretty colors – like our Grape Escape there are blue and red and pink and yellow and green houses and from the water it looks like a doll’s village. From the house, tho, it makes me think of a really upscale Levittown. There are only three designs and I have visions of a group of young architects standing around trying to figure out how many ways they can assemble them differently. The real problem, tho, is that they are placed chock-a-block side-by-side on narrow lots – only about 15 feet apart. So the part of the development that is developed is…. well, boring.

But the land and sea are interesting. I walked the “beach” one morning. For those of us who are used to the beach at VaB, this was very different. First, it was the western side of the Eastern Shore, not the east side to which we are accustomed. That means it doesn’t take the pounding of the waves, so the sand is not fine or white, but rather darker grey and much coarser. And secondly, it is a tiny strip not the expanse on the Atlantic side. But it also means that the shells are not so beaten up and there is lots of sea glass. There is also seaweed – both the heavy brown kind that you see a lot, but also a very different type that looks like the offspring of yellow and green dynabands. It is flat, five inches wide and bright chartreuse! I would not like to dive in it and I suspect it’s hard on propellers, but it surely is pretty.

Driving back we stopped at the island before the bridge begins to take some pictures. Unfortunately, I don’t have the cable to upload them, so come back tomorrow to look at the pictures. I will upload as soon as my bag is unpacked.

We are eating lunch in a tearoom in Portsmouth waiting for our friends to arrive by boat from Deltaville. Next on our agenda is loading our things aboard and then spending the afternoon getting ready to set off on high adventure. Our trip tomorrow will be down the Elizabeth River to connect with the ICW and then head south. We will spend tomorrow night in Coinjock – a wide spot in the ICW. I think we do the locks tomorrow, too, so it will be all new for me.

As I predicted, the weather has turned hotter and more humid, but not bad if one can keep to the shade. I think it’s supposed to be a bit cooler the next two days. I am learning that when you are so close to the water, the weather matters more! Love to all. Tune in soon!

Gone Fishing!

Well, not literally, but Mitchell and I will be taking off in the morning for a nice, long vacation. Tomorrow we will drive to the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Cape Charles for a weekend conference of the United States Power Squadrons. We will be staying with friends in a house on the Chesapeake Bay - eating too much, drinking too much, and sleeping too little - in a house named "Grape Escape". As you can see, it is purple.

I am signed up for a wine tour and luncheon on Friday. Then, optimist that I am, I am taking walking shoes and exercise clothes and hope to begin a vacation walking program. I have also downloaded 15 minutes of Jazzercise music in the hope that I can do a little bit of dance, too. [Having seen the photos, I think I need to take my mp3 player and dance on the widow's walk - what do you think?] I have recently started a rehab program for my shoulder [the right, tennis serving one] so am also taking light weights and stretch bands and hope to work on that, while I am taking a four-week break from actually playing tennis.

Mitchell in the meantime will be attending meetings and being treasurer.

In case you are not familiar with the Eastern Shore... it is the jewel of Virginia. Because the access is not great and you have to want to go there to get there, it is still somewhat under-developed and wild. The first ten miles of "land", after we cross a 17-mile bridge-tunnel, are little more than islets, swamp, and marshland filled with birds and critters. Most of that land is only accessible by boat, and we will drive a causeway/bridge over it. Even Cape Charles - the county seat - where we will be staying is just a wide spot in the road... well, with a gorgous, way upscale marina complex right on the water.

We will drive southeast thru Newport News and the edge of Norfolk to cross the bridge and then Cape Charles is the first "big" town on the bay side of the peninsula. As you can see, the entire ocean side is just islands and tidal basin - for many miles farther north than this map shows.

On Sunday we will start part two of our trip - a two week cruise down the Intra-Coastal Waterway from Portsmouth to Manteo, North Carolina and then around the Albemarle Sound stopping at lots of little towns and marinas along the way. Mitchell has made this journey before - from south to north with my aunt and uncle about 20 years ago - but I have not done it at all. We will cruise thru part of Norfolk harbor (altho our hosts will have done most of that before we meet them in Portsmouth) and see naval ships of all shapes and sizes as well as the huge water docks for the Norfolk and Portsmouth shipyards where they build those bohemoths. We will traverse several locks - some only a few feet of lift, but I think there's one that's about a 20 foot rise, and then the Albemarle Sound is marshland as far as one can see.

I will have limited Internet access, but am taking the laptop in the hope of sharing some of the highlights with you. If you are not interested, then check back after August 10th, but if you are interested, stay tuned and I'll show you what I can of some gorgeous countryside.

What's New in Bloom?

This has been a wonderful summer in Central Virginia - it's a few degrees cooler than usual, we have consistently gotten 3/4 inch of rain weekly, and the humidity has not yet rolled in. It's made mornings working in the garden just lovely and more fun than usual, and - way more importantly - it's perfect for sitting on the porch in the late afternoon just enjoying the view.... and the delightful smell!

And that's the news. The new bloom is the Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice'. It's the shrub at the corner of the shed beyond the pond. It is covered with little coral "candles" that smell heavenly. The nickname of this shrub is "summersweet" and for good reason. If the breeze is coming from that direction, we can smell it on the deck! The hummers and butterflies are doing battle with the bees for the nectar.

Clethra is an easy shrub to grow. This one is about five years old and probably 90% full grown. It likes our acid soil, but will do fine in a sweeter site. It does like water, so I have redirected the splash pan at the bottom of the corner downspout to redirect the water comes toward the clethra, instead of into the yard. This area also gets watered when I do the whole back garden, but this summer I have only done it three times - and one of those was an accident! In other words, I am not giving it extra water.

And, clethra comes in three colors: white ('Hummingbird'), a pale pink ('Rosea'), and this darker pink ('Ruby Spice'). The "candles" are actually called "racemes" and are made up of hundreds of time flowers which open making the candle fuzzy as it matures. I think the fragrance comes as each little bud "pops".

Most of my time this week has been spent with weeding and deadheading in preparation for going on vacation next week. I have set up the sprinklers in front and back so that they will automatically come on - weekly in the front and every four days in the back (hence the accidental watering this morning!). Thursday morning I will cut the lawn - shorter than normal - and then we have hired someone to cut it while we are gone. If the rain keeps up, we will need it!

My hope for vacation is that I will have the opportunity to visit some small gardens, or perhaps community gardens, and bring them to you over the next two weeks [you will have to read the other blog to find out what we are doing], but I am not sure what I will find.... so have a good two weeks and check in occasionally!