Our sail to the Chesapeake Bay was uneventful. Those are the best trips! We left Oriental on August 6th and motored down Adam’s Creek to Beaufort, NC. About an hour from the inlet is an amazing little anchorage at Cape Lookout. The sunset was beautiful, the water was calm and clear, the beach stretches for miles and a lighthouse on the opposite shore provided interesting scenery. We enjoyed a swim off the back of the boat in the warm, clear water. Nick cooked up a lovely dinner for my birthday that we enjoyed in the cockpit while we watched the sunset on the horizon.
We left Cape Lookout the next morning to head for the Chesapeake. After rounding the cape, we lost all wind and the water was flat calm. Hence, we motored the entire 43-hour trip.
With two of us, overnight trips can become exhausting. We keep trying different schedules to see what we tolerate best. This trip was actually pretty good. During the day we just see how we feel. If one of us is tired and wants to nap, we do. At night, we started taking 6 hour shifts at the helm. That seems to give us enough time to rest and actually get some sleep if the seas are not too rough. We tried shorter shifts and just found ourselves exhausted. In the ocean, 6-hour shifts are not too bad. I like to read during the day when there is light. A good book makes the time pass quickly and is easy to put down if I encounter traffic or other obstacles. Nick watches movies on his iPad during the night watch. I like the early shift in the morning so I can watch the sun come up over the horizon. I think it is a trial and error process to figure out what works best with our unique circadian rhythms. Each time we go out, we get better…see our first overnight sail experience here!
Coming into the Chesapeake Bay we started seeing lots of big shipping vessels and more traffic than we had seen in days. Sailing over tunnels in the road was a new experience for us. We crossed two coming into Hampton. I can’t imagine what it is like driving through a tunnel that is over 40 feet below the water!
At 4 am, we dropped the anchor just off Fort Monroe. The anchorage is beautiful with lots of deep water and good holding. It is a short dingy ride into Fort Monroe or into Hampton. The only downside was a poor internet connection there, forcing us to move into Hampton a couple of days later so I could teach class. Such is the life of a vagabond….
