Moving on down the line……

Overall the weather gods have been pretty good to us so far.  No or light winds when in the canals and at least some wind in the Sounds or rivers so we can either motor/sail or sail.  Also it has been warm for the time being.

On the way down the Pasquotank River we almost had a drive-by collision!  Yep, Dave and Perk would have liked this meeting.  Not the biggest buck in the world but he was looking at a 3-4 mile swim too!

Look out!

Yes, deer can swim good!

A blimp at the factory

A couple of days ago we decided to make a run up to Bath, NC.  We had heard some good things about the oldest town in NC and figured, why not?  After motoring down the Alligator-Pungo Canal the wind eventually came up and we were able to have a good sail to the Pamlico River and then had a slow DDW (dead-down-wind) sail up the river.  We made it late in the afternoon and are still here.  In reality there isn't a whole lot in town (1 pizza restaurant, the Country Kitchen, some historical markers and approximately 238 folks) but the people are friendly and we are anchored out if front of a little marina that sells $4 burgers.

Nati in Bath, NC

This is more like it!

This morning after a late night shower (cleaned off the Chesapeake salt spray) we woke up to a beautiful fall morning on the Pasquotank River at Goat Island.  It has been one of our favorite anchorages as the holding is good, there is room for many boats but is usually quiet.  Like last night we had the whole "place" to ourselves and we had a great birthday dinner (for guess who?) and a very nice evening.

Heading out of Annapolis at sunrise

Yes, we are moving south at the right time:

Temps this morning…..

•  Honeoye Falls - 42 degrees
• Sackets Harbor - 41
• Annapolis - 54

And right where we are……..66 degrees!!

Twilight in Deltaville

We have had a fairly good run so far and got to sail for 2 of the three days down the Chesapeake.  The last leg from Deltaville to Norfolk was a bust as the NW winds never even got above 5kts so it was a long motor against the current, ugh!  The sail from Solomons Island to Deltaville was great (top speed 9.2kts) and once the wind came up after we left Annapolis it was good sailing.

Full moon in Deltaville

The one thing we have noticed so far is that traffic has been very light on the waterway.  Skipping the boat show and heading to warm weather has made locking through and anchorage pretty empty.  Nice!

The trip through Norfolk is always cool.  The ships are impressive and one should stay on their toes to keep out of the way.

The "Harry S. Truman"

Size matters!

"Ike" the Dwight D. Eisenhower getting a remodel

We decided to do the Dismal Swamp again this year since the fall colors are working their way into the landscape and there are many less powerboat wakes to deal with.  The pace is slower, just the way we like it.

Deep Creek lock

..and corresponding lift bridge, thanks Robert!

We are back in the water after our "fall" cleaning at Pleasure Cove Marina

September has been a very busy month for the crew of Nati.  There have been 3 trips north (two by Anne alone) and lots of cleaning/PMI on Nati.  We were out of the water for 13 days and Nati is about as clean as she has ever been.

Pacifica Gray this year

and new bottom paint

Anne put 4 coats of polish on the hulls (1 3M compound, 1 3M Finesse-it, 1coat of Nu-Finish and wrapped it up with a hand applied finishing layer of 3M Ultra paste wax.  This didn't include the deck cleaning along with the stainless cleaning.

Nati has 2 new coats of Blue Water bottom paint (3 at the waterline) and the sail drives have 3 coats of Pacifica Plus.  We think she is ready for another winter down south.

Nati coming off the hard and heading for water

In she goes looking great!

We had a surprise visit from our friends Felix & Margarit while on the hard.  They have sold their trimaran and are now in the "camping & fishing" mode.  Tenting???  Oh Felix, you are very brave!

These guys have the "toys"!

NOTE:  We started this post a few weeks ago and then we had to send in the camera for repairs and just received a  brand new one from Nikon on Thursday.  Sooo………. that means we've had no pictures for a while.

Update…..we have been in Spa Creek for a week now and have finished up most of what needs to be done.  At this juncture we will be heading in the direction of south tomorrow after we hear about Amy's pie contest at Evan's school fall festival.  Nati is ready, we are ready and it is cooling down……we are outta here!