Bill and Boop's Great Adventure: Traveling down the intercoastal

Since leaving Solomons, we have traveled quite a few miles...290 to be specific. Most days, we make 35 - 50 miles, which is a comfortable amount. We get up early, eat breakfast and try to be "on the road" by 7:30 or so. We usually make it into port by 3 pm or so. That gives us time to relax, unwind, have dinner and prepare the course for the next day. Then off to bed and up early the next day to start over again.

The scenery has been beautiful, with all the trees changing color. We usually travel with about 10 boats or so, although they change all the time. Some take different routes or, in the case of power boats, they outpace us quite quickly. Haven't really met anyone that we are traveling with consistently, but that's ok. Not a lot of time for socializing anyway.

As of today, Thursday, Nov. 13, we are in Oriental, NC (milemarker 181 on the intercoastal)waiting out rain and thunderstorms which are predicted to last until Saturday.

Since I have a halfway decent connection, I thought I'd upload some photos to share some of the trip with y'all (getting into the spirit of the south).

Love this photo of Bill. He donned his scuba gear while we were still at Solomons to clean the bottom of the boat. The propeller was covered with barnacles but he was able to scrap them off pretty easily. You gotta admire him . Een though it was a warm and sunny day, the water was only about 60 degrees. Yikes! He said the scuba gear kept him warm, but he didn't have the hood for his head -- we'll pick that up from home when we return for Thanksgiving.

This is another photo from Solomons. We went sailing one Sunday with April and Kevin and went right through these boats, lining up to race. It was pretty cold that day...but you know sailors, they are a hardy bunch!

Our boat in Deltaville, VA. It was a small marina with lots of covered slips for power boats. Reminded me of Indian Lake.

Sailing alongside a large containership into Norfolk, VA. This port is FAR busier than New York City. Giant containerships are lined up one right after another. Add in the activity at the naval base and you've got yourself one busy port. Listening on the VHF was like being in the middle of O'Hara airport!

Offloading equipment surrounds another big ship. Up close, the cranes look like something out of Star Wars.

A beautiful Carolina morning lights up the deck at Bellhaven Marina office. This marina was my favorite so far. VERY homey. They even had a hot tub, but we didn't use it. I'd gotten very sick with cold/sinus symptoms that day.