Finally departed Solomons, Md on Friday, 11/30/18. It has been a long process to get Panda Bear updated.

We had left her at Washburn’s the end of July. We arrived back in Maryland on 10/22/18. We stayed at La Quinta for a week until she was put back in the water, then moved aboard. Biggest hold up, new turbo not working…..fuel pump had to go out for servicing. We drove it to the Eastern shore and, a week later, picked it up, trying to speed things up. Finally, the settings on pump were wrong and the mechanic, Ricky, figured it out. This one was a challenge. Well, we left Washburn’s Boatyard with a fully functional Panda Bear. New batteries, engine overhaul, plus a few other things…..expensive but well done. We have never headed south this late. It is also a very cold fall. We bought a portable heater to augment the boat’s system and I bought a winter coat……

So, off we go…….8:15 on Friday morning….lovely morning but 42 degrees in the back porch and 47 in the pilothouse. Our new polar fleece throws for the pilothouse immediately went into use. By 9:30, drizzle…saw some loons. Wind/waves on the bow. Waves about a foot and a half, some two footers around the mouth of the Potomac River. Lizzie doesn’t like wind/waves on the bow…I went down to check on her and yes, Lizzie was seasick…..I had some clean up to do but mostly felt badly for her. She was wobbly, coat matted, face puckered and looked green all over. Nothing we can do, just get there. We have a two day weather window to make it to Norfolk area before the bay kicks up again.

Finally made it into Dozier’s in Deltaville, VA by 4:15. Don’t forget these are shorter running days, earlier sunsets. Whoops, starboard bow thruster not working. Larry still aced the docking. I was a little down-we are not turning around. Gentleman at Dozier’s said he could get a tech out to us the next day. I said Larry wanted to look at it himself first and thanked him for the offer. Larry fixed it, my hero! It was a loose wire. Heated up leftover for dinner. Lizzie started to make a comeback but looked like hell and was down and out, head hanging, sitting on Dad’s lap. This is the cat that had a major cut under her armpit due to a harness last year and didn’t say boo or complained as we cured it. Yet, a little seasickness and she looked bad. Next morning, she was fine.

Saturday, we left at 8:50. Cloudy, cold. 10 knots on the port quarter, from the NE. Rain, really damp and nippy. Under our blankets again. We were cooking along at 9 knots. Go Panda Bear! It did flatten out and we tied up at Hampton, Va by 3:00. I went to get a quick walk in and encountered a loose, unfriendly pit bull on a residential street. A woman wouldn’t even get out of her car…..thoughts of Bangkok, where an adolescent Doberman came at me. I was alone, in an alley, after a meditation session at a temple. I shoved my handbag in its mouth-it bit down on my compact, and looked at me like “that wasn’t supposed to happen”…..I backed my way out of the alley. This time, with the pit bull, I thought “darn, no handbag” and this is no adolescent…. I backed my way up the street and it focused its attention back on the woman trying to get out of the car. Lessons: 1. Avoid residential streets 2. Start carrying walking stick I keep on board. Went straight back to boat….good timing, rain started. At least I got my walk in….the little things in life to be thankful for….Dinner and ran two heaters. Not too bad, in the 50’s, but raw. So ends the first travel week of the trip south.