Sunday. Wind blowing all last night….anticipation of going out in the bay today not a pleasant feeling….Captain and I differed on whether to go or to sit another day. Finally departed at 10:15. Our friends came to say goodbye. Will miss Roger and Marilyn in Florida this winter. Thank God at least it was sunny. Nippy, 49, feels colder. Then bouncey until we turned the corner, then on the port quarter. Not a bad ride. Arrived at Hampton Public Piers by 4:45. We get to know folks at the marinas we continually visit. The fellow today even knew which slip we prefer…..good folks. I understand why we had to go today: decent day go and enter the protected waters of Norfolk area….after that, this trip is mostly in protected waters unless if we have to jump outside (“outside” is the ocean).

Monday: departed late, 11:00. Captain had iPad issues. Wanted to wait for a favorable current anyway. Nice day, sunny, windy SE 10. That would have made the bay nastier than yesterday….Captain was right to want to go yesterday…would have been on the nose today. Lots of “big boys” today. Both cargo ships and naval ships. Always an interesting area to travel. It’s funny to listen to small boats calling the naval ships… sometimes not necessary so one can hear the boredom in the naval ships’ responses.

Short run today.My new flowering plants bloomed-I didn’t expect it in this colder weather. We stopped at Top Rack for fuel, lunch at the deli, and overnight dockage.

Tuesday: cast off at 8:45, in the rain. The rain was minimal while we were in the Great Bridge lock-and it was awhile, the lock was pretty full. We seem to be traveling with a flock of boats flying south. Marinas are full-tough to even get reservations. I had no lock at AYB……..but Larry did! Now we are at AICW mile marker 8. We are traveling to approximately mile marker 1100…..best to not think about it! At ABY Marina, they were so full up they wanted to know our height….usually they want boat length, width, and perhaps draft (how much water you need under you)…..Height was a new one. They found a spot for us in one of the boat sheds in the back. Never been there before. As we entered, looked as if we were going into a shallow swamp, but then it opens up. Quite interesting. Little strange but peaceful. Rain stopped so we walked for Mexican food and some errands. Back by 3:45…Larry installed new running lights. He also had a conversation with fellow boater that explained that some boats may not travel south of Norfolk until November 5th. That explains the crowd…..we are usually later than this. He also asked Larry if we were doing the “yo-yo” thing, meaning traveling south in the fall, north in the spring. I had never heard the term, but appropriate.

Wednesday was cleaning day. We stayed because it was blowing, cold and couldn’t get reservations at the next stop. Was a blessing. We got to clean the boat while in the shed, under cover, away from the wind….I cleaned below and the pilothouse, Larry cleaned the decks and we both did our maintenance on all the vinyl (plastic windows). We were exhausted but walked to Panera for dinner and some more shopping. Walked both ways in the dark, this daylight savings stuff…….

Thursday, left AYB at 0900. We sorta came out of nowhere and pulled out onto the ICW…later, at the next stop, a boat asked us where we had come from…. did we anchor in that little swamp?

Cold day again….Our next stop, Coinjock Marina. They called at 7:30 this morning to confirm we were on our way….space is that tight. Gale force winds and cold expected tomorrow so everyone staging at Coinjock to cross Albemarle Sound on the following day. Albemarle can get nasty….shallow and long fetch. But today was an easy ride, except for two sport fishermen that waked us hard. Had to rehose the deck where my garden is….Arrived at Coinjock at 2:45. Boats really tight in here….considering gale force winds coming. Out talking to fellow cruisers….then cooked dinner….first time in a long time….chicken stir-fry over rice.

Friday, stayed put. Cooked pulled pork overnight in the crockpot. Cold, NE winds, blowing teens and twenties with gale warnings…it also rained hard last night. Got lots of stuff done….boat maintenance, paperwork, administrative…..Then we went to lunch at the marina’s restaurant-always good, today was no exception. Cold walk……then came back and curled up with a blanket to watch the sunset….

Saturday, cold, low 50’s, NE 5-10. We did not have a clean start, issue departing dock….easy run across Abelmarle Sound. Anchor down 4:45, AICW mile marker 102.2. It’s a nice anchorage. Took two times to get a good set. This doesn’t happen often to Larry. Limited internet. Funny, back in 2000, our first trip down the ICW, not even a concern.