Sunday, departed REMayo at 00. Hot, but nice weather. Long slog down the Alligator Pungo River Canal. Can smell the cedar. Large butterflies and eagles accompanied us. On the Alligator River,a nasty T&L storm paralleled us all the way to the bridge; then dissipated. Dropped the hook in the Little Alligator River (mm82.1) .

Monday, anchor up at 0700. I was late. We had an awesome night last night. Stars shining with very minimal light pollution. Nice breeze blowing down hatch over the bed. This is what a night at anchor should be. But, back to reality……crossing Abelmerle Sound. This is a wide, shallow body of water. A nasty chop builds easily. One of my least favorite parts of the ICW. SSW 10+ Washing machine action for about 4 hours. Arrived at Coinjock Marina (mm 49.6) around 11:45. Body felt rattled. We were lucky to get across, as the wind was building. Dinner at the Coinjock Restaurant, at the marina. It was packed for a Monday night. Great ribeye. Larry had shrimp, grits, with sausage. He said it was very good. We earned that dinner with that crossing this morning.

Tuesday, departed Coinjock at 0715. Looks like a nice day. Currituck Sound was, thankfully, calm. Now comes the fresh water: trees right in the water, osprey nests, and huge turquoise dragonflys. Arrived at Atlantic Yacht Basin (mm 8) at 1:00. Walked to lunch at the Old Courthouse; Kroger’s food shopping and then Tuesday Morning. First store of this type since COVID hit.

Wednesday, departed AYB at 8:45 for 9:00 bridge and then the lock. All smooth. After the bridge, a flock of pigeons flew by, then two white doves in front of us. We stopped at Top Rack Marin for fuel. Then the “industrial” ride, through the many shipyards and terminals of Norfolk. Still, interesting shapes, colors. I always get some good shots. Abtracts in the making. Arrived at Hampton Docks by 2:30. Young lady dockhand almost got knocked out by Panda Bear.I had to yell out. Went for a walk and lunch at Brown Cow/Brown Chicken. Later, with the wifi, we settled in to watch TV…. A sci-fi movie then the series, The Vikings. BTW, we crossed ICW mile 0 today. A mental milestone for me.

Thursday, departed Hampton, VA around 0745. Hot, easy ride up the Chesapeake to Deltaville, VA. Arrived at 3:00. Larry accidentally threw over one of my life rings, so we did a man overboard drill and I picked it up. We did have to plow our way out as it had floated out of the channel. Settled in to dinner and wifi TV.

Friday, departed Deltaville at 0800. Hot but quite nice. Lots of groups of dolphins, and a dead small shark-all in 10 minutes. Long but easy ride to Solomons. Arrived at Calvert/Washburn’s Boatyard by 5:06. Larry had predicted 5:00. We have arrived! Lots of jellyfish! Yep….it’s the Chesapeake. Another journey completed.

Now the work begins…. Cleaning, maintenance, sorting and packing. We have to get a rental car to drive home, and with COVID, it is difficult. I had a reservation for next week since May. Well a reservation nowadays means you are “in line”. It doesn’t guarantee a car, according to them. Had to work hard to get one. Boat out of the water and set up before we leave.

Update: drove home on July 24th.

In November, after much troubleshooting, it was determined that the electrical issue was just a burnt out on/off battery switch.

Sunday, July 4th. Walked to town for the parade. Sat in front of a closed restaurant. They had comfy tables and chairs. Met a couple; she had on a Loopers shirt, so we started talking. Turns out they are now looping on a boat that had looped with us. Small world! Hey told us that they owned a Monk 36. We said that we had traveled with a Monk 36 on our loop. Same boat, new crew and name. Ended up going to lunch with these folks. Nice folks and good food. At night, back on the boat, we got to watch fireworks from the bow. The Beaufort fireworks plus all the other towns at a distance….Morehead City, for one….

Monday-Wednesday: There is a running joke with us at this marina….we always say we are staying for a couple of days. But, due to weather, we end up staying a couple of weeks, year after year.Reason: There aren’t any great stops in either direction where you want to get stuck for a while. And this is a good marina, good people, good location. This time is no exception. We walked, shopped, ate, borrowed the car for errands, etc. Larry also did a little prep for the storm…..

Thursday, storm day. Hurricane Elsa at her closest point. Some storms then lots of wind. With the chop in the creek, PB was bouncing all over the place. Tricky working out and showering. Gusts of 40 at 5pm and wind increasing. Were we at home, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Finished up leftovers for dinner.

Friday, laundry then last walk into town…. Lunch at Clawson’s and more shopping.

Saturday, departed the marina at 0700. Lovely day. Thinking underway today: thought of getting home, getting it all done at home and turning around and heading south again is maddening. Arrived at REMayo (mm157.3) at 3:30. This is really a fishing boat dock, so no services. Tying up was difficult due to current and no cleats, poles and rough edges….. we got it done.

Sunday, departed Osprey Marina 0800. Was able to maneuver around Journey, a small trimaran that pulled in behind us. Calm and sunny but lots of Sunday traffic out and about. Worse than the southern Florida Sunday traffic that we avoid. This waterway is narrower! Finally arrived at Southport Marina (mm 309) at 5:15. Really long day to make only 64 miles in 9.25 hours.

Monday, up early to get underway. But, what’s coming? Some nastiness……windy, rain, storms…..not a good day to tackle the Cape Fear River. Good call captain. After the storms, we walked to the town of Southport. Lunch at Fishy Fishy. Afterwards, antiquing and a good walk.

Tuesday, we’re about to depart and saw that a replica of Hemingway’s Pilar had pulled in last night. We’re invited aboard but we were in a rush to get moving. Got some great pictures. Departed….easy trip on the Cape Fear River….again, good call Captain, not to go yesterday. It can really get quite nasty. Anchor down at Mile Hammock Bay (mm 244.5) on the Marine Corps base, at 5 pm. Received notification that our friend, Pam Gwinn, had died. Sad. I will miss her. Star gazed before bed, with minimal light pollution.

Wednesday, anchor up, 7:40. This whole area is part of a Marine base. We were buzzed by helicopters all night long. Fun to watch early on then pillow over the head type night. Bet they were Ospreys. Easy, pleasant ride to Beaufort, NC. Arrived at Town Creek Marina (mm201) by 3:30. Good to see Carol and e gang, especially after COVID… our new microwave was waiting for us. This is a great marina (and town).

Thursday, yep, windy, SW 20-30, on the beam. We are staying. Walked to town for lunch, shopping, etc……

Friday, raining and windy. Borrowed marina vehicle to run errands and get Italian at the NoName. Very good, as usual.

Saturday, gorgeous day. Cleaned out the back porch and found an ant nest…explains the ants out there…..Walked to town to the farmers’ market, antiqued, lunch, a little more shopping. At lunch Larry ordered scallops instead of oysters by mistake. Waitress brought him a full order of oysters on the side…..she got a great tip!

Hurricane Elsa may be coming at us. Guess we will stay a little longer. Good place to sit.