We moved back on the boat on Wednesday November 12,2025. It was a cold day and windy. That morning, we finished readying the house for departure. Needless to say, we had to leave some things unfinished. We said goodbye to Banks and headed to the boat around 2 pm with one false start to get the leftover refrigerated items.
We loaded more and more onto the boat. David said it was like a magic trick; he brought bag after bag and I made them disappear in the boat. Once everything was packed, I started to make dinner ( a combination of leftovers from the house refrigerator) when I heard voices on the dock. The Panuco clan had come to see us off. After the kids explored the boat, we decided to go have pizza together. We walked, skipped, hopped and ran through Cape Charles from the marina. It was so much fun to see them.
We got up at 5 am for a 630 departure. David prepared lines and got ready to sail while I made coffee and readied down below. After breakfast, at first light, we pulled out of our slip.
We headed out to the Bay motoring and then pulled up the sails with a single reef in the main. We had a broad reach for the trip to Hampton Roads.
We were making great time. Then, around 830, the wind completely died all of a sudden and then shifted such that our destination was upwind. We changed our course to get across but soon had to motor to reach our destination.
As we were entering Hampton, we could see the familiar traffic back up on the Hampton Roads Bridge tunnel. We were headed toward crossing the tunnel when a Navy patrol boat hailed us to move to the edge of the channel in preparation for aircraft carrier 77 returning from sea. We pulled to the edge of the channel and waited for the giant ship to come up the bay and into the harbor. Then tug boats came out to help it turn and dock. Quite a sight!
Hampton Roads is quite a gauntlet for a small cruising sailboat. There are not only warships but barges, container ships, motor boats, cruise ships, and kayaks. We did not see cruise ships today. There are bridges, most notably the Gilmerton, which opens like an elevator and the railroad bridges that are operated remotely and are “usually open.” Then all along the edge are people working: the shipbuilders, giant cranes dredging sand or loading sand or rock onto barges. I remember the book by Richard Scarry that we used to love when we were children, Busy, Busy People. Hampton Roads could have its own section.
Our goal was to make it as close as possible to Great Bridge Lock. There is not a lot of dockage on the north side of the lock and it is an unknown whether or not it is available until you arrive. We opted for Top Rack Marina about three miles and no bridges before the lock. They have floating docks against a concrete and metal bulkhead right on the waterway. David docked easily and the line tender was very helpful. He had stories to tell about boats getting off track and hitting submerged rocks and sinking. We checked out the marina and then went for a walk on a wooded trail at a nearby park.
We returned to the boat for a nice dinner of garden eggplant lasagna rescued from our freezer clean out.
Tomorrow, we try and head for Coinjock.