Hi there, as Willy Nelson would say "On the road again" or as Margaret Johney would say on the water again!! After a day of cleaning the boat, looking at books we were ready to hit the waves again. We arose early and left our safe anchorage around 7:30am. The waves, again were quite high so the ride was bumpy. At one time Gary thought the waves were 4 feet or higher. I did not see them as I was below reassuring the cat that the end of the world was not going to end even though it felt like it was. When I resurfaced, the waves were still high but a little more bearable for me.
We approached the Naval Shipyards at Norfolk, Portsmouth and because of the rock and roll of the boat my camera fell on the floor. Luckily, it did not look as though it had been damaged so I clicked away taking photos of naval ships, a fireboat spraying water and a hovering helicopter. However, when I came to look at what I had taken I had no photos saved in the memory card. The fall had damaged the card and would not allow it to memorise photos taken. Luckily, I am equipped with several cards so was able to continue taking photos.

We spent 35 mins waiting for a bridge to open despite calling the bridge master several times. When we finally got to go under the open bridge we saw a sign saying the bridge height was 15 feet. What!!!! Our boat is 14 feet tall which meant we did not need to wait and could have gone under the bride with a foot to spare. We also realised we (Gary) had got the name of the bridge wrong so we had been calling the wrong bridgemaster!! Oh the joys of being a boater.


We are spending the night in Top Notch Marina, Chesapeake, Virginia. The docking is free as long as we eat in their restaurant and spend a certain amount of money. No problem with the price of the meals. The Marina has clean showers and restrooms and both Gary and I feel clean again.  The meal was very nice and enjoyed by both of us.

A strange occurrence is happening. As you have now guessed I am a wimp. I get motion sickness on anything that moves with the exception of a bicycle. Now we are on dry land, Gary continues to feel as though he is still on the boat and his world is rocking. Me, I am on terra firma and my mind is no longer fooled. 

We filled up the boat for the first time ever today - 178 gallons of diesel. We may be washing boats for the next few days!!!! The pumps had the lowest price in the area so it could have been a whole lot worse.

Tomorrow, we enter the Dismal Swamp Canal, one of the most unspoiled areas of the Inter Coastal Waterway. The weather is supposed to be kind to us for the next few days so I am looking forward to taking lots of photos.

It's a good night from me and a good night from him!!