Our First Post

O God, thy Sea is so great and my boat so small

April 22, 2023, Riverwalk Landing Yorktown, Virginia.

  

We had a great time with our family in Denver spending almost a week with them. It was just wonderful to connect with all of them and shocking to see how fast Crosby and Bode have grown. It was a classic Denver weather window, we arrived it was great for two days, then snowed for a day, then the sun came out and it was 70 and sunny the next two days, got to love Colorado weather. We attended two Baseball games of Crosby’s and a soccer practice with Bode. Aunt Ashley came down from the mountains for 4 days and conducted a belated Easter Egg hunt, lots of walks with the boys, CB, Bailey, and Ashley. Some of the best times were sitting around the dinner table just chatting. The Bosson’s nightly do Wow’s and Pow’s (High and Lows of everyone’s days and they can’t be the same!) the topics and follow up conversations are priceless. We are very blessed parents and grandparents, and it was a wonderful break from the boat.  

We flew back to Norfolk and on the boat late Tuesday, provisioned the boat on Wednesday and Thursday morning we started back on Our Loop headed north on the Chesapeake Bay toward Yorktown VA. The one thing I was able to do while we were hanging out in Norfolk was to understand when to travel. Bottom line if the wind direction has an N in it (North, North West, Northeast) N means NO! So that was great advise and the other tip was when they say the waves will be 2-3 you have to add the two together, so 2’-3’ waves means 5-foot waves: 4’-5’ waves means 9’ waves. That will improve as we get further north as the Bay thins but at the southern end of the bay where Norfolk is located, is a very challenging body of water. I now get it! So, we can only really travel when the wind has an S (southerly) in it.  Local knowledge is always helpful and I’m more than happy to take their advice, the captains from Boat US have been a great resource for us.

 

I know you don't really wants to see what we did on vacation but since I’m documenting our year I thought I would include some Denver photos for you to enjoy.

 

Denver

Bode's Soccer Practice 

 Crosby At Bat Saturday 

Crosby gets the  Game ball!

The Fans 

Bode enjoying the playground

Aunt Ashley's Easter Egg Hunt

Baseball Day 2

Thursday April 18, 2023, Travel Day # 123 Little Creek Marina, Est Beach, Norfolk VA, To Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown VA.

Total Distance 34 Miles, Total Time 4.5 Hours

 

It is always nice to get back on The Loop and for the last two weeks we had been idle.  We had checked the weather, and all was looking promising for our trip to Yorktown with Southwest winds and 2–3-foot (meaning 5’) waves for Thursday morning. We woke and reconfirmed the weather and sea conditions, and it was a go and so at 8 AM we pushed off the dock and headed north, very exciting. As we were departing we had a large commercial vessel entering the Little River, so we had to slow down, give way as the ship crossed our bow docking at the Navy base in the Little River (picture below). We departed the Little River and started up Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, which is a very large body of water. Our voyage today was only 25 miles but after the first two voyages in the Chesapeake I was a bit hesitant and was pleased that the southerly wind was a much more comfortable ride. Shortly after departing the river, we were approached by 3 fast moving Navy boats that were doing maneuvers, they did a few loops in front of us (1/2 mile away, not really close) and the buzzed by us. Their turning radius was very impressive, and it was cool to watch them fly across the water. One good thing about being out of the rivers is we have lots of depth, so navigation is much easier, and the buoys are much further apart. We still have three different navigation software programs that we use so we are confident in where we are going, and the visibility was excellent. About ½ way through our trip we came in contact with two other loopers who were ahead of us and going slower than we were, Steels Aweigh and Waterview both Canadians.  I knew we would catch up to them, so I reached out and talked with them on the VHF. They were in fact also headed to Yorktown and so I let them know we would catch up and then slow down and follow them in to Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown. It is always nice to run into buddy boats and have companionship and be able to make a plan so we all don’t show up at the marina at the same time, when we space out the dock hands have a chance to assist all boats.  The York River where we caught up with Steels Aweigh and Waterview is very wide, and Yorktown is the first major town on the river and is located 13 miles from Chesapeake Bay. It was a little lumpy on the bay but as soon as we entered the river it flattened and was smooth sailing. The marina is located right in town and the floating docks are first rate, excellent facilities.

We arrived at the marina, cleaned up the boat, had lunch and settled in for a two-night stay. That is kind of our plan going forward we have about 16-18 travel days left and so we plan to spend two night in each town and with 40 calendar days we should be able to cross our wake at the Statue of Liberty around Memorial Day, then home to Kennebunk the first week of June. Yorktown is an interesting town and was a critical location for the Revolutionary War. They have a world class museum here: “The American Revolution Museum” and the US National Parks Service overseas the Yorktown Battlefields. Yorktown is most famous as the site of the siege and sequent surrender of General George Cornwallis to General George Washington. Also, right where we are moored is the site of where the French Fleet defeated the British Navy on the York River also in 1781. After lunch we walked around town and enjoyed learning the rich history Yorktown has to offer. Friday we visited the Battlefields and went through the USNP museum, then went and spent the afternoon at The American Revolution Museum, which was fabulous.

Our plan was to leave on Saturday morning, but we have a cold front going through today and the Harbormaster strongly encouraged us not to go so we pretty much decided last night that we would spend another day here and not venture out into the bay. I got up at 6 AM and checked the weather and they had already put up small craft warnings and 35 MPH guest, I was back in bed at 6:10!  The wind has been strong all day and we have gotten a lot of rain and it is predicted to rain until midnight, so it was the right call. Hopefully we will be able to move to Deltaville tomorrow morning.

As I mentioned before we arrived with two loopers, Steels Aweigh and Waterview, and Beach House, was already here. We have traveled with Brenda and Duane several times most recently with them in Oriental NC a few weeks ago. Friday we had two other loopers show up At Last and Little Buddy so last night we had a great Docktail (2) hour, shocking I know. Today we just did a few projects and walked around town again. They had a wonderful farmers market right on the town green which was fun and had some excellent vegetables and breakfast sandwiches 😊. This afternoon they hosted an arm-wrestling tournament under the tent which was a first for us. They had teams from as far away as Oklahoma, New Jersey, Alabama, who would have known! We are now back on the boat and I’m finishing this blog up, dinner on board and we are planning to leave with Beach House at 7:30 in the morning and buddy boat to Deltaville.

 Fly By

 

Sunset 

Track 

Just leaving our slip giving way to this ship 

Navy Boats off the Little River

Chesapeake Bay

Riverwalk Landing

Beach House

Great beach right next to us at Riverwalk Landing

Four Loopers overnight Friday!

Watermen's Museum 

Yorktown Battlefields 

Victory Monument

Museum had a great encampment exhibit

Museum made an excellent choice in there telescopic seating selection!

Virginia is for lovers! 

Jack negotiating with George Washington and Charles Cornwallis

Docktails

Arm- wrestling

Fair Winds

Cheers