And so, our adventure finally begins!

Our first day underway was pretty uneventful.  It was a very chilly morning at Herrington Harbour North -- there was a thin crust of ice on the water when we woke up!  We caught a little wind early in the day, but the building winds never showed up this afternoon.  So, we motored.  Still, not bad.  Very happy to be on the move and on the water.....not tied to a dock.

We made our way to Solomon's Island (MD) and found a nice spot (here) on Back Creek to drop anchor.  Granted, it took three tries to get the anchor to hold, but the third time was a charm.  The sunset was a pretty "red sky at night" and the water is absolutely mirror-like.

Now, we check the weather and charts and calculate how far we think we can make it tomorrow.

Farewell to Herrington Harbour North

The Captain

Thank you, Kevin and Lauren, for this awesome travel mug!  It keeps my coffee SO hot, SO long!

My favorite moment is when we cut the engine and the wind takes over.  

That's "Hoss," we followed him down the Bay.  He made it all the way to Norfolk.  We did not.

Cove Point military zone.......very sci-fi.

On our approach to Solomon's Island, we skirted around a local yacht club race (of Buccaneers).

Sunset at anchor on Back Creek near the Calvert Marine Museum

When are you guys leaving?

When are you guys leaving?  That, my friends, is the question of the day.  Every day.

We were preparing to set to sail yesterday, but during our departure checklist on Wednesday, David found a leak in the fuel injector pump for the Volvo diesel engine.  Aric, our trusty mechanic at (and owner of) Chesapeake Marine Engineering, removed the pump and made some calls.  We trotted the piece across the Bay Bridge yesterday morning and delivered it for repair/rebuild.  Alas, our departure was foiled.  

But the day was not lost, we walked around historic Annapolis and toured the Naval Academy.  The museum in Preble Hall was fascinating.  I’d like to get back to see the chapel (it was closed for a service) and the tomb of John Paul Jones.  Speaking of chapels, at the recommendation of the docent at the Annapolis visitor’s center, we toured St. Anne’s Church to see the Louis Comfort Tiffany windows.  Imagine my dismay when I read the sign “No photography.  God is watching and so are we.” (with a drawing of a surveillance camera).  What?!?!  I’ve been in dozens of chapels, churches, and cathedrals in Europe and not one of them prohibited photographs (flash, yes, but not photos).  Why??  The light was perfect.  The windows were richly colored and beautiful.  You'll just have to take my word for it, or take the online "tour" (a PDF).

Back to the tasks at hand…..since purchasing Virginia Dare in late September, we’ve had several repairs and upgrades made before beginning our adventure.  Some of these items were discovered during the survey, others were found after that inspection -- listed as known and unknown, below.

• Freshwater pump replacement – unknown
• Latch on stern locker – known
• Bad solenoid to stove – unknown
• New rudder bearings and lip seal replacement – surveyor assumed it was a bad lip seal, turned out to be excessively bad rudder bearings that had to be replaced
• Installation of AIS, a computer program that shows ships on the water in our vicinity.  It gives details of ship size, name, destination, heading, etc.  It also shows our boat to other vessels and gives them the same information. – our choice
• Installation of single side band (SSB) radio – our choice
• Installation of a freezer – our choice
• Broken manual (foot pedal) freshwater pump – known
• Leak from bolts extending through toe rail to aft locker – unknown
• New turnbuckle to roller furler to prevent binding (original was too short) – known
• Replace windscreen struts and latches – known
• Tear in bimini at zipper – unknown
• Broken snap and malfunctioning zipper on mainsail cover – unknown
• Winch on port side of mast is nonfunctional – unknown
• Drip in porthole above nav station – unknown
• Fuel injection pump leak on Volvo diesel engine – unknown 

David says it’s a good thing we didn’t change the name of the boat as we had originally planned.  With all the superstitious voodoo associated with changing the name, surely we would have thought Virginia Dare was rankled and fighting back.  However, we kept the name because both sets of previous owners had great experiences with her, and we figured we’d keep the good juju going.  Hmmm...

I have to say, when David found the leak on Wednesday he let rip some choice expletives (this man rarely swears).  The discovery tipped our level of frustration a wee bit over the edge.  That being said, we’re glad it happened at this marina where great service abounds.  So, we wait for the phone call to say the injector pump is ready.  When it’s reinstalled, we’ll watch the weather again and look for our next window. 

In the meantime, we might get David to Washington, DC, this weekend.  He's been to the Kremlin, but not our nation's capitol.  

Stay tuned, friends, we WILL get out of here!

When AIS and SSB were being installed, the contents of many lockers ended up on the port settee.  The clutter made us crazy!

SSB going in the nav station

Escaping the clutter below and knitting in the cockpit

David checking out the new multi-function display

I've made bread -- had to halve the recipe so it would fit in our oven

Voila!

I borrowed Mildred's sewing machine at Thanksgiving and made new pillow covers (wrinkled from travel)

Aric explaining what has to be done to the fuel injection pump

Sunrise yesterday morning - pretty day for a drive

Crossing the Bay Bridge

Naval Academy chapel

Star on a flag sewn in 1879

Star on a flag sewn in 1919

Incredible detail on model ships made of bone by French prisoners of war at the Naval Academy museum 

One week on board and taking care of business

We arrived at Herrington Harbour North on Halloween afternoon just as Virginia Dare was being relaunched.  Since then, we've been hanging out at B dock and ticking things off our to-do list as well as tackling additional and unforeseen tasks........most notably, replacing the freshwater pump.  Nothing like arriving at your new "home," filling the freshwater tank, and turning on the faucet to nary a drip.  Thankfully, David is very knowledgeable and capable and we had running water on Monday.

Saturday and Sunday were spent unloading the car and U-Haul trailer and finding places for everything.  Well, not everything.....a few items are going back to storage in Michigan, a few others went to the FreeCycle bin at the marina, and a few items hit the dumpster.  Someone, and I'm sure you can guess who, brought quite a lot of stuff (much of which was yarn-related).  There is now an "active knitting projects" locker and the rest of my onboard stash is stowed deep in a "dormant yarn" compartment that's not easy to reach.  But I'm happy to report that all the yarn I brought is safely stowed in one of those two locations!

David replacing the fresh water pump in the engine room

So far, I have been assigned two (non-mechanical) tasks: getting our wifi working [check] and having our home port lettering installed on her stern [check].  Mind you, I have been the able-bodied assistant, but David's to-do list is long and technical: registering the boat with various agencies, getting an MMSI number, arranging for AIS installation, installing software, etc.  I'm happy to help, but also happy to take care of domestic things, like laundry :) and replacing all of the non-skid shelf liners.

Using the old shelf liner as a template for the new

Probably my favorite kitchen gadget: the Bodum stainless steel French press

Interior is getting organized

It's very comfy and cozy

Wednesday was a balmy day to wash down the deck

After a month on the hard, there was a lot of bird poo to remove

Peaceful evenings earlier this week

Looking east one evening

And yesterday was spent driving around Annapolis gathering pieces and parts we need before relinquishing our car to Alex on Sunday.  Thank heavens for GPS or we would not have found Vosbury Marine, the local Volvo marine engine dealer.

Happy to buy an air filter for our diesel engine

And always a treat to celebrate our accomplishments and end the day with some bubbles!

Nautical label in these parts!

Whirlwind trip to Annapolis!

We spent Wednesday afternoon to Saturday morning in Maryland.  Since Virginia Dare is on the hard for a few repairs, staying aboard was like sleeping in a top notch tree house :)

Our "tree house" for three nights

The stilts!

We spent most of Thursday at the Annapolis Boat Show -- excellent advice from Bob and Christine to spend a couple extra bucks on VIP day where admittance is limited.  You get a lot more time with vendors than the following days.  David had a list of vendors and their locations when we arrived.  It made our "recon" very efficient.

We bought an Australian grill and are quite eager to install it and give it a whirl.  Considering that David grills our dinner several times a week (on land), we can't wait to try this!  It even bakes cakes :)

Marine Barbeques Australia -- our new grill :)

We also bought Gill foul weather gear and a SPOT Gen3 which will broadcast our exact latitude and longitude on a daily basis (I will link it to the blog when we're back on board).  We also got a ton of information about AIS systems and radar upgrades, but that's far too technical for me to explain.

Back at the boatyard, we found out that the propeller was fine (yay!), but the rudder bearings were not.  So Eric at Chesapeake Marine Engineering is making sure everything gets fixed properly.  All the new parts came in this past week; she's expected to be back in the water this week.

Rudder bearings

Rusty rudder bearings, detail

Rudder shaft housing

We managed to have dinner all three nights at Skipper's Pier -- two of the three nights we sat outside.  Friday night brought rain and indoor dining.

Sunset from Skipper's Pier

Virginia Dare at night -- and the full moon rising on Wednesday evening.

Nighttime in the boatyard

Full moon rising

Successful survey and sea trial!

We couldn't have asked for better weather for our survey and sea trial today at Tracy's Landing, MD.  As we suspected, Virginia Dare needs very little work before we set sail next month.  Bob, our surveyor, did a thorough job and David took notes, lots of notes.  Bob (different Bob :))and Christine, who have lived aboard and sailed her for the last three years, couldn't have been more helpful -- pointing out efficient ways to do this or that, telling us what works and what doesn't.  They are lovely people who are genuinely happy to be selling their beloved yacht to another couple eager to get cruising.

It's been a long day, preceded by a night of little sleep, so I'll leave you with some images from our day.

Haul out at Herrington Harbor North

It's not often that you can stand underneath the boat!

Virginia Dare on an Indian Summer afternoon

Sea trial on the Chesapeake Bay - gorgeous day

Friday afternoon and not a whole lot of traffic

Back at the marina, surveyor Bob was hoisted up for inspection of the mast and all her pieces and parts

Green and purple

Bow.  Anchor.