And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 31

Last night I was going back and forth in my mind do we go tomorrow or do we stay here and extra day.  I was looking a weather reports some of which were showing winds as high as 42 mph today and this evening, and other weather reports showing wind gusts in the 25 mph range.  Of course rain was a given, with possible thunderstorms.  I’m thinking we can go in the rain, and we’ve handled wind of 25 mph, so why not go.  But the other source was showing strong gusts that would be very difficult to deal with on a boat, or on land for that matter.  We got up early this morning planning to leave at 7:00.  I went for a walk on the dock to check things out; it was calm and fairly warm for that early in the morning.  I’m thinking it’s not bad, maybe we can go.  So I went back inside and rechecked the weather to see what was in store for Norfolk, our destination.  I started reading weather reports about severe weather with damaging winds, possible hail, thunderstorms and maybe tornados later in the day for northeast North Carolina and Southeastern Virginia.  Exactly where we are and where we are going.  So at 6:45 I told Jan we’re staying put.  Of course she says something like,” well, you could have told me that while I was in bed.”  Of course she was all dressed and ready to go so going back to bed was out of the question.  A couple of boats that were here last night actually did go, and for part of the morning I was second guessing myself.  The weather was overcast, but quite calm.  Then about 11:00 it started to rain and lightning.  I didn’t really hear much thunder, but I could see the light flashing.  I thought maybe this was the right choice.  I sat down and looked at the radar online and noticed that Norfolk was getting hammered, much worse than we were here.  Not where I would want to be.  The rain continued into the afternoon then started to clear up for a while.  So we just hung out and sat on the back deck for a little while.

Later we mosied over to the restaurant for dinner but sat there hearing the high pitched tone of weather alerts every so often.  Eventually the dockmaster came by and told us, as well as other boat operators in the restaurant that tornado warnings had been issued and he was expecting a blow in an hour to two.  It would be prudent to add a couple more lines to hold the boat.  So we went back to the boat, doubled up lines fore and aft, and added an additional spring line.  We also cleared all items that could blow around and cause damage, and although the dinghy on the hardtop was already strapped down, we added another line to hold it in the cradle.  Hopefully all this will be sufficient.  We’ll see when the blow comes through.  After we were finished, we checked the weather and alerts on the computer.  They had a mariners warning and alert issued for all the areas around Norfolk including Willoughby Bay where we were going to anchor for the night.  High winds and possible waterspouts-tornados on the water.  The alert was urging mariners to seek safe harbor.  In other words it would be dangerous being out there.  Not where I want to be, so it seems staying here the extra day was the prudent thing to do.  Stay tuned.

Well I think we are through the worst of it.  The boat blew around a bit then the rain and lightning started.  It rained pretty hard for about 15 minutes then you could hear pieces of hail hitting the windshield and decks, then all of a sudden the rain just stopped.  There was still some lightning and thunder, but I think the worst is over for today.  I guess it’s almost time to go to bed.  Tomorrow will be an early morning again.  We have to make up some of what we lost today.  I believe it will be an 85 mile day instead of a 65 mile day.  Plus, the wind is supposed to be back again tomorrow. That should make moving up the Chesapeake Bay fun.

So boys and girls, until we have internet again……

P.S. Hi Tyler