Our Travels From 10/8/06 to 10/17/06

We are having problem posting photos, so we decided to go ahead and post our text, with, hopefully, photos to follow:

On Sunday, (10/8/06) we picked up our latest visitor, Ewen Thompson. Ewen is the designer and owner of the lightning protection company who developed the system for John Henry. We will always be cautious of lightning, but will no longer cower around lightning as long as we’re on our boat. To view information on lightning protection, please check out Ewen’s website that features our boat. www.marinelightning.com/jh

On Monday (10/9/06), we decided to get underway and give Wilma a little bit of practice handling the boat. We left our cozy dock and went south into the Chesapeake Bay with Ewen on board. After a little while, we found an ideal place for Wilma to pivot, back up, and line up the boat with objects on shore and in the water. Wilma did very well and we’ll keep practicing. Ewen also did a little bit of practicing on a larger boat than normal for him.The day was extremely beautiful and very calm which meant for glassy waters. We decided not to go back to dock, but to anchor out near St. Michaels, MD. We had been crabbing at Joan and Bruce’s home so Wink prepared an Iron Chef dinner with three dishes – the main ingredient was Crab. We had supreme crab bisque, crab cakes ala Wink, and steamed Crabs. What a feast? We anchored in front of the Maritime Museum and Lighthouse.

Tuesday (10/10/06) - Wink stayed on the boat with Buster and Sarasota while Wilma and Ewen took the dinghy to shore and walked around St. Michaels which is a very small quaint town. Ewen drove on the way into town and Wilma practiced her dinghy driving on the way back and had lots of fun. In the afternoon we headed back to dock at the South River (Annapolis). Bruce and Joan met us at their dock, as they had brought their boat home a few hours earlier. The Mirage-Mfg crew arrived late that night.

Wednesday to Sunday (10/11/06 to 10/15/06)-The next morning both boats got underway towards the Annapolis Boat Show. This was a two hour drive, and we waited around the harbour (avoiding land and other boats) until they called us in to the dock. Docking was a bit a bit of a challenge for everyone as you had to weave through anchored boats, turn into the waterway right, then a hard left, then pivot the boat and slide into the dock. The boat show was good with literally thousands of people. We had at times more then 30 people on our boat looking around. Everyone who came aboard loved it, and we got comments like, “this is huge”, “this is a ship not a boat”, “beautiful”, and “this boat is made for living aboard” Buster and Sara went to day care during these four days, and we picked up a lot of neat things at the show, including a “Soda Machine”, which makes great soft drinks.

Sunday (10/15/06)– At 6:00 pm the boat show ended and hundreds of boat left the docks. We got underway at about 6:45, dodging pilings, docks, anchored boats, and worst of all boats underway. It looked like Dunkirk in 1940. We didn’t hit anything or anyone, which is always good. We then headed down the Chesapeake Bay towards Norfolk VA.

Monday: (10/16/06) We ran all night and got to Norfolk at about 11:00 am and dropped off all the crew. Wilma and I (and the dogs) then took John Henry and entered the Intercoastal waterway and headed south. This time of year everyone wants to go South, so there were as many as 13 boats all waiting for the draw bridges to open. We went through 5 bridges and one lock that day. We docked up at Pungo Ferry Marina at the 31 mile marker on the Intercoastal.

Tuesday (10/17/06): We got underway this morning at about 7:40 (our alarm didn’t go off). We continue to head south along the I.C.W. (Inter Coastal Waterway). Right now we are in the Albemarle Sound in Northern North Carolina. The weather is starting to turn bad with rain and winds to 20 Knots, so we have decided to stop around 3:00 pm today, to get some rest and do something fun, like watch TV, cook, sew, or play with the dogs.