Days on Trip: 42
Distance today: 1.2 miles
Travel Time: 19 minutes
Total odometer: 1,065 statute miles
Can you believe how far we traveled today? What a trip.
Yesterday was chore day in Portsmouth: groceries, laundry, Office Depot, boat washing and the like. Gotta do that stuff sometime. Not worth a blog post of its’ own.
The docks at downtown Portsmouth have a design flaw: they don’t float and are too low, so at full or new moon, they go underwater at high tide. You have to wear waterproof shoes to get on or off your boat at high tide!
We planned to leave Portsmouth early today, but the fog was so thick we couldn’t see a half mile across the river where the giant warship was parked. We could hear it, but couldn’t see it. Given the volume of enormous ships and other traffic, we waited. After all we were only going a mile!
At 9:30 we made the short trip across the Elizabeth River to Waterside Marina where we’ll stay for the next week to attend a Great Loop Rendezvous. Those who know us may recall last May we flew to Norfolk, VA for 10 days to attend a Great Loop Rendezvous, then rented a car and did some sightseeing in the area: Williamsburg, Jamestown, Monticello, etc. We hadn’t planned to attend the Rendezvous this year. It’s a 4-day conference for people planning to do the Great Loop in the future (they stay at the Sheraton Hotel), those who are currently underway on the Great Loop (they stay at the adjacent marina), and some folks who’ve already completed the Loop. Last year we found it invaluable, both for the seminars we attended as well as the opportunity to meet lots of folks, ask questions, tour Loop boats, and meet vendors, some of whom we ended up doing business with, like Curtis Stokes, our boat broker, and Chris and Alyse Caldwell to do our boat delivery and train us for three days. Very useful! So we decided we owe it to this year’s “Great Loop Wannabes” to return the favor other Loopers did for us last year: that is, answer questions, tell stories, let them tour our boat. The conference is Monday through Thursday, so that’s what we’ll be doing this week.
As we pulled into the marina this morning, Cathryn frowned and gritted her teeth, as she does whenever she makes the decision to dock our boat, especially this time because it had to be BACKED into the slip, something she’s never done before, and there were plenty of people around watching. Much to her relief, it went smoothly and without incident.
After we hooked up to electrical power and water, we headed down the dock to the Dockmaster to pay for our stay. A few boats away, a group of two men and two women in their cockpit waved us down, and one of the guys pointed at Cathryn, then looking at Bob said “Where do I get one of these?” We were taken aback and were wondering how to respond to a remark that could have been interpreted in a variety of ways. He started laughing and clarified, “How did you find a wife who can dock a boat like that?” Bob laughed, Cathryn beamed, and it reinforced her desire to master this big boat thing.
Everyone in America knows about Cinco de Mayo, and many Americans celebrate it with a night out enjoying Mexican food, margaritas and music. It’s not actually much of an event in Mexico, but Americans love this absconded Mexican holiday! Tonight at the pretty park adjacent to our marina, they had a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Never mind that it’s actually only Cuatro de Mayo, let’s party! We took a glass of wine, sat on the grass, talked with other Loopers, listened to the Jerry Chango band (live music) and engaged in people watching. A very pleasant way to pass the evening!
We ended the evening on the flybridge. Life is good.
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