After about a 4 hour cruise, we arrived in Onancock. We enjoyed this cute little town for 2 nights and a full day. As is our habit, we explored the town by bike, then had a meal or two to sample their restaurants.
On Saturday, August 6, we cruised to Tangier Island.
We finally got underway after being stopped in Norfolk, Cobbs Marina and Morningstar Marina, getting the Kittiwake all spiffed up and ready to cruise again. While at Morningstar, we got to see our friends from earlier in the cruise, Tony and Donna Lagera on the Tranquility Eh! We always enjoy their company!
Cape Charles is one of those charming small towns on the Chesapeake Bay, this one and the next stop, Onancock, on the eastern shore. We explored the town on our bikes, had a couple of meals, viewed some nice artwork by a local artist. Our time in this marina was marked by the only time in the entire ownership of the Kittiwake that I fell into the water! Not hurt at all, just had a Laurel and Hardy moment when I went to go from boat to wet dock - boat went one way, I went into the water! Climbed out, a little embarrassed, changed clothes and went about our merry way!
Next stop, Onancock (love the name!).
(Anyone not in my family
or having any particular interest in our big family event in Colorado or our
trip to California may just skip the next ten paragraphs!)
We took a very early
flight out of Norfolk to Denver, Colorado, arriving around 9:30 in the morning (I did say we left
Norfolk really early!). My sister and
her husband, Janice and Craig, were having a big, fancy party on July 8th
to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It was a great excuse to get all our kids and
their kids in one place for a few days…The last time that happened was for my
dad’s memorial service in 2012!
Dan and I rented a house in Evergreen, Colorado, about 25 minutes
and 2,000 feet in elevation away from Janice and Craig’s Morrison home. The
house was perfect, with beds and enough privacy for our three families. My four grandsons had a bedroom in the
basement with 4 single beds, including one bunk bed set. My 6’3” grandson, Rylan, really didn’t fit on
these beds, but he seemed fine with a comforter on the floor in front of the TV
in the game room! The game room was a
popular place, with pool, air hockey, darts, and TV. My daughter, Laura, had a queen bedroom on
the lower level too. We gave Travis and
Lisa the master suite, and we had another king bedroom with ensuite bath on the
upper level. My granddaughter, Ella,
decided to sleep on the sofa in the living room – only problem there was the
big windows and skylight that couldn’t be covered in the mornings!
We had a great time, with Travis taking on the chef’s role,
with me, the mom, the sous chef! We
cooked a couple of breakfasts and one dinner for just our family.
With two minivans for our families, we managed to have some
time with Janice’s son, Daniel, and his three ‘littles’ (wife, Meehan had
appointments). We went to a park in
Golden, then to eat in downtown Golden.
The best times for spending time with my offspring and with Janice and
Craig’s (22 of us!) was a couple of evenings in their house and yard. Janice and Craig ordered dinner for us all
there at their home. With Christy and
Lewis (Janice and Craig’s daughter and SIL) only able to be there for a couple
of days before the soiree, having that time in the evenings gave us much better
opportunities to just be together.
The long awaited event came off beautifully! Open bar, beautiful venue, dinner, and
dancing – All us women came wearing fancy dresses, and the men all had jackets
and ties. Janice and Craig had worked
with an instructor and had practiced their dance to a special song they had
chosen. The whole evening was
spectacular.
 |
| Beautiful rainbow to cap off the evening! |
 |
| My son, Travis, his wife, Lisa, and my daughter, Laura |
Following the big event, we had just one more day
together. We enjoyed it, and then said
so long to both my kids and families on the 10th.
From Denver, we flew to Oakland, California – Dan has a
grandson, Alistor, who is turning 1 on July 31.
This is our first time in meeting him and also David’s girlfriend,
Tori. We arrived in Oakland on Tuesday,
and had decided to spend 3 days in San Francisco, reserving the three day
weekend coming up.
Dan is a member of the Marine Reserve Association, which means
we can stay at their San Francisco hotel!
The facilities are top notch, and include a 3 hour Happy Hour (free
drinks) and very nice breakfast (both free) every day! Our room was spectacular! When we arrived, our room was upgraded to a
suite at no further charge. I’ve never
stayed in a nicer room! Very high
ceilings, 4 person dining table, leather chairs and couch, smaller easy chair
and light for reading in the corner. The
bed was on a raised platform. The
bathroom was very nice. I wanted to stay
there forever!
We enjoyed doing some touristy things in the city, took a jump
on/jump off tour, which introduced us to areas of the city that were new to
us. We spent some time on Fisherman’s
Wharf, took the ferry to and from Sausalito, and toured the cable car
museum. We rode the cable cars several
times. It’s an amazing system, and the
only working system of cable cars in the world!
After our three days, we moved to a hotel in Oakland close to
David and Tori’s apartment. After a
brief bit of awkwardness with Mr. Alistor (5 minutes), he decided I was
ok. He’s a happy, healthy little boy
with lots of personality! We did some “touristing”
with the young family both days we were there, had a couple of nice
dinners. Mostly, we just enjoyed that
little boy!
OK! Resuming the narrative about our sojourn in
Norfolk!
We returned to Norfolk on July 18, hoping that work on the
boat had progressed. We really hoped to
be able to put the boat in the water on the 19th, have the carpet
cleaned on the 20th, and move out of the hotel on the 21st. Well, not so fast, Dan and Gena!
The good news: the bottom paint (2 coats of primer and 2 of
hard paint) was complete. Looks
wonderful! The new swim platform and new
brackets were received from the manufacturer right after we got back. Then, the next week nothing really was done
to work on the swim platform. It was
beastly hot every day – Dan and I would go to the boat, climb the 10 foot
ladder, spend a couple of the ‘cooler’ morning hours doing tasks on the
boat. I mostly was the gofer and the
holder – Dan is the power house worker.
Then, the old swim platform was taken off – Great! Now the new brackets can be mounted! Not so fast!
It took several days for the guys to measure and drill the holes in the
brackets. Finally finally, after
spending all week and all weekend mostly twiddling our thumbs, they started
mounting the brackets on Monday. We
really really hope to move out of this hotel room on Friday, the 29th.
Before we can put the boat in the water, they have to be
finished with the swim platform. Plus,
the props for the boat were removed and reworked. They’re ready to be put back on. We also bought a new propeller for the aft
thruster – that has to be put on.
So, as of today, Monday, July 25, 2022, that’s where we
are. Living in a single room, where we
have cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. We go out every night for dinner. Friends Tony and Donna, on Tranquility Eh!,
were close by, and we picked them up and took them to dinner a couple of
nights. We visited friends here in
town. We went down to Chix Beach, one of
Dan’s old hangouts for dinner and people watching. Mostly, we’re doing what we can on the boat
until the heat gets to us, go back to the room for relaxing (Gena) and nap
(Dan), then out to dinner and early bed.
Cannot wait to get back to our home away from home, the Kittiwake.
Finally got the boat back in the water on July 30. Propellers reworked, bottom painted, new swim platform, repaired a bent portion of the rub rail, some fiber glass repair. Our first 'cruise' was about 100 yards to the Morningstar Marina!
June 13 thru 18, 2022 Atlantic Yacht Basin, Chesapeake, Virginia
Coming back to this marina feels a bit like coming home – we
spent several weeks here when we first bought the boat. At that time, we had them remove the old and
deteriorating radar arch and install the new tubular one. Having the tubular arch allows us to fold it
down (very easily) to get under the very low bridge at the western end of the
Erie Canal! We also had purchased newer
electronics, and they were installed there as well.
This time, our friends Donna and Tony from Tranquility Eh! had
arrived there before us. We really enjoy
our times with them.
There are things we like, and some we don’t like, about this
marina. The bathrooms and showers need
to be replaced – I didn’t even like to go in there! Other than that, we like the location, quite
close to grocery stores and restaurants – with our Ebikes, it is a piece of
cake!
Dan’s daughter, Annie and family came to visit – they live
about 25 minutes away. They insisted on
taking us to a very nice place for dinner!
Always good to see those folks.
The boys look so different – Eric is 20 years old! He looks like a man, instead of a boy. Jared is going to be 17 in July and a senior
in high school next year! Chuck’s mom
now lives with them, and she came along as well! On the 18th, we were moving to the
Navy Base on Little Creek for a few days.
Chuck drove the crew to us, and then picked them up in Little
Creek. They all enjoyed the ride
(mostly) – when we left the Elizabeth River and got into the Chesapeake Bay,
suddenly we were rolling pretty bad. I
wasn’t too happy, nor were the boys!
But, we got there safely, and now they know what it’s like traveling on
the boat!
June 18 thru 22, 2022
Little Creek Navy Base Marina
For Dan, being back on this base is very nostalgic. He came here early in his Navy career and
spent a few years in and out of here.
For the few days we were in the Navy’s marina, we relaxed some, Dan
washed the top side of the boat, and I cooked our meals on board. We had Chris, from the boat docked in front
of us, over to dinner. Later, he brought
his two very well-behaved dogs over for some doggy love. We miss having a dog, but on the other hand,
we are really glad to not have a dog while living this boating life!
Somehow, Dan had lost his military ID, so we had a bit of a
struggle getting it replaced – the office was, of course, not open all weekend,
then Monday was a holiday. On Tuesday,
turns out they are closed because of budget constraints!
We had a rental car on Wednesday, so took a drive over to the
ID office…. to see a line about a block long waiting outside the office! Having better ideas about how to spend our
time, we retreated until the following day – still a line, but not near as
long. Good grief!
On Wednesday, June 22, we drove the boat a short distance from
the Navy marina to Cobbs Marina. They
will have out boat for a while – some maintenance, some bottom work, various
things. They put the Kittiwake on their
travel lift and deposited her in their yard.
We had rented a hotel room for the next few days.
June 6 thru 8, 2022 Oriental, NC
Our marina in Oriental was both a marina and a hotel. Not much in this little town, BUT they had a
great store called “Provisions”. We
spent some time in here, browsing and buying.
They had a little bit of everything – I fell in love with some costume jewelry
and bought several pieces. We bought a
few things for the boat. They even had a
‘consignment’ area for boat stuff. Most
of the things looked like sailboat items.
They also had a book shelf, leave one, take one! I can usually find a book in those places,
even though I already have too many books!
Actually, there’s no such thing as ‘too many books’!
We were happy to see our friends Donna and Tony from
Tranquility Eh! Again. Our paths are
converging for the next few days.
Yay! Donna and I rode through the
neighborhood on the water – wow, some really beautiful old homes.
June 8 thru 9, 2022 Belhaven, NC
Belhaven became one of my absolute favorite stops on the Loop! The marina works hard to please their guests – there are big jars situated in several places, with pens and paper to receive suggestions. The dockmaster/manager couldn’t have been more helpful. They have beer and wine at the office for $3 (a result of several suggestions); they have games throughout the grounds (corn hole, bowling, several more); books; rocking chairs; a really nice pergoda with comfortable seating; FREE laundry!
June 9, 2022
Alligator River Anchorage
Well, we have had better anchorages! We put our anchor down at the mouth of the wide Alligator River where it opens to the Albemarle Sound. While the anchor did hold all night, we were rocking and rolling all night too – quite an adventure to get out of bed and go to the bathroom! I was glad when daylight came and we could continue on our journey!
Albemarle Sound Loop
There are a few small towns around this body of water who have
agreed to allow boaters to use their town docks (many with electricity and
water!) for 48 hours at no charge. The
goal, of course, is to get us boaters to visit their town and spend some
money.
June 9 – 10 Our first
stop was Columbia, NC. We were here in
2018 when we first bought the boat.
Therefore, we technically have ‘crossed our wake’!! Kind of a big deal! So, we dug out the gold looper flag we’ve
been saving for this occasion. I am
surprised at how that felt. Suddenly, we
knew that we had faced every test and trial that comes along the 6,000 or so
miles of the Loop – we know stuff! It
makes a difference – whenever we saw that someone had a gold flag, we knew that
we could ask them anything and they could help!
Now that’s us!
Sadly, Columbia has not fared well in recent years. There wasn’t much in town 4 years ago – now,
there are less places to eat, not really any shops either. There was a Mexican restaurant where we had a
decent lunch. There were two council
members who stopped by to welcome us, and they said that the pandemic really
hit the town hard. Some restaurants closed
their doors for good. There is an
interesting monument in town next to the County Hall. It is a tribute to the Confederate soldiers
who gave their lives for the cause.
There is one part of the monument was in remembrance to our devoted
slaves…..yikes.
June 10 – 11 Albemarle
Plantation
Now that place is really nice!
I don’t know how many acres were developed, but they have condos and
single homes in a beautiful setting.
There is a championship golf course and clay tennis courts, and two
restaurants. The restaurants were closed
for the one night we were there. They
also had free laundry!
June 11 – 12 Elizabeth
City
Four years ago, we used the city docks, but they were so rough
we didn’t want that experience again!
Our friend Sam, on his boat Tidbit, had contacted us to let us know he
was on the free dock at the Christian University in town. We had another nice dinner with Sam that
night. Elizabeth City has a bad
reputation for crime, but we didn’t see that while there. There were several restaurants to choose
from, plus there is an interesting-looking museum of the Albemarle Sound. Unfortunately, we weren’t there while it was
open.
June 12 – 13, the Dismal Swamp Canal! We had been looking forward to this
experience, a repeat of our visit four years ago. The canal was surveyed by George Washington! It used to be used by commercial traffic, but
in recent years a different canal, The Virginia Cut, has taken all that
traffic. We love that, since traversing
the Dismal is a very lovely and peaceful experience! There is one lock at the beginning and
another towards the end. They have to
use a lock system and only open it a few times a day – without the locks, the
canal water would all flow into the Albemarle Sound and dry up! We actually took two days to do the canal,
spending one night at the Visitor’s Center.
I was planning to fix dinner for us and our friend, Sam. However, another boat pulled up and I
expanded our dinner plans! We had a
delightful evening with Sam and the two men from the other boat. I love this boating life!
May 28 thru 31, 2022 South Harbour Marina, Southport, NC
We were excited to go to Southport, NC, because of a legendary
Harbor Host that lives there, Robert and Kay Creech. Apparently, their house has a big front porch
and looks out onto the Intracoastal Waterway.
Their boat, C-Note, is docked right by their house. We see postings in the Looper Forum and on
Facebook about the famous Porch Tales at the Creech house. They watch Nebo (software that tracks Looper
boats) and meet the boats at the dock to invite them to their house or to offer
rides for provisioning, etc. We’ve seen
pictures where 8 or 10 people all have gathered on the porch!
Well, unfortunately, we weren’t able to get into the marinas
that are right by the Creech home. South
Harbor is about a 6 mile drive, and not good biking terrain. So, the first and second day we were there,
we did boat chores, met and socialized with other Loopers and MTOA folks, but
didn’t hear from Robert. I was so
disappointed! On our last day there, I
decided not to be shy, and I called Robert.
He said he couldn’t come get us because after “Porch Tails” he couldn’t
drive us back. He suggested Uber, and to
come around 5 or 5:30. Around 1:45,
Robert called, said he’s like to come get us, show us around town, drop us off
to explore a bit on foot, after which we could walk back to his house. Done!
He came around 2:30, drove us around the pretty little town, then
dropped us off in the middle of downtown.
Dan and I stopped off at the Oyster Bar, had couple of
appetizers and a beer. From there, we
strolled along looking for ice cream! We
found some delicious ice cream at Southport Market, and sat in a pretty park to
enjoy it.
Continuing the stroll, we continued to the waterfront. On our way to the Creech’s we were ‘waylaid’
by the town Lion’s Club who were selling raffle tickets for a bass boat. I was of the opinion that we have as much
boat as we can handle! But, Dan and
those guys got into talking about our journey, as we often do! We bought a ticket, and spent a few minutes
on our continued walk discussing what we’d do with the boat should we win the
raffle!
That evening at the Creech’s we had the whole porch and the
Creeches to ourselves! What gracious
hosts they were. We stayed until the sun
started going down, when Kay, who had done no drinking, was comfortable driving
us back to the marina before dark!
After Southport, we had planned to anchor out for two nights
at two different anchorages. We had a
perfect cruising day and arrived near the first planned stop very early in the
day. We decided to cruise on to the next
stop, another 40 miles up the ICW.
May 31 – June 1, 2022
Mile Hammock anchorage, near Marine Base Camp LeJeune.
We arrived at around 5:30 after a long cruising day. The cruise wasn’t stressful, just longer than
we usually cruise in one day. We had
left Southport around 9:00, so we were cruising 8-1/2 hours. There was one boat in the anchorage, but
there is room for many boats. We had a
little problem getting the anchor to grab – had to pull it up once and reset
it. But, it set well, and we had no
concerns about the spot.
While I was fixing dinner, three other boats pulled in. At least two of them had Looper flags, but
neither of them appeared on Nebo.
Interesting!
We had a lovely evening, turned in early, about 9:30. I got up around 7:30 – two of the boats were
long gone. By the time we had coffee,
the other two boats had left. We took
our time, had breakfast, then got ready to go.
Dan handles the setting and pulling of the anchor. Once we started getting the chain onto the
boat we found they chain caked with fine black mud! Yuck.
Dan used the washdown pump on the bow to clean as much off as
possible. Once the anchor is out of the
water, I start to slowly exit the anchoring spot.
Great anchorage – always nice to find the boat is in the same
spot in the morning as when we went to bed!
On June 1, we headed to Beaufort, NC (pronounced BOfort in
North Carolina!). Since we had done two
days’ travel in one day, I called the marina to see if we can get in one day
early (we can).
June 1 through 4, 2002
Beaufort City Docks Marina
On our way to Beaufort, about a 44 mile cruise (so 5-6 hours),
we enjoyed seeing the homes along the waterway.
The ICW at this point is very close to the ocean. On our right as we travel north are barrier
islands.
One thing interesting thing we saw was 14 paratroopers coming
down – we never saw the plane that dropped them! As Dan was a jumper himself, he was
interested to see two boats with marines sitting in the waterway – waiting in
case any jumper came down in the water.
Fun blast from the past for Dan!
We enjoyed our stay in Beaufort, NC. There
were several other Looper boats there:
Silver Linings, Blessings, Tranquility Eh!, The Wright Place. We did
some socializing, including dinner , and Tranquility Eh! In stops after
Beaufort.
Beaufort had an interesting museum about Blackbeard, the
pirate. His ship has been discovered
where it sank, and many artifacts are being brought out and recovered. There was also a facility where volunteers
actually build boats. You can stand on a
higher level in the building to observe their activities. If we lived there, I imagine Dan would enjoy
some of that work.
May 26, 2022 Osprey Marina
We pulled in here for one night. There isn’t anything nearby, but the marina
is very nice. The dockhands were great –
I love it when they wait for my instructions on where to place the lines!
I always check on Nebo to see if there are other Loopers in
the marina. This time – bonanza! Jim and Peg Healy are here on their boat,
Sanctuary. We had met them at other
looper events. Jim is famous for his
generously shared knowledge on all things looping, especially anything to do
with electrical. He is an engineer, and
he does a terrific job of describing electrical issues and solutions for
non-engineers. I’ve always been amazed
at the amount of time and the patience he shows on both the AGLCA and MTOA
forums with questions I’m sure he has handled many times.
Once we knew he was in the marina, I looked him up, expressed
my gratitude for his generous help, and offered to take him and Peg out to
dinner. There is one nice Italian
restaurant who will come to the marina to take boaters there and back. Cool.
I called Scatori’s, and, unfortunately, they don’t have the personnel to
ferry boaters back and forth. But, we
can order and they will deliver!
After I had collected Peg, Jim, Dan, and my picks from the
menu, here come three other Looper boats into the marina! After greeting each of them, I told them
about our ordering from Scatori’s in case they want to do the same. Two of the boats jumped right in. There are two picnic tables right by the docks
– we had a very nice time eating the food from Scatori’s. I think it surprised and touched Jim for us
to express our gratitude in that manner.
Next morning, May 27, we left Osprey, intending to anchor out
for the night. However, we weren’t too
excited about the looks of the two anchorages available, plus some storms were
moving in. So, as we cruised up the
channel, I started calling marinas to see about a one-night stay. About 2:30, as we were passing Cricket
Marina, I called them. The woman on the
phone said that, yes, they have a spot for us, but we would need to be there by
3:00. No problem!
Our next marina is South Harbour Marina in Southport, NC. We will be there through the Memorial Day
weekend – no need to get out there with all the boats sure to be speeding
around.
