August 8, 2022- cruise to Olverson's Marina in Lottsburg, Kittiwake's winter home

 We cruised the two hours to Olverson's Lodge Creek Marina on August 8.  This is what feels like our home marina.  We bought Kittiwake there in the Fall of 2017, spent a few weeks getting some things done, adding our own dishes, linens, other things that make it our home away from home.  We also winterized all the water lines, since she would be sitting in the water all winter.  They do get some cold weather, but usually it is only short lived, a few days. 

I left Dan working on the boat and traveled to San Diego to visit with a dear friend, Laura Gogola, who had Stage 4 cancer.  She had moved there from Michigan to be near her daughter.  I'm so happy I had the opportunity to make that visit - Laura passed away just a few weeks later.

My return trip from San Diego to Reagan Airport in D.C. was interrupted in Denver, when my connecting flight was cancelled.  That's ok, I know someone who lives in the area, my sister!  Unfortunately, she was not at home, but my brother in law was there and welcomed me.

Dan and I rented a car and traveled home to arrive before Labor Day.  We had a big outdoor dinner for my whole Michigan family on Labor Day.  We do enjoy traveling, but it's always good to come home, too!

Later that month, my good friend, Peggy, and I traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan for an event called "Art Prize".  Art work is displayed across the city, mostly downtown, from people all over the globe.  Amazing works!

The rest of the Fall was spent at home, nesting, reading, planning our next cruising season!

August 7 to 8, Reedville, Virginia

 After a two hour cruise, we arrived in Reedville, Virginia, on Virginia's "Northern Neck".  We were able to dock at Crazy Crab, a very nice restaurant.  We had a nice dinner, had the opportunity to visit with the owner.  They are now only open three days a week.  According to the owner, he is doing better financially only being open three days a week, than when he was open for seven days!

The town has some beautiful old homes, and a very good ice cream place,  Chitterchats.  Of course, we had to sample the ice cream!

August 6 to 7, Tangier Island

 We first visited Tangier Island on our initial cruising time, 2019.  A truly unique place with interesting people and history.  Mr. Parks was the owner and operator of the 'marina'.  Charming man, in his late 80's at the time.  It turned out to be a sad occasion for us, because our beloved American bulldog, Max, had had an almost drowning event in Crisfield, Maryland before we came to Tangier Island.  We had to leave Tangier in a hurry to get him back to Crisfield and to a veterinary hospital, where he died a few days later.

Anyway, this time at Tangier Island was a totally different experience.  Mr. Parks, sadly, had died the previous year.  Apparently a younger relative is running the marina now, but there was only a box where you are to place your dock fee.  The docks are in terrible shape.  There was very few spots where our boat could fit, and someone on a small fishing boat had blocked access to the best spot.  We opted for a shaky dock, where we had to pull in bow first - makes it difficult to get on and off the boat.  Electrical connection seemed to work.

The island has not been prospering in recent years.  I'm sure Covid had a huge toll.  The one grocery store was closed.  The two restaurants near the docks were closed.  We did go to the more 'fast food' place and had a bite to eat and some ice cream.  We biked around the main part of town, but, having seen it all the last time, we decided we didn't need to spend any more time there.  If we come back, we will probably not bring the boat, but leave it in the very nice marina in Crisfield and ferry over to the island.

I feel for the folks that live there, some for generations.  Until they started allowing tourists to come, only a few decades ago, the livelihood of the residents was fishing.  The island is literally washing away, losing land every year.  It may not be here at all in 50 years.  

From Tangier Island, we cruised 3 hours to Reedville, Va. on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, on Virginia's 'Northern Neck'. 

August 4 to 6, Onancock, Va.

 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.

August 3 - 4, Cape Charles, Virginia

 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!).

June 20 thru end July, Norfolk and trip by air to Colorado and Oakland

From July 4 thru end of July….Family time! Also, more time at Cobb’s  Marina with boat on the hard.

(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 8^th to celebrate their 50^th 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 10^th.

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 19^th, have the carpet cleaned on the 20^th, and move out of the hotel on the 21^st.  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 29^th. 

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!

 

Atlantic Yacht Basin thru Cobbs Marina, Little Creek, Va 6/13 - 6/20/2022

 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 18^th, 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.