We left Thursday Oct 20 from Mill Creek off Great Wicimico River bound for Put in Creek off the East River on Mobjack Bay.  This anchorage was not as pleasant as the previous one in Mill Creek as it was wide open at the intersection of Put in Creek and East River.  The wind blew across the open area causing waves and moving Island Time around.  We had a good sail with 20-25 knot winds from the north while we were heading south.

As with all the anchorages we stayed in the Chesapeake Bay, you travel at least 7 miles from the bay to the anchorage which takes about an hour plus so it seems that you will never get to anchor.  Fridays dawned gray and rainy, so we decided to stay put at Put in Creek and work on boat projects.  I finally started few long planned projects.

Saturday Oct 22 we left Put in Creek for Chisom Creek, about 20 miles south across Mobjack Bay and south of the York River to minimize our travels on Sunday.  We anchored at the mouth of the creek were it was very busy with lots of traffic by weekend fishermen.  A few storms passed by as evidenced by the dark clouds passing west of us and the winds.  Fortunately, the storms were over by nightfall.

We left early on Sunday Oct 23 for Norfolk, Va which was about 15 miles south of us.  Norfolk is at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and marks the beginning of the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW).  As we had our watermaker, which we purchased at the Annapolis Boat show, shipped to the Village Marine Tec store in Portsmith, Va and wanted to pick it up an Monday, so we reserved a slip at a marina in Portsmith.  It was only $0.85/ft which is the cheapest rate we ever stayed.

 Once we arrived at the Thimble Shoal lighthouse at the edge of the main shipping channel into Portsmith, we heard a Navy ship on the radio stating its intention to anchor off the channel.  I think it was really saying “I’m coming through, get out of my way”.

As we progressed through the harbor towards the marina, we saw more battleship grey than anywhere else we have been.  There were Navy ships of all descriptions from aircraft carriers to submarines berthed along the harbor.  The Norfolk/Portsmith area is one of the largest naval bases in the USA with ship building center at Newport News and major repare facilities in Portsmith.  Your tax dollars at work!!!

The marina is right in the middle of the commercial shipping port with containers everywhere.  It is quite well kept with very clean restrooms and maintained grounds.  It is Scott’s Creek Marina and even has free washer/dryers.  Free is good.

Monday, Oct 24, we got a taxi to Village Marine Tec to pick up our watermaker.  The office manager who we met at Annapolis, arrived at the office at the same time we did and offered to drive us back to the marina, saving the $12.00 cab fare.  We can’t say enough good things about Village Marine Tec.  They have been great to deal with this purchase.  I spent the afternoon planning the installation of the watermaker.  Its going to be a tight fit as is anything else on the boat.

The rest of Monday was very windy and rainy, so we stayed in the boat.  On Tuesday, Oct 25, we went grocery shopping and Genie did the laundry while I finally changed the shaft seal on the pump for the head and cleaned the bilge.

It has been cold and damp.  We actually used the heater on Island Time to keep warm for the first time. Fortunately, Hurricane Wilma passed out to sea east of us. We heard that Vermont is going to feel the effects of Wilma along with the low that gave us rain and wind to form a Nor’easter going up the coast.  Based on the weather reports we heard, we are happy to be in the marina.