Ahoy from Master Plan! We made it to Virginia today - one more state closer to the great state of Rhode Island! It was beautiful today and we chartered new territory on the ICW as we took the Virginia Cut, which we had not taken on the way down . . . and we really enjoyed it. We pulled up the anchor just south of the Alligator River at about 7:40 a.m. this morning and started working our way North. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day. We saw another tug and barge today in Coinjock, NC - but it was a really LONG barge - it was actually two barges tied together . . .
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| Captain Paul at the helm - you can see the barge coming by us. |
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| If you look in the middle, you can see it is two barges tied together. |
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| And there it goes by - pretty cool. |
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We also saw a lot of wildlife today -
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| An Osprey watches over its nest on a channel marker. There were Osprey nests on almost every marker. As Paul says, "don't let anyone tell you that Osprey are endangered . . ." We saw several today! |
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| A turtle suns itself on a log along the river. |
We also saw something on the ICW that I had never seen before along the ICW - a water skier! He had a wet suit on and was really good - jumping waves and cranking along . . .
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| I was at the helm and snapped this shot quickly . . . |
We also went "by" several bridges today. Using the word "by" means that we had to ask for several to be opened. Some bridges open on demand, but many open on the hour and the half hour only; some only open on the hour - so you need to be strategic when you're timing out the bridges.
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| North Landing Bridge - we caught the 4pm Opening - it was actually two pieces of bridge that swing open. |
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| Looking back at the open bridge - two sailboats were behind us. We actually approached the bridge last and the two sailboats were waiting, but since we move faster than they do, there was a very cordial radio exchange among all of us and they let us get up in front, as to pass them would have been inevitable once we went through the bridge. |
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| Centerville Turnpike Bridge - this bridge opens on the hour and half hour during the week, but since it was a Sunday, it opened on demand. This was another swing bridge. |
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| Looking back - and always a nice radio exchange - "Thanks for the opening!" |
We arrived to the marina - Atlantic Yacht Basin - at about 5pm after traveling 90 miles. It was LOVELY - nice warm sun and a light breeze. We "fed the bitch," we pumped her out, and settled into our slip. Paul changed the oil for the generator, I did some laundry, and we both took showers - very productive! We're now going to walk to the grocery store and get a few things, then it's back to the boat to cook some dinner and relax.
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| Another beautiful sunset over the Great Bridge taken from Master Plan's stern. I just love the lighting at this time of day - especially on the water - it never gets old. |
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The weather tomorrow is looking rather crappy. Because of that, our plan is to have a very short day - we have three bridges and a lock we have to get to in the next 6 miles - then we'll head to Mile 0 - Norfolk, VA - grab a slip there, and wait out the weather. Then we will "mad dog" it up the Chesapeake and go as far as we can as fast as we can. We'll keep you posted!!
Thanks for following along and for your support and friendship - lots of love from MP - Jen & Paul
Today's Quote:
Love is the river of life in the world. - Henry Ward Beecher
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