Tomorrow we are "planing" to leave, heading North. Things have looked good for Tuesday for several days, that is, until about 10 minutes ago (3:00PM) when the forecast for tonight and tomorrow night significantly improved while that for tomorrow during the day went to the "dark side". Surprise!
Our goal whenever we can achieve it, is the Tides INN or Lodge on Carter Creek off the Rappahannock River.
The Rappahannock is a large river, just North of the Piankatank River. The two rivers share Sting Ray point the location of another popular crusing destination, Deltaville. On the North the Rappahannock is defined by Windmill Point.
The Tides Inn has been a favorite destination for us since we first cameup to the Chesapeake 20 years ago. Although, as Kay pointed out to the crew of the KaiLani, we have never been there without a major breakdown costing lots of the other stuff sailboats run on besides wind.
Today's high point was a trip into Cape Charles via gas powered golf cart. This time piloted by Capn' Kay doing a pretty fair imitation of Danica Patrick. I think this a likely prototype for the General Motors car of the future. Small, great gas milage, plenty of ventilation and, during the Winter, Solar Heat.
Tides Lodge Marina
Irvington, VA, VA
Tuesday, June 23
Latitude 37 39.84 N
Longitude 76 26.04 W
This morning I woke up at 6:00 and checked the weather. Fifteen knots and 3 foot waves on our nose all day. Forget that and went back to bed. At 8:00 I checked it again. Winds at 5 knots, waves less than 1 foot. After marveling at how the sea had so quickly accommodated our plans, the requisite fire drill ensued and a hour an a half later we were on our way. The only problem being that the computer run GPS was not working for the first time and for seemingly no reason at all. Like most Mac computers, mine is not generous in the number of USB inputs it has available. Consequently the GPS detector and the WiFi antenna use the same connection at different times. In port: WiFi; On the move:GPS. After giving up and leaving the slip, I figured out the problem. But only after we had gotten through the "tricky" part where I really needed the GPS. (The WiFi software had been overcome with greed and was refusing to yield the USB connection port to the GPS.) After a "Fatherly" Talk the WiFi software agreed to share.
The trip to the Tides Inn was long and tiring but uneventful, other than almost being run down my a huge ship. Traveling from Cape Charles to the Rappahannock you obliquely cross the big ship channel. From the start we knew there was a large ship in it, traveling up the Bay in our direction. We were both going North. Our bearing to the ship was not constant. (Good, because otherwise the ship, the Whilhelmis (?), and the Spindrift would share the same point in Space-time at some point in the future.) I was pretty sure we would beat it but was gladly willing to yield the honor to the ship. I went below to determine our exact position, relative to the channel, and also activated the Radar to find the distance to the approaching ship. The Radar, on at the 16 mile range, showed no ship. So I started reducing the range. But before I could get down to "Zero", Kay, from above, said "What would you like me to do now?" Popping my head up and looking outside there she was. The oblique angle had fooled me and I thought a skyscraper was bearing down on top of us. Kay altered our course so we cleared her by a good 200 yards. sounds good but it didn't feel good as this was less than the length of the ship.
The Tides Inn is where we stayed last summer and where I had the memorable "Tuna" Dinner reported earlier. It is the "fancy" place with three restaurants, a gorgeous pool and all the amenities one woul expect of a very high class hotel. Its sister establishment, across the creek from it, the Tides Lodge, used to be the place to go for boaters. Ample slips, a great restaurant called the Barnicle, Salt Water pool and more. Now, today, it is pretty much just the Salt Water pool and us. The four other boats here are not occupied. Lots of privacy.
Tides Lodge Marina
Irvington, VA, VA
Wednesday, June 24
If disasters were fishes, last night was a keeper. We had taken the dogs for their good night walk. Turned off the TV, turned on the Air Conditioner and settled down for a much desired sleep, when POP.
Carl: "What was that?"At that point our hero, that would be me, felt the metal sink above the AC and fould it much to hot to touch.
Time for a Fire Drill (This time for real). I doused the AC, Kay, all three dogs and everything else in sight with the fire extibguisher. At which point the only thing left "burning" was a slightly white covered Kay. So where are we? Up the proverbial creek without a paddle? Don't know yet. I met the dock master, Stormy, when he arrived at 7:45 this morning and he contacted Rappahannock Yachts for us. They remembered us well. As you can appreciate, that is both very good news and a very bad sign. In this case the Good News wins and I await the mechanic as I write this.
Tides Lodge Marina
Irvington, VA, VA
Wednesday, June 24
Later the Same Day
Sad to say but our air conditioner has cooled its last molecule. The electrical system has been flambed, resembling overcooked Lasagna. So we await the answer to the question, "can a Air Conditioner be found that fits in a space custom made for another?". And, if so, when? Sadly the maker of ours, of recent fond memory, is extinct.
Boat Name (heard on the radio): Murphy's Law