Last night we determined that the electric motor didn’t work on the inflatable dinghy so we (Jeff) had to row to shore. There was a short period with a fast moving current which took some extra muscle
It was super foggy in the morning on our way to the marina.
We will be away from the new boat for a bit while we work out the dinghy situation. I’m heading back to KC and LOTO while Jeff heads up to Richmond to retrieve the dinghy motor for our new yet to be delivered dinghy.
Today we rented a car and drove back to Charleston to retrieve our car since we will be in Beaufort for a bit. Once we returned to Beaufort, I took a short stroll around the Cypress wetlands. It was pretty empty at the time – both birds and humans were in short supply. I did spy one lone alligator resting among the green swampy water.
Tonight we pulled out the inflatable dinghy to make sure it works. Well, it didn’t. The electric motor didn’t start at all so we are on to plan B. This involves buying a new dinghy and dinghy davits. The inflatable is just not practical in the Bahamas.
We headed out in the am to try to make the bridge opening prior to the closing at 3:30. However the current was pretty strong so we didn’t make it until it opened back up at 7:00.
Because we got there so late we just docked right in front of the gas dock. We had to fill up in the morning so it worked out well.
Tomorrow we will go for a short road trip back to Charleston.
We bought a new boat – an Island Packet 380! We had a slight delay in picking her up. It seems baby Arthur wanted to come a little late – 9/19/26 to be exact – so I stayed with the Boulder crowd for a few days 🙂
After Boulder, we met in Richmond and drove to Charleston to start our 2026 Bahama voyage. We left on 9/28 and immediately hit a fast moving current after leaving Safe Harbor Marina.
After that I took the helm and we landed at Church Creek for the night. Our new IP will take some getting used to after cruising with Rita for three years!
Tomorrow onto Beaufort!
Our trip is over and we’re back at Regent Point Marina in Topping VA. Our week will be filled with getting the boat cleaned up and ready for sale.
Rita has been an awesome boat and we will both be missing her. We had three great sailing years and she never let us down.
Today was bittersweet – our last sailing with Rita. We left Hampton at 5:30 am and had another easy day of motor sailing. Since the auto pilot was not functioning properly Jeff and I took 2 hour shifts at the helm.
We reached regent Point about 2:00.
Our trip this morning was fairly short to Hampton Virginia (about 10 miles) as we moved closer to the Chesapeake entrance. The plan is to sail most of tomorrow to the Rappahanack.
Saw several large boats including this three masted schooner.
Our lunch today was at the local marina and we probably will not be returning there any time soon. Mostly a lazy day getting ready for our final sailing day with Rita. So sad!
Our Lockmaster Tammy was super nice as we navigated through the South Mill lock for the first time. She is also the bridge tender, painter, gardener, mechanic – basically takes care of everything!
Tammy also opened the South Mill bridge for us and notified the Lockmaster on the North end that we would be coming through.
We saw exactly one other boat the entire time in the Great Dismal Swamp canal.
The Lockmaster on the northern end was super nice too. Welcomed us to his lock and let us know it was shallow once we went through. He was right! We hit about 2.5 feet and dragged some mud with us for a bit.
We then married up with our normal ICW route and came through the railroad bridge and the sliding bridge
We anchored in Norfolk for the evening and enjoyed watching some small sailboats nearby.
I definitely wanted to go through the Great Dismal Swamp on the way home and it was a good thing I did. The way we normally go was having mechanical issues with the bridge
Speaking of bridges – we went through several bridges today
We motored past Elizabeth City but it does look very welcoming … we may have to stop here next time.
We went through a very narrow cut to get to the lock.
We left our anchorage fairly early and said good bye to our buddy boaters who were headed for Oriental. We bypassed Oriental since we would get there at 9:00 am.
It was an easy motoring day – but not enough wind for sailing.
The Pungo River / Alligator River canal is long and narrow. We did have a large barge that passed us going South.
That was the most excitement of the day. Other than that, just marshes, birds and a pretty mundane channel.
