February 20, 2008

Being in a marina in the middle of a Navy base has its drawbacks. Not being able to sleep-in in the mornings because you have reveille at 0800 every morning, listening to the intercoms aboard the ships that are docked only about 200 yards away. These are only a couple of drawbacks. There are some really good reasons that it’s an ok place. Every morning you wake up and hear the national anthem and you always know when it’s sundown (taps). Those are only a couple of the good reasons that we like it here. We have really started to get acquainted with the area. We have met some really nice people, we have found some good restaurants around, and we have scouted out and found numerous services for the boat: i.e., electronic techs, boat yards, chandleries, divers, etc.

The weather has been a little different than we are used to…the other morning we woke up to SNOW on the docks. Now that’s different from Long Beach!! There was a little bit of ice on the docks but all in all we can only mark it down to something new and exciting. The water is around 48 degrees and the air is somewhere between 30 and 70, really not that bad because we are getting used to it (we don’t have a choice).

This past week we decided to take a drive up to Jamestown, VA. It’s only about 30 miles northwest of where we are, and we thought that we should see the 1st permanent settlement in America. The history on it goes back into the 1500’s and at one time was the center of the tobacco growing in North America. It certainly is a beautiful area. We were surprised to learn that the first Jamestown was actually on an island in the James River. The area is very heavily forested with a lot of under growth. It’s a very, very pretty spot with the water and marshes everywhere. We’ll bet that in the summer when everything is green and lush that it’s gorgeous.

February 2008

It’s 2008 already and we are starting our third year of cruising. We can’t believe it!!
We had a wonderful holiday season with our kids and grandkids. While in California we were able to see a lot of our friends that we don’t get to see all the time. Unfortunately, though, we weren’t able to see everyone…hopefully the next time we can. It was great but being gone from home for 2 ½ months was too long. We really got to the point of missing our lifestyle and being on our own.

Right now we are in Norfolk, Virginia in a marina so that we can do some repairs and general maintenance. We need to replace some of our electronics, repaint the bottom of the boat, do some painting and varnishing, and just generally spruce things up.
One thing that we are learning is why everyone moves to CA. It’s cold back here. Norfolk has been having an unusually cold winter so far and boy are we learning how to stay warm. We are pretty happy with the area that we have the boat in right now. It’s right next to a very large Navy Amphibious Base. There is a lot of activity all the time. It’s also within walking distance of markets, marine services of all kinds and restaurants. All in all, a pretty good place for us to be for what we need to do. It’s also at the very beginning of the Chesapeake Bay so we won’t have a lot of traveling to do later this year to get out of the hurricane zone.

So far since we’ve been back we have done a few small projects and a lot of running around trying to get food and supplies on board. Next week we will be starting more of the serious chores but will also leave some time for sightseeing and just poking around to see the area.
Hopefully you will find this blog easy to use, but don’t forget that we still like to get personal emails and phone calls.

Take care and please stay in touch.