So gentle reader, we left Newport on a beautiful December morning and enjoyed a warm balmy sail down the coast to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Are you kidding?!! It is December in the North Atlantic! It was COLD and blowing like STINK! We hunkered under blankets on watch and buried ourselves under comforters down below. We even resorted to turning on the heater from time to time. But, it was a fast sail and everything worked as it should and we rarely had to actually go outside in the weather to do anything. The order of the day was cocoa and Poptarts for breakfast, chili or stew for lunch and lasagna for dinner. The rest of the time was spent staring at the cold or sleeping. Ah the life of a cruising sailor!

We settled down at the Waterside Marina right in the heart of downtown Norfolk. We opted to stay here for a few months rather than go to Beaufort since the temps are very similar, but more importantly we have walking access to most everything we need and the train station is a 15 minute walk away. Plus Nancy’s sister Patty lives in town so we can get together with her more often. There is a waterfront trail that goes for ten miles and we are up to walking six miles a day now. The restaurant Saltine, which is across the street has $5 cocktails and $.75 oysters for happy hour along with fun people to converse with. What more can a guy need?

We are located across the Elizabeth River from the Portsmouth shipyard so we get to watch all types of activities. Right now there is a small aircraft carrier in a floating dry dock being serviced alongside a destroyer in the same predicament. Tugs go up and down the river and transient cruisers come and go from the marina. This morning several large tugs moved the carrier Harry S Truman up to the Naval base from the shipyard. It was quite a sight. 1095′ of massive ship made the turn right in front of our tiny home. The photos don’t do it justice.

Tomorrow we’e getting on the train and going home to Des Moines for the holidays. It’s been a few years since we’ve spent Christmas with mom and dad, so we’re looking forward to the whole drama-laden, I mean pleasant, scene. (Have you seen “Home for the Holidays”?) I’m also going to Iowa City to have my esophagus worked on. Just a precautionary thing, but not really what I wanted for a Christmas gift. Then we’re off to Charleston, SC to see our cruising friends Roy and Amymarie and their twins Roy jr and Phil. The boys are just 2 now, and we hope to get in trouble with them.

In the meantime, we have been doing little chores around the boat. I revarnished the trim and added some nice cherry edging to the linen cabinet doorframe in the forward shower, rebedded some things on deck and generally made myself annoying. Nancy has been painting regularly and her work is quite amazing! We’ll be back sometime in January then off to Colorado for some skiing in February. Stay tuned, drop us a line, come see us in Norfolk, and enjoy your Holidays.

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