Day Five - Thursday, 22 November - Thanksgiving Day

First and most important, we hope each of you had a pleasant Thanksgiving Day surrounded by family and friends. We are indeed thankful for the kindness, hospitality and friendship of Allan and Marily DeWall who were our host and hostess for our unique Thanksgiving Day feast. Allan and Marily are cruisers who have traveled many sea miles on the ICW and in the Bahamas.

Yesterday, we were enthralled by the peacefulness of Chesapeake Bay and a warm sunny "Indian Summer" day. By contrast, today we were thrashed by the same Bay in a completely different mood. Nevertheless we were thankful. Although it was another mild day, the wind was as high as 40 knots on our nose piling water up into 3-4 foot waves. We were sliding down into the troughs at 7 or more knots then climbing up the slope of the next wave at less than 3. Water was splashing over the dodger and bimini and we were thankful for a sturdy boat, good canvas and a strong motor which all worked hard to keep us bashing through the weather.

Even though the fuel and fuel tanks were cleaned and polished just before the start of the trip, the turbulence stirred up every bit of junk left in the fuel tanks. Both Racor fuel filters were clogged to the point that the engine stopped and Joe had the pleasure of replacing both filters while Windreka bounced and pitched and yawed in the sea. But we were thankful that our faithful engine turned over and started again after an hours pause.

By 2:45 PM, we reached Thimble Shoal Light and it was clear we were not going to be able to get up the James River to Deep Creek and the Hampton Yacht and Country Club where we had a slip reserved courtesy of Allan DeWall. Instead we opted for the Bluewater Yachting Center near Fort Monroe in Hampton, where Allan picked us up in time for Thanksgiving dinner at his house. We tied up at the dock at 5:00 PM.

It's now after midnight and the wind is still howling outside. Windreka is warm and comfortable inside, but is bouncing at the dock in the wind. We are thankful we are not still out on the Bay and we intend to remain docked at this marina until the wind subsides. On Friday, we'll tend to the boat and perhaps take a side trip to the Maritime Museum. We plan to depart on Saturday and head down the Elizabeth River to the entrance to the ICW. The weather is turning colder again and we need to get further South.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner...thank you Allan and Marily!