June 27, 2014 Adi's Blog

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately.  I have been very busy, as you will see below.

 OK, please don't judge me...this might be me... having trouble again with toilet paper. I just can't resist.  Paper is one of my favorite things. I've also had more trouble with the "don't eat people food " rule.  While the Captain and first mate were out to dinner, I jumped up onto the refrigerator, got into a basket and found a raw baking potato wrapped in plastic... I dragged it to the floor and ate through the plastic, then ate the end of the potato.  You'll remember I had the same problem with a banana some months ago. There was some concern, after a google search, that I might die, as raw potatoes can be toxic.  But...alas I'm alive and well.

 This is me, feeling some shame for my rule-breaking.  I am snuggled up to one of my favorite pillows which was given to me by my aunt Jan (from Panacea).  This pillow is a good reminder to follow the captain's rules. Still wondering:  I'm the Admiral... why don't I make the rules??

 Despite my occasional questionable behavior, I'm told I am a perfectly wonderful cat.  I even help the first mate drive the boat.  Not many cats can say that.

I'm also very good at resting.  This is me lounging with my favorite toy:  a wire tie.  I'm not hard to please.

June 27, 2014 Ridge, MD

Winds and seas calmed down today so at 6:30 AM we left Crisfield and headed out into the Bay heading west north of Smith Island through Kedges Straits past Solomon's Lump Light and over to the mouth of the Potomac River. The Potomac is about 10 miles wide where it meets the Chesapeake. We traveled a short distance up the rivers north shore to Smith Creek and up to Ridge, MD a beautiful  little place.

June 24, 2014 Crabs

Crab fishing is a big part of the Crisfield economy. Fishing boats, processing plants and restaurants.

June 23, 2014 Crisfield, MD

Today we walked to the J. Millard Tawes Historical Museum here in Crisfield. It presents a history of the town which centers around the waterfront and the fishing industry.

June 22, 2014 Crisfield, MD

We left Onancock at 7:00 AM headed to Crisfield, MD. It was a easy trip with 1 to 2 foot waves and wind at 5-10 mph. Lois and the Adi cat enjoyed the trip. Crisfield is an out of the way fishing village on the eastern shore. INA and our buddy boat, R Island, pulled into some nice floating docks at Somer Marina.

June 21, 2014 Onancock Walk About

Went to the farmers market this morning and bought fresh vegetables and had a fresh baked cinnamon roll from the local bakery. Went back to the boat and then walked the town visiting the Ker Mansion, some folks had it made in 1810. Steak for dinner on the boat.

June 20, 2014 Bus trip to Cape Charles.

I saw a bus schedule in the marina office and we decided to take a 30 mile trip to Cape Charles a port we didn't stop at when we left Norfolk. What an adventure! We stopped at every grocery store, housing project, welfare office and medical center and met some very nice people. It took 2 hours each way; I probably won't be allow to plan anything for a while. We had lunch in Cape Charles and walked around. A tall ship was in port and it was interesting to look at and talk to the crew.

                                                           

June 19, 2014 Onancock

Today we left Deltaville and traveled 35 miles across Chesapeake Bay to the eastern shore and the little town of Onancock, VA. The town is located 4.5 miles up Onancock Creek off the bay. Like other towns we have recently visited, Onancock is rich in history and historical buildings. We walked the town and stopped at the Blarney Stone Pub for beer and dinner. After dinner we hurried back to the boat as severe thunder storms were headed our way.

June 16, 2014 Bingo

This evening we borrowed the marina courtesy car, a 1980's Buick Roadmaster station wagon, with friends Gerry and Judy and drove a few miles to the fire station to play bingo. It was a lot of fun but not necessarily relaxing. Those numbers come at you pretty FAST. We had fun and got to bed long after our normal time.

June 15, 2014 Father's Day

Another beautiful day. We spent the morning site seeing in the rental car. This part of Virginia is a rural treasure. We got back to Deltaville after lunch and got ready for a pot luck BBQ with other boaters in the marina.

June 14, 2014 Urbanna

We woke up to a beautiful spring like day and loaded into the rental car with our friends from "R Island". We drove through the countryside to the little port town of Urbanna. Urbanna claims to be the 2nd oldest port in America. What a cute small town! We went to a farmers market and talked to high school girls raising money for a charity on Main Street. All four of us decided we could live here. Beautiful countryside, friendly people and several marinas. We had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant named "Something Different", 96% on Urbanspoon.

June 13, 2014 Williamsburg

This morning we rented a car and drove to Colonial Williamsburg to view life as it was in early America. We walked around town had lunch and then got into the car just before a huge thunderstorm hit that dumped an inch of rain in about an hour. We drove to Yorktown to see it and then back to Deltaville.

June 12, 2014 Deltaville

We woke up this morning in Hampton to find dense fog. We had planned on leaving at 6:00 AM to go 54 miles to get to Deltaville before some afternoon weather but the fog held us up until 8:00. We left with 1-2 mile visibility with times down to a 1/2 mile. With radar running we headed down the Norfolk ship channel for a few miles turning north up Chesapeake Bay about 5 miles off the western shore. About an hour out an approaching thunder storm caught up with us causing a rough ride and rain all the way to Deltaville. We will spend a week in Deltaville.

June 11, 2014 Hampton

Today we walked around Hampton and then after a great lunch at a little sandwich shop we went to an IMAX theater in the Virginia Air and Space Museum. The IMAX had a film about D-Day. We then headed back to the boat as the weather was changing and rain was on the way. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the boat, Lois painting and me planning our travels.

 

June 10, 2014 Norfolk to Hampton

Today we left Atlantic Yacht Basin and headed down the Elizabeth River to Norfolk and out into Chesapeake Bay. Our first stop was up the Hampton River to the historic town of Hampton.

June 7, 2014

Well today we spent the day doing maintaince on INA. Not fun but it has to be done. We stuck our head out of the engine room for a few minutes and saw these two beautiful old boats go past us. We are still at Atlantic Yacht Basin and will be here another few days.

June 6, 2014 Kitty Hawk

Today we traveled by car south to the Outer Banks, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills the site of the Wright Brothers historic first flight. On December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright flew four flights in the airplane that they invented the longest of which was 59 seconds and went a distance of 852 feet. While most of the development of the aircraft was done in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, the testing of gliders down Kill Devil Hill proved their theories and fine tuned the control of their plane in flight. Lois was especially excited about our visit because she shares common ancestors with the Wright Brothers.

June 5, 2014 Norfolk

We spent the night at Atlantic Yacht Basin and rented a car today. We drove into Norfolk with our friends on "R Island" and first took a tour of the Norfolk Naval Base followed by a walk around downtown Norfolk and a visit to the Battleship Wisconsin.