October 6, 2010

      Back on April 13th I said the big push was on.  That was an understatement on my part.  We have been on the run since April 4th when we left Miami.  We only took one day off, Saturday April 17th,  because of a cold front that was predicted to pass through the Carolina's.  Severe thunderstorms and 2 tornadoes hit the area north of us in South Carolina on that Saturday, but North Carolina had much more severe weather with many more tornadoes with wide spread destruction and some fatalities.   After the severe weather on Saturday we resumed our cruise north on Sunday through the Carolina's and into Virginia  by Thursday.  This past Friday we found ourselves south of Coinjock, Virginia at mile marker 60 on the ICW.  Then, on Saturday during our cruise north we were contacted via VHF radio by Joe & Ann on S/V Short Walk.    Although the transmission was weak we did learn that they were ahead of us and were planning to stop at Portsmouth, Virginia, just south of Hospital Point and ICW mile marker zero.  The last time we got together with Joe & Ann was back in February at the Little Farmers Cay Festival in the Bahamas.  As we approached Hospital Point we hailed Joe & Ann by radio.  Ann answered and said they had free dock space available for us and they would try to hold it for Big Run.  Long story short, we had a great dinner with Joe & Ann at a German beer garden and returned to their boat to continue with the celebrations of being reunited.  Hold on, this is where the plot thickens.  During the evening we discussed the weather,  which is always a big topic of discussion, we're boaters.   The National Weather Service was predicting a break in the weather on Sunday for the Chesapeake Bay but then it also predicted for it to get worse on Monday into Thursday as the winds would intensify from the south and generate 3-4' waves. We hate 3-4' waves with a passion.  Now remember we're boaters and we don't pass up opportunities.  So on Sunday morning at 5:50 a.m. Big Run  and Short Walk pulled away from its nice quiet free dock and headed for the Chesapeake Bay.  At 6:00 a.m. Monday, Short Walk parted company at the Bay Bridge and headed the up the bay for Worton Creek as we headed for the Chester River.  After twenty eight hours we (Big Run) again docked the boat.  That's right!  We left Portsmouth, Virginia and pushed all day and all night until we arrived back at Long Cove Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland at 9:50 a.m. Monday morning where our adventure first began on October 6, 2010.