36⁰24’18” N – 076⁰18’02” W
We are out of the Primordial “Dismal Swamp”, “Somedayers”. Sorry I missed my log posting for yesterday, I was busy cooking. We got up early yesterday morning to bright sunshine in the Hampton flats, and among Navy’s Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia. We sailed past two aircraft carriers and a vast assortment of smaller fleet ships and men o’ war. It was quite impressive to see. We continued down the Elizabeth River, where we past mile marker “0” of the Atlantic Inter Coastal Waterway, and into the Dismal Swamp. Being true to its name, as soon as we entered into the swamp, the weather turned dismal and it started to rain. At the southern end of the swamp, we missed the last opening of the lock and had to lay-up on the wall for the night. It was kind of a blessing in disguise though; it was the first time in 18 days that we weren’t on an anchor, which means we all got to sleep a little more soundly without the threat of dragging or swinging into something or someone. As I said earlier, I gave Perry the night off, I made Dinner last night, one of my favorites. I made homemade Sloppy Joes and fresh onion rings. We didn’t have any hamburger buns when I started so we were going to roll them up it tortillas and call them “Sloppy Jose’ Ole’” but as it turned out there was a little convenience store right there where we tied up and we got some buns. Everyone loved it and it was nice to give “Cookie” a night off. Although, I still had him do the dishes, I tried but I was way over my head… the sinks are so small. And for a super special treat, the convenience store had ice cream as well, so we even got a fancy dessert.
Today, we got up and made it though the southern lock at South Mills, North Carolina The weather today is nice, a bit chilly but it’s supposed to warm up later. We are on our way to Elizabeth City where we’ll wait a day for Tony “Gaffman” to show up, and then we don’t stop again till we get to Miami. We bid you all fair winds and calm seas… Banana Winds standing by on 16… Clear.
