Gremlins and Boats

One of the lessons I have learned over the years traveling long distances in a boat is to allow for a few "flex days" in the schedule for those unanticipated "issues" that are likely to crop up along the journey. The thing I didn't count on however, was that is would be the FIRST day!

Yesterday morning, we arose bright and early and prepared for our departure from Annapolis. Water and cable TV lines had been disconnected, shore power cable put away, generator on, engines running, fenders put away, lines stored and ready to move out of our slip when.... GREMLIN.... THERE IS A GREMLIN ON THE BOAT! Sure enough, one of the most valuable and necessary controls on the boat failed at that exact moment. And unfortunately, it wasn't something as simple a resetting a breaker or replacing a fuse. The joystick that controls the Zeus pod drives had a catastrophic failure and would have to be replaced. So we retied the lines, fenders and shore connections and began the frustrating process of trying to locate a replacement part.

After hours on the phone (and few choice words along the way), we were able to get the joystick replaced late that afternoon. We enjoyed another night at the Annapolis Yacht Club and one more serving of delicious Maryland Crab Cakes. An early-to-bed evening as the next day required another early departure due to a forecast of questionable weather as the day progressed.

So at "first light" this morning, we went through the same departure procedure as the day before and fortunately, before any gremlins were awake. We left Annapolis at 7:15am starting out under cloudy skies, winds from the SW at 10 knots and waves forecast at 2-3 feet (which is "bumpy" but not a bad ride). We went through a couple a rain showers en route (love that HD Radar and windshield wipers) and tried to stay close to the western shore to protect us from the wind and waves. We made excellent time and traveled the 160 miles to Norfolk in just under 6 hours.

Upon fueling at the Norfolk Yacht Club, we tucked into our slip just minutes before a violent thunderstorm arrived including rain, lighting, winds to 50 knots and a tornado warning! The worst of the weather eventually passed, but it looks like some storms are going to linger into the night. Hopefully, the front will be through by sunrise as we leave for Coinjock, NC. While only a 55 mile run from our current location, there are a host of restricted bridge openings and a lock to navigate before the day is done. That tends to make for a long day.