Category Archives: Cruising Guide

Information for other cruising boats. Our experiences finding places to anchor, dealing with officials, provisions, etc.

Celebrating Independence Day at Historic Fort Monroe — Part 2

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Continued… When the tour concluded, Eric and Keith announced they were hungry. They went to a nearby restaurant called The Deadrise, which was over at the marina.

The food was good and the portions were huge. Keith, who was not a seafood fan, loved the crab dip (even though it wasn’t as good as Haste Away’s).

It looked like the section of the marina closest to the restaurant was closed, as there weren’t any boats in the slips. We were too far away to get a look at the part of the marina that was occupied. There was an anchorage beyond the marina that was deep enough for Kosmos. Given that it was a holiday weekend, we were surprised there weren’t more boats anchored out there.

Christi stayed at the Visitor’s Center and went on the 1500 tour. It began much the same as the 1400 tour had. But instead of stopping at the entrance casement, the group walked on to the four-acre parade ground.

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Welcome to Norfolk, Virginia, USA

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Friday June 27 — As we’d learned the hard way, we needed to leave at a higher tide or else we’d be grounded. We untied at 0550. The day was grey and overcast, and the sun was not visible behind the cloud cover. At first, the sea conditions were surprisingly uncomfortable, with sea spray regularly coming over the bow. It calmed down within an hour or so, though.

For the majority of the trip, we had 2-foot swells and 3-foot wind chop and light wind. There was a fair amount of traffic, and all kinds of boats, including sailboats, trawlers, tiny fishing boats, etc. There were several small craft that AIS identified as “MC experimental” that appeared to be military vessels doing circles. There was a small ship that particularly caught our attention. AIS identified as “High Speed Vessel” that looked like a small research vessel. Later, we found out it was a service vessel for a near-by off-shore wind farm.

Crossing the shipping lane was a little scary. At different points in time, we were on a collision course with 2 different vessels, so we needed to alter course each time to avoid them.

It was hot and humid outside, so Eric ran the generator and the salon and downstairs A/C units the entire 7.5-hour trip.

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More Exploring Deltaville, Virginia, USA

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Dawn on Wednesday

On the passage, Eric had noticed an issue with the newly fixed radio: it was working fine, but it was complaining about low voltage. He spent Wednesday morning on the phone with the company who’d done the repair to troubleshoot the problem. Eric eventually figured out that there was a knob to adjust voltage on the power supply unit (which was behind the panel), and that knob was in a spot where it could have been easily bumped when the converter box was installed. In the course of the troubleshooting, the “expert” gave Eric some incorrect information, which really bothered Eric.

In between phone calls, Eric changed the generator oil and filter, drained the engine oil, and replaced the O ring in the oil drain hose for the main engine. We also went to the boat yard next door to say goodbye to the family that had been hauled out yesterday. They were a really nice family and we hope to see them again when they return.

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Exploring Deltaville, Virginia, USA

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Tuesday, June 24, 2025 – We felt draggy and off-kilter all day. Even though we had a lot of chores to do, we wound up accomplishing very little.

One of the perks of the marina was that it had a courtesy car that tenants could use between 0900 and 1600. We couldn’t go farther than the grocery store, and we were only supposed to be out for an hour, though they’d allow for more time as long as no one else wanted to use the car. They said they’d call if they needed us to return it right away.

We took the car and had lunch at a restaurant called The Galley. At the Galley, we realized we had no cell coverage, which made us anxious about the marina not being able to contact us should they need the car back right away.

The decor was nautical themed and cheerful. As the name implied, it was primarily a seafood restaurant, serving traditional Chesapeake dishes. However, the menu was big and they had lots of non-seafood choices, as well. Eric ordered a crab and lobster bisque, which was great. Keith ordered a barbecued chicken sandwich, which was served with hush puppies. Hush puppies are deep fried balls of cornmeal. Keith had never tried them before and did not care for them.

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Welcome to Deltaville, Virginia, USA

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Monday, June 23 — By midnight, we could see the lights of Virginia Beach. It was definitely a big city! We’d also exited the Gulf Stream, so our speeds were back to normal — 6-knots at 1650 RPM.

We entered the mouth of the Chesapeake in the wee hours of the morning. Once inside, we hit an adverse current and had to increase RPMs to 1900 to maintain a speed of 6-knots.

We ran on the edge of, but not inside the shipping lane, hoping that would keep us safe from both big ships and fishing traps. One of the scary things about going through an area know for traps at night was that we wouldn’t be able to see the markers on the traps. There was a steady conga line of shipping containers. We also passed a military vessel while it was still dark. Since the vessel looked huge on radar and tiny as we passed it, we believe it was a submarine. Fortunately, with the long days, we weren’t in the dark for long.

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