We've been frantically working on Regina Maris for the last few weeks and will be departing this week for about 2 months cruising in the Chesapeake Bay. As many of you know Mary Beth grew up sailing in the Chesapeake, and we are both excited to be heading up there for an extended time. The bay has countless wonderful anchorages and on the eastern shore in particular, wildlife abounds.
We've been working off our "punch list" for the boat and will be relieved when we finally leave the dock this week. Mary Beth has sewn a full enclosure so that we can turn our cockpit into a weather-tight space or a screened porch if we replace the "glass" (plastic) windows with the screens she has made. This will be a very nice addition to our cruising experience. David has been doing some wood working to add a small computer table in the main salon (salon sure sounds pretentious), and we've tackled some overdue jobs like rewiring our batteries. We're both exhausted, but we're over the hump on the projects and will be glad to sail her again.
We will head up the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) for about 3 days and we'll hit he Bay at Newport News. We're not fans of the ICW because it is mostly "motoring" as it is too narrow and twisty to sail unless the wind is exactly right. The alternative, however, is to go offshore and round Cape Hatteras which is called the graveyard of the Atlantic for a reason. The trip to the Bay is one of the few times when the ICW is faster than sailing off shore since boats have to go so far east to avoid the shoals around Hatteras.
I do want to share my packing technique. You'll see in the picture below that I have a finely tuned and sophisticated method of packing for long trips such as this. Mary Beth is old fashioned in her packing. She makes lists and uses bags and suitcases.
We'll post our progress and our journey for those who are interested so check back every few days.
Thanks for reading!
David and Mary Beth