August 3: Norfolk Before the Blow

 The weather forecasts were in agreement that the weather would deteriorate as the day wore on. They were calling for a small craft advisory by the afternoon and through tomorrow. Accordingly, we got an early start. By 6 am, we were underway. 

It’s a special day since it is Gaffer’s second birthday today! So we thought we’d head out and pound the crap out of him!

Forecasting the weather has always been tough as evidenced by the crappy weather forecasts we get on TV at home. But it is particularly stressful for Debbie on this trip because she feels responsible for the weather… which is only fair since I hold her responsible for it!

But recently I have been trying to help with the decision making. She looks up seas on Buoyweather, I consult the Windy app for winds, we watch the local news station and then we shake the Magic Eight Ball and do whatever it says. Today it worked out perfectly.

When we left Deltaville, it was blowing around 8 knots from the south. We had the benefit of the tide pushing us to almost 10 knots from the north but it also made the head seas rougher than they would have been. So Cattitude  started pounding and Peanut hit the litter box.

Seas got a little bigger as we continued, but as we approached the lee of the land where we turn for Norfolk, the seas were smooth for the last 10 miles or so. Now we are heading to our slip.

From our slip right in the middle of downtown, you see the city on the left and warships pointed at us on the right! I hope no one bumps the throttles inadvertently. In anticipation of strong winds tomorrow, we are hanging here Friday. That will put us in a good spot to enter the Great Bridge Lock Saturday that has been out of commission during the week but open weekends… how that works is beyond me.

So then we went to a place with more than 100 beers on tap! The place is called Grain.

Now we are back and the kids are fed. We will check in tomorrow!