Maiden Voyage

Finally, fair weather in the state of Virginia. We have been getting hit with one of the worst winters I've seen. Luckily, I think we are on the edge of spring. I called my cousin up (the one whom I bought the boat from) and mentioned that their was nice weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures for Monday in the low 60's and Tuesday in the low 70s. He agreed to head up and we planned to sail out, anchor overnight and sail back the next day.

Motoring out of the channel

My day started Monday about 4:00am when I headed out. I grabbed some breakfast, gassed up my truck and headed to Hampton. I couldn't wait to get underway on my newly purchased boat, that I acquired months ago and have yet had a chance to sail her. Once I reached Hampton, I stopped at Walmart and picked up some beer, soda, snacks, and some stuff to make some sandwiches (in which I didn't even make). I arrived at the boat before light, and began to load stuff on Catharsis, re-arrange items and wait for my cousin to arrive. Once he arrived, I helped him load up his belongings, we started the engine and went over everything on the boat. Soon, we were underway. It was an amazing feeling, even just motoring out of the channel into the bay. Today was the perfect day he told me, the wind was light, the water was calm, a perfect day to learn to sail, not necessarily the best conditions for sailing. Our plan was to sail to Fort Monroe, which was a short ways away, but with light winds we averaged anywhere from 2-4 knots, occasionally hitting 5. The autopilot wasn't working, so it was strictly wheel sailing. The weather was a bit chilly, but luckily I was layered up, the only thing cold being my hands. Along the way we saw many of the war ships leaving the channel, along with several ships transporting cargo. A couple hours later, we were in the empty anchorage at Fort Monroe.

Me at the Helm, enjoying a peaceful day.

The anchorage was peaceful, aside from the highway leading into the tunnel. We ate snacks, talked about all sorts of things, and then my cousin made chili for dinner. After eating and drinking a beer, I laid down for a nap....in which I didn't wake up from until the next morning. Something about the water makes one tired. The night was fairly chilly, but not unbearable in the least bit. The next morning, I woke up and my cousin was already awake. I wasn't too hungry, but he insisted on me eating at least an apple. I'm glad I did. We waited until a early afternoon to leave, due to wanting to arrive at high tide to avoid running aground. The reason I was glad I ate something, was I didn't think the anchor would be nearly as heavy as it was pulling it up, but finally managed to get it up and cleaned off. We departed, and had to move out of the way of a few large ships utilizing the channel. Tuesday was a lot warmer and I was grateful for that. Today, was a bit slower averaging around 2-3 knots with light winds. We finally arrived back at around 4:00pm on Tuesday. It was a great day, and I'm glad that I got to go out finally.