Rough Ride to Norfolk

After 77 hours underway and an epic 411 nautical miles of sailing from Long Island we have arrived safely in Bellhaven, NC in the inner banks of North Carolina! Our route took us offshore and nonstop from Fire Island inlet to Cape Charles, VA where we entered the Chesapeake Bay and continued to Norfolk and entered the Intracoastal Waterway. We motored another 55 miles down past Coinjock, NC until we dropped the anchor for a few hours of much needed rest.
The next morning we were up and underway before dawn making our way across the Albermarle Sound and down the Alligator River and through the Alligator River / Pungo Canal.
Mavis is at the beautiful, family owned and operated Dowry Creek Marina where she will rest for a few weeks and wait for hurricane season to end before she can continue South.
It’s been another awesome sailing experience with the salty and capable Robert Sheldon. Sailing, they say is hours and days of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror. This trip lived up to that reputation with gentle breezes and calm seas for all but a few hours. Those few challenging hours were coming around Cape Charles and entering the Chesapeake Bay from the ocean as we had to head directly into the wind and steep seas to enter the inlet against a strong ebb tide. See the video. 🙂  https://youtu.be/h90iNY0VGis
Good times as always!

Long Island to Belhaven, NC

Mavis left the dock in West Sayville about 15 hours ago to run down the coast with the salty crew of myself and Robert Sheldon. This captain is happy to be offshore again! Currently we are about 10 miles from Atlantic City, NJ. After a rough exit from the Fire Island inlet the seas calmed down. We’re motorsailing along at about 6.5 knots and hope to soon turn the engine off as the winds fill in. We’ve crossed the New York harbor shipping lanes and currently the plan is to continue offshore all the way to Norfolk, VA and then run another 135 inside to Bellhaven, NC. We hope to be arriving in Norfolk by Sunday afternoon.
The weather is fine and I’m keeping an eye on Hurricane Sam.
We’ll have to leave the boat in NC for a few weeks because our insurance company won’t allow us further south than Hatteras until Nov 1.