A gray day indeed...

Leaving Portsmouth, we ran out the ship's channel and turned to port at Thimble Shoal light.

Thimble Shoal Light

The sky was very overcast and the humidity was thick and soupy, which gave our visibility the appearance of an old sepia photograph. It looked like rain could fall at any moment and NOAA radio was calling for thunderstorms, but the bay was nice and flat so we pushed on.
We have new friends following us. Roy and Bev from Canada, they're really fun to be around. Doing the Great Loop on their boat..."Splendido". A Monk Trawler... Nice boat.
Yes, it does rain a bit, but not bad at all. The thunderstorms are threatening, but off in the distance, it turns out to be a good day.
We pass many Naval assets on the way out. This is a major base for the US Navy and the big gray battleships and aircraft carries are everywhere. We are impressed to say the least. Not many of these where we come from.



The bay is quite confusing for us, we know Florida and the Bahamas like the back of our hand but there are so many buoys and channels here — it gets complicated. This was made less challenging by utilizing the Chesapeake Bay Cruising Guide. A must have for Bay neophytes like crew Istaboa. Using the guide we were able to plot our course for the York River and York River Yacht Haven and it worked. We made it.
A short run, a little rain, skinny water coming in, but we are here.  It's a tranquil little place that kinda reminds us of the Tennessee River. There are a few other Nordhavns here and it will be interesting meeting them.
Roy and Bev had dinner with us last night at the Crab Deck and it was excellent. The local York River Oysters are as good as Aplachicola Bay oysters and with the situation in the Gulf this is probably a good thing for us oyster lovers.

Jimmy Crabs (large male Blue Crabs) are another local delicacy.

So that's it... Gray skies, gray seas, gray visibility, and big gray ships.  But, we are liking this area more and more. This cruise is going to be fun. Now — we become familiar with the Chesapeake Bay

Adios,

Istaboa