Just South of the Dismal Swamp

Glory Be!   We had the engine on but didn't use it to leave our anchor south of Albermarle Sound two days ago.   We sailed back three miles back to the Intracoastal Waterway, then out into the  Sound and all the way across (15 miles) without mishap and with a decent amount of speed.    We practiced heaving to, for use if the wind did come up so high we didn't want to handle it.   But it never did.

Here at Elizabeth City, NC, they have town docks where we can stay two days or so free.  And the use of free bicycles.

Can you see them here in front of the boat?  They're painted really happy colors so they won't be lost along the way.

We took them all over town - to the Laundromat, to a grocery store, to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch, to the mall for shopping (Tom bought a couple of pair of shorts and we found some ice cube trays).
We couldn't believe we were able to do all that in ONE trip.

Tom needed those shorts because this sailing regime and living with me and my cooking has caused him to loose weight.

 

We needed the ice cube trays because we have discovered we can make ice in our freezer!   No more buying bags of ice, stuffing it into little bags and trying to fit it all into pockets in the refrigerator/freezer.  Now we'll have what we need as we need it!

 

Today, it's much cooler and it's supposed to be windy.  But today, we will dump our waste tanks, take on fuel and water (two different places for this) and head up the 15 miles to the Dismal Swamp canal that goes on into Virginia.    We'll say more about this as we learn more.