We anticipate the total trip will be around 1,400 nm and take between 8-10 days. The crew of 4 Brits, 1 Bulgarian and myself left the Waterside Marina on Norfolk just before dawn. We saw the sun rise, heard the Star Spangled Banner playing at the Naval Station.
We were all impressed by the large ships and how the tugs maneuver them. This one pictured really had us in awe as it nicely invited us to stay out of its way and asked us to navigate outside the channel.
After a quick sunrise picture, we motored into Hampton to fuel up. Apparently l, the Old Point Comfort Marina fuel dock was not large enough to accommodate the Oyster 625. There were some very well manicured homes and yards overlooking this area.
On the way out of the Chesapeake Bay we saw the usual military vessels preparing for firing drills. They were all pleasant on the phone. I was hoping one of the Brit crew members to make some funny remark on the VHF, but the cI realized that this is not time to make fun with US ship outgunning us.
We approached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-tunnel, a 17.6 mile engineering marvel at the entrance of the Bay connecting the Eastern shore to the Western shore. 11 months ago, I was on that bridge getting ready to witness our friends on Sail Cloudy Bay.
After those sunny moments leaving the Bay we saw about 20+ knots of wind from the South. We vectored to put up the mainsail and then we turned the boat on the bearing around 115 degrees. Nightfall came too quickly, and I was on the 2400-0400 shift.
Nikitoo is a Maltese flagged vessel, and the flag at the transom which is effectively welded to the dinghy davits is showing strong winds. I was feeling a bit seasick but 1 pill of Dramamine, some salty Pringle chips and a Pepsi did the trick.
Overall for the first 24 hours we went over 210 nm, and we had winds 25-35 knots sustained and 2-3m seas hitting us from the beam. There was not much marine traffic last evening. That kept things simple. Weighing in at over 90,000 lbs, Nikitoo was rocking back and forth all evening. That reminded us who was in control of our destiny.
The Loxodograph 