Still On The Run

Hoisted anchor early to continue North. Irene took small Eastward turns with every 3 hour update until late this afternoon when she made a subtle but ominous Westward wobble.
Cruising the Virginia Cut to Norfolk was exciting and kept us busy. In one stretch, we had five bascule, or “swing”, bridges irregularly spaced with a LOT of big boat commercial traffic. Timing the bridges is critical; some open on the half hour and others on the hour (only) with no openings at all during roadway rush hours. We even ran our first lock (an easy one).
Approaching the Chesapeake, we decided to make more preparation before venturing into this huge, well traveled (but new to us) body of water. Ocean Marina Yacht Center here in Portsmouth sits at the mouth of the river so we’ll start here at dawn tomorrow. We plan a Friday arrival in Baltimore, where we’ve reserved a slip at Baltimore City Marina at Lighthouse Point. Unless Irene fails to turn Eastward there should be less wind there and hopefully, little storm surge. We also have friends there. Irene is scheduled to hit Norfolk very early Sunday morning. It’s a category 3 hurricane and incredibly powerful. If Irene fails to swing more Eastward by tomorrow midday, we’ll go up the Potomac River instead.

Our neighbor.