Duke Of York Hotel Yorktown

... except on mud. So, rather than standing for another hour doing nothing, we started back toward the B&B.

We only got as far as the Merchant's Square section before we found a place to sit that might have a good view of the fireworks, so we claimed it. We're glad we did, because we ended up with a fairly good section. When the fireworks started, we had to go out into the street to see them (Duke of Gloucester street) but we had a nice view of all 3 ...

... to drive in our usual circles. Which was surprising considering it's only moderately marked, people were parking on the street for a concert at the College across the street (College of William and Mary), and by then we were so tired we couldn't see straight.

Checked in (house is old, noisy, the doors are difficult to handle because of age, but it really has charm and a cozy feel and the girl who checked us in was very sweet ...

... the water.

We rendezvous’d near Hampton Roads bridge tunnel with Our White Magic departing from Bluewater Yacht Marina at Hampton. Existing conditions were 15-20 knot NE winds and, due to the close apparent wind angle required to pass through the South Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, we began motor sailing upwind. You can follow our position reports at http://www.winlink.org/userpositions under reporting vessel KI4VYJ.

... for passage to the Bahamas. Dave spent much of his downtime on the Rhode River working on the replacement of the lifelines.

We were happy to leave the Rhode River on October 19, sailing to Dividing Creek on the Wye River with NW 10-15 kt winds, allowing us to sail the full way up the river. Here we awaited the arrival of Our White Magic . They arrived just after dusk and we rafted the vessels, which worked well because both boats are identical ...

... its flow rate. After the housing replacement, all tested out fine.

Dave placed a service call for our refrigeration due to the repetition of a problem we experienced two years ago when the refrigeration failed to chill. We just weren’t willing any longer to trust its reliability, which would be critical for successful long-term cruising. At the recommendation of the manufacturer and based on feedback from other Catana owners, Dave had a ...

... saw a movie about the Battle at Yorktown. Later we joined a re-enactment squad and learned the different positions for holding a musket. We visisted with a doctor and he told us how he treated wounds back then during the war. In evening we traveled to Washington, D.C.