In the lee of Buck Island...

We left the city dock (free dock just south of bridge), at Great Bridge at 8:00 this morning. We were at the Centerville Turnpike Bridge waiting for the first opening at 8:30 a.m. Forty-five minutes later we were fortunate to arrive at the North Landing Bridge just as it opened. Total delay for bridges…10 minutes… not bad. It was a beautiful day with very little wind…after a hurricane and a nor’easter we could use a few calm days. About 3:30 this afternoon we anchored in the lee of Buck Island. There are two other sailboats anchored here. We saw about eight  sailboats heading south today, and traveled with three for a while. Although I have no clue who any of them are, I assume they are all headed south. There are two options on this part of the trip. You can navigate the Dismal Swamp Route or the more well traveled, Virginia Cut Route. While we are definitely looking for adventure here, and the Dismal Swamp sounded interesting, we wanted to cruise past the river house which has special meaning to us. (picture posted yesterday} The Virginia Cut Route is shorter as well.

It feels good to be moving south and the sunshine today was a plus. We would have traveled longer but sunset was at 4:59, and keeping up with the channel markers and crab pots is difficult enough to do during the day. Also, we could not have motored to another good place to anchor before dark. We are still trying to get more comfortable spending the night on the hook. I did set the anchor drag alarm on the chart plotter tonight, for added security. (thanks Eric)

 Grouping after the bridge.

 Still some fall colors. We have followed the color changes south.

 Shirl's bridge picture of the day.

 Three sailboats and a tug in front of us.

 Enjoying the sunshine!

 I am still seeing houseboats.

 Green to port

 Just before sunset

 Beautiful view!

 Sunset on the hook!

The sun is shining, and it is 5 o'clock somewhere.

This is a peaceful anchorage with Buck Island to protect us from all but a south wind. Winds are forecast to be out of northwest tonight, which is why we anchored behind or south of Buck Island. Tomorrow morning we continue our journey. We will be in the North River in the morning and the Alligator River in the afternoon. We plan to anchor in the Alligator River tomorrow night.