We arrived yesterday afternoon in Norfolk, a real "US-navy" town at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay ... a big bay with beautiful nature where we will spend the next two weeks with Mira's mom and Aunt Helen (sister of Mira's mom). We pick Mom up from the airport in Washington DC tomorrow and Helen arrives at the airport in Norfolk next Tuesday. Another great milestone (also the only one that really had a deadline attached to it) in our trip that we were able to meet safely and without planning problems, thanks to the margin we had built in beforehand. Because sailing along the east coast of America is very weather sensitive, unless you have more than a month and can do everything via the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). We were able to make good progress by using a nice mix of outside and inside routes, each time responding to the weather. It was extra nice to do this together with the Pjotter. They would like to be in Newport with her brother by the end of April, so this afternoon they will be heading north again. We don't have to be in New York until May 20 for our next appointment, so we have time to take it easy again.

We have racked up quite a few miles this past week .... over 550 miles. Up along the east coast and via the states Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina we arrived in Virginia. A lot on the engine because of little wind at sea and the shortcut through the ICW is so anyway on the engine. We notice that we are getting more north; the nights are getting colder (brrr) and the days are getting longer ... it remains light until after 8 o'clock in the evening and that is very nice! The water temperature is getting colder and the weather more changeable. Regularly in the morning we have the heating on. As if we were back in Northern Europe. But fortunately the sun gives nice warmth from about 10 o'clock and then it is often about 20 to 25 degrees. Incidentally, April / May is just the right period to visit these regions. Nature is very beautiful, with spring green, and there are not many animals. In the summer it can be very hot here and full of mosquitoes and other nasty stinging creatures.

The previous report ended last Friday just before the visit to Cumberland State Park in the state of Georgia. Cumberland Island is a small island with beautiful vegetation (palm trees and a strange kind of other trees, see the photo album) and a beautiful beach, which looks a bit like the Wadden Islands. We take a nice walk there and look for shells on the beach. Once back on the boat, we leave for the 160-mile trip to Charleston, South Carolina. It is nice and sunny, with a light wind at first and a strong increase to wind force 5 to 6 the next morning, but from behind. So great sailing, surfing off the waves. We regularly see dolphins swimming and sometimes performing antics right in front of our boat. When we enter Charleston on Saturday afternoon, we are treated to an air show by the Blue Angels; 6 jet fighters performing all kinds of stunts above the harbor area (and also right above our boat).

We stop the boat and thus have a beautiful view, 1st rank. Afterwards we leave with a hundred other boats, we head for the marina. A great marina right on the edge of town with a free shuttle bus into the city. We immediately make use of this. Charleston is known for its beautiful houses (large, made of stone or wood, with beautiful porches) and good eateries. Great to explore on foot. But soon we ended up in an "oyster" bar where we drank delicious oysters (from different areas of the east coast) and a bottle of white wine. Afterwards we had a nice dinner together with the Pjotter at a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. Life is good!

Sunday's we visit the 'USS Yorktown'; a large aircraft carrier used from World War 2 to the Vietnam War. From there we see one more time the airshow of the Blue Angels. We are in regular contact with Inge and Mom; European airspace is still closed and it remains to be seen if she will be able to fly on Monday. In the middle of the night (for us) and in the Netherlands on Monday morning, we know that the flight is once again cancelled and we decide that Mom will fly to Washington to join us and only then join Helen. In the end a good solution too. Sebastiaan from the Pjotter has his birthday and we celebrate his birthday with a lovely dinner and a delicious homemade cake at their place. The next morning we take a horse and carriage tour through Charleston and see some very beautiful houses. Then it's time to leave again ... this time a trip of over 200 miles across the sea to Beaufort, North Carolina.

That will be a fine trip on a flat sea with little wind, so almost entirely on the engine. Just like the first week of the crossing to Suriname. It's as if we are in a harbor, so flat, and therefore life on board with school and cleaning (Mira inside, Toine the stainless steel outside) continues. We use the satellite phone to call the Barbarossa for Giel's birthday. Nice to talk to each other again. After 2 nights at sea we arrive at the inlet of Beaufort just after sunrise. Because we want to be in Norfolk on Saturday night (and the Pjotter also wants to make progress) we go straight to the ICW. We still have about 200 ICW miles to go and we will need at least 3 to 4 days for that. This part of the ICW is not so shallow, so we don't run aground as often (but once we did run aground very abruptly and hard), so we still have to be careful.

We sailed for three long days through a beautiful nature with almost no buildings, narrow canals alternating with wide rivers and very large sounds. A lot of motoring, but also some sailing. The first day is quite chilly and in the afternoon, with rain, it becomes unpleasantly cold. We stop at a beautiful anchorage in Slade Creek, a side creek of Pungo River. Tired and cold and wet, we put up the cockpit tent and decide to stay on our own boats. After some delicious glasses of red wine, we fall into a deep sleep. The second day ICW we start early (6.30 am). It is still cold and foggy. But fortunately a few hours later the sun comes through and it is very pleasant in the cockpit. Everywhere it is deep enough, so we become a bit overconfident. Until we motor-sail at a speed of 7 knots and suddenly hit a shallow depth of 1.5 meters from 3.5 meters above ... we are immediately stuck, hanging at an angle and the steering wheel is slightly bent because Toine was launched against it. Fortunately we can straighten it out quickly and with a lot of engine power (and a bow thruster) we are free again. The sails are lowered into deeper water and we carefully scramble over the next stretch. Later we read the warnings for 'shoaling' in the pilot ... so it's a bit our own fault. Anyway, it's quite a scare and we are fully recovered. The good news is that the growth has been removed from the keel for a while! After 12 hours of sailing we drop anchor in Broad Creek, we have done 70 miles and can do the ICW leg in three days instead of four. The Pjotter joins us for dinner and we have a very pleasant evening.

On the third and final day we leave early again (6:30 am). This is necessary to meet the opening times of the five bridges on the last stretch of ICW. Again we had a full day of motoring and only once were we stuck for a short time. The bridges all opened on time and around 5 p.m. we entered Norfolk through a large harbor area and with a nice view of the beautiful skyline with high buildings. We saw a cruise ship in a dock, normally gigantic ships, but completely so on dry land! We are still moored at the Portsmouth side and will soon leave for the other side, to City Marina so that we are really in downtown Norfolk. Tomorrow renting a car to pick up Mom. This afternoon and tonight we will explore the city!