" When Pigs Fly"

October has been a different kind of boating month.  We haven’t “boated”.  We’ve cleaned boats, bought a boat and sold a boat.  We’ve moved stuff off of one boat and on to another boat and spent some time fixing stuff on both boats, but we haven’t gone for a boat ride since the sea trial on the Viking. 

The weather has been categorically uncooperative.    It rained for days while we waited for the final report on the Viking survey and then for the financing to finish up.  We were excited to get the word that the Viking was officially ours.  It happened after 5pm on Friday night and we were especially happy that we made it that evening.  It was the start of a 3 day weekend because Monday was a banking holiday (Columbus Day) and we would have had to wait until Tuesday.   

Did we mention that it rained a lot? All of our CDs got soaked so we dried them on the bed

Rain and fog in Norfolk

On Saturday we took the first load of stuff from the Carver to the Viking and unloaded in a downpour.  The sun finally came out and we were hoping to get the Viking moved from Kent Narrows to Norfolk before we moved the rest of our stuff but the winds have been nasty and it just didn’t make sense to challenge the Chesapeake Bay. 

 

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We have considered the Viking home since we got that first load on her and we are pretty well settled in.  Two more trips were made  to Norfolk and we have pretty much moved everything  up.  We’ve seen all of the scenery between Norfolk and Kent Narrows that we want to see by car.  Our broker, Ryan White had offered to have a Delivery Captain (Captain Steve) make the trip with us from MD to VA and we thought that was a pretty good idea.  There are a lot of systems on that boat to learn and it would be great to have another seasoned captain on board for that first voyage. 

A few shots of our new home.  Yes, the carpet is green.  It kind of grows on you.  The stairs to the left lead up to the fly bridge and down to the master stateroom.

We love the counter space and especially the dishwasher!

The pilot house

Starting to look like home

We were hoping to make the trip some time this last week but Captain Steve felt like the winds would make for a pretty unpleasant ride.  The entire week has been plagued with small craft warnings.  As big as that 55ft boat seems to us it’s still small on the Bay.  Given that neither he, nor Captain Frank had driven this boat, we decided to err on the side of caution…prudence won over impatience. 

Sunrise in Kent Narrows

The other piece of the puzzle that has been held up by weather is the sea trial on the Carver.  The potential buyer had a surveyor lined up for last Saturday but high winds stopped that process as well. 

All of this has been complicated by the calendar.  We had both planned to drive home this last week in October.  It’s my granddaughter’s birthday and I don’t miss birthdays. The Captain has some things he wants to bring back to the boat.  We thought we’d have the Viking in Norfolk and the Carver sea trial done before we left.  So, here’s the new plan.

We hopped in to the truck Monday morning and headed for Missouri.  We  had beautiful weather for driving and  enjoyed the fall color through Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.  It was nice to be out of the congestion of the Washington/ Baltimore/Norfolk area and cruising on less traveled highways. 

With a little cooperation from the weather, Captain Steve will bring the Viking down to Norfolk on Thursday without us.  Captain Frank will be home long enough to pick up his big TV and his favorite chair, eat some barbecue and get a haircut (I hope).  Then he’ll point the truck East again and get out of town.  This is not all bad.  The Captain hates wearing long pants and, you know, it’s the end of October.  In Missouri even the hardiest have to start thinking about long pants this time of year.  I will stay home through next week and fly back to Norfolk in early November.  

Hopefully by the time I get back we’ll have all the details taken care of with the sale of the Carver and we’ll be ready to head South for the winter.  There’s a slip in Daytona with our name on it.

See ya on the water.