Our original plan was to leave early Saturday morning and head up to the York river for a stay at the York River Yacht Haven. They have a nice pool that the kids enjoy and a decent restaurant at the marina. The forecast for Saturday called for strong winds out of the North and rain most of the day. Not good. We decided to delay departure to Sunday, which promised better weather, and changed destinations to the Hampton town docks.
Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. We loaded the kids on the boat (minus the oldest, who stayed behind for the first time ever) and fired up the engines. Even more sensitive than usual after the raw water failure on the first Spring haulout attempt, I asked the Admiral to check the exhaust for water right away. She reported back that Stbd had good water flow, but there was none on Port. What!!??? That was the exact opposite of last time. I ducked below and lifted the bunk over the Port engine. The belt was squealing like a banshee. I went back up and shut the engine down, removed the mattress and support boards, got my tools, and tightened the tensioner on the pulley. The engine was restarted and everything was put back in order. The Admiral was impressed.
The trip up to Hampton was uneventful. We pretty much had the river to ourselves. The friendly dockmaster was there to help us with our lines as we tied up just forward of a beautiful Voyage catamaran. The town docks in Hampton are very nice. The bathrooms and showers are located inside the visitor center adjacent to the docks, and pretty much all of downtown Hampton is within easy walking distance.
S/V Spartina enjoying a sail near the Naval hospital
Tied up at the town dock
Beautiful Voyage cat behind us, on their way North
The Air and Space Museum from our dock
Looking down the Hampton River toward the Bay
We walked over to the Air and Space Museum and bought our tickets for a later showing of the new Star Trek movie on the museum's 3D IMAX screen, and then headed over to Marker 21 on Queen street for lunch. Lunch was great on the open air patio, and we hung out for a while just enjoying the day.
After our extended lunch, it was nearly time for the movie. We walked back over to the Air and Space museum in time to get some snacks and grab good seats. The movie was long, but excellent. Afterward, we stopped for dinner at the restaurant near the docks. I can't remember the name, but it doesn't matter because the food was pretty terrible.
Following the disappointing dinner, we went back to the boat and broke out the board games. My youngest son and I totally dominated the Admiral and our middle son in a few rounds of Taboo. It was perfect sleeping weather, so the Admiral and I retired for the evening while the kids battled it out over UNO.
Monday morning we left the dock early and headed out the Hampton river and around Fort Monroe to Salt Ponds marina, where my mom and step-father keep their boat. Salt Ponds gets a bad rap due to the history of shoaling in the entrance channel, but they just recently undertook a major dredging effort that left the channel 10' deep and 100' wide. The entrance still looks a little exciting, but really it is very easy. The marina itself is also very nice. They have a beautiful pool for the kids and nice floating docks. The owners and staff are super friendly and let us tie up for free while we visited with my mom and step-father. The kids enjoyed the pool while the adults discussed the joys of boat ownership (repairs). Mom whipped up a delicious lunch for everybody before it was time for us to head for home.
Admiral at the wheel for the short trip to Salt Ponds
Shady spot to enjoy the sail
Clearly happy to be here
Entrance to Salt Ponds from the Bay
Nice and wide now
It's never fun to look at one of these things bow on!
That's a better angle
Our neighbors were going out as we were heading home. They are power boaters, but we still wave to them. ; )
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