We decided to layover in Annapolis a day or 2 or 3.  Our beloved Maiden France in Chicago has a prospective buyer!  We are hopeful and anxious, since our Maiden has been sitting on a cradle for the last 2 years.  We could use a little boat prayer about now.

The Chesapeake has been whipped up by 35-40 knot winds from the N-NE, causing 4-5 foot choppy waves.  After 4 days of waiting, there is a break in the weather predicted Friday afternoon, so we left early in the morning amid gale warnings.  We sailed 40 miles south to the Solomons, fueled, ran Ollie, rested for 3 hours, and departed at 7 pm for Norfolk, about 110 miles.    Overnight, conditions improved, and we had a good sail amid the push/pull tugs, barges and freighters.  Everyone was crowding the western shoreline for lee protection, so there was a lot of communication with the captains of these vessels.

On September 12, we pulled into Portsmouth/Norfolk at 10:30 AM.  This is a good place to drop off a crew member – OLLIE!   Our good neighbors Kitty and Don had been in nearby Virginia Beach with family, so Kitty came by to pick up Ollie to take him back to SC.  This will facilitate our taking longer offshore passages weather permitting to avoid the ICW bridges and shoaling in NC and SC, hopefully starting from Beaufort NC.