Storm, Tides Inn, Big Ships

Tides Inn Is the Place to Get Married. One of the Couples Came Down to Have Their Picture Taken with the Muriel June

MJ Crew visited Washington DC at Cherry Blossom Time

MJ Stays in the Small Marina Below the Historic Tides Inn

Yesterday we waited for the BIG STORM to pass.  We were under tornado warnings all day, but saw a lot of wind and only a moderate amount of rain.  Thankfully, no green clouds or tornadoes.  We love Portsmouth, VA and had dinner and theater last night watching “The Conspirator.”  Ms. Surrat was the lady who ran the boarding house where much of the Lincoln assassination was discussed and planned. Was she or wasn’t she guilty in the conspiracy?  The movie is a wonderful example of how one lawyer tried to push for a “fair” trial when everyone wanted to place blame after Lincoln’s death.  Portsmouth, VA is a quaint, historical city across the river from Norfolk, VA.

We left this a.m. after watching most of the royal wedding ceremony and headed out the harbor and up the Chesapeake to the Tides Inn on the Rappahannock Rv. off the Chesapeake.  Irvington is a lovely southern town with majestic homes on the river. We tied up to the dock at the Tides Inn, where weddings are held on most weekends during the year, and this weekend will be no exception.  We stopped here to ride out Hurricane Earl in the fall and are delighted to be welcomed back.

Leaving Norfolk this a.m. we passed Warships 51 and 74 heading out to sea along with a huge container ship, barges, dredges, and tug boats.  And, surprise!  We received a phone call from the trawler in front of us who were the De Groots, our good friends from Houston who are also doing the Great Loop.  We last saw them in Carrabelle, Florida. We look forward to seeing them next week on Solomon’s Island.  The joys of cruising!

Portsmouth, VA: War Ships, bridges, locks and barges

Small US Navy Patrol Boats With Loaded Machine Guns Patrol as the Navy Warship moves away from dock

Tugs Get Ready to Pull LHC #1 into the Waterway

Cruising to Norfolk is never dull and today was no exception.  We caught the 8 a.m. opening of the Great Bridge Bridge (where a Revolutionary War battle was fought). The goslings are just hatching and we saw two clutches with their moms and dads proudly guarding them and teaching them to catch bugs.  The Lock at the Great Bridge worked smoothly, then we exited to pass more dredging operations which are always dicey getting by without getting hung up on their pipes removing the silt.  The Steel Bridge opening worked nicely and we picked up a barge and tow behind us there.  At the Gilmerton Bridge there are  really two bridges: a railroad bridge and a car bridge. Both have to be opened but men were working on them today.  So, we, along with 5 other boats and the barge waited for about 45 minutes for both to open.  Now only two lift railroad bridges to go. The first we crossed under smoothly, but the second signaled it was being lowered–and when they do, there is another hour wait. We made it under as he was lowering it.  Then WOW!!  Navy and Police boats were all around us, guns at the ready.  LHC #1 was getting ready to pull out.  She is a huge amphibious landing craft equipped with helicopters and landing barges.  We passed her and her guard boats and pulled into the Tidewater marina to wait the BIG storm that is coming tomorrow and to watch LHC #1 leave.  This 12 mile trip can take many hours depending upon the boat/bridge/barge traffic.  But, today went smoothly at about 2 1/2 hours.  Last fall it took us 5 hours to make this 12 mile distance.  Our first day back!!

Muriel June Prepares to Move North From Virginia

On the Stands With a "Spiffy" bottom Ready to Slide through the water with ease.

MJ Mast lowers to just one inch off her dinghy to meet bridge height requirements.

Improved Flybridge For the Muriel June Crew and Passengers

The Muriel June has been bedded down since last October in an enclosed shed at the Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake VA which is about 12 miles south of Norfolk on the Intercoastal Waterway. We are just south of the Great Bridge Lock so we are in fresh water not salt water. This made a big difference when we took the MJ out of the water and looked at her bottom. There was no barnacle growth.

Besides being “winterized” in November and now “re-commissioned” in April, many new improvements were added.  The flybridge where we generally operate the Muriel June has a had a second comfortable Stidd Chair added for the navigator. It is higher to give a better “look out” and view of the paper maps. The lower chair is the person at the helm to see all the instruments. On the starboard side there are now two bench seats facing opposite directions for visitors. New special glass across the front gives the MJ crew better visibility.

The mast with Muriel June‘s antennas has a new stainless steel hinge that allows the mast to be lowered without removing the dinghy from the back deck. This reduces Muriel June‘s overall height from the water to just under seventeen feet. This is critical to crossing under bridges on the Erie Canal and Lake Champlain Canal in New York as well as downtown Chicago. The lowest one is south of Lake Champlain which is officially fifteen feet. However, you can ask the lockmaster to lower the pool by two feet to get under a fixed railroad bridge where where the MJ will be watching the bolts that hang down since they will be one inch off our height. Needless to say we will have a full load of fuel and water to get the MJ as low in the water as possible.

We have struggled for 4000 miles with getting good TV reception, but no more. The Muriel June took off her Seatel and Directv systems and replaced them with Intellian and DISH. We are now fully HD compliant including a new LED TV. We also added a Glomax 14 inch high gain antenna for local stations. We also fixed her capability to take cable when we are in marinas that offer cable.

The bottom has two coats of new paint with all zincs replaced. The props were tuned and painted with a special material that keeps barnacle growth off (ProSpeed).

Every system is being checked, filters replaced, and fluids relplaced. After a full day of water testing by going south down the canal (ICW) we will be ready to continue the journey that started in November of 2009. The Muriel June feels good and is looking great!

Sailing the Tall Ships

Upper Topsail and Main Staysail set as We Sail into Sunset

Jibs and Fore Staysail Set as we sail into Rain Storm

Captain stands close to Helmsman as he gives commands for Rudder Position

“All Hands on Deck !” Both Crew and Passengers Practice Jibing and Tacking. Peggy is on the Line in the Center.

The Muriel June crew had the opportunity to sail on two different tall ships in the Caribbean over the winter: Sea Cloud II and Star Clipper.  Sea Cloud II was all manual and the crew had to climb to the yardarms to raise and lower the sails.  The Star Clipper crew controlled the sails from the deck controlling the top sails with electrical motor control. No one climbed to the yardarms. The Sea Cloud II had two masts of square sails (Topgallants and Topsails) whereas the Star Clipper had only one. The square sails seem to “pull” the boats forward enabling a closer tack to the wind. Star Clipper had more staysails and jibs.  When the “All Hands on Deck” call went out the crew and passengers on the Star Clipper we practiced both tacking (coming about throught the wind) and jibing (coming around off the wind). The triangular sails gave more flexibility in changing position. Tacking started with backwinding the Spanker (last sail on the fourth mast) allowing the wind to fill the staysails and jibs.

On both boats “raising the sails” was a dramatic event!  The Captain of the Star Clipper played the tracks 2 and 3 of the CD “1492” over all the speakers on the ship as he started sail raising.  Both captains prided themselves by using their engines as little as possible. All the commands from the deck to helmsman and to crew were repeated back to confirm acknowledgement. The most dramatic departure was at night in St Barts with all the brightly lighted mega sailing yachts around us in the harbor. The Captain skillfully backed the Star Clipper out between multiple large vessels, set sails and sailed off between rocks that we had seen during the day but could not see at night.  Normally all this drama occurred as we sailed into a setting sun which made us appreciate the tall ships of the past and today. What a joy it is to participate in this part of history!