Tale of two Cities

Many have asked why we have no pictures of our nightly thunderstorms and I usually say that we’re a little busy at the time. This is what it looks like when you arrive at an anchorage late and in a storm.

They were a little busy too. I don’t know if we’re getting nonchalant about our nightly storms but we found time to snap this shot. Gusts about 35knots with lots of rain.
Norfolk:

Portsmouth:

With Escape Velocity in the middle of the Elizabeth River, poised to collect that pot of gold. No gold but we did find that after two weeks of inactivity the starter in the NexGen generator whirrs but doesn’t turnover the engine. Not my favorite place to work, it’s hidden away in the bow storage compartment. The older and decidedly wonky start battery for the strb’ Volvo didn’t like the hiatus much and decided to go on strike as well. We were planning to hike over to the local sports watering hole to watch the Olympic opening, when the thunderstorm moved in so we thought we’d better stay with the boat and crank up the generator. No joy. We were able to see a little until the inverter started to get the best of the batteries. That’s when we found out about the generator.

We have that sinking feeling again, you know, that we’ve been left behind, I guess it’s because our friend the Brit solo sailor left for parts North, and we can’t even get our Ram Guru to tell us anything about our autopilot. It’s been ten days! So, as we prepare to leave our snug anchorage and head North we hope we can find a place to send the ram that’s as convenient as this would’ve been. That’s assuming he hasn’t sold the thing and left town.

The bikes are back on EV and that’s a sure sign that we are blowing this town. I can hear the lilting trumpet notes of “Retreat” echoing across from Hospital Point, sand blasting at the Naval Shipyard, and a really irritating party boat that crisscrosses back and forth in front of Norfolk’s waterfront. That’s life on the water.