Sun. May 18      0830/1300

 36 miles       Norfolk, VA to Mobjack Bay, VA

Last night the marina next to us had a party which we were invited to. Several pigs were slow roasted all day. All we needed to bring was a dish to pass. The festivities included “Colors” (raising of the American flag), the national anthem, a Virginian Senator spoke, music, and burning of socks. Yes that’s right burning of socks. This tradition began with Capt. Turner in Annapolis in 1980. He spent winters working on OPBs – “other peoples' boats".  At winter's end, he would end up with socks with a variety of debris and dried varnishes and fiberglass goop. One day, which happened to be the Spring equinox, he shed his socks, headed out onto the pier with a paint-roller tray, put the socks in, doused them with lighter fluid, and tossed in a match. To this day near the start of Spring, east coast boating groups honor this tradition.

This morning we left the marina with a forecasted 10 mph winds. Wrong!!!! A couple of hours into our cruise the wind picked up and the waves started building to 6-8 feet straight at us. The charts came out and we found another anchorage closer to us to get off the Chesapeake. We pulled into Mobjack Bay then up East River about a mile to anchor. The anchorage is well protected from the wind and very quite.

Anchorage in East River.