Afterthoughts and Lessons Learned
1.  Use the bimini.  Sailing performance when cruising is less important than being comfortable (dry).
2.  The poor mans canvas dodger I made worked well both when it was raining and to keep sun out of the cabin. 
3.  Set the Fortress anchors by hand dragging with short scope until they bite in. 
4.  At night, if there is a chance the wind might shift or be strong, set the Garmin anchor alarm and turn the light off so it won't use much power.
5.  Fix lunch in the morning before leaving the anchorage.  If it's windy, you will have something to eat.
6.  When preparing for a trip, calculate the number of meals needed and only over provision by a little.
7.  It isn't that hard to buy milk, eggs, salad, bread, etc. along the way.  Don't over provision to start off.
8.  Silk Milk in the cardboard box was pretty good - especially on cereal and for cooking.
9.  Start cooking when preheating the stove burners.  Saves on fuel.
10. The Boat US app to send friends and family location emails worked great.
11. It seemed as though I was always looking for some excuse to push on, go faster, or relax less.  When I did take a break, I enjoyed it.  This is is a "lesson" that applies to many aspects of my life - to slow down and enjoy the "now".
12. My smaller (110) headsail does not perform as well to weather as my larger 140 genoa.  The best I seemed to be able to do with it was about 50 degrees off the wind.  I'm not sure if that is because the sail is out of shape or because the boat just doesn't go to wind as well in lighter winds.  It was nice having the smaller sail though.
13.  I used about 300 lbs. of ice.  I used about 25 gallons of diesel fuel and ran the engine about 100 hours.  These were my two biggest expenses.  I anchored out a majority of the nights.  I docked at free docks about 6 nights and stayed at marinas just two.  Overall, the trip was pretty inexpensive. 
14. Beware of jelly fish in bays and rivers south of Elizabeth City - I spotted several when at anchor.
15. "Brown Brown - Run Aground" - tip from bar tender in Beaufort's Backstreet Pub.
16.  Get a recent copy of Chapmans and carry on boat.
17. Having Active Captain on my phone was very helpful. The software to show the charts doesn't work well but being able to view markers offline was extremely valuable.  In the future, can use Polarview on the laptop.
18. Deaton's in Oriental was fantastic.  Buddy in the office, Tanya in parts, Gary the mechanic, and Eric the service mgr. were all great. They are outside of "downtown" but only a short ride and their rates are much better than in town. 
19. Consider downloading GRIBUS and Passage Weather for weather reports.
20. At 4.5 knots, the boat goes one statute mile in 12 minutes.  Measured on the Dismal Swamp using the mile markers.
21. Oriental has a great (free) town dock. It is very protected, good depth, very convenient to stores, coffee shop right across the street with wifi and can handle two 40'+ boats. It has a 48 hour stay time limit but is not strictly enforced.
22. As good as my Garmin 441 chartplotter is (and I consider it VERY accurate), there are times when you are in the middle of a cut/canal and the chartplotter shows you on land - outside of the channel.  I had the most current charts too. Don't rely on it in the cuts.
23.  I was surprised at how little time I had to "relax".  Several times, I wondered if I wasn't pushing too hard.  Or if it was just my personality that wouldn't allow me to relax.  I think the answer is more straight forward. Solo sailing is just a lot of work.  It's a lot to do, every single day.
24.  The Dismal Swamp Visitor Center has dockage for 4 or 5 boats - depending on their size. When it is  crowded, everyone just rafts up - sometimes 2 or 3 deep.  It makes for somewhat of a party and is interesting to meet others from far away places.
25.  On long tacks in open water, dim the Garmin to save on the battery.  It's much quicker than turing it off and on.
26.  After a few days, I developed a helpful checklist for each evening.
27.  Logs were informal.  Each evening, I'd record the day's activities that I later turned into this blog.  I also kept lists of fuel purchases, new friends, things to do once I got home, lessons learned, and other notes. A formal log would have been nice but I didn't have the time.

Day 28 - Magothy River to Bowleys Marina (33.3 nm, 8:46 hrs.)

I guess it only makes sense that my last day would be a challenge.  Before today, I only had one high pressure move through (that pushed me from Mobjack Bay to Norfolk).  If the conditions had continued as they had been for over a week, my last day would have been a fairly uneventful 21 nm sail.  Instead, the wind shifted to the NW and it became a 33 mile sail that took almost 9 hours.  On the bright side, it was a bright sunny day and I was doing what I was there to do so it was a great way to end my trip. 

I was up at 5:30am after a great nights sleep with lows in the mid 60s, clear, and calm.  Pulled anchor around 6am and was out of the Magothy by 7.  The wind didn't pick up much till I was just north of Baltimore Light.  Then it got VERY choppy between the Magothy and the Patapsco North Point.  After that, tacked another 10 or 12 times as the wind clocked around from NNE to NW to WNW.  When I turned, so did the wind - always on the nose.  I'd say this was the best weather day of my trip.  Got to Bowleys around 3:30pm with wind W at around 10.  Had a little trouble getting in but no damage.  Took 3 hours to clean up - still lots more to do when I go back.  It's nice to be home!!

Scenes from Gibson Island Anchorage

 Anchorage across from Gibson Island horse farm

It's a wrap!  Sorry about the audio - I'm headed into Middle River on the last leg of my trip.

Day 27 - Dunns Cove to Magothy River (33.3 nm, 8:42 hrs.)

Got thunderstorms last night around 9pm.  They were preceeded by 40+ kt winds from the west.  Was a good test of the new anchor since the wind shifted a full 360 degrees around the compass.  Below is a screen shot of my track showing my path around the anchor in the center.  Being in 8' of water probably helped but I was very nervous through the night.  I took bearings off house lights but as the lights went out later on, I lost that tool.  Up at 6am with a light rain.  There were about 5 other boats closer to the entrance to the cove and they all left before me, around 8:30am.  Motored to and through Knapp Narrows and up and through Poplar Island Narrows.  Wind was forecast to be SE but was NW at around 3 to 5.  Tide seemed to never turn to aid my movement north so finally started the engine and motored up to Bloody Point light and then onto Gibson Island on the Magothy.  Felt like I was back on the Dismal Swamp with all the motoring.  Fred had advised to try the anchorages behind Gibson Island and that was my plan.  Got there around 4:30pm.  Went past the horse farm and the nice (large and somewhat open) anchorage across from it onto the small and protected anchorage to the West of the Gibson Island Yacht club and Marina to the West.  One other beautiful 40' Saber squeezed in behind me but we both held fine for a nice peaceful night.  Cleaned out ice box.  I expect to have no ice left over.  Cell phone coverage marginal (suprisingly).

Dunn's Cove anchorage - made me dizzy!

Gibson Island homes

 Gibson Island horse farm



Day 26 - Reedville VA to Dunns Cove on the Choptank (66.8 nm, 12:56 hrs.)

Up at 4:30 for a long day. There aren't many stopping points other than Solomons on the way north and I really didn't want to go that far out of my way.  Tillghman Island is not that far off a direct line north so I figured I'd go for it.  Pulled anchor at 5 as it was just starting to get light.  Travelled about 5 miles just getting out of the Great Wicomoco before I could head north.  Once in the Bay, wind was SSW at 14.  Passed Point No Point at 10:30am with wind SW at 7-10.  Wanted to make Solomons by noon as criteria for continuing onto Dunns Cove.  Was a little late but the wind was building so I kept going.  Figured I could motor the last 5 miles if necessary.  Was easy sailing - all a port broad reach with lots of help from Auto after Point No Point.  What a great day!  Sailed into the Choptank and into Dunns Cove, running the engine for only the last 15 minutes. Wind in the Choptank was SSW to SW at 10 to 15.  With a very large fetch, made for a fairly rough following sea but I managed.  Did 67 miles and got into Dunns Cove at 6pm - long before dark.  Rain is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow with 5 kt. winds shifting from W to NE.

Sunrise on the Bay - 42' light on North side of Great Wicomoco entrance on left.  Workboat in center.

Just as a point of reference, this is what a 55' foot catch looks like pounding into the seas with a 15 kt. headwind.  I'm not sure why but photographs and even videos always seem to make the seas look much more calm than they really are.  For me, it was a following see which means no pounding but harder to steer (due to yawing).

Day 25 - Piankatank R. to Reedville VA (27.2 nm, 8:35 hrs.)
Wind shifted during the night from S to W at 12 to 17.  Made it a little rough and wind noise in the rigging.  Anchor held fine in 7' of water. "Piankatank" must be Indian for "wind" cause I've sure had plenty of it since I got here.  Up at 5:30, anchor up at 6:30am.  Wind west at 10 till I got out of the Piankatank - then dropped to W at 3 to 7.  Crossed the mouth of the Rappahannock on a broad reach.  Motored for half an hour till around 11am.  Broad reached up to the Great Wicomoco in a S at 5 wind. Pretty boring.  Tacked into the River and then up into Mill Creek on the South. This was my first time in Mill Creek (Fred had recommended it).  This is one of the nicest areas on the Bay -lots of great anchorages, white sand beaches, etc.  First dropped anchor on the SE side of the point.  Then the wind shifted to SE around 6pm. Got choppy so I moved over to the West side where there were several boats already anchored and rafted.  Dropped anchor 5 times and drug every time but the last which was a little upsetting.  I'm sure it made my new neighbors nervous too.  Later read on the technique for setting the (new to me) light weight Fortress anchors. Went for a swim and cleaned the hull for the first time on the trip.  Then showered, listened to some tunes (first time), and had a beer.  Heaven couldn't be better.

Mill Creek white sand beach.  One of several.

 Long day for the commercial boats too.

My buddy in Oddessy still plugging away!  Notice the fishing pole on the port side.

Day 24 - Hampton to Piankatank River (46.1 nm, 12:49 hrs.)

Up at 4:45 am.  Pulled anchor at 5:45 to take advantage of the 1.5 kt. ebb out of the harbor.  Of course, this was later offset some by the .5 kt. current flowing south on the Bay.  Headed north in a 3 to 4 kt. SE wind - a very nice and relaxing start up the Bay.  Then around 9:30, depth went from 14' to 4.8' within minutes and I was well aground.  Unfortunately, there was a following wind pushing me further onto the shoal.  Fortunately, the wind was light and the current was pushing me off.  Once I lowered the sails, the current was able to do it's job.  Of course, this was after I had gotten the dinghy out and taken the anchor aft of the boat as far as the rode would let me take it. Once back to the boat, I realized that the current had taken me off the shoal and the anchor was now off my bow.  Later review of two different charts showed 18' of water so I created a hazard in Active Captain to warn others. What was amusing about the event was that I had just gotten out my navigating tools out 20 minutes before (for the first time on my trip) and was trying to plot a position when I ran aground.

Wind was 5 to 12 SE all day.  Made 4 - 6 knots.  Very nice day for sailing.  I was able to do things around the boat with the help of Auto.  Got to the Piankatank entrance around 3pm - just as the wind was picking up to SE 10 to 15.  I have wanted to go into the Piankatank River for some time - recommended by Jody of CB Magazine and had thought this might have been the place I found the Island years ago with Ed and Len.

Came to inside of Gynn Island but it was pretty rough since the wind was coming straight off the bay and through the shallow inlet.  There were lots of power boats on the sand bar (protected from the wind).  I ended up having to anchor pretty far off the bar (for depth).  It was a beautiful area but not so great this day due to the wind and chop.  The entire area is nice has somewhat of a resort type atmosphere.

Finally moved to the protection of Edwards Creek for the night.


Another beautiful cruiser at anchor in Edwards Creek

 Gwynn Island swing bridge

Day 23 - Deep Creek to Hampton (22.8 nm, 7:42 hrs.)

Slept in till 6:30am since lock doesn't open till 8.  Fixed pancakes.  They were the worst I've ever made - the thickness of a quarter - with the consistency of cardboard.  Not sure what happened.  Waited for bridge/lock till almost 9am.  While waiting, met a couple who had motored from the Visitors Center that morning on their Benetau 50 - Andrew and Susan. Both British.  The docked behind me at the Deep Creek bridge. It was a little tight.  Saw them again at Norfolk.  Motored to the Gilmerton Bridge and got there at 10:20 for the 10:30 opening.  Sailed most of the way through Norfolk and across the channel to Hampton.  Wind got stronger as the day went on and ended up tacking on jib alone up to the Hampton entrance channel. IAfter a fairly rough sail across the main channel, I realized I had the engine running at 1800 rpm with the transmission in neutral.  No wonder I wasn't making much headway and the engine was running so "cool". Anchored across from the City Marina - very nice and a good value.  Not many slips, however.  Dinghied into the marina and walked into town.  Went to the Taphouse for a beer but ended up sitting next to some annoying guy.  They were having a music fest downtown that evening so I wandered around that for a bit, then went back to the boat for the night.  I liked Hampton - appears to be a real sailing town and a cool place to come back to.

Reminder of my Navy days

 Some of the barges are downright intimidating!

 All sorts of "ships" being refitted

 Schooner "Virginia"

 Navy's newest design warship

 Hampton City Marina and Crown Plaza

 What I Do at anchor in Hampton

 Hampton street fair

Day 22 - Elizabeth City to Dismal Swamp Deep Creek (34.8 nm, 11:03 hrs)

Left Elizabeth City around 8am and motored at about 4.5 kts most of the way to South Mills Locks.  Realized after about 2 hours that I better get moving so I don't miss the 11am opening.  Ran the next hour at max speed (5.5 kts, 2300 rpm) and got there at 11.  Timing was not a problem as there were about 15 other boats to be locked in and one behind me.  Stopped at the Visitors Center again but just for an hour. Plan was to do the entire Dismal Swamp in one day and be waiting south of the Deep Creek lock for the 8am opening tomorrow.  This plan made for a fairly traffic free crossing of the swamp.  The weather today was perfect - low humidity, not too warm, and lots of sunshine (coming through the trees). Docked around 5pm about 100' from the Deep Creek Mexican restaurant.  Reviews on Active Captain were good but my experience was not so great - lousy service and food so so.  Fun anyway.  Walked to Food Lion (very convenient) for ice and some fruit, etc. Food Lion shopping center also has Chinese and Pizza places).  Very nice area.  Overnight was OK but some traffic noise over the bridge 50' off my bow.

My buddy in Oddessy

 Nice cruiser heading north through the swamp

 Heading for home

 Nice little "one boat" docks to take a break from motoring

 Rest stops for road travelers - with views of the ICW.  Granite mile markers still exist on much of the swamp.

 Blue harron trying to keep ahead of me.

Day 21 - Alligator River South to Elizabeth City (48.6 nm, 10:32 hrs.)

Best day yet. No rain, reached up the Alligator and broad reached all the way to E City.  Well, almost no rain - had a thunderstorm with lots of wind about 1am (anchor held but was up for over an hour checking, setting and resetting anchor alarm, and securing halyard, etc.). Up at 5:30am and left anchorage at 7.  Motored 4 miles to the S end of the Alligator River and set sail.  Sailed on a close reach all the way up (about 15 miles). Just after entering the Albemarle, the wind went from 8 to 15 (surprise, surprise!).  Broad reached all the way to the Pasquatank. Then ran (jibing 2 or 3 times) the last 7 or 8 miles.  Had jib reefed a little but full main (way too much sail).  From the time I left the Alligator River, it took me 1 hour and 50 minutes to cross the Albeamarle Sound (11.6 nm) and 4 hours and 20 minutes to reach Elizabeth City (25.4 nm).  Once in Elizabeth City, had to wait an hour for the draw bridge. Would have stayed at the E City docks but it was a lee shore with lots of chop.  So went back over to the University docks.  Hosed down the boat, took on water, trash, etc.  The school was closed since Dan and his family were away in California.  Sun showered at the docks and went to bed early.
Coming into the E City harbor was my first view of a guy sailing his odd looking 10' gaff rigged boat from Ocracoke Island NC to somewhere in NJ. I passed him but then saw him 4 or 5 times over the next 150 miles. I tried to strike up a conversation with him a couple times but I believe he was German and didn't speak much English.

Scene on the way out of Georgia Bay

 First encounter with weird sailing vessel (Oddessy)

 Elizabeth City Maritime Museum

Day 20 - Bay River to Georgia Bay on Alligator River (52.9 nm, 13:22 hrs.)

Up at 5 for a long day of motoring.  Raised anchor at 6 after a good night sleep.  No cell or internet here - pretty remote.  In fact, there is basically no cell or internet coverage from several miles north of Beaufort to just south of Elizabeth City (with the exception of the area around Oriental).  Headed up the 10 mile cut from Bay River to Pamlico River.  Crossed the Pamlico with a nice 5 knot SW broad reach.  Up the Pungo also on a broad reach with 5 to 7 knots.  Got into Dowery Marina (for ice only) around 1pm and left around 1:30.  Got a shower and 20 knot head wind as I was headed up to the head of the Pungo to enter the alligator-Pungo cut.  This cut took forever but was able to motor sail a little with a starboard beam breeze.  Got to anchorage at 7pm.

Workboat along Alligator-Pungo cut

 One of many similar bridges that provide plenty of clearance (90').  My mast is only 45' off the water.

 A friendly onlooker.

A very long day!

Day 19 - Adam's Creek to Bear Creek via Oriental (26.9 nm, 13:58 hrs.)
Pulled anchor around 6:30am.  Dense fog.  Started motoring slowly using Garmin. Fog would lift then reset before getting out of Adams Creek.  Lifted fully around 8am and I then sailed across the Neuse River at 2 to 3 knots. Got to Deatons at 10:30am. Pump did not come with UPS at 11am as they thought it would. Instead, it came by Fedex at 1:30pm.  Poured rain from about 1 to 2pm.  Installed pump while it was raining and pulled out of the dock at 3:30pm.  Sailed about 20 miles with a 10 to 15 kt tail wind to Bear Creek.  Great sail but an hour before I got there, within a period of less than a minute, wind went from SW at 10 to NW at 20.  I saw it coming and furled the jib and started the engine.  Motor sailed on a close hauled course the last 4 miles with just motor and main.  Got in at 6:30pm - very nice anchorage (glad I had the Garmin to get in though).

Like motoring with your eyes closed.  Thank Garmin - but still nerve racking.

New fuel pump and hose - no more recycling fuel back into the tank!

Bear Creek, off Bay River - this was one of the prettiest and most peaceful anchorages.

Adam's creek, across Neuse River, into and out of Oriental, Neuse River north to Bay River.

Day 18 - Beaufort Docks to Adam's Creek (15.3 nm, 5:36 hrs.)

A sad day - departing Beaufort.  Met Captain Ron Smith around 9:30am. He is a friend of Mike Beale's and Mike had told me to look him up. He owns a 45' sail/charter boat and a marina in Moorehead City.  Took Beaufort Docks courtesy car to grocery store about 3 miles away and provisioned for the trip home.   Went to the Royal James for lunch and then to 5 local antique shops.  Then went back to the Maritime museum (had been there just before closing yesterday) for the noon movie.  Left the dock around 1pm and cleared the draw bridge at the South end of the "docks" at 1:30pm.  Anchored in Turner creek waiting for the tide to change direction and "help" me go north.  It has puzzled me that it seems the current is always flowing south.  It's either flowing south at 3 knots or at 1 knot but seems to never reverse as the charts show.  So I motored against a 1 to 1.5 knot current all the way back up to Adams Creek where I anchored for the night with three other large sailing vessels.  After anchoring, I was entertained by lots of playful dauphins who were swimming all around the boat.

Captain Ron times 2

Leaving Beaufort behind

RS is just north of Beaufort.  It is out in the middle of a fairly large "bay" but marks the split of two narrow channels that have 1 to 2' depths on each side.  You don't want to mess up here!

 This one missed me.  At least it's nice to be able to see them coming.