We had to wait for high tide to depart from Smithfield today... it was leave at 0330 in the morning or 1530 in the afternoon... with the number of crab pots we saw coming in we opted for 1530 departure... we actually left at 1445 as the wind was coming out of the ENE and appeared to be blowing the water into the Pagan River. We had no issues with depth going out as we did coming in a couple of days ago.
We planned to go to the Hampton area and anchor which would give us a good starting point to head up the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow.

Did see something unexpected... a tug towing a Staten Island Ferry into Norfolk.

We arrived to our destination for the night at 1730 and dropped the anchor in Old Point Comfort near Fort Monroe at N37°00.542', W076°19.049'. We traveled today for 2 hours and 45 minutes covering 18.6 nautical miles averaging 6.8 knots.

We always enjoy this stop on our trips north and south... Judy and Wayne McPhail are awesome! Last night we had a dinner at their home with 3 other local couples... Steak and Flounder and all the fixings... great evening!

Lily went to the VET this morning and everything with her right leg is fine... nothing broken... Vet said it most likely is just a strain and will slowly get better. Her ears were cleaned and checked and looked a little red so we have some medicine to put in her ear each day. But nothing serious wrong... :)

I was able to work on the starboard engine and found that the problem was the raw water impeller had lost 4 of it's 8 blades and the pieces that broke off were blocking the water flow. Installed a new impeller and tested... good water flow and no overheating. Also completed the oil changes on both engines today... new oil, overheating issue fixed. SAILS is ready to go!

We'll have dinner again tonight with Judy and Wayne... be just the 4 of us... or should say the 6 of us... Lily and their cat Patches. Lily is really enjoying their yard... it's full of small yellow flowers... first time she had been off a leash and can run freely... she is loving it!

Going to Smithfield today so we needed to plan for the tide as we can only make it on a high tide. That meant departure at between 0900 and 1000... to arrive to the Pagan River at 1330 high tide. Winds were forecast for 15-20 knots with 25 knot gusts.

We left the dock in Portsmouth at 0900 and headed north up the ICW till we reached Hampton Roads next to the Naval Base and turned to port heading for the James River. This is where we got hit with the winds... it was very bit of the forecast plus some... saw gusts to over 30 knots and it was fairly rough.

About half way across to the mouth of the James River the starboard engine alarm went off... OVERHEATING!!! I shut the engine down immediately continuing on the port engine... Susan took over them helm and went to investigate. Found nothing out of the ordinary... no broken hoses or evident leaks, water level fine, sea strainer clean, oil level fine. Only possibility... Raw Water Pump Impeller... would have to check that in Smithfield.

At the mouth of the James River at Newport News Ship Yards we were overtaken by a large ship and two assist tugs. She was really big and came by real close... was neat to watch them work the ship in to the ship yard docks.

Leaving at 0900 we arrived to the channel going into the Pagan River a little early... still an hour before high tide but we continued on... very shallow going in but not too bad... 7 feet was the shallowest I saw. The problem area is called Bob's Shoal... as we approached It I watched the depths slowly decrease till the sounder stopped working and started flashing LAST LAST LAST 5.0 feet... we creeped across at idle and you could hear the bottom of SAILS sliding over the mud bottom... it's about a 1/4 mile stretch and you make a turn to port and you are back in deep water and heading toward Judy and Wayne McPhails house just a mile ahead... :)

We arrived and backed into the dock next to their new boat... Z KAT... 46 foot Carver Motoryacht. They have only had it a few months. We were secure at the dock at 1300 N36°59.512', W076°37.449'. We traveled today for 4 hours covering 22.8 nautical miles averaging 5.7 knots.

We will be here a couple of days... forecast for Chesapeake Bay does not settle down till Thursday or Friday... Lily has an appointment at the vet for what we think may be an ear infection and to have her right front leg checked... she has been limping on it since we left Florida... anyway, want to be sure it's nothing serious. We have our mail being forwarded here and I have some cabinet work to catch up on. Engines are due an oil change and I have to check out why the starboard engine overheated.