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.