We meet up with Charlotte and Klaus … Thursday 18th October 2012
I could get used to being on a dock! It's very convenient. I got up early to take some pre-sunrise photos - all I had to do was grab my camera bag and tripod and off I went. A couple of hours later it was time to make a start on some jobs. We wanted to change the oil in the engine so I took the paddle wheel ferry over to Portsmouth and the "Mile Marker 0" marine supply shop to get some oil and a few other spare parts. The owner, Robert McBride, could not have been more helpful. He found me a supplier of the the Yanmar oil filter we needed just a few hundred yards down the road. Rather than charge me a mark up - he simply made the connection and sent me down the road to pick it up. He gave me an empty plastic can for the oil waste, which he took back later in the day. The oil change itself went fine. Judging by the color of the old oil it was definitely needed and we feel good to have learned one more skill for the boat. We also cleaned out the bilge which has tendency to get a bit malodorous! Again dock access to a hose pipe was a big help. This afternoon Charlotte and Klaus came to the boat and brought with them our mail that Sue and Rod had kindly forwarded. (Charlotte is Gloria's sister-in-law Fran's sister and lives in Virginia Beach). We had a great visit and it was a real pleasure to see them both. The most critical part of the mail were our postal ballots for the forthcoming elections. We'll be doing our part to make sure the right man wins the Presidential election and the right woman wins the Massachusetts Senatorial race! Send us a comment if you want us to articulate why this is the right choice! During the day we chatted with a number of people from other cruising boats - it' great to meet up with others and hear about their plans and experiences. We also talked with a another Morris owner (Conrad) who keeps his boat up in Bass Harbor but lives here in Norfolk. It turns out he knows this boat and it's former owner Garry Fischer, having competed in Newport to Bermuda races, and had actually been on "Diva" (as she was formerly known) previously. Our plan is to spend one more day in Norfolk and then head southwards. We are still trying to work out the best route and preferred stopping points.
Mike
Charlotte and Klaus
The view from the Waterside Marine (where we are docked) across the river to the naval ship yards
Additional ships undergoing work
A ship in dry - dock
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