Our press homeward continued as we left the basin at Portsmouth just after sunup. An early start helped with tides as we rode the incoming tide for much of the cruise, boosting our SOG to up to 8.4 kts. That’s just speeding along for us, we averaged just over 7 kts. We arrived at Ingram Bay just after 1600, opting to stay at a marina in order to get an early start. We’ll be leaving here well before daybreak, since spring tides have put us on the bottom for the night. We stayed here last year, but we did not have the double whammy of NE winds for a few days plus the full moon, combining to lower the normal low tide by almost another foot. So unless we depart at a time that corresponds to the tide level at our arrival, we may be here another 6-10 hours! That puts us at about 0500, or 0-dark-thirty. The upside is we’ll arrive at our destination another hour or two earlier than we originally planned. Very calm winds this evening should also allow the return of the water that the wind has blown out of the bay for the last few days. But for now, we’re aground in the slip! Nothing serious since our water line is just less than two inches above where it normally rides in the water!
Ingram Bay Marina is very laid back, the pups love it since they have the run of the place and there’s a couple of acres of meadow just behind the slip with lots of rabbits to chase! It’s very quiet here, a contrast to our night last night in Portsmouth, with the ever present sirens, helicopters, and ship traffic noise. The boating season here is just getting started; as we reflect on our past weekend boating life, we remember that most years at this time our boat was not yet in the water. And we’re reminded that we’re no longer in the south, with the chilly mornings and water temps barely in the 60’s!
We’ll be at Stansbury by Sunday, and we’ll confirm a haulout schedule on Monday morning. The real fun’s about to begin!
