Start of the Intracoastal Waterway!

Hi Everyone, we have finally made it to the Intracoastal waterway! Sorry about the short summary last time but I pretty much summed it up- 2 lousy slogs through choppy weather and it's been cold! The last entry was at Solomon's Island, MD. It really did take me an hour to get back on the bus!
Our previous goal had been to be at Solomon's for Halloween but we're glad we made a detour and chose Oxford instead as it was a very cute town and Solomon's was only strip plazas!
We left Solomon's Island Friday as Thursday was very high winds. The forecast was pretty much the same for days so we decided to just go and get it over with and finish Chesapeake Bay. The forecast of two foot waves were actually closer to 5! The weather radio voice has a tendancy to lie when you actually need them, and I've had several other sailors agree!! So we went through the night with at least 3 foot waves with larger ones thrown in between. We planned on a early morning (ie in the daylight) arrival but as the winds pushed us at 6-7 knots we arrived in the dark! There was no way to slow down and the waves were too high to turn around into them (we had them as a following sea- pushing us from behind- for non-sailors- this is much more comfortable then going into the waves or taking them on the side). Once we got to the end of the Chesapeake the waves were all 5 feet or more. To top it off the buoys sucked and there was little to go by for a channel. We had a gigantic container tanker ship come out of the area and radio us to go further up the bay to pass him port to port. So we had to turn into the horrendous waves. Rob took a few up his backside as they slammed over the cockpit! We were entering Norfolk which is the Military base and very busy commercial shipping area. We finally made it in after 3 hours of this and snuck into the Hampton River away from all the tankers. Whew! But we got to put a 100 mile red line down our East Coast USA map tracking our progress! :)
The next day we had reprocutions of a previous incident. About 5 days previous Shadow slammed hard into the cabin when I wasn't ready for it and I dropped the very heavy plexiglass hatchboard right onto his tail tip! I felt pretty bad, blood everywhere. After days of treatment and bandaging my fears were realized and the tail was doomed. As it was a crushing injury and not just a laceration the last two inches of his very long tail did not make it! So we had to find a vet. Yes I realize that I am a vet but I couldn't perform anasethesia for him! We talked to a live aboard at Hamptom who gave us use of his truck- very nice of him- and we drove to the local emerg clinic. They were great, very fast and gave me a wonderful professional courtesy discount! So Shadow is okay now and on the mend and as Rob says at 99.5% himself since some is missing.
The next day we were off to cross Hampton Roads- this is the name for Norfolk bay and the shipping lanes. One thing I must note is that Chesapeake Bay and area has a lot of restricted zones where they bomb the water and have military practice. Norfolk area has explosive transferring areas and restricted military areas as well. Once across and entering Elizabeth River we saw that near the Warships there were little motorboats with army guys watching that no one came near their boats! We pulled over and dinghied to the Battleship Wisconsin which is part of Nauticus a maritime museum and tour of the battleship. This is all free and the kids enjoyed it, the ship was huge!! When we were done they had military personal watch us closely while we dinghied back across. You never know when a young Canadian family may attack a military warship!
So we have now crossed mile 1000 of our journey- that was sometime in the night of our last leg of Chesapeake Bay and we have crossed mile 0 of the intracoastal waterway. This means only 1089 miles to get to Miami!!
We chose to take the Dismal Swamp route- there are two routes through Virginia and one is the Virginia Cut which is slightly longer, but wider and faster- no speed limits so mostly motor boats go this way. The Dismal Swamp is like it sounds, a swamp and narrow and slow, but shorter. We anchored in front of the first lock which was already done for the day and had a nice walk with the dogs and kids in the park.
Today, Nov 6 we finished the Dismal Swamp and are now in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. I was expecting as soon as we crossed the state line an instant increase in temperature but no such luck. :) Maybe it'll be warmer in South Carolina! Actually it was in the high 60's today so I'm just kidding. The nights still really cool down into the 40's and sometimes 30's though.
We went to a dine-in theatre here in Elizabeth City- pretty neat, tables all around and you order your food by a phone on the table and it is a full size movie theatre. Very good food, saw the new Robin Williams movie, Man of the Year- pretty good.
The kids have been very busy with "the list" and have found 20 things so far!! We'll update it when we hit 25 Rob says! Abbey was the cutest when she wanted to see the Statue of Liberty first- she sat up at the bow just waiting for it.
So now we are off to continue the intracoastal and see North Carolina.