I was surprised that there was so little traffic today. Sure we saw a few boats and some skiers and jet skis but nothing like what we saw last weekend. It was a hot day and little wind. I had hoped to sail some across Ablemarle sound but what little wind was blowing with us and made for a very warm crossing. While we were crossing Curituck sound we heard thunder and saw lightening in the distance. I opened the radar out to its max range (16 miles) and could see the storm cell about 12 miles away. It pretty much held the same bearing for a long time, getting within about 6 miles before we turned a bit and it dropped behind us and disappated. The cool winds from the storm were very refreshing.
The last two major projects on the boat before we left were to install the A/C and an ST-6001 autopilot. Those have turned out to be the best two investments I've made in the boat to date. While I'm not overly happy with the autopilot behavior and the water filter that came with the A/C wasn't designed to work in muddy water I'm still extremely glad to have them. When it comes to autopilots, I have to compare them to my first, a Navico Tillermate. It was a simple A/P with the compass, computer and linear drive all in one package. It had two controls, direction and sensitivity. If I recall the sensitivity was calibrated from 1 to 10 where that was the number of degrees the boat would wander before correction was applied. That device could control my boat in a following sea better than I could. I'm still waiting for another A/P to live up to that reputation.
We pulled in to the Atlantic Yacht Basin about 1830. Took a much needed shower. Showers are not air conditioned but need to be. The guides say that this is a very friendly marina. Since it is the 4th and they are closed the 4th, 5th and 6th, I guess we'll never know. The locals just stare at me as I walk by. I said "Hi" to a couple of them, but didn't get much of a response. I've forgotten how unfriendly Virginians are to strangers since I left 16 years ago.
It was a shock, 30 years ago for a midwestern boy to move to rural Virginia. I was used to being able to strike up a conversation with most anyone, anywhere and boy did I get the cold stares when I tried it in Virginia. I had forgotten about that until now.