Home 4 Days Early

This trip was scheduled for 14 days, but sitting in Manteo, NC a couple of days ago, we saw a forecast of rain and thunderstorms for 7 days straight. Not only would we not enjoy our time in the Outer Banks in bad weather, but getting home would be at best a real pain, and at worst dangerous. So, we decided to leave 4 days early and arrived home yesterday afternoon. Below is a summary of the last week of our trip.

Monday, July 16 was our second full day in Manteo in the Outer Banks, our last full day with Elana, and the day before Benny's birthday (Tamara's birthday too, but she is in Israel). We toured the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, a beautiful and tranquil setting, but too boring for a 16 year old boy, so Benny stayed on the boat and played video games.

Elana with Queen Elizabeth I

We then saw some turtles at the Manteo Aquarium.

On Monday night, we made a reservation at the Aqua restaurant in Duck, the fanciest meal we had on the entire trip, since we were celebrating Benny's 16th birthday. After dinner, we went to the famous Donutz on a Stick desert store, where we had pre-ordered 8 vegan donuts. There is no delight in the world as the face of a vegan teenager about to dive into dairy-free, egg-free donuts.

Benny's birthday dinner at Aqua

Yes, these donuts are vegan

On the walk back to the car after dinner, I noticed that the view was better than average, so I snapped this picture. Something to be said for the Outer Banks!

So, Tuesday morning, Elana took a two hour Uber ride to the Norfolk airport and flew home. We proceeded to Hatteras where we visited the lighthouse. Since we had decided to cut out our 2 days in Ocracoke, we took the ferry over to see that island by car. Hard to believe that the car ferry was free! About an hour ride each way.

Free ferry ride with our car to Ocracoke

At the BlackBeard museum in Ocracoke. Ann said I did not look tough enough

Since we were traveling to the OuterBanks, on our night in Crisfield, we watched a movie that was set in the area called Nights in Rodanthe, a movie that I highly recommend that you skip. There was a house the served as the centerpiece of the movie, and we saw the exact house when we drove through Rodanthe. They had moved it because the house was in danger of being destroyed by the ocean. In fact, the house is for sale, if anyone is interested.

Night in Rodanthe house - for sale

On Wednesday, the 18th, Benny and I went to a water park called H2OBX, with huge slides and wave pools. Ann still has a shoulder issue and decided to stay behind on the boat. I didn't take any pictures, as I did not want to get the camera wet. It's a great park, but geared more towards younger kids, although the highest slides will challenge the older kids as well. Benny said he was embarrassed by my screams as we dropped from great heights in the tube.

On Thursday, it was time to head back. Given the horrible forecast for Saturday (today as I type this), we wanted to get all the way home in 2 days, an ambitious undertaking.

I woke up at 6:00 and got Benny up to help me with the lines and fenders. I think he basically did it in his sleep, as he is definitely not a morning person - don't know too many teenagers who are. I missed having Elana with us as she is much more enthusiastic about helping out around the dock. Still, we got off without a hitch, and he went back to bed.

Leaving our marina at 6:00 a.m., at least I got to see the sunirse

The plan was to arrive in Norfolk by late afternoon, and then to try to get home on Friday from Norfolk - not a short ride on Sababa, and probably requiring a fuel stop on the way.

We made really good time, over 26 knots at times, which is fast for our boat. We must have had a favorable current.

Making good time; Sababa leaves quite a wake

I did my best to time the bridges well. Given the charted distance between bridges, and their opening schedules, I set our speed for minimal wait time and maximal fuel efficiency.

Waiting for a swing bridge to open

Most of the bridge tenders are friendly, but at Great Bridge Bridge, I got a snooty one with attitude. He wasn't opening for another 45 minutes, so we pulled over and topped off our fuel, which ended up being a very wise move.

Entering the Great Bridge Lock Northbound

After the Great Bridge lock, we passed our last possible hurdle, a railroad bridge that thankfully was open. I realized that we would arrive in Norfolk by noon - amazing time! So, I canceled our marina in Norfolk, and we pressed on to Solomons, where we arrived at 5:30 pm. This gave us a very easy day on Friday, as it is less than four hours back to Baltimore.

Passing by Norfolk - we did not stop this time

On Solomons Island, the sky can be absolutely gorgeous in the evening. We had dinner at the Key Lime pie store and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. Benny and I took a twilight dingy ride with the most memorable views.

Sun about to set in Solomons Island

View during our dingy ride

Sababa settles in to sleep

Friday morning, Benny tucked away the fenders as we headed back to the easy 3.5 hour boat ride up to Baltimore.

Benny is a great crew member

Passing under the Bay bridge

I saw lots of dolphins just South of Kent Island, which really capped off the trip. I was sad to get home four days earlier than planned, but we did the smart thing. Four days in the rain would not make a good boat trip (although perhaps a more interesting blog), and we can now say that we had amazing weather for our entire trip - a gift you don't get to enjoy too often when boating on the East Coast.

I'm already starting to think about next summer's boating adventure on Sababa. Perhaps a trip up the Hudson River with stops in Cape May, Atlantic City, Manhattan and points North. Or, maybe we go to Charleston, SC and brave the ICW again. Or, what if we visit a bunch of creeks and rivers in the Chesapeake on the way to Ocean City, Maryland? Who knows - there's plenty of time to plan it.

This year, amazingly, we had really no trouble with the boat. A few things here and there, but nothing major. With fantastic weather and no major boat problems, I think we need to consider this trip a rousing success!