27 May 2019 Herrington Harbour North, Virginia
It was Memorial Day, but we had no time to relax. We were back at the boat at 08:00 and rattled off a few jobs. I put the final coat of varnish on the cockpit table and Glenys continued to clean after the chaos of the past few days. I then replaced the aft heads door, which looks great.
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Welcome to the Alba Chronicles.
This is a diary of our travels on-board our 42 foot sailing yacht, "Alba". Glenys and I have sold our house and land-bound possessions, bought a boat and the intention is to continue cruising until we're too old to carry on.
Providing that we can get Internet access, we'll be posting diary entries every week - we hope that you enjoy following our voyage.
We have an interactive mapping section where you can view Our latest location and some of the Anchorages that we have visited.
You can also download the Alba Chronicles as an eBook from the Downloads page
Neville Howarth.
More Work in Maryland
20 May 2019 Herrington Harbour North, Virginia
We were up early again and rushed around tidying away our bedding and the various covers that we use to cover the upholstery. At 10:20, we were still polishing woodwork, when Roger rang to say that the prospective buyers had arrived early and could they come around in 10 minutes? The boat was in chaos, but we said yes and quickly pushed all our cleaning materials into shopping bags and into lockers. Five minutes later, we had a pristine looking show boat.
Maintenance in Maryland
13 May 2019 Herrington Harbour North, Virginia
It was another grey start to the day and had been cold overnight, so I turned on the heater to remove the chill. The rain hammered down last night and was a good test of the port-lights - I’m pleased to report that we have no leaks. It rained on and off all day, so we did jobs down below.
Damn Port-lights
6 May 2019 Herrington Harbour North, Virginia
It’s very strange to wake up in the morning without having to think about our next passage or the next anchorage. We’ve been constantly on the move since October and have done nearly 3,000 miles since we left Trinidad. We don’t even have to look at the weather forecast apart from finding out if it’s going to rain and possibly spoil our maintenance work.
Heading up the Chesapeake
29 April 2019 Norfolk, Virginia
It was a cold grey morning, forcing me to wear jeans and thick socks for the first time in six months. We’re just hanging about waiting to sail up to Annapolis tomorrow. Glenys went for a walk to the supermarket a mile away, while I lurked down below hugging a cup of hot chocolate.
Repairs in Norfolk
22 April 2019 Charleston to Chesapeake (Day 1)
At 04:00, we pulled up the anchor and set off into the night. There was no wind at all, but we had a favourable current of 1½ knots for the 10 miles out of the inlet channel. We then set off on a course of 075° aiming for the 200 metres depth contour, hoping that by the end of the day, we’ll pick up the strong Gulf Stream to push us north.
On to South Carolina
15 April 2019 Cumberland Island, Georgia
It was very cold last night (about 15°C) with a brisk 20 knot SW wind, which is sucking cold air from the central states of the USA – we had to put on fleeces while having breakfast and the hot cup of tea was very welcome. However, it was sunny and the forecast still looks like we’ll have a weather window to leave for Charleston on Wednesday 17th.