LAZY W: The 2013 Cruise of Lazy W - July 17 through July 21

Our last lengthy cruise on Lazy W ended on October 17, 2011. Much happened since then to keep us at the dock at Ocean Marine Yacht Center until July 17, 2013.

Wanting to teach high school physics, Frank went back to school fall 2011 as a ‘career switcher.’ He spent months in ODU classes and jumped through all the required hoops to receive his provisional Virginia teaching certificate.

Our son, Jon, and his wife, Nancy, had a beautiful baby girl in May 2012 and we jumped at the chance to fly to Phuket, Thailand (with stops in Germany and Switzerland) to meet Ashley Rose. Grandma even made a solo trip back to Thailand for Ashley’s first birthday in 2013!

Grandma and Ashley enjoying Itsy-Bitsy Spider

We hosted friends for the fantastic OpSail 2012 and entered Lazy W in the parade of sail along the Elizabeth River.

While in Thailand, Frank was able to schedule interviews for teaching positions in Virginia. In late August 2012, he began his short-lived teaching career as a teacher of both AP Physics and “Physics for Poets” at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach. This was the perfect excuse to get off Lazy W and rent a condo at the oceanfront for the off-season, YEAH!

I put on my volunteer hat and helped out at registration for the Polar Plunge and Shamrock Marathon. I managed to score a few Texas standardized reading tests from home. I became a Whole Foods snob. Along with Patti and Alan Sutton we checked out numerous happy hours at the bars and restaurants along Atlantic Avenue.

By October 2012 the professor was sure of one thing – that teaching would be crossed off his bucket list forever!! He toughed it out one excruciatingly painful day at a time until June of this year when his great teaching experiment was put to rest. His days were now free to get Lazy W in ship-shape condition for cruising. Crawling around the engine room for hours and ending the day reeking of eau-de-diesel suited him much better than dealing with teenagers with no interest in how things worked! He was a happy camper again. And even happier when he got the results of the AP Physics exam and saw that 12 of his 13 test takers passed the tough exam.

The first weekend of June the Buckheit family gathered in Angier, NC for the wedding of Leslie Orcutt and Kevin Buckheit.

Cameron kept us busy the last week of June when he came for his summer visit. He brought his cousin Isaiah along for a fun-filled week of kid-centric activities – catching crabs, swimming, bowling, driving the dinghy, seeing Monsters University at the movie theater, attending a Tides baseball game, and watching fireworks.

By July there was nothing left to do BUT LEAVE!! On July 16^th the gang from ‘B’ dock (Mike and Cindy, Bill and Darlene, Bonnie and Charlie, Mike and Ruth) had a leaving-the-dock party at Gosport Tavern. Bill, a Mass Maritime alum, gifted us with a ‘chart book’ which definitely will not be used for navigation purposes!! :)

So on July 17^th, after a pumpout and topping off the fuel tank, we cast off northbound on the Elizabeth River bound for the Hampton Public Docks.

Passing USS Wisconsin and Nauticus

It was a typical hot, hazy, humid July afternoon with very little boat traffic on the river. Docked at the Norfolk Naval Station were three aircraft carriers - #77 – USS George H.W. Bush, #69 – USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, and #75 – USS Harry S. Truman which would leave on a long deployment later in the month.

With a little help from Maxwell at the Hampton Public Docks, Lazy W tied up within feet of the Virginia Air and Space Center and the Hampton Carousel, a fully-restored 1920 merry-go-round with 48 beautiful handpainted horses.

Hampton Harbor from the Virginia Air and Space Center

with Lazy W hidden behind the trees

Patti and Alan were on Fairways at the nearby Hampton Yacht Club so we got together for dinner at Venture Kitchen and Bar on Queens Way. What an eclectic menu! There are not many restaurants in Hampton Roads that serve Pad Thai PB&J (surprisingly delicious) or asparagus with salted popcorn and creamy goat cheese dressing. We sampled and enjoyed both.

Frank and I wandered through the Virginia Air and Space Center (blissfully air conditioned) along with several dozen pre-teens on field trips from Virginia Beach and then perused the artwork at Blue Skies Gallery. An added perk with a stay at Hampton Public Docks is the use of the pool at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, so after enjoying two single dips at the Old Hampton Ice Cream Parlor we took a refreshing dip in the pool.

Chippokes Plantation State Park, a working farm since 1619, is located on the James River across from historic Jamestown and is the site of the annual Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival in July. A few boats from Ocean Marine were planning to attend and we decided to meet them there. We left Hampton at noon on July 19^th and fought the current for five hours before dropping anchor in Cobham Bay. Sonata arrived about 6:30 followed by Slack Time and Southern Comfort towing Junior.

Shortly after breakfast the following morning we realized the error we had made in picking our anchoring location – we were directly in the ‘flight path’ of the hundreds of testosterone-laden boats arriving for the party in mid-bay! We pulled up anchor and made our way to the calmer side of the bay where the other OMYC boats had wisely dropped anchor the previous evening.

None of us ever made it to the Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival but Frank and I did hike up the hill to the visitor center for a nice view of the boats at anchor. There was plenty of food, fun and antics on the water along with mimosas, bloody Marys, beer and wine to keep us entertained in the blistering heat. Thankfully, there was a brisk wind.