We took an extended weekend May 3-6 for a family sail.  Donna's Dad and sister Betsy arrived in Arlington and we traveled by car to Norfolk. We arrived on Thursday so that Dad and Betsy could settle on board after having hamburgers for dinner on the grill, while Dave and Donna went to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg to see Dave's enrolled son Erek's choir concert that evening   

Friday was a light wind day .  It was a good opportunity to motor to Norfolk's Waterfront, passing the shipyards that Joe (a veteran of the Coast Guard) would enjoy seeing. Even in the light wind, we were able to sail part of the way back on the jib. Donna docked the boat upon return--quite the challenge (worse than parallel parking). To dock, we have to first enter the marina and approach our dock in the opposite direction, spinning then to maneuver starboard to (this allows us to install our boarding gangway), and "crabbing" to the dock on forward and backward gears alone to place your 47 ft length between the existing barge and houseboat. You really have to be there to appreciate the challenge.

On Saturday we sailed toward Cape Charles on a NE wind 5-10 kt and returned downwind with the spinnaker on fabulous 15-20 kt wind. Too bad it was a somewhat cloudy day with temperatures in the low 60s.  We tested the water heaters on the engine for the first time and Dave was able to take a hot shower aboard Saturday night. We returned to Arlington a day early on Sunday due to foul rainy weather. We videotaped the highlights of our sail that we hope to show you soon!