Monthly Archives: October 2011

Today we welcome a special guest aboard Cutter Loose.  Popeye the Sailor Man has graciously agreed to join us for today’s leg from the Alligator River to Belhaven, NC, a distance of 34 miles. We are awake before dawn to … Continue reading →

Temperatures drop into the thirties overnight, leaving a thin coating of frost on the deck of Cutter Loose at daybreak.  The morning sun makes short work of eliminating the skating rink as we sail downwind along the Pasquatank River.  The river … Continue reading →

Today we have been tracking a deep 1000 millibar low pressure center that has been moving northward along the coast.  Early this morning, the low was located just to the southeast over Hatteras.  At 5 PM, it is located near … Continue reading →

The cold front has passed and in its aftermath, temperatures have plummeted, the skies are overcast and rain is in the forecast.  The high temperature in Elizabeth City today is a breezy 55 degrees. The weather picture in coastal North Carolina … Continue reading →

The 8:30 AM bridge opening and lockage at South Mills occur without a hitch.  Cutter Loose is the first vessel out of the locks and into the Canal.  Here the narrow confines of the Dismal Swamp Canal give way to the wider, … Continue reading →

Today’s journey requires a full day’s worth of effort to achieve a meager 28 nautical miles.  We are up and out of the South Municipal Boat Basin in Portsmouth and headed south on the Elizabeth River at 7:30 AM.  Our first … Continue reading →

Today is yet another beautiful day for cruising.  The anchor is up in Willoughby Bay at 7:40 AM for the short hop to Portsmouth, VA on the Elizabeth River, a distance of 12 miles.  Our course takes us parallel to … Continue reading →

Today’s destination is Willoughby Bay in Norfolk, VA, a relatively short distance of 44 miles from our Jackson Creek anchorage in Deltaville, VA.  The wind today is less than 10 knots from the east, which permits us to motorsail south to … Continue reading →

With clear skies and temperatures hovering just below 50 degrees,  we weigh anchor in Solomons at 7 AM.  As we round Drum Point and turn east into the Patuxent River towards the Bay, the sun begins to rise out of the … Continue reading →

The alarm sounds at 6 AM.  We emerge from the warmth and comfort of our sleeping bags to a chilly, 50 degree morning.  At 6:30 AM, first light filters through a layer of early morning clouds.  The gravitational pull of life ashore … Continue reading →