New places, new experiences and new challenges begin today!

Aug. 14, 2018

We spent an entire summer on the Chesapeake about three years ago and boated up and down the Atlantic intercoastal waterway four plus times. We are very familiar with the terms that relate to tides. High, low, rising, falling, ebb and flood. We are also familiar with wind speed and direction as they relate to our traveling and anchoring.

We must now add the element of water current to our planning.  We are headed for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal then down the Delaware Bay and up the Hudson River. If we travel when the tide and current oppose each other we would use more fuel as we fight against the current. Although set at 1400 rpms to run about 8 knots we would loose 3-4 knots in the fight. If that's not enough in certain areas the tide against current situation could potentially cause waves to peek at 3=5 feet!!

If we run with the tide and current we will get an extra push which means adding up to four knots to our speed, so our 1400 rpms will have us running at 12 knots rather than 8, a significant time and fuel savings. Complacency is definitely not a word fitting of this lifestyle!

Sometimes the second time around isnt as much fun

Aug. 13, 2018

We left Baltimore on Monday morning. During our previous trip on the Bay we stopped at the free dock in Betterton.  We had an amazing experience with a bus load of Amish families that came to enjoy the adjoining beach.  A group of the boys walked down to the dock and we invited them to see the boat. They were so polite and thankful. I explained the electronics and talked about the weather.  We watched the children from babies to teens swim in their cloths, laugh and enjoy the water and each other.  We were amazed when the elders called them to eat. Not one child cried, whined or through a tantrum about leaving the water. The older girls helped the younger and up to the picnic tables they went on the first parental request! We were in awe! Not what we usually see with parents and kids.
While on their break I approached an elder and asked if we could bring our kayaks and paddle board over to the beach for the young people to play on. His answer was, sure as long as I can play on them as well.  As the young people finished eating they began to gather along the beach but did not go in until they were all there and were given the go ahead by elder.  By the end of the day my cheeks hurt from smiling. Their laughter filled the air as they tried to use the paddleboard and the support they provided each was heart warming. Never a its my turn, your taking to long, etc. just young people having fun.  At one point a mom climbed into one of the kayaks paddled out away from everyone and just floated alone. No one yelled mom, no one bothered her and when she returned she smiled and said I enjoyed that alone time. Something that is rare for any mom. The announcement was made that it was time to go. Again everyone left the water without a word.  Groups of children shyly came over to us, said thank you and ran to the bus.  The elder approached and told us that they come once a year. He said we had provided a wonderful experience that these children will never forget and thanked us for our kindness. An experience we have never forgotten.

Tom wanted to return to the free dock, sit on the beach he loved, enjoy the view and reminisce. Unfortunately the second time around was not as positive. As we approached the free dock there was a sign that read no docking, a one hundred dollar fine for violators! ouch! This was extremely disappointing as the weather called for a storm to come through in the late afternoon.  We anchored and when we were sure we were set, dinked to the beach. it wasn't long before the storm started rolling in so it was back to the boat to batten down the hatches, so to speak. The storm did blow through with high winds that howled past, waves that bounced us up and down like a ball and my much hated element, lightning! The winds settled down but the waves remained choppy making for a not so calm overnight stay.

                                                               Here comes the storm

                                               Rock and Roll with one other in the anchorage

Francis Scott Key and his memorial buoy

There are certain stops on our trip that have brought about a chill, a thrill and or an emotional response of some type. Passing under the Francis Scott Key bridge into Baltimore Harbor with the outline of the city on the right and Fort McHenry on the left is one of those exciting times. Just as you pass under the bridge a buoy bobs in the water ahead but it is starkly different from any other. The stripes, stars and colors of our beloved flag are those of the buoy.  This buoy is not an entrance buoy nor does it mark a shoal or rock. It marks the spot where in 1814 Francis Scott Key stood on the bow of a ship and watched as the British bombarded the Fort throughout the night during the war of 1812. As dawn broke he saw that through all the smoke the American Flag was still there. This inspired him to write a poem titled "The Defense of Fort McHenry". Printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called :To Anacreon in Heaven", composed by john Strafford Smith.  People began referring to the son as "The Star-Spangled Banner.  President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official  events. In 1931 his poem put to music became our National Anthem.

A nerve racking debris dodging day on the Bay to get to Baltimore

Aug. 10-13

An exciting day for us. We were headed to Baltimore to visit boating friends and enjoy dinner on Saturday with the youngest daughter AJ and her husband Matt, who will drive over from Arlington Va.   I have been keeping track of the weather and monitoring the social media sites for boaters closely because of all the rain that has fallen.  They opened the dam up river from Annapolis and the debris that poured out clogged the marinas in Annapolis, temporarily closing them to transient boaters and causing reason for concern on the Bay for boaters. I had already talked with my daughter and asked her to meet us in Baltimore rather than Annapolis because of the debris and we would have to keep a watchful eye or four, to prevent us from hitting a trip ender. What's a trip ender? A log that causes prop and or shaft damage causing your boat to stop dead in the water which then requires a tow and lots of dollars to repair.
The Bay was not calm which made it a little more difficult as the logs and other debris would bob up and down with the waves,  The closer we got to Annapolis the more debris that appeared. Other boats and even freighters were warning everyone in the area as logs, and trees were spotted.  At one point when I was driving I felt like my boat line on the GPS looked like a drunken sailor was at the helm. Hard left, hard right, you get the picture. Once past Annapolis the debris diminished as it was heading South and we were going North.  As the city of Baltimore appeared in our sights memories of our previous visit reminded us of how much fun this city can be. Our first trip we attended a grand prix race through the city, rode out bikes all around the waterfront and ate at a great Mexican restaurant in Fells Point.
We were splurging and staying in the marina where our friends Kathy and Vic keep their boat so that Vic and Tom could work on our dinghy motor. Vic is one of those guys that can fix anything. We spent two nights in the marina and anchored out the third night.
Safely tucked into the marina early in the day, Kathy and I left Tom and Vic to work on the motor and we went walking which included a visit to the grocery store and deli.  When we returned I could hear the purr of our dinghy motor, such a sweet sound. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy rowing, it's great exercise when its calm but against the wind and current, not so much!!
   We didn't do much sight seeing this visit but had a wonderful dinner with my daughter and a lot of laughs with Kathy and Vic. We also said we would return to either an RCI trade or to the new boat B&B that was just opened next to the marina. Oh, and Tom was able to pick up a case of Natty Boh, one of his favorite beers. Although, I'm not sure which he likes more the beer or the little riddles in the lids of the bottles.  The only sad part of this city is the lack of respect for their waterfront. After a storm we started to drag and had to re-anchor. Tom pulled up at least 8 garbage bags on the anchor chain and the garbage that he pulled up that floated around the boat was sad.  When we pulled anchor to leave Baltimore he counted 10 plastic bags stuck on our chain and numerous plastic bottles!

    A view of Fort McHenry greets you as you come under the bridge into Baltimore Harbor. You
can walk, run or bike from the marina all the way around the harbor to the Fort.

                             An interesting place for a light house. Next to an industrial site

                                             Closer view of the Fort

                       The birds helped us locate the logs as they took a break and floated around on them

                 Hello big boy, your going out of the harbor and we will give you lots of room

                                        Two naval ships parked across from the marina at night

                             This is the new boat B&B. This little marina was going bankrupt. An entrepreneur bought it and a bunch of boats  turning it into a Boat B&B and about half the boats were being used.

       The downside of Baltimore is the trash that floats into the harbor from upstream. Doesn't appear that the people of Baltimore and areas surrounding are respectful of where their garbage goes.

                   My wonderful, smart and beautiful daughter and her awesome husband. They were going to meet us in Annapolis but the marina was closed due to the amount of logs, trees, etc. that floated in off the Bay due to rain.

                New system for trying to contain the garbage that comes up

 This guy is supposed to catch the garbage that floats from upstream. At least it is an attempt. This was not here during our first visit 3 years ago.

A lumpy ride and sleepless night

Aug. 9th, & 10th 2018

We left Chrisfield and the Bay was a bit choppy, but not bad.  We headed for an anchorage near Hoopoers Island. We wanted something that protected us from the winds. The reviews indicated this was a good anchorage, NOT!!!!    We were concerned when we entered the area and found no significant blockage from trees, land etc. The area was open and the land low enough to allow the wind to stir up the waves.  All I can say is that it was a very very long night of rock and roll and I don't mean the musical kind! We were constantly checking our position throughout the night. It made for a very sleepy morning and long day on Friday.

We hi-tailed it out of the anchorage early morning and headed for the Choptank River.  It was a much nicer day on the water and the anchorage was much calmer with a beautiful sunset. Peanut was not to happy because this was the second day that she could not get off the boat. To far to row ashore and no real good place to land the dink.

                                                                  A whale of a sky cloud

                                     peanut is not a happy boater when it is rough on the water

                                                         A choppy bay and a nasty night

                               
                                                          Aug. 10th

                                              A sunset, no words needed really

Crisfield Virginia

Wed. Aug. 8th
We had a calm from Onancock VA to Crisfield.  The anchorage is a large bay area surrounded by condos.  It is very nice and calm. A dinghy dock for the anchorage doesn't exist. To avoid paying $20.00 just to walk around town we, that is I rowed us to a spot near where the commercial boats drop off their catch. The gentlemen was super nice telling us to just tie up at the end out of the way.
We walked to town, which basically consisted of one street. We wondered down to the pier then headed back to the boat.  This little town has water on three sides and looks as if it is really struggling since there has been a drop in the fishing industry/processing here. After rowing back, because the dinghy motor will still not start we enjoyed a calm evening and night at anchor.

our travels from Onancock to Chrisfield

                                              Storm that passed through at our anchorage

                                                    Not really much here

The waterman still work the area with their very cool boats

Rowing hard going no where in Onacock VA

Aug. 7th, 2018

Visiting the town of Onancock was our first priority of the day. We dinked in and tied up at the town dock. Old, wooden, but sturdy, once tied up we headed for town.  We walked through a cute little park and found the town to be cute. We stopped for a coffee and sat outside to enjoy and look around. Like Urbanna the towns shops were only open Wednesday through Saturday so other than window shopping and coffee there wasn't much else to do.  We headed back to the boat, had lunch and decided to take a dinghy ride out to one of the beaches we saw coming in. Since the town was four miles up the river this little trip would be about two miles of that. At just about the two mile mark the dinghy motor sputtered and quit! After several attempts and a few naughty words we settled on the fact that we would have to row back to Laughter. Tom tried to row but it was so uncomfortable for his back and hips I took over.  We were going nowhere fast! The tide was now going out and I was making very little headway against the current. If I dared stop for a break we quickly lost whatever progress I made.  About the time I was ready to scream a sail boat came by and offered a tow. We through him a line and he towed us close enough to Laughter that I could finish it up to get us there. While he was towing us the sky started to darken and I thought for sure we were going to get caught in a pop up but it blew over thank goodness. Back at the boat frustrated and tired, knowing that our exploring was over we had a calming cold one and relaxed. Tom worked on the dinghy motor for another hour plus but never did get it to start.

                                                Somebody is excited about going to shore

                                               The park near the dinghy dock

                                          An old fashioned store/museum/restaurant

                                                    Old movie theartre still in operation

                                                                 Hold on tight Tommy!

The dinghy motor died half way out to the beach area at the entrance to the creek that led to Onacock! A storm was coming in and the wind picked up. I was rowing but not making any headway against the wind. About the time I was close to tears a sailboat came by and offered to pull us back to our anchored boat! We did beat the storm back!