Month: May 2021

Friday morning we got up very early and checked the weather reports….. they didn’t look good. We decided to call the local marina when it opened, and see if they had a transient slip available where we could shelter for the weekend. Unfortunately, by the time the marina opened at 8:30, the winds had already picked up to the point where we were not comfortable pulling anchor and negotiating our way into a boat slip. So….. we decided to stay at anchor for the duration of the storm. It’s a little less secure than a marina, and doesn’t have the convenience of being able to hop off to go to the store or do laundry, but we are not alone here. There are at least 7 sailboats and 2 other trawlers anchored nearby, doing the same thing. Now, however, Sidekick Sue wishes we didn’t park in view of the submerged sailboat which she sees every time she looks out the window. At least it is a good point of reference to verify that we aren’t drifting. By the afternoon, we were under a “small craft advisory”, followed by a gale warning.

We are only going to write this one blog post for the weekend, because there is really nothing of interest going on. Here is what we did on Friday, which we expect to repeat on Saturday and Sunday:

1.) Monitoring our position at anchor:

Both Captain Mark and Sidekick Sue are constantly checking our position at anchor by watching our path on the Navionics app. So far, we are staying within our circumference around the anchor, so it appears that our anchor is holding well. Captain Mark has let out extra anchor line as the tide has gone up to keep the anchor line at the lowest reasonable angle from the harbor floor.

Of course, we also make visual checks out the windows at regular intervals to verify the electronics and to make sure another boat isn’t coming dangerously close to us. Captain Mark warms up the engine intermittently to make sure it will start quickly if we need to make an emergency move. At night, it is a little harder to get our bearings, but Captain Mark gets up regularly to look for the lights on shore and the anchor lights of the other vessels. Sidekick Sue constantly checks her phone app all night. We are not having very restful nights, but we suspect it’s the same for everyone out here.

2.) Captain Mark is doing his best to fight boredom. He has never been a “sitting around” kind of guy, so the inability to do anything active is tough for him. He is spending his time researching, monitoring the tides, monitoring the wind speed and direction, and reading books about boating and looping. It is not a good time for boat maintenance, not only because the boat is rocking quite a bit, but because he wouldn’t want to accidently do anything that might disable the engine or any of our navigation equipment, just in case we have to move quickly.

3.) Sidekick Sue, on the other hand, loves having free time, and has lots of quiet activities to distract herself from the weather outside. She is intermittently firing up the generator to work on sewing projects (aforementioned bunting for wedding reception, 2nd screened door cover, and curtain alterations). We need to run the generator on occasion anyway to charge the batteries and heat the hot water, so it is dual purpose. When the generator is not running, she reads (mostly fiction), practices her first crochet stitches and does jigsaw puzzles.

That pretty much sums up Friday, and we expect Saturday and Sunday will be the same, unless the weather forecast changes significantly. Early plans are to move to the nearby marina on Monday to take care of: groceries, fuel, pump-out, “real” showers, post office, and laundry, before heading up through the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (we are right at the beginning of it now). We didn’t expect to spend nearly a week hanging out in Cape May, but since we’ve spent so much time here, we’d like to at least see the town. If anything significant or exciting happens, we will update this post, but for now, we are in a holding pattern until Sunday, with no new adventures or pictures….. just wind and rain.

Update: Saturday around noon, we turned on the generator to heat up lunch. It was difficult to start, and it kept shutting itself off. Without it we can’t cook. It is also used to heat our water and charge our batteries, but we could get around that by running the engine. Captain Mark set about troubleshooting and discovered the radiator was empty (must be leaking), so we refilled it for now, but have another problem for another day. Generator is running well…. for now.

In the morning, feeling the need to get a little exercise, Mark, again went out rowing in the bug infested swamp by our isolated anchorage on the Cohansey River.  Sidekick Sue preferred to stay inside as bug-free as possible.  Like the previous two days, we were still in an area that experiences strong tidal current, so we wanted to wait until around 11:00 AM to head down the Delaware River to Cape May. Captain Mark worked more on wiring and Sidekick Sue fired up the generator to iron some fabric triangles that will become part of a bunting which will be strung across Kevin and Faye’s reception hall this Fall. 

The explorers left right at 11:00 AM.  Outside of seeing a few big ships, there wasn’t much to entertain them on the second half of the Delaware river.  Sidekick Sue occupied her time researching their destination in the Cape May Harbor inside of the Cape May Canal.  She noted that some of the reviews from a couple years ago pointed out that the canal was shallow in spots, and boaters had scraped bottom or grounded.  More recent news from the Internet indicated that there were some dredging projects that happened in the canal just last year.  Sidekick Sue checked the tide tables, and sure enough, the same favorable tide that was carrying us down the Delaware River, was ironically going to bring us to the entrance of the Cape May Canal EXACTLY at low tide.  So now we had a decision to make.  Should we intentionally slow down?  Should we anchor outside the canal for a while?  Do we take our chances and assume that the dredging projects have cleared the low spots from the canal? 

Ultimately, we decided to “give it a go”.  The area seemed quite sandy, and if we went slow and encountered any trouble, we could just anchor and wait for the tide to rise to lift us off the bottom.  There was another trawler, larger and faster than us, that had passed us a few minutes before.  We figured we could follow him and see if he encountered any trouble.  We were disappointed when he passed the canal entrance and keep going south.  Now, we no longer had a leader to be our “test case”.  We had already committed to go in, so we turned into the entrance of the canal.  As we entered the canal, we noticed that our “test case” was turning around to follow us into the canal.  Turns out, he was planning to use us as his “test case”.  He must have been reading the same warnings we were reading, and was also a little tentative about being there at low tide. 

We were probably holding our breaths through the whole canal into Cape May Harbor where we were planning to anchor for the night.  We got to our anchorage without scraping bottom, without grounding, and without encountering any real shallow depths (according to our depth sounder).  There were several other boats in the anchorage and Sidekick Sue joked as we anchored in a spot near an old shipwrecked sailboat with its mast sticking out of the water (which hopefully is not an omen).  Our anchor seemed to hold well on the first try, so we were home for the night. 

We had hoped to go ashore after dinner to do some walking and pick up some groceries, but several factors led to our decision to stay aboard, even though it would mean no fresh eggs in the morning:

1.)  The nearest place we could find to park our dinghy was pretty far away for our dinghy with its (previously discussed) weak motor.

2.)  The water was starting to get choppy, which would further complicate our progress with our insufficient outboard motor.

3.)  We thought it might already be dark by the time we needed to dinghy back and the canal and harbor were very busy with boat traffic.  In addition, we don’t have a proper light on our dinghy, so we’d be improvising with a cell phone….. AND we are anchored nearly in front of the Coast Guard Station and they frown on travelling in the dark without proper equipment. 

So, we settled in for the night, taking care of small tasks and thinking about the next days.  The weather coming up did not look too promising so we may be stuck in Cape May for a few days before another run of good weather.  Captain Mark hit the hay early (still catching up from some sleepless nights on anchor) while Sidekick Sue stayed up trying to teach herself how to crochet.  The weather was fine in the evening, but tomorrow, we will have some decisions to make because there is wind and rain on the way.  Stay?  Go?  Move?

We left the town dock in Chesapeake City around 7:00 AM; there was no sign that our neighbors had risen, so to get out of our tight parking space, we temporarily pulled the boat forward into some of the area reserved for the party boat before releasing our lines.  With a little help from the bow thruster, Captain Mark deftly slipped out of our parking spot.

We finished the trip up the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal, intentionally travelling with the favorable tidal current.  With the help of the current, there were times we were exceeding 9 knots, which is very fast for our old single diesel engine boat. 

Even as fast as we were moving (for our RV of the waterways), there where other power boats passing us at incredible speeds.  At one point, we were passed by a monster-sized, fast-moving power boat that left a wake so intense that we rocked side to side more violently than we ever had before.  In the morning, we always make a “sweep” of the cabin to make sure everything is latched and nothing will fall or break while we are in motion…. well, this time, it wasn’t enough, and we had plastic dishware bouncing around the cabin (luckily Captain Mark had insisted we remove all the glass that was in the boat when we bought it).  There was another large boat behind us that abruptly slowed down and made a slow pass on our port side.  We suspected he had seen what the previous guy had done to us and felt a bit of pity.  We’ve observed that we see less “southern hospitality” since leaving the Carolinas and Virginia.  Down there, the boat captains always radioed when they were passing, even if they were passing too fast and swamped us.  LOL

In only two hours we were at the end of the canal and found our anchorage at the intersection of the canal and the Delaware River.  The plan was to drop anchor for several hours until the tidal current changed, so that we could again ride a favorable current south to the halfway point on the Delaware River. 

Captain Mark set about removing some obsolete wiring in the control panel while Sidekick Sue prepared for her HOA Board meeting.  Even though the area was desolate, the cell signal was strong, and the timing worked out perfectly so that she could Zoom into her HOA Board meeting to discuss ongoing projects back in our complex in NH without shouting over the rumbling of the engine.  The meeting started at 2:00 PM and by 3:00, Captain Mark was ready to go to catch the current.  Sidekick Sue did her best to power through the rest of the agenda, and finally motioned for an adjournment at 3:30 while Captain Mark stood with his finger on the ignition.  LOL

We had three hours of motoring with the current before reaching our anchorage for the night.  There was not much to see along this part of the Delaware River. The land on both shores looked very swampy so there were hardly any towns, homes or buildings.  At one point we passed what looked to be a nuclear power plant (later research showed it was the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in Salem County, NJ).  We stayed just outside the ship channel as there were huge transport ships passing us, and they come up behind us very quickly.

Our anchorage was slightly up the Cohansey River, a tributary to the Delaware that is one the NJ side of the river.  It was very desolate and empty.  We were surrounded by swamp, but the water was very deep, which strangely conflicted with the information on the marine charts.  There was a marina further up the river, so our theory is that the river was dredged to build the marina, but somehow the nautical charts were never updated.  When reading reviews on the anchorage before we arrived, we saw that other boaters had commented on the unexpected depths as well. 

Because we were not near any roads, there was nowhere to go ashore to get our Fitbit steps for the day.  Sidekick Sue was happy to take a day off, but Captain Mark decided to go out for a dinghy row to explore.  He discovered the area was ripe with horse flies and small biting black flies, some of which came back into the boat with him.  So, we spent a quiet night catching up on reading, social media, and bills while slapping at little biting bugs, which seemed to dissipate as the temperature got cooler. 

A check of the weather revealed that an intense weather system was coming.  And sure enough, around 8:00, we had a wild storm that rocked the boat and gave us a free light show.  We were glad to be in a somewhat protected area with no other boats around for our first real trial through a bad thunderstorm.  Sidekick Sue retired for the night after the radar showed the worst of the storm had passed.  Always the hero, Captain Mark stayed up until the storm completely subsided around midnight and all seemed well except for a few leaks on our 30+ year old boat that always drip when it rains.  At some point, we will need to replace some of the old teak decks with fiberglass because they are leaking, but that is a project for when we have the boat out of the water.   

We left Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace at about 7:00 AM.  The plans for the next few days, were going to be largely controlled by the current which is dictated by the tides.  The Chesapeake-Delaware Canal connects the Chesapeake Bay (through tributaries) to the Delaware River, both of which open to the ocean. As there are no locks on the canal, all the water is a sea-level and subject to tides.  Because we have a very slow-moving boat (we are usually travelling at 6-8 knots), a current as strong as 3 knots can have a very negative impact on our progress if we are trying to travel against it.  Likewise, it can be very helpful if we are travelling with the current.  So, our plan was to enter the canal, and stop at Chesapeake City, which is near the beginning of the Canal, because they had a free dock where we could wait for the tide to turn favorable to take us east through the canal.  On the other end, we would spend the night at an anchorage near the opening to the Delaware River, and the next morning, take the favorable current south down the Delaware River to Cape May.  Even with the help of the current, this plan would keep us on the water longer in the evening than we are generally comfortable with, but it would get us through this tricky part of the journey. 

The day started out cold and gloomy again.  We had to leave the Susquehanna River, and cross the very tip of the Chesapeake Bay, go around Elk Neck and head up the Elk River to the Back Creek Channel which leads to the Chesapeake-Delaware canal.  Right before Chesapeake City, we passed under a huge bridge (which will be involved on another adventure later in the day).  Right after the bridge was a small harbor with a marina, the Chesapeake Inn with its own docks, and the Chesapeake City docks.  The city docks had plenty of small slips for small motor boats and jet skis, but only about 150’ of bulkhead available for larger boats like ours.  A potion of that was reserved for a commercial boat which takes people out for party cruises, leaving only enough room for three boats of our size to dock.  Luck was with us, as there were only 2 boats currently at the dock, however the space that was open, was between the party boat and a sailboat, so we couldn’t get in easily from the end. 

Captain Mark first attempted to pull in with our port side toward the dock, but the currents were not working well in his favor, so he quickly circled and changed to an approach on the starboard side.  The owners of the other two boats came out to help, as they often do (if for no other reason to try to protect their own vessels LOL), and Captain Mark pulled into the slip without incident (with a little help from his bow thruster).  We secured the boat to the dock, which turned out to be a great dock in a great location, right in the center of town and it was free for up to 24 hours. 

In talking about our next move (which was to wait a few hours for the tide, go through the canal and anchor out overnight), we had a change of heart.  The dock was in such a nice spot, and more comfortable than an anchorage, that we decided to alter our schedule and stay put for the day, even though we’d only traveled about 3 hours.  That way, we could get up early, pass through the canal, and be at the anchorage where we had planned to spend the night before heading south on the Delaware River.  The problem with this plan was that it would take too long to travel the full length of the Delaware before nightfall.  If we are honest with ourselves, we were already worried about getting to Cape May too late, so Captain Mark researched and found an anchorage midway down the Delaware where we could spend the following night.  In a nutshell, this means we turned 2 days of travel into 3 days of travel, but with more time to explore our local surroundings.  Ahh, the benefits of being retired.

As a result, we had nearly a full day to spend in Chesapeake City, which was enough to see the whole town; it was a cute town with lots of historical buildings.   Nearly every home in the main center (3 block by 3 block area) had a plaque in front of it describing the history of the house and the residents in the 1800’s.  There were several shops full of antiques and artsy gifts.  Down by the water was a display explaining about the history of the canal and it’s importance to early commerce.  It saved hundreds of miles of travel to get goods between Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay. One thing that Sidekick Sue noticed was that everyone in town drove super-slow; it was really peculiar.  Later on the walk, a sign explained that perhaps this is the motto of the town.

After our walk, we still had more time.  The weather had cleared to be a lovely day, and since we were conveniently at a dock, we got out the folding bikes and headed toward a paved trail along the Chesapeake Delaware Canal.    The only problem was that in order to get to the trail, we had to cross the aforementioned bridge that we had motored under right before arriving in Chesapeake City.  It is a huge long bridge carrying thru traffic at high speeds from one side of the river to the other.  Captain Mark did a little research and determined that there was a pedestrian walkway, so we decided to cross.  Well, it turns out there was a pedestrian walkway, but it was basically a narrow, raised concrete sidewalk, with no railings to separate us from the cars and trucks whizzing by only feet away. For safety safe, we opted to walk our bikes over the bridge to get to the bike path on the other side.  Once on the canal trail, the ride was awesome.  After a few miles of biking, we passed into Delaware and had to stop for a “Kodak moment”.  While the entire trail spanned about 15 miles, we only went to the halfway point before turning around to head back.  Sidekick Sue made sport of trying to run over spotted lantern flies that were on the pavement.  For those unfamiliar with the pest, they are an invasive species from Asia that spreading throughout the northeastern states and are causing serious damage to trees and crops.  Once again, we had to walk our bikes back across the bridge, but it was less scary with the traffic heading towards us, than it was with the traffic at our backs. 

After the bike ride it was time for dinner.  Afterwards, we walked through town again, expecting that this “Mayberry-like” town would have a blue mail box to take care of some bills, but we had no luck.  Seems that something that once seemed so familiar is now becoming a thing of the past. 

It was another nice, relaxing evening.  Sidekick Sue cut out some screen for the second cabin door, but can’t star sewing until we are somewhere with AC power (or when we are running the generator).  We moved up the fly bridge to enjoy the beautiful weather and the fantastically lit up dock around the Chesapeake Inn.  As has happened before, we were treated to a concert, by a local band performing at the nearby inn.  While it was nice to have live entertainment, the Explorers agreed that this band was maybe only worthy of a C-.  They really killed (in a bad way) some great musical pieces from the 70’s and 80’s.  Maybe they shouldn’t have tried to cover Pink Floyd.  LOL

Today was a day of potential disasters which started very early in the morning.  We were anchored in our spot in the middle of the channel of the Back Creek in Annapolis.  During the night, the winds picked up and we could feel waves lapping against the boat at regular intervals.  It was not a good night for sleep.  Captain Mark finally got up at 3:30 AM and was monitoring our position in the channel and was pretty sure we were dragging anchor.  It was hard to tell, because it was dark and we still seemed to be lined up with the other two sailboats we were anchored beside.  By 5:30, with the morning light, the wind changed, our boat turned around and we were less than 20 feet away from one of the docks on the side of the channel.  Captain Mark called for Sidekick Sue to “rise and shine”, although she had already been awake for hours, knowing that Mark’s restlessness meant something was up. 

Sidekick Sue came up to assess the situation.  Her first observation was that we were still perfectly lined up with the other two boats and she thought perhaps Captain Mark was overreacting…. until she looked the other way, and saw how close we were to the dock.  ALL THREE boats had dragged anchor and drifted from the middle of the channel to the very edge.  The Explorers jumped into action, started the engine, recovered anchor and moved upstream.  At the sound of us starting our engine, one of our neighbors popped up to assess the situation.  He had drifted to where we had originally tried to anchor when we first came into Annapolis, so he wasn’t really in immediate danger, so he just shrugged his shoulders and went below.  The other boat was also OK for the moment, although if the wind changed again, it would swing rather close to a huge luxury yacht at the end of the dock.  We circled around and tried to yell out to them but were unable to get any response, so we don’t even know if the boat was occupied.  We did know the luxury yacht was occupied, and we saw then come out and look around, so we assumed they would call the Harbormaster if the situation got worse.   We thought about getting an early start on today’s miles, but when we motored out near the entrance to the Back Creek, it was raining and the water in the bay looked pretty rough.  We decided to circle back, move upstream, re-anchor, turn on the generator, and have a nice breakfast while we waited for the rain to subside.  That way, we could keep an eye on our position. 

Sure enough, just as the radar showed, the rain and winds subsided within the hour and we headed out for the day.  We reflected on the morning, and decided that, while it is really neat to be anchored right near downtown in a very cool city, it is a little more nerve-wracking than the other anchorages we had been in. When we are in the middle of nowhere, there is no one to damage but ourselves.  We also decided our anchor may not be heavy enough for our boat and we might need to have more options aboard. 

The water on the Chesapeake was a little rough, but not nearly as bad was we expected based on the rain and wind that had just moved through.  Perhaps it is because we were near the top of the Chesapeake now, so it is less “open”.  The bay had narrowed and we were able to see land on both sides.  During the first hour of the trip, it was still gloomy and spitting rain, but even so, the wind was a little warmer than our previous days.  

Today, was the first day using the 20-year-old auto-pilot.  Luckily, this was not one of the averted disasters.  Captain Mark has declared it “life-changing” as you can change your heading with just a click of a button when you start to move off course, instead of trying to find just the right amount to turn the wheel (which usually entails a sequence of overcorrections one way and then the other).  Once he had confidence in the auto-pilot, he taught Sidekick Sue how to use it, and left her to do some open water navigation on her own (again, not a disaster). 

The wind and rain picked up again during the last hour of the day’s trip, causing the water to get rough (and Sidekick Sue to go downstairs to get warm).  Tonight, was a “marina night”, where we could do all the “chores”: get fuel, pump-out, get water, and take nice LONG, HOT showers with enough pressure for Sidekick Sue to wash her hair.  Yay!  We were staying in Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace, MD.  The entrance to the marina was super-skinny, and a little scary to navigate with the water in the bay being so choppy, but Captain Mark is definitely getting better with his maneuvering skills.  Not only did he get through without a scratch, but he got into a very tight fuel dock, even earning praise from the dock-tenders.  We took care of the fuel, trash,  pump-out and checking in, and headed over to a bulkhead where we were to park for the night with access to water and electric (yay AC power).  Unfortunately, getting to our dock required exiting the really skinny opening, going back into the rough water, and entering another really skinny opening, and backing into our spot on the bulkhead.   While that all had the potential for disaster, Captain Mark negotiated it with ease.  We got 5-star help from the dock-tenders, who met us at our spot and did a great job securing all of our lines for us.  We barely had to do anything but throw them lines and adjust our fenders. 

At this point, it was about 4:30, and the guys were closing up the marina shop at 5:00 (we’re not sure what would have happened if we’d arrived late, because they seemed to be unaware of our reservation for the night LOL).  Anyway, Captain Mark kept looking at a boat, the Dee Diamond Too, parked in a slip across from us, thinking that something didn’t look right.  It was listing to the starboard side, and one side of the swim platform was slightly submerged.  He wasn’t sure if it was worth reporting to the guys at the marina office, since it didn’t look like eminent danger and he knew the guys were getting ready to leave for the day.  He didn’t want to be “that guy” who overreacts and causes trouble at quitting time.   Finally, his better instincts got the best of him and he ran over at 4:55 to report it.  He came back with one of the dock tenders, who opened the bilge, and sure enough, it was full of water and the engine compartment was fully flooded….. so much for quitting time.  We watched as the three marina employees come over with a tow platform to haul the Dee Diamond Too to the boat lift and out of the water.  They were able to get it done in under 30 minutes.  We hoped that they were able to save the boat, we joked that the owner might have to move on to the Dee Diamond Three, and went about our business.  We still had plans to walk to the laundromat and the grocery store (about 1.6 miles away) to deal with our own chores. 

We packed the dirty laundry into our Osprey backpacks and trekked to the local Fluff and Fold (this time, Sidekick Sue called the laundromat to make sure it still existed before walking over).  Captain Mark chatted with the employees, in particular, trying to learn how to pronounce the name of the city, Havre de Grace.  While Sidekick Sue did laundry, Captain Mark went on a grocery run, as we were basically out of anything fresh.  On the walk home, we spent a little time walking through the cute town.  We particularly liked the piped-in 70s music being broadcast from speakers on the streetlights all over town. We ran across a statue of Lafayette (yes of “Hamilton” fame), and found ourselves walking on a portion of the Lafayette trail, which highlights the architecture of numerous historic buildings, many of which are now home to art studios and galleries.  It turns out that Lafayette had a hand in the naming of Havre de Grace (formerly known as Lower Susquehanna).  Apparently, it was named as such because the area reminded the Frenchman of Le Havre in France.  The city was burned to the ground by the British during the revolution, but rebuilt and was, at one time, in consideration for the location of the nation’s capitol.  In 1976, as part of bicentennial celebration, the statue of Lafayette was installed to honor his service to America in the Revolutionary War, and his connections to this small “Harbor of Grace” on the Chesapeake. 

About two hours later, we arrived back at the marina, to see the marina employees still working on the Dee Diamond Too.  We supposed they had to pump it out, try to troubleshoot the problem, and notify the owner.  We felt bad that they had a long night ahead, but good that we might have averted a disaster for the boat owners.  We settled in to have a few drinks and watch some boating Youtube channels since we had the luxury of AC power to run the TV.  It was a very full day. 

As we left our anchorage at Solomons Island, we followed the Patuxent River back out to Chesapeake Bay.  We passed by the lighthouse at Cove Point, and then by an LNG terminal.  You could see the LNG tanks in the background and the terminal in the water was a big offshore platform that tankers could pull up to load the liquid natural gas.  Luckily there were no tankers there at the time because Captain Mark “cut the corner” of the restricted zone, only to get an earful from the “rule-follower” Sidekick Sue.  Luckily the security and the Coast Guard did not consider us a threat and did not chase us.   They probably saw Sidekick Sue’s animated gestures and understood we were trying to get out of their zone. 

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and the Explorers could not believe how few vessels were out on the water in the early morning, that is except the crab guys checking their crab pots… they were everywhere, leaving a trail of propeller snaggers which we had to watch for constantly. 

As the day went on, boat traffic increased substantially.  By the time we got within a couple of miles of Annapolis, the traffic had gotten so thick, it was a little nerve-wracking.  There were sailboats, motorboats, navy boats, fishing boats, kayaks, and even stand-up paddleboarders everywhere, going in every direction (and some standing still).  At the entrance to the South River, we passed the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. It is unusual because it is totally surrounded by water. It was erected in 1875 and was one of the last manned lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay. It is now a National Monument.

Our goal was an anchorage in Back Creek.  We had read up on it before heading in and understood that it was OK to anchor anywhere in Back Creek, once we passed the initial channel markers.  However the creek was very congested.  There were marina and personal docks on both sides of the creek and boats were anchored down the median.  There was heavy traffic moving in both directions.  It was very challenging to decide where we could safely anchor, where we could stay out of the way of active traffic and not be too close to any other vessels.  We dropped and retrieved our anchor 5 times (first in the area with the red dot below, and then finally settling on the yellow area).  It was difficult to time the dropping of the anchor with all the traffic going by and the small personal watercraft (kayaks, SUPs, etc.) all around us. The Creek bottom was apparently very muddy because Captain Mark was covered in mud splatters by the time it was over (Sidekick Sue is safely up in the fly bridge manning the controls). 

After waiting an hour to check our tracking to make sure we weren’t moving, we climbed into the dinghy to head to a public dinghy dock in Eastport.  From there, we were a quick walk into Annapolis.  Our first stop was to the State Capitol Building where we were lucky enough to be able to enter (with masks) and take a self-guided tour of the building.  We learned that they had just reopened the preceding day, based on new Covid guidelines.

On the way back, we got stuck as pedestrians on a drawbridge to let some sailboat traffic through.  We thought it was ironic since lately, we have been the ones doing the stopping of traffic.  We were already past the safety gates before they came down, so we backed up as far as we could, but it allowed us to get some good pictures.   Not sure the bridgetender was following the rules.  LOL.

Back on the boat, we had dinner and climbed up to the fly bridge for some vodka-seltzers.  We talked about the day, and decided to spend an extra day in Annapolis because we had enjoyed our walk and wanted to see more of Annapolis. 

The next morning, we slept in until 7:00 AM (is that really sleeping in?).  We both took some time to work on one of our projects.  Mark did some troubleshooting on a 20-year-old auto pilot system that was on the boat.  He found that it seemed to be operational, he just didn’t know how to operate it.  He scoured the internet for the user manual for this obsolete product and finally found a copy on an old forum.  He familiarized himself with the controls so we can try to “give it a go” next time we are out.  It is too antiquated to hook up to any modern-day navigation devices (we are using Navionics on an iPad), but it will be useful for holding a heading when we are on long stretches of open water.  Sidekick Sue worked on custom-fitted bug screens for the cabin doors.  We don’t have a power inverter, so we have to run the (loud) generator in order to use the sewing machine (which was brought along for several projects).  Sidekick Sue is making fabric screens with magnet strips in the lining to adhere around the door so that we can easily take the screens up or down. 

After lunch we rode the dinghy back to shore and walked all around downtown Annapolis from Ego Alley (to see all the fancy yachts) to the Naval Academy (only the outdoors, since the indoors was still closed for Covid), to St. John’s College campus to Main Street.  At my lovely nieces recommendation, we stopped at the ice cream store with the penguin display (Annapolis Ice Cream Company).  We placed our order as “takeout” through UberEats to take advantage of a monthly UberEats credit that Captain Mark gets on one of his credit cards (always thrifty), and an unexpected benefit was that we basically “cut” the very long line at the ice cream shop.  Our order was ready by the time we walked over.  The Naval Academy graduation is next Saturday, and the town is clearly buzzing with activity and tourists. 

Once we had exhausted ourselves (it was very hot and sunny today in Annapolis), we headed back to the boat with a few souvenirs picked up in the Main Street shops.  We feel well-rested and ready to head out again early in the morning. 

Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse.

This morning we pulled up anchor in Ellyson Cove, VA.   Captain Mark approached the narrow channel exit with nervous anticipation, given the waves from the day before, but the water was calm and we easily puttered by a number of fishing boats anchored along the sides of the channel.  Apparently, it is a popular fishing spot in the morning.  As we rounded the peninsula to the north, we crossed into Maryland. 

Once again, today’s boat ride was (thankfully) uneventful.  The open waters of Chesapeake Bay were calm and easy, with an occasional rogue wake from a faraway boat.  There were times we could go for 10 minutes without touching the ship’s wheel.  Sidekick Sue is finally getting comfortable steering in open water, using the compass bearings instead of getting thrown off by the tracking line on the electronics (kind of like “mouse trails” in Windows).  She has finally accepted that if you trust the bearings and stay patient, the tracking line takes care of itself.  The weather was beautiful… probably the first day where sweatshirts were not needed at the helm (crazy to think that only a week ago, Captain Mark was wearing his insulated coveralls).

We pulled into the first anchorage near Solomons Island, which is barely an island.  It is separated from the mainland by a tiny stream, spanned by a small footbridge.  We dropped anchor in a small area between the channel and some private docks, and as usual, watched our movement track on the electronics for awhile to make sure we were firmly dug in.   We observed that the area was one of the busiest harbors we’ve seen yet…. with recreational boats constantly moving in and around.  We toyed with the idea of moving further into the creek to find a spot with less traffic and noise, but ultimately stayed put.

As it was early in the day, and the weather and water were perfect, Captain Mark had no choice but to proceed with the chore of boat bottom cleaning that he had procrastinated from the day before.  He suited up with his fins and goggles to clean the bottom of the boat, the rudder and the propeller.  Visibility was bad, but he did the best he could without being able to see what he was doing.  Based on our experience with our sailboat in San Diego, he was expecting a thick build-up of barnacles, mussels, crabs and other assorted alien beings.  Instead, it was just a thin layer of green slime.  Apparently, spending most of the time toward the inland waterways and bays, is very different from what we experience in San Diego Bay, where we have to have our boat bottom scraped at least once a month (more often in the warmer season).  As a result, the “operation” was quicker and a lot less painful than anticipated.

Today’s other chore was foraging for food.  We found a grocery store a couple miles away, so we packed up our reusable grocery bags and hopped in the dinghy to motor to shore.  Captain Mark had researched the area and found a public dock behind the police station where we figured we could safely tie up while heading out for groceries.  It turned out to be a great spot, with a free pump-out station, public restrooms and benches for the local residents to sit out and watch the water.  We enjoyed the guitar strumming of a young girl sitting with her mother who was reading a book.  Solomons Island has a great boardwalk, with restaurants, artist galleries and frozen custard (which we did not partake this time). 

At the end of the boardwalk, we followed the road which turned into the town’s major thoroughfare.  We stopped at the local post office to mail some postcards and continued to the grocery store for shopping.  We noticed this is the first major grocery store in over a year where there were no longer “masks required” signs.  We still wore ours, but it seemed like sign of a return to normalcy.  It was only on the walk home that Sidekick Sue realized she forgot to buy her MegaMillions ticket (which she only does when the jackpots get HUGE), and wouldn’t you know it, someone in PA hit the numbers later that evening.  BAH!

After taking the dinghy back to the boat, Captain Mark and Sidekick Sue tried to re-engineer their method for getting the dinghy back on the boat using the boom from the small mast on our trawler.  It “sorta” worked (only a few smashed fingers), but we both decided our technique still needs some modifications.

After a lovely dinner of teriyaki chicken on salad, the Explorers climbed to the fly bridge for a few beers.  As the local ‘80s band “The Reagan Years” started playing at the Tiki Inn, a popular night spot across the channel, the Explorers decided that staying in the “noisy” anchorage was well worth the free concert. 

This morning was a repeat of yesterday morning.  We left our safe, protected marina in Yorktown to ride the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay until it was time to turn into our protected anchorage.  In the morning, the winds and water were relatively calm.  We had decided to go for a long mileage day, so we were on the bay a long time…. we both agreed it was so uneventful that it was bordering on “boring”, a word we haven’t used much on this trip. 

As it turned to late afternoon, the wind picked up, making the water increasingly rough, and the number of crab-pots seemed to multiply, adding further obstacles to navigation.  To access our anchorage, Ellyson Cove, we had to pass through a shallow, narrow canal and then a buoy-marked channel.  It was a bit scary at first, because we were still being hit by the waves on the Chesapeake which made it tough to stay on such a narrow course.  Gradually, the waves subsided and we entered the cove, which was very protected and very calm compared to the bay. 

We anchored, and then waited a bit to make sure we were secure before we ventured ashore in our dinghy.  This was actually our first time leaving our boat unattended at anchor.  You might remember we intended to do this back on Day 1, but the incoming storm and rough water led us to defer our plans.  The sunshine and calm water in the cove convinced us to give it a try.  While Captain Mark had tested the dinghy back in Little River, we had not yet tested the power of the small Chinese 3 HP outboard motor (the manual is all in Chinese) with both of us on board.  Well, it worked, and got us to shore, but it was loud, and at times seemed to be straining to get us through a current that was not too challenging.  We were glad that we didn’t try it out on the rougher waters of Day 1, as we aren’t sure we could have gotten anywhere (or back to the boat).  We both agreed that we would need an upgrade at some point in the future and we will only be using the dinghy in very calm water.

We parked the dinghy at a small beachy area near a ferry landing, confident that this was public land, and no one would object.  The Sunnybank Ferry is actual very interesting.  It is a small ferry that crosses a short span of the Little Wicomico River; it provides a short cut for local residents to avoid a 14-mile drive to get to a neighboring peninsula.  It is one of only 3 remaining free ferries in VA.   It has been running since 1903 at which point it was hand-pulled using a cable that crosses the river.  The cable is still there, but the pulling is now done by a motor.  The older ferry, of course, was designed to carry horse and buggy, but the new one can carry up to six cars.  We watched the ferry cross a few times before its quitting time of 4:30 before we set out.

On land, we took a good 6-mile walk, mostly on the same winding road, passing by farm land and homes, most of them looking like seasonal camps.  At one intersection, we found an interesting utility pole, plastered with creative signs directing visitors to the family camps that were down the cross road.  We walked down there, looking at the camps along another inlet from the bay.  Once we reached our turn-around point, we walked back, noticing the cute little post office of Ophelia, which was tucked in behind an abandoned gas station.  We returned to our dinghy, and as Captain Mark pushed it out into the water, hundreds of little black crabs scattered, having taken up residence under our dinghy during the short time we were gone.  At first, Sidekick Sue, thought they were spiders, and her dislike for insects and arachnids caused a quick spike in adrenaline.  Realizing they were crabs brought immediate relief (no, there is no logical rationale for the distinction).  We climbed back in the dinghy, and after shifting our weight around differently, found a little better configuration for getting the poor little motor to get us back to the Wayward Explorer that was safely circling its anchor. 

Captain Mark had planned to jump in the water and do a little boat-bottom cleaning, but the waning sun and the chilly air made him decide to procrastinate that chore to another day.  We enjoyed our favorite cauliflower pizza crusts with our favorite toppings, cooked in our generator-powered Ninja Foodi and settled in for the night.

Here is where the channel quickly narrowed as we navigated into Ellyson Cove.

In the dinghy, leaving the Wayward Explorer behind, hoping it would still be there when we returned.

This morning found us passing through the waters of Norfolk, VA, home of the largest Naval base in the world.  We never could have imagined so many huge military vessels, especially in one place.  It was another moment when we were just awestruck by the engineering marvels, only possible in a country like ours. 

Leaving Norfolk, we entered Chesapeake Bay.  The weather was warm, the water was calm and the traffic was light.  This will be our pattern for the next several days, as Chesapeake Bay is huge, and we will be tucking in each night at little inlets along the way as we make our way north through it.  We were once again rewarded with some dolphin sightings up ahead.  Captain Mark and Sidekick Sue took a couple of ibuprofens and some extra water to offset last night’s indulgences for their anniversary celebration.

It was a short ride today as we pulled into Yorktown to a real marina with plans to take care of some chores (filling the water tanks, pumping the waste, etc.).   The marina is actually a public marina, and surrounded by little beaches inside manmade breakwaters; it was a hot day, so the beaches were full.   The most important activity of the day was nice warm showers at the marina.  We have shower stalls and hot water on the boat, but they are small, with handheld sprayers and low pressure.  We are also forced to conserve water, as we don’t have a water-maker on board, and the opportunities to fill our tanks at free docks or anchorages are limited.  So at least once a week, we need to pay for lodging just to take care of business.  As we move north through more populated areas, we are expecting the number of free docks to diminish, and we will be anchoring out more and more. 

In between the chores and the showers, we took a long walk through the historic areas of Yorktown.  They have a pretty little grid of some beautiful examples of colonial architecture.  The city has done a great job at preservation and making the area a worthwhile tourist destination.  We walked past the Watermen’s Museum, the American Revolution Museum, and the old battlefield.  Having spent 20 years in the Boston area, surrounded by towns full of revolutionary history, we didn’t feel the urge to partake during our limited time, but we made note of the area as a potential spot to return to and spend more time on a future trip.  Yorktown is regarded as the location of the last major battle in the Revolutionary War.  It is the site of the siege and surrender of General Cornwallis to General George Washington and the French Fleet.  Although the war technically continued for a year afterward, this defeat essentially marked the end of the fight.  Our walk ended at the Yorktown Victory Monument, erected to memorialize the victory at Yorktown.  At the top of the monument is “Liberty, herself”, and the 13 ladies near the base represent the original colonies.  Each side of the monument tells a different part of the story about the battle, the alliance with France, and the treaty of peace with England.

After showers, we met up with Doug, a friend of Mark’s from his years at Solar Turbines, who lives in the area.  Anticipating that we might welcome a chance to get off the boat, Doug took us on a nice scenic ride on the Colonial Parkway, that connects Yorktown with the other two colonial settlements of the “Historic Triangle”, Williamsburg and Jamestown.  Again, it was an abbreviated tour, since we had limited time, but it definitely sealed the idea that we should return again to spend more time exploring the area (maybe a future bike trip?).  Sidekick Sue had taken the kids to Colonial Williamsburg years ago, but there is definitely many more worthwhile sights to see.  We had a nice dinner with Doug, who then encouraged us to use the opportunity to stop at a “real” grocery store to stock up on any heavy, bulky items that we might need.  We decided we probably could use additional cases of water, since they might not be so easy to obtain via bicycle on future stops.  LOL.

Neither Captain Mark or Sidekick Sue could resist a stop the Ben and Jerry’s next to the marina.  The ice cream was delicious. 

Mark, making peace deals with the French and the English. Someone looks a little underdressed for the occasion

Another early morning to coordinate with the lock and bridge openings on the northern side of the Dismal Swamp Canal.  This time we will be lowered back down.   After about 20 minutes on the canal, we passed into Virginia, having spent 8 days getting through North Carolina (technically 7 as we stopped for a storm).  Like yesterday, the swamp canal is narrow and full of limbs and other debris.  At one point, we briefly hit a snag, but all seems well.  Captain Mark, who is also Chief Engineer says the propeller is fine since we aren’t having any vibrations.  It’s reassuring to have an engine expert on board. For about an hour, we played “chase” with 4 geese. Every time we approached them swimming in the water, they’d fly up the river about a tenth of a mile.  We’d catch up again, and they’d fly again.  Finally, they seemed to wise up and strategize a new technique…. they flew at us in unison, up and over the boat and landed behind us.

Finally, we reached the end of the Dismal Swamp Canal, and the Deep Lock.  Just like the lock on the way in, there was also a drawbridge, in this case, prior to the lock.  We were the first to arrive at the bridge and tied up to the bulkhead.  The catamaran that spent the night with us back at the State Park arrived next and tied up behind us.  Shortly afterward, the sailboat arrived.  They radioed ahead to ask if there was room for them on the bulkhead, which there wasn’t, so we offered to let them tie up to us (a process we have learned is called rafting).  They approached the bridge as slowly as they could, but eventually took us up on our offer.  The three of us waited while the lockmaster/bridge tender drained the lock, loaded a southbound vessel, raised the water, opened the lock and then jumped in his car to come down and open the bridge.  Once the southbound vessel was through, the three of us went under the bridge and proceeded into the lock to be lowered back down.   Whenever we go through these bridges and locks, we marvel at the amount of Engineering and the manpower involved at making these waterways accessible for commercial and recreational boaters. This second lock felt a lot easier because it was basically a “sister” to the first one and everything worked the same, but in reverse.

After the lock, we followed Deep Creek to the Elizabeth River into Portsmouth, VA.  Here the waterway became very industrial, filled with huge cranes and military ships everywhere, in the water and in drydock.  Sidekick Sue quickly scanned ahead at the upcoming bridges to make sure we had clearance.  It appeared that we were good all the way to our destination dock because all the bridges were either high enough, or were railroad bridges that remain open unless a train is coming.  Well, as luck would have it, the Norfolk Southern #7 Railroad bridge was in the up position and the lift bridge right behind it had a 36’ vertical clearance, so we were good to go.  As we got closer, Captain Mark questioned “what’s that blinking red light?”, and sure enough, we could see the railroad bridge was starting to close, so we were going to be treated to a train crossing.  It took much longer than we expected for the train to arrive and cross.  We were bobbing around for 30-40 minutes, and several other boats queued up with us, one of them a sailboat that required the lift bridge to open, so we got to see that in action too.  Finally, the railroad bridge opened, the lift bridge rose and we were allowed to pass through.  That was our last water obstacle for the day.  We would still face another obstacle on land.

In Portsmouth, we had a free dock, but no amenities.  The Visitors Center had been moved from the waterfront to a location a couple of blocks away.  Before heading there to “check in”, we loaded our backpacks with smelly laundry and set out on foot to a laundromat, about a mile away, that Google Maps said was “open until 9:00 PM”.  We checked in at the Visitors Center and hiked to the laundromat, only to find an empty storefront with a lockbox on the front…. the laundromat was apparently gone.  Sidekick Sue, took a minute to report this “discrepancy” to Google Maps (and it was fixed within a couple hours… technology is wonderful).  The problem remained that we were now a mile away from our boat with our stinky laundry and nowhere to wash, so we made the best of it by taking a different route back, through some of the historic district of Portsmouth.  We walked to a nearby marina and asked if we could use their coin-operated laundry room (even though we were staying at the free dock). The dockmaster, who was clearly annoyed by our request, unlocked the room and let us in, making it clear that this was not a “normal procedure”.  We tipped him for his trouble (which at least made him smile) and managed to get our laundry done.

Today, is our 36^th anniversary, so Sidekick Sue insisted on dinner off the boat.  We found a German Bier Garden, and had a nice meal with a couple of Helles drafts.  Afterward we sat out on the fly bridge for awhile enjoying the nice weather and watching the ferries to Norfolk come in and out.  It wasn’t exactly peaceful or quiet…. on one side was the sounds of the streets and the hustle and bustle of the city, and the other side was the sound of work at the Navy shipyards…. But it was still relaxing to just sit and enjoy some time together.