Chesapeake/Delaware Bays

5/20/08

We have been in Hampton Virginia for a couple of days. We were going to leave yesterday but it was too stormy. Everyone said “Don’t go out there now.” So we didn’t. There were some storms in the morning and then it cleared up for the afternoon. We decided we needed some exercise so we went with Correttes a couple of miles to the grocery store. On the way back it really blackened up fast and we were caught in the middle of it. So I will give you another adventure picture of Linda and I running down the streets of Hampton with backpacks full of groceries, and trying to stay close to the buildings so we don’t get hit by lightning. So again when I watched the news later, the town south of us had trees blown down from the severe winds. We dodged another weather bullet with that one.

This is a horseshoe crab. It was near the boat at the gas dock. Later we saw a bunch of them in a slip. They are not crabs, but are prehistoric spiders.

5/21/08

It is Wednesday the 21st and we are on the move again. We have entered the lower Chesapeake Bay. We found a nice anchorage 50 miles up "The Bay" and pulled in for the night. The Bay feels more like Lake Michigan than anything has since we left. It was pretty much what we are used to. We started with nice wind and 2 foot waves, then the wind died and the flies came out, then sunny, then rainy. All of our sailor friends know what a fly day is and the rest of you probably don’t want to hear about it. On Thursday the 22^nd we crossed into Maryland about 9 am.  We were able to sail nicely for a while then the wind clocked around and was again on the nose and increasing. We took the sails down after a time when it got too blustery and too far forward. We got to The Solomons which is the name of the town or island, I don’t know which. We got tied up in a small marina and the only excitement was when Ray and Linda pulled into their slip they dislodged a big angry water snake. 

5/23/08

Ray and Linda left today. A little later we heard a commotion at the slip they had been in. Two guys (one I will call “old surfer dude”) were after that same snake. It was still swimming around in the same slip. Old surfer dude had a pole with some mean looking tines on it. It is evidently used by throwing it in the water at the snake. Well he did that and I think he got him. They said it was a water moccasin. I thought it looked sort of mean. The museum next door showed that there were also some non-poisonous ones that look similar but I didn’t really want to find out for sure. We will take the locals word for it.

5/24/98

We spent the day getting to know The Solomons. They have the best maritime museum. It is small enough to get through in a couple of hours. Plus they have some live fish exhibits and a large skeleton of a prehistoric megatooth shark. They also have indoor and outdoor exhibits and a tour of the lighthouse. Tonight there was also a concert on the museum grounds by Dierks Bently. I don’t know him but I guess he is a pretty popular country western singer. He sounds popular by the amount of screaming that was going on. It was fun to listen to it from the boat.

5/26/08

On Saturday, we once again headed up the bay about 40 miles. This placed is packed with sailboats. Since it is a holiday weekend and nice weather, there are hundred of people out sailing. The only other time we have been jockeying with this many boats was during the Queens Cup Race. When we get back home I bet we will feel like we have the lake to ourselves. The other thing is that the fishing boats are increased by that amount too so there is a lot of dodging going on. On our placemat at supper it said there are 14 million people living here with access to the bay and the rivers around here. That explains a lot. This is our radar screen as we are traveling. Each little yellow blob is a fishing or sail boat near us.

Our goal is to get to St. Michaels, Maryland. We have been there twice before. Years ago we took a bike trip with Bremer’s and went through there. Then later we chartered a boat and went back with Ross’s. It is very popular with the locals and sort of like Fish Creek. We went up to an anchorage near the city because there was no hope of getting in there during the holiday weekend. Then we headed over on Monday morning and had a great day in town. We are definitely up in crab country. I have been overdosing on crab cakes but they are o-so-good here. Here is Norske in the slip.

5/28/08

We planned on heading up to Annapolis. However we found ourselves firmly aground in the slip. The St. Michael’s dock staff said they have never seen the water so low. Our depth sounder showed 4.5 feet. This was due to strong northerly winds blowing the water out of the Chesapeake. By about 10:30 AM the wind had decreased, the tide came up and we were floating. Then we left for Annapolis. What a great town! We have been here several times for the October “In The Water” boat show. This is a town to love if you are a sailor. Great walking, great boat stores and marinas, great food and history up the wazoo. We had dinner with Ray and Linda on the waterfront and watched the Wednesday night sailors come in under spinnaker to the marinas and even sail through the bascule bridge over Spa Creek. It was quite a beautiful sight. Again, the volume of boats participating is phenomenal. We are spending a couple of days here and doing a little shopping. We decided to get some ideas of something nice to commemorate our trip. So we are digging around in galleries and stores we would not normally visit.

5/31/08

We are now in the outskirts of Baltimore Maryland at a small marina. We will be flying out to go home for a week. It will be another whirlwind tour of Wisconsin. We have a couple of dinners with people, a family party to attend, a birthday party for Macy (3), and we will close on the house, empty the pods, and get the washer and dryer delivered. Then it is back to the boat on Friday night and will start the big push up to New York, through the Erie Canal and home by the end of summer. Whew!

This is the Drum Point Lighthouse near our slip at The Solomons .

6/8/08

We got back on Friday after a whirlwind trip home. It was as busy as we thought it would be but very nice to see everyone. We took yesterday and today to rest up before we make the big push north. We did go to Baltimore today since we had a rental car. We toured the Constellation, the last sailing warship built and used from the Civil War to WWII. We were drooping in the heat so headed back to the boat after that.

6/09/08

Now we are heading north again. We left Baltimore (the marina really was in Pasadena, MD) and powered the 40 miles north to Chesapeake City. As you probably know the East is having quite a heat wave. It was already 90 at 8am this morning. By the time we stopped, it read 116 under the dodger. Now as you know, I like heat but even I was happy with the AC at the end of the day. Usually, out on the water, there is enough of a breeze even on very warm days. Well, today it was reading 0 to 3 kts most of the day, so no relief there. I have to admit even I was a little crabby when we landed and wanted to go below and sit. Rolf said I wasn’t “managing” myself well or I would have felt better. I have to say he meant hydration not hygiene.

6/10/08

The C & D Canal is at the north end of the Chesapeake and takes you into Delaware Bay. So we have left the Chesapeake and are doing the final run to New York. It is very understandable why there were so many sailboats here as the bay was interesting, beautiful, historic and had great sailing throughout.