October 25-26, 2014 Norfolk,VA to Coinjock,NC

Leaving Tidewater Marina

It was a sunny, calm day Saturday and we didn't rush to leave.  Basically we left around 11 since we only had about 10 miles until we reached Top Rack Marina down the Elizabeth River.

It's always apparent how much we've forgotten when we've been away from the boat for awhile.  We had just turned out of the marina basin when the navigation system died because the inverter tripped due to an overload condition.  I forgot to shut down the battery charger and hot water heater.  That was a fun 5 minutes slowly moving down the river with 2 barges coming at us and a large motor yacht trying to pass us while I was running up and down trying to follow the re-set sequencing.

Eisenhower, Warship #69

But it all came back up and we enjoyed a leisurely trip down the river, past the navy yard and then a commercial shipping port.

How they got the Eisenhower in this berth is a mystery but there it was looking all freshly painted.

I am struck by this interesting change of attitude we go through whenever we are in one place for over a week..  We arrive at a destination and stay for a few days and are consumed with a desire to leave.  Then we settle in and enjoy the place with no thoughts of leaving.  Soon after we enter the squatter stage where the place feels like home because we've gotten so familiar with the area.  Then are faced with having to leave and a pall of reluctance settles in and it takes a concentrated effort to get ready to depart.  But once we're moving again all is at it should be.

We ended up as the last boat in a 5 boat flotilla moving through the Gilmerton Bridge and a mile beyond that several of the sailboats hung a right to enter the Dismal Swamp Canal which we took  coming up here a few months ago.

Tied up at Top Rack Marina

Top Rack is located right next to Dominion Boulevard Steel Bridge and there was a gaggle of boats all waiting to go through the bridge (it opens on the hour).  We had to thread our way through them to the fuel dock at Top Rack.  We fueled  up, pumped out and moved the boat over two slips where we were to tie up for the night.  Meanwhile the bridge opened and the long line of boats went through.

A few hours later another Looper boat came in and tied up right next to us.  We ended up talking and later went to the bar and dinner with them.  Great couple, John and Debbie who, it turns out know Bob and Carole who we met in Marathon.  Small world.

We intended on leaving early enough to make the 9am bridge opening.  I thought all the boat traffic trying to get through the bridge at the 8am opening would jostle us awake.

No, we had to go through the small (blue) lift bridge.

And we really were jostled awake around 8am and made it off the dock right before 9am.  This time we were right in the thick of the group of boats waiting for the bridge opening.

We had to idle in front of Steel bridge for about 5 minutes but all made it through.  (The new, higher Steel Bridge will be in operation by 2017).

 We motored quickly to Great Bridge Lock where, luckily, we were directed to the south lock wall which has all rubber railings so we didn't need finders.  15 boats squeezed into the Lock.

Great Bridge Lock and our locking companions 

The precipitous drop of 1.3 feet took all of 5 minutes and then, as a group, we  headed for Great Bridge, Bridge which has an opening schedule synced with the Great Bridge Lock.  And it opened up after a short wait so all 15 boats paraded through.

The parade out of the Lock to the Bridge

Made it through the last of the swing bridges

There are two other bridges we had to negotiate.  Both are swing bridges and in order to make both of the openings we had to boogie ... like 9.5 mph!  I usually never go nearly that fast except when we need to blow out the engines a little, and this was as good a time as any.  So we boogied.   And made both bridge openings, the last only by the benevolent nature of the bridge tender (and lack of traffic.  It was a Sunday).

The rest of the day we cruised at a comfortable 7.5 mph through parts of Currituck Sound and then on to Coinjock Bay.  Mary gets annoyed when boats pass us.  I dont and usually wave and ask where they're going.

And we were passed.  By several boats, some even sailboats.  Well, I should qualify this.  Sailboats usually motor and dont sail especially in these waters.  So we were passed by motoring sailboats, not sailing sailboats.

Running across Currituck Sound with company

We did have an encounter with 2 Sea Ray boats about 30-40 feet long.  They just came up out of no where and zoomed by us throwing up a huge wakes.  If I hadn't heard them and abruptly turned into the wakes we'd have had  quite a mess on our hands.  No radio call, and they didn't answer the radio either.  Complete buffoons. They waked all the boats up the line too.  Had they stopped here in at the marina in Coinjock with the rest of us there would have been confrontations  I'm pretty sure.

Coinjock Marina

We came in to Coinjock Marina along with several of the boats that had passed us or we heard on the radio.  The marina is basically just a long, long dock.  It's always fun to walk up and down the docks and have a conversations with these folks.

 And much to Mary's delight there is an abundance of dogs here including ones we knew as puppies last year when we came through here.  Black labs, equipped with a tennis ball which you were required to throw so they could go fetch it.  Even in the water.  Pretty funny.

We are having dinner here (Prime Rib.  Hey, its the recommended entree of choice!).  And I suppose the bar will have the Packer game so ...  Uh Oh.  No game at the bar, but it is on of our satellite stations.

Very clear night with a beautiful quarter moon shinning on the silhouette of the full moon.  Neat.

We are very tightly packed on the dock so the extraction process tomorrow morning will be entertaining.  And we'll be participating!

October 22-25 2014 Portsmouth, VA

Looks more benign that it was.  30 mph winds!

Well we were going to leave on the 22^nd but the weather front that just rolled through here the last few days was a doozy.  Were were bouncing around even in this  “protected” slip with the high winds watching swells roll up the Elizabeth River.  So being more comfort orientated than old salt orientated now days we stayed put and, sporadically, engaged in a few house keeping chores.  They weren't "Emergencies" as Mary pointed out (Jack, you should know what that means:  Emergency.  Nona.  METV?)

The winds were pushing it back on to the dock.

They only events of interest were several big ships running down the river, and a large cruise ship that came in for a day, disgorged people and engorged other people and then left at the height of the winds or so it seemed to us. It was fun watching the tug and this huge ship try and extract itself from the dock against the wind.

One day we took the ferry over to Waterside Marina and noticed Fruition which was a boat docked at the Boat House Marina in Colonial Beach when we were there.  We shared a crab feast and stories from the crab eating party Bill threw for the marina guests.  But alas, they were not aboard when we were over there.  And they left too early for me to contact them reliably on the radio the next day.  Some people just cant grasp the advantages of sleeping late. 

Icky looking place, but pretty good food

We did walk around a little in town down Norfolk a bit.  And even went bye a familiar place ... Dan and Judy will remember?

Field Trip is still hung up in Mobjack Bay at Zimmerman Marine for repairs so we will be re-tracing our route back south by ourselves at least for awhile.  But as we've found over the last 2 years, there always some one new to meet.

See Kath!  It's still functional in case you need it :-)

Walmart has everything!  You an never have enough, right?

One day I did peddle my trusty (and yes rusty too) bike to Walmart, about 5 miles through progressively worsening neighborhoods.  I bought stuff.  Ubiquitous stuff which I cant even describe because its just, well, generic stuff.  But rest assured we are well supplied and fully prepared to meet the rigors of being on the hook (anchoring) for 4-5 days.

Old Town in Portsmouth

On the day before we leave (today actually), Mary walked with me to the jewelry store and then we tried to find a nautical second hand shop Mile Marker 0 .  Not there. I had heard they went out of business and I have to believe that since their place of business is now occupied by some bike store.

So tomorrow, Saturday, we make our way south for 8 miles to Top Rack Marina where fuel is $3.09/gal.  Drats.   I only need about 150 gallons. 

We get to stay there for free if we eat at their restaurant, The Amber Lantern which we intend to do.  Then its on to Coinjock Marina for a night before we spend a several days anchored in Alligator River, Little Spring Creek and Shackleford Banks.  We also plan to spend a night anchored in Swansboro,NC and Hammock Bay which is in the Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune.  Ironically, again, I was there 40 some years ago wading on the beach to take a boat out to the anchored fleet. 

It should all be very be exciting!  I’m just thankful we have a full complement of “stuff” to tide us over!

And maybe I’ll even have an opportunity to try out the little Nissan 2.5 HP outboard Dave is lending me until we get down to the Keys.  It’s the doggy outboard since if it works out as I had planned, I’ll be spending early mornings taking a dog to some beach.   Yeah, I’m excited too!   Excited.  yes.  excited ...

Sept 27-October 22, 2014 On to Norfolk and then back to Wisconsin and returning to Norfolk

I was up at 6:30 and helped Dave, single handling his Krogen 42 Jeremiah, off the dock.  Dave pulled in late yesterday and we struck up a conversation with him.  Turns out he knows Rob an Sue some other friends of ours from Marathon.  After he was safely away I got Mary up and did all the things we have to do when leaving a dock.  We spun away from the dock easily enough and headed out the harbor into the Patuxent_River.  We had to zig zag a bit to avoid a bunch of fisherman anchored almost in the channel.  I wonder what they catch around there?

I was easy cruising with little or no boat traffic.  We were making good time so decided to stretch the day a little and by-pass Fishing Bay which was about half way to Norfolk.  Instead we headed for Mobjack Bay and an anchorage there known as the Point Comfort Bight.  Mobjack Bay is a bay on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in the United States.  It lies between the York River on the south and the Rappahannock River on the north.  Today was an 88 mile day but left us with a short hop into Norfolk and Tidewater marina the next day.

The Bight is a wide open area of water protected from the Bay by a beachy spit of land.  Since the winds were light there was little bounce during the night.  The night sky was clear and the stars were out but the settlements along the western shore of  Mobjack Bay added just enough light pollution to make it a good night for stars,not a great one.  And of course a really bright quarter moon didn't help much either.

We made water and did a few loads of laundry while the generator was running.  Other than that not much else except sitting around outside and enjoying the cool air.

The next day it was uneventful cruise the 37 miles to Norfolk.  We did follow the crab pot free channel this time and found it to be, well, free of crab pots.  Nice!  It can be a difficult time dodging crab pots and also difficult spotting them.

There were several big Naval ships that were outbound from Hampton Roads but we were too far away make out any details.

 As we entered Hampton Roads a sail boater called the Coast Guard and reported a floating telephone pole in the channel.  The Coast Guard requested the guys name and phone number and the exchange between them got rather humorous since the guy didn't own a cell phone and the Coastie on the radio had a difficult time grasping that idea.

We went right by position of the reported pole was floating and saw nothing.  But we did note that all the aircraft carriers and most of the bigger ships and submarines were all out somewhere leaving the Navy Base almost barren of ships.

As we poked our way up Hampton roads into the Elizabeth River we were passed by a late model Hatteras going very fast and throwing a huge, huge wake.  I was able to turn into it so we only lost a few things off the shelves in the salon but another boater who received a taste of this guys wake was on the radio complaining of broken wine bottles on his white carpet.  

We entered Tidewater  Marina and were directed to slip E15.  I had to back it in which is a bit unnerving since I cant see anything behind me.  But I guess were old hands at it now and it went just fine.

Did a little cleaning and packing and ate at the marina restaurant, The Crave.  An it was pretty good.  Tomorrow I call Hertz at 8:30 and hope they can come fetch me to get the car.  The office is 9 miles away.  And then a 1100 mile drive to Green Bay!  

Jessica from Hertz picked me up at the marina around 9:30.  Nice young lady from New York who was pregnant unless she was an over-indulgent beer drinker.  Having made the mistake of commenting on a woman's rotundness more then once, I have learned to bite my tongue and just never make any comment at all.  Much less risky.

I had reserved a small Corolla type car but all she had was larger ones.  So she offered me a Chevy Impala.  A next generation one too with all these gadgets.  I'm used to technology but when a car asks if it can help you... well it’s a little much.  It took several stops before we figured out that what we thought was a dysfunctional radio, was really a satellite radio.  Sheez ..

We left Portsmouth and ended up taking theTunnel under the Elizabeth River and then a few minutes later, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel over which we had cruised the day before.  Lots of detours and construction.  I think we were supposed to pay a toll but,  well, no one asked so …

Stayed in Beckley West Virginia the first night.  Nice Marriott.  Not a bustling metropolis Beckley, but I hear there is a coal mine there you can tour.  We didn't.  But we did pay for breakfast which incensed Mary who always picks places to stay that have a free breakfast.  Oh well.

We drove through or I should say around Richmond and Charleston West Virginia.  We wound our way through the mountain passes where the leaves were just beginning to turn.  Very scenic.  We were driving on I-64 which just up became a toll road, the West Virginia Turnpike.  It was a nice road too.

We were lucky and arrived in Indianapolis right before rush hour.   Made it through  there without too much congestion (5 lanes of traffic!) and after a few hours stopped at a Denny's some where in Indiana.  True to their word, they serve breakfast anytime so Mary ordered this enormous breakfast plate with some huge cinnamon pancake.

Nearing Chicago, I stifled my hatred for paying Illinois tolls and took the 294 by-pass around Chicago to avoid the latent rush hour traffic which was clearly identified by the glaring red lines on Google maps.   4 tolls at $1.50 plus the last toll of $2.80.  I refuse to do the math. 

After an hour or so we stopped at a Holiday Inn Express in Racine at Hwy 20.  Mary turns on the TV and we're greeted by a 4 back to back political commercials.   Tis the season ... 

  

We took our time driving up to Green Bay and the Suamico Country Inn Suites where we had reservations.  But before we checked in, we stopped at Woodmans and loaded (and I do mean loaded) up with with dry good grocery type stuff.  Then hit the buck store (Dollar Tree) store right near the hotel for more "stuff" which included a bonanza of reading glasses to replenish my dwindling supply.  I've dropped about half a dozen in the water all up and down the Bay.

We finally rolled up to the hotel and checked in.  It was a wise decision to have made a reservation this summer when we were here.  There is a Packer home game on Thursday which is the day of our marathon doctor appointments and the place was packed with Packer revelers.

 We then walked over to Shopko to buy a few cold weather clothes we hadn't bothered to pack.  Again.   You'd think we know by now that Wisconsin is not the warmest place on earth.

So now we have a trunk full of stuff and have to put the suitcases in the back seat with Mary’s basil plant which isn't taking to riding in the car very well.  Cant imagine how it would have fared in a smaller Corolla. 

Next day we were up early to start the marathon tour of doctor visits.  We are are all fine.  Except we both gained weight.  Me 10.  Mary, classified.

After the doctor appointments it was nearing game time and with no prospect of a hotel within 50 miles of Green Bay we decided to try Door County reasoning that most folks would opt to stay between Manitowoc and Green Bay.

Well, that theory was only partially correct since most of the hotels in Sturgeon Bay were booked.  But we did find a vacancy at the Beach Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay.  Not pretty but ok.

We ended up passing on the resort bar and instead went to the Stone harbor Resortt bar and had pizza while watching the game.  We took over a vacant table and as the bar filled up we invited two older women, Laurie and Denise to join us since we had 4 vacant seats.  Laurie lives up in Sturgeon Bay and Denise is a flat lander.  We had still had two extra chairs so offered them to two young guys both named Robert.  Emily, a "friend" of Robert's showed up briefly and then disappeared.  Long story about that.  Quite a fun time with four strangers!

We left right before the half.  Packers winning 21–0 and drove back to the resort in the rain and fog.  And exhausted, we went right to bed.  All those doctors visits just suck the energy right out of you.

Well, it does float.

We left early in the morning and headed up to Fish Creek to buy more olive oil from the Oilerie.  Besides its Door County and we always try and get up there when were in the vicinity.   After buying a load of oil we didn't loiter and headed south through Sturgeon Bay but had to  stop to take a closer look at this interesting yacht that was just launched.  Yikes!  

We continued on through Green Bay and made our habitual stop for cheese at the cheese factory in Kaukauna.  Hagens like cheeses and since were staying in their house ...

The rest of the week was pretty busy.  I left our cameras battery charger on the boat so dont have many pictures.

We relaxed for a day and took care of ordering some boat parts.  We only went to the YMCA once the whole time we were there.  We get in by taking Jonah with us.  The Y has a pool and great exercise facility.  And its indoors and moderately warm!  

Best of both worlds.  Use a grandchild to get in for free and use our age to park in the closest spots

You want more?

After we stopped at the Chocolate Facotry for ice cream.  Do all grandparents have these favorite places where grand children can be spoiled without parental interference? 

Ice cream is cold I guess

Too heavy?

Spent an afternoon with Jack and went to the movies where he got the 20 gallon bucket of popcorn and ate the whole thing (with help from Mary).

We also watched a few of Jack's volleyball games and took Jonah to his soccer practice.  If you ever get a chance to witness 3 and 4 year olds at  a soccer practice, go!  Hilarious!

On the weekend LeAnn came in from Minnesota so we got to see her and had a little party at Dave

Batman (Seany)

and Jen's house.  The super heroes were out in full force.  That's Jonah and Sean who are in their super hero phase.

Coiffed, cut and fluffed.

On Thursday we drove back up to Green Bay to see Amanda so she could fix our hair before the wedding.  Dont ask.  

She happened to mention she was trying to give her Rottweiler away to a good home.  Mary was all ears and immediately decided we had to go see him.  Like I had a chance to nix that idea.  

So when we were all clipped and fluffed she took us to see Pain.  Nice dog and only about a year old.  But big (90 lbs.) so it would have been problematic getting him off the boat.  We ended up having to decline.  

Pain.  Wish he were just a little smaller

On the way back we stopped to see my cousin Kathy.  Lovely time.  I even was able to hone my chicken couping skills because Kathy has chickens and we had to get them all into the coupe.  Actually I had wandered outside to look at the chicken coupe and when I turned around to head back to the house I was faced with this mob of chickens all staring at me.  There has to be a horror movie out there with a scene like this.  Later we walked around the property which really is a little slice of heaven!  Later we met up with Dave, who was working on the golf course all day, for dinner at Riverside Brewery and Restaurant.

We had a chance to watch a few of Jack's volleyball games and were able to take Jonah to his soccer practice.  If you ever get a chance to witness 3 and 4 year olds at a soccer practice, go!  Hilarious!

Milwaukee zoo treats the bears right.  Hammocks!

We spent a morning at the zoo with Greg and his son Sean.  Seany is all about super heroes and later in the day sure enough.   Out came Batman! 

Batman!

That evening we stopped over to see Dave and Dana at their house in our old neighborhood.  Another great time with them!

Gene sort of reluctantly heading out to dance

Friday was our nephews wedding was the Friday. The ceremony was held in the chapel at St. Johns Military Academy and the reception was at the Red Circle Inn, a place we frequented when we lived in Oconomowoc.  What a great wedding.  And fun in laws!   Sorry Sara.  Next time I'll cut a rug with you!

We elected not to leave Saturday because, well because we woke up way too late to make it to Ohio.  So I extended the rental car another day and we left Sunday.

We stopped to see Mary's brother Gordy and his wife Joanne in Kettering, Ohio.  Great to see them again.  And that ice cream really was the best!

 We stayed for lunch the next day before heading down highway 35 again, and on to I-64 ending up in Lewisburg,West Virginia,   The colors seemed to have intensified a little from 10 days ago when we came through this way.  It was even more scenic in the evening as the sun was setting. We stayed in a Hampton Inn this time so we were able to eat for free!  

We left around 10am and made it back to Norfolk by 2pm and had the car unloaded in an hour.  Didn't put anything away, but at least all the "stuff" was out of the car.  And of course we turned around and headed right for Walmart for a few other things.  But almost didn't make it.   Mary fell overboard trying to get off the boat.  She and her purse got soaked but she was fine.  And her cell phone made it out ok too!  

So after she showered off and changed we tried again and made it!   Walmart first then a stop at the Food Lion.  We were on a roll!  Made it back to the boat and had all of that unloaded by 5! Now all we have to do is put it away. 

I took the car back next morning but had a little trouble finding the place.  Its a dingy little office in an old car dealership.  But I eventually found it by calling the office and getting directions.  So much for technology. 

Superb packing job Dave!

The next morning I was surprised by the marina dock hands.  The outboard motor I wanted to buy from Dave, a friend of ours form New York, had arrived.   He was lending it to us until we meet up with them in Florida.  It was in an impressive crate.  Heavy too!  And along with the motor were several other packages of boat parts and cleaners we had ordered back in Wisconsin.   

So we spent the day replacing light bulbs and stowing stuff and tossing out old stuff we never used.

Now what do we do with this large hole?

Next morning after talking with the marina, I removed the broken ice maker and tossed it in the dumpster so now we have a nice big space.  Looks like a hole in the wall.  Another ice maker or a cabinet door ... the discussion is continuing. 

I also finally mounted the master stateroom depth sounder display on the bulkhead so all the wires are run inside the cabinets.   Now I can just glance up and see what our depth is when we're anchored.  And Mary tried out some fender cleaner she bought and it appears to work rather well.  We have clean fenders.  Now all we need is a clean boat so they don't look out of place.

Clean fenders!

Between fixing this and cleaning that, we managed to have a few nice conversations with a younger couple on a Catamaran who are heading for the BVI's with their two teenage children.  Nice couple!  And home schooling them too!  They are the 3rd couple we've met who've  decided to quit their professional lives and go cruising while they can. 

Yesterday we took the ferry across the river to Waterside and stopped in at Hooters to watch the Packer game.  Greasy food, but good TV.  There was a Wine Festival in full bloom with bands and wine seminars and of course wine tasting.  It was a little too rich for us but I swear they had James Taylor performing.  But since we didn't pay the rather steep fee to get in all we could do is listen from the street.

We're planning on leaving Norfolk near the end of the week and heading back down the ICW to Florida.  It'll take us several weeks,  We'll be pretty much retracing the route we took getting up here except going out on the ocean might not be possible after looking at the weather forecasts and long term predictions.  Also Field Trip, having been rammed by that go fast boat on the Potomac is being repaired a few miles north of us and might be able to join us.   

And I just found diesel for only $3.09/gallon at  marina nearby here so it'll be a cheaper ride south!

September 18-27 St. Michaels and back to the Solomons

Mary wasn't really up and awake and it was a calm morning so I just took care of the dinghy and the lines and left the mooring.  Since we were so close, I drove by Field Trip and had a quick parting conversation with them.  Bob’s nephew, a former nuclear sub captain, teaches at the Academy and is taking them on a behind the scenes tour tomorrow.  Wish we could join them!

Part of our route to St. Michaels (top right)

It was a beautiful day, clam waters and mild temps.  We could have saved 4 miles and about  an hour by cutting through a place called the Knapps Narrows which cuts across Tilghman Island but it was reported to have severe shoaling and I wanted to run the boat a little longer to let the batteries charged up properly.  So we took the long way around by entering the Choptank River and then into Broad Creek and finally wound our briefly into Edge Creek before entering San Domingo Creek which is right at the back end of Saint Michaels.  

The creeks are rather shallow but well marked so we had no trouble  There are several anchorages in San Domingo Creek but we chose one about ½ mile from the dinghy dock at Saint Michaels.  

Anchorage in San Domingo Creek

So after we dropped anchor near two other sailboats,  I got the dinghy running and did a little recon trying to find the dinghy dock.  It was right there at the end of the creek in about 3-4 feet of water.  Basically it was  a wall on the shore fronted by a sunken work boat.  But it was free and placed us within 4 blocks of the main street of the town.

So having discovered the dock I  drove back to get Mary and we headed in and tied up the dinghy and then walked about 4 blocks into town.  

Ice Cream Store

There are 2 grocery stores here and several restaurants, Ava's Pizzeria being one highly recommended which we’ll try maybe tomorrow night.  But we were in search of ice cream and found it almost at the other side of town in a little corner store.  Jo Jos  was the brightly colored store where we stopped in for a dish.  Pretty good! 

We stopped and bought a few items at both grocery stors and then came back to the boat.  The weather was supposed to be rainy and high winds later in the evening.  All we endured was cloudy skies, a little sprinkle of rain and cooler temperatures.  The winds were variable and almost calm so my worries about swinging around and breaking out the anchor seem unfounded.

So we grilled chicken, and watched FDR on PBS again over the satellite under almost clear skies and sparkling stars.  Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Sunset

And I located a superb open wifi connection which is giving us “normal” wifi access now! 

This as going to be explore St. Michaels day.  And we were actually able to be on the way into shore by 11AM!  Unprecedented.  

I went out to start up the engine on the dinghy but it was stumbling which was a first since its always run without an issue.  So not thinking much about it I untied the lines and the engine promptly quit. and I couldn't get it re-started.  I had to shout for Mary to toss me a line since I was drifting down stream and being carried away from the boat.  And I didn't have an oar on board.  Mary had to abruptly dash out of the bathroom and toss me a line.  I got it tied back up to the boat and got it running again but it still stumbles at idle.  I put some oars aboard just in case before we headed in to St. Michaels.

One of the quaint sides streets off the main street

Inside Blue Crab Coffee Shop

Anyway we got into the pier and wandered over the one of the grocery stores for Mary’s crab cookie before heading downtown in search of a coffee shop.  Blue Crab Coffee Shop on Fremont Street was what we found.  Very  nice and comfy place with good coffee.

Headed over to the Maritime Museum and spent several hours wandering around the 14 buildings and exhibits.  Had a nice chat with a shipwright in ther boat shop, and toured a land-based round lighthouse, and numerous old wooden boats  There was a vintage,  1960's Owens Cabin Cruiser on display and open so we could climb aboard.  Different design criteria back then.

The wind had picked up considerable so I dashed back to the dinghy and the boat to find the snubber had sprung off  the anchor chain so had to get it back on and make sure it didn't slip off again.  I had to let out another 20-30 feet of chain which puts us in 6 feet of water at low tide. 

In the restaurant waiting for their "plates"

Headed back to town and met Mary at Ava’s pizza where we had  really really good pizza.  Mary got grossed out when an elderly couple who had brought their 2 pugs into the restaurant, actually ahd ordered two dinners for the dogs.  Waiter brought the plates, and the couple put one down for each dog.  The couple were eating salad.  The dogs got some sort of beef and pasta thing. 

We walked half the bike/hiking trail before taking the dinghy back.  Or I should say trying to take the dinghy back since we couldn't get it off the bottom (low tide).  Mary had to scramble up in the bow which brought the stern up and we were able to power through the mud about 10 feet util we hit deeper water. 

To end the evening we fired up the generator at 8 and watched 2 hours of  The Roosevelts on the PBS through the satellite.

Neighbor anchored closer to shore than us

Boat cleaning today.  We spent the whole day basically cleaning the boat.  I cleaned off the water line sludge, and I do mean sludge, a muddy pudding-like growth along the hull and cleaned off the water stained parts of the hulk with lemon juice.  Mary did the stainless.  Then we took the dinghy out for a speed run and came back to enjoy some cocktails with pepperoni, cheese and crackers watching the sun set.  

We have acquired a few additional neighbors since yesterday.  And we didn't go ino town today being so committed to cleaning the boat.  Yeah ... right

Tomorrow Mary wants to attend church at 10am so, in preparation, we went to bed at 10pm.   She'll be at church while I scout out bars with possible packer game broadcasts.   We hell bound sinners have so much more fun!

We also have to be in Norfolk by the 27^th.  That leaves us about a week to go 200 miles which sounds easy but remembering we only cruise at 7mph and are mere pawns in the great game of weather, we need to be moving soon.  Latest forecasts have weather advisories out for Sunday night into Monday so we’ll probably haul up the anchor Tuesday. 

We really did go to bed at 10pm.  And overslept this morning resulting in no church for Mary.  We might have to start hitting the hay at 8.  

Several crab boats were out and about this morning as we were eating on the sundeck.   I overheard  some of the guys a on a crab boat telling another power boater who had anchored nearer to shore than us, that with the wind switch tonight he’d be aground.   He pulled up anchor and left shortly after.  We stayed put.

After a while we took the dinghy into town to find a bar with a packer game.  

We went into the dinghy dock and found three other dinghies tied up at the dock so it was a bit crowded.   We walked to the bars/restaurants on the water front on the Miles River much to may's chagrin no one was carrying the Packer game.  One of the hostesses suggested we try the Irish Pub, Blackthorn Irish Pub. which had a large contingent of TV’s.

We were the only people watching the Packers

As we walked in I could see they had a 7 TV's all showing various NFL games.and sure enough they had 7 TV’s, all showing NFL games.  Except the packer game.  The hostess there was sympathetic to Mary’s plight but couldn't change the game being shown in the main bar area.  But she offered an alternative.  We could go outside and she’d make sure that outdoor TV would be tuned to the channel showing the packer game.  So we did, and sure enough the game was on!  And she did.  The down side to being outside was the lack of chairs.  Not good, so I rummaged around and pilfered one from an unlocked garage next to the seating area.    So we took turns standing. 

We had a few drinks, some Ruben wraps and left when the score reached 19 to 7 in the 4^th.  We wandered back to the Maritime Museum gift store so Mary could buy a table cloth.  Walking back, we stopped to have an ice cream and then hit the Acme Market which is the local grocery store.  We needed a few things and lugged it all back to the dinghy.

It was near low tide and the drop to the dinghy from the dock was pretty high.  Consequently Mary came close to doing header into the dinghy.  Always exciting this dinghy boarding.

As we returned to the anchorage there were another 3 additional sailboats there.   Guess the weather is a driving factor for boats coming in here.  Its very protected.  Tomorrow will be a really windy and cool day.  Even Tuesday when we leave the temps are only going to reach a high of 68.  

The next day the winds did increase to 20 knot winds (25 mph).  We swung around to the northwest which was just fine since we had plenty of swing room here.  It got chilly too.  Good sleeping weather. 

Walking up Chew Street towards town from the dock

We didn't get into town until later in the afternoon simply because the winds were so strong and there was quite a chop even in this backwater creek.

We took in all our garbage and re-cycling in anticipation of leaving tomorrow morning.  We walked the bike/walking trail and came upon a little book lending stand where you would borrow a book and leave a book.  Mary picked one up and then we made our way to the Blue Crab Coffee House again.  

Mary decided  the book she had borrowed wasn't one she wanted so we walked back and returned it to the book lending stand and then swung back to Acme Grocery for one last shopping stop.  

We walked back up the street and stopped at the other grocery store, The Village Shoppe, and  bought a few things including Cow Tails, a favorite of someone's. 

Returning to the dinghy dock we ran into a couple from one of the sailboats that had entered the anchorage over the last day.  Had a nice conversation with them. 

Wayward Fender floating by someones dock

We sped back to the boat and noticed we had lost the fender we use to keep the dinghy from rubbing along the side of the boat where we tie it every night.   I went out in the dinghy looking for it and found the mutinous fender against a dock across the creek.  I quickly tied the dinghy up to their dock, ran the 25 yards to where the fender was bobbing up an down, snatched it and got back to the dinghy and away in  minute flat.  

Did a little course plotting and then was surprised by the latest nautical weather forecast for the area where we were heading.  3-4 foot waves and heavy winds.  Not good.  And this new forecast maintained the conditions would  persist until Friday, the day we are supposed to be docking at Tide Water Marina in Norfolk.

So we came up with an alternate plan to stay at Calvert Marina again in the Solomons and see  what Wednesday and Thursday brings.  Wednesday is supposed to be the bad day.  The boat can easily handle 4 foot seas, but the people aboard don’t really want to endure hours of pounding seas.  So we’ll have wait to see what the weather really brings. 

But in anticipation we are hauling up the dinghy tonight so we’ll be all set to leave tomorrow morning at 8.  Should be a cool quite night.

We had the anchor up and were on our way by 7:40 the next morning.   The weather forecast had moderated for today so we intended on holing up in the Solomons until the winds and swell abated.  

I really wanted to be out of  San Domingo Creek and Broad River before low tide which was at 10AM.   We started out the Creek and wound our way around the turns, passed through Choptank River and got into the Bay after about 2 hours.  

We had some rollers off our starboard quarter but they calmed down as we neared the Solomons which was across the Bay on the west side.  The grey skies stared to turn blue and the sun peeked out occasionally but it was cool, in the high sixties.

We came in to the Solomons and Calverts Marina directed us to the same dock we had stayed at a few weeks earlier.  We got tied and paid for two nights with an option for a third if the weather remains nasty.

We had to alter our plans from Friday arrival in Norfolk to a Monday arrival. 

Tied up at Calverts Marina again

We washed the boat off and and let out the anchor and brought it back aboard after using the dockside water to really wash it down.  The docks resembled the bottom of a mud slide after we were finished. Mary cleaned off the decks and I worked on the starboard hull sides where we had some pretty heavily soiled areas where the fenders would rub.

Mary did a few loads of laundry up at the laundry center while I cleaned up the dinghy and got the cover on.  I don’t anticipate using the dinghy much at all over the next few months so I got it covered up and out of the weather.

Took a couple of walks and met a couple from Manitowoc WI who were in a sailboat right in front of us.  They’re living on their boat just like us.  

We woke up the next stiff and creaky.  It has to be because of the chilly temperatures in the low 60's!  So now we wait out the weather.