May 19, 2011, Charleston

Back at Tilghman Island

June 3, 2011, Fri.

We slammed into waves all the way to Tilghman. Northwest winds 15 to 20. Rick & Tina ( Deep Devocean) took off for Annapolis, then Fred & Ginny (Dreamchaser) headed straight up the bay for Knapps Narrows Marina. Kate & Greg ( Grianan), Bob & I headed off to the Choptank to come into Tilghman on Chesapeake (TOC). Very quiet here. We’ll miss our trawler train.

We are now at TOC for a month. It’s a very nice marina, but boring and we rock a lot from boats going by. We would love to have gone to Knapps , but at more than double the price a month, it’s not in the cards. We did get together with all our friends at Knapps over the weekend. Although, Knapps looked a little worn, when compared to the marinas we’ve been to in the last year or so. Then again we left Mears in Oxford for Knapps 16 years ago and things do age, including us. Still it would have been nice to stay at Knapps with our friends for 4 months.

We have traveled another 1100 miles on the ICW. All together with our trip with Banshee and taking Jany K south from Wrightsville Beach, N.C., we have done about 4000 miles on the ICW, plus another 1100 miles when we head back south with Jany K in the Fall. The ICW is losing it’s excitement!

In The Bay

May 31, 2011, Tues.

Nice to be in the Chesapeake Bay again and have open water, except the crab traps. We got to Doziers Regatta Point Marina, tied up, did laundry and hung at the pool. Very Hot!!! Kate and Greg did dinner on the grill in picnic area. We then sat in the Marina lounge after dinner and Sue from the cat Passage came in. We’ve been passing them almost everyday the whole trip. We also met Bud & Elaine on Diamond Girl. They travel the ICW and  write for Waterway Guide.

June 1, 2011 Wed.

A very HOT, HOT day. The wind was behind us and even as it got a little stronger as the day went on, it still was hot. We got into Zahniser,s in Solomons tied up and most everyone went to the pool. Bob cleaned bilges. We went to the Dry Dock restaurant for dinner. We got up thurs. and it was blowing 15 to 20 with gusts to 25 from the NW, so we decided to stay instead of slamming our way up the bay. Bob & I did Taco Salad for everyone for dinner. We had to get someone to come look at the head. We were getting a awful smell from the holding tank. It looks like the air vent is clogged and the mechanic is trying to clear it.

May 29th, 2011

May 29,2011, Sun.

We left Elizabeth City around 8:00 to catch the 11:00 South Mills lock and bridge. We made the approx. 19 miles too early, so we did a crawl. The Lockmaster finally said when we get close he’ll open the lock for us to go in and tie up. It’s a very narrow canal and 4 trawlers waiting isn’t fun. After we locked thru, our plan was to go thru the bridge at Deep Creek and tie to Elizabeths dock for the night. Then go thru Deep Creek lock in the am and on to Waterside in Norfolk. It was very hot, so I called the Trawler Train to see if everyone wanted to keep going and go right to Waterside so we had electric and AC. All the Admirals were in agreement. We had to wait about an hour for the Deep Creek bridge and lock to open, after we did a crawl thru the Dismal Swamp. What a difference from the sailboat, where we pushed to make the locks. Then we had another RR. bridge closing and a highway bridge. Just about an eleven hour day and only 50 miles. Tied up at Waterside around 6:45, showered, went to get something to eat and went to bed. A very long day! We stayed at Waterside the next day, went to the food store and we all went out to dinner.