Finally out of the bay and in North Carolina

October 16^th, 2011, Sun.

We left Dozier’s in Deltaville, Va. finally after a week of meeting some very nice people. We hope to see them again in our travels. Susan & Chris from Forever Friday, who we met  watching Dancing with the Stars in the marina lounge are leaving Monday, so I’m sure we’ll meet up with them  along the way. Sarah & Brooks from Our Time are headed to DC and then down the ICW and will be going right by the condo on they’re way to the west coast of Florida, so hopefully we’ll catch up again also.

We had the water heater fixed on Thursday, but decided to wait for the rain, then the winds to calm from 20 to 25 and 3’ to 4’ seas. We had about 1’ to 2’ seas when we left, but then at Mobjack Bay and York River we had some 3’ to 4’ seas. It was like being in a washing machine, waves all different directions. We did have the tide with us, so we made good time, averaging 9 knots. When we got to Tidewater marina in Portsmouth, Va. we walked into town. It was nice with some historic homes and restaurants, etc. We got back to the boat and I wasn’t feeling well, so we had a so called dinner on board. Bob had Hot dogs and Beans, YUK. I had soft boiled eggs. HAHAHA

October 17^th, 2011, Mon

I’m still not feeling well, stomach cramps, so we decided to go to Atlantic Yacht Basin in Great Bridge, Va. just 12 miles, but we had 3 bridges and one lock. The bridges are closed from 6:30 am to 9:30 am and then 2 open on the hour and half hour and the one after the lock opens only on the hour. They also only lock boats through southbound on the half hour and northbound on the hour. So this takes some planning. We did good, we got the 10:30 opening on the first bridge and got to Atlantic Yacht Basin by noon. All I wanted to do was sleep. Hopefully tomorrow’s a better day.

October 18^th, 2011, Tues.

Feeling better today, at least I feel like I have a little energy, but still have stomach cramps. We decided to go to Coinjock N.C. There’s also a front coming again with rain and winds and we’ll probably hang here a couple days, cause next we’ll be crossing the Abemarle  and Alligator river, which are not friendly in higher winds. We learned this on other trips. Forever Friday pulled in also and we had dinner at the restaurant, then watched Dancing with the Stars eliminations on they’re boat. A fun night! We’ve only gone approximately 216 miles since leaving Knapps Narrows, including our trip to Annapolis with Fred and Ginny, still have 930 miles to go. We’re still early compared to when we left with Banshee, but probably we’ll start doing some longer runs when we leave here. We got the insurance changed and we can go as far as St. Mary’s, Ga. before Nov 1^st. which is a lot better than Hatteras.

 

October 7^th, 2011, Fri.

 We left Annapolis to go to Herrington Harbor South, and get slips for a good nights sleep. We tied up at the long dock by the beach. Walked around and showed Fred and Ginny the new inn and rooms and landscaping. It’s all been done over very nice, since we started going there every 4^th of July since sometime in the 90’s. Christy, Ray, Alicia and Lee have gotten a room there every 4^th and we would take the boat, with Tim and Heidi always a fun family weekend. I made Ginny’s recipe for Shepards Pie for dinner for all of us. Ginny made Chocolate pudding for dessert, which tasted really good. We played the dice game Farkel, beginners luck Ginny won after a fun game. Then a good nights sleep.

October 8^th, 2011, Sat.

Jany K and Dreamchaser left Herrington and now are officially heading south to Solomon’s. We decided to go to Zahnhisers Marina in Solomon’s. The museum was having a Patuxent River Festival. It was very nice. The museum was open and free. They had all kinds of things going on. The kids could make small wooden boats in the boat shed, they had music, crafts, free boat rides, even a wine tasting with local wines, which believe it or not we did not try. The museum had some very cool artifacts from Calvert Cliffs, plus history of the bay and speedboats that were built in Solomon’s in the 40’s and wooden boat building and more. A fun time. We then had cocktails on Dreamchaser and dinner at The Dry Dock restaurant at the marina.
This is our last night with Fred and Ginny. A sad time, we have been traveling with them and right next to them at Knapps since we left Nettles Marina in Fl. May 9^th. We’ll really miss them as we head south and they head north back to Knapps.

October  9^th, 2011, Sun.

We left Solomon’s this morning heading south to Deltaville, Va. and saying bye to Fred and Ginny and looking forward to seeing them in Florida. It was a calm day so crossing the Potomac was easy compared to most other crossings. We got to Dozier’s in Deltaville around 2:30, making good time with the tide. After we got into the marina, we realized the hot water heater was not working. We wanted to get to Norfolk before the nice weather window changed after Tuesday. There’s not much there though, in the way of working marinas, so we decided to have someone look at it here Monday. So, of course the part we need has to be overnighted and won’t get here till Wednesday, so much for our nice weather window. They say rain and wind from the south Wed. thru Fri., so we’ll probably hang here for a week. Oh well, we need to waste some time anyway, cause we’re not supposed to be below Hatteras til Nov. 1^st.

Heading South and Home

October 6^th 2011, Thurs.

We left Knapps today after a great time with old friends, who we hope to see this winter in Florida. It’s now time to head Jany K south and home. We’re starting by heading a little north to Annapolis with Fred & Ginny (Dreamchaser) who are with us till the weekend, when they head back to Knapps. We got the one mooring that was left and Dreamchaser  anchored in Spa Creek. It was very crowded cause of the sailboat show this weekend. Once settled we got the water taxi into town and walked around, then went to Mangia’s for calzones and then Pussers for Painkillers. We then took the water taxi back to the boats. It was so calm that our boat and the 42 foot sailboat on the mooring next to us kept touching. I think the sailboat was aground and wasn’t swinging like everyone else. We now know to stay away from mooring #71. Fred and Ginny swung and were too close to a dock, so they pulled anchor and moved. NOT A GOOD NIGHT, Bob slept on the sofa to watch so we didn’t hit the sailboat and Fred and Ginny were up making sure the anchor held with all the boats so close. Not much sleep for all our first night out.

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.