Sunday, September 24, 2023

2023-09-23 Back to normal boat life

Last Sunday, our son Derek drove the 300 miles from Meridian, Idaho to Bend, Oregon to pick up Kris from visiting her parents, and drive back to Meridian - all in one day.  Long day for Derek, but he got to see his grandparents briefly, and of course enjoy the company of his mother for a 5.5 hour drive.

Discussion in the car ranged widely.  Covered topics including politics, gravity, electron flow in electrical wires, dating apps, relationships, gaming, getting old, and other interesting topics. 

Our son Derek, all grown up

While Kris and Derek where solving world issues, Dean was getting ready to move the boat from Mobjack Bay down to Portsmouth, where Kris would be flying back to.  Dean was busy on the boat doing many projects and cleaning including laundry, and he re-did the cabin floors.

Shiny nice floor

Dean hung out in Portsmouth for a few days. watching large boat traffic, and having visitors

3 of Deans visitors - he fed them Kris's whole wheat bread



Some of the big boat traffic going by the busy harbor 

Our friends on What If came to Portsmouth as well, and Dean and Ed enjoyed a nice long walk to the store and back.


What If heading out

While Dean did cleaning and polishing on the boat, Kris stayed busy with Derek, getting her new laptop ready - as hers had died before she left for the trip, and Derek being a computer whiz helped her pick a new one, and put in upgrades.

Kris flew in late Thursday, and Friday morning early we were on the water moving the boat.   A then Tropical Depression was heading up, and we wanted to be in a more protected area.   

There are always interesting things to see between Portsmouth and the entrance to the Dismal Swamp Canal along the ICW


Big ships always fun to look at

Interesting shape

We need this to lift out of the water in rocky anchorages

Stopped and got diesel at Top Rack Marina - which has consistently low diesel prices.   Were suprised how empty is was in the water, but saw the inside storage building was full.


Diesel only $3.88 per gallon at Top Rack Marina 


We timed the trip well, and made it to our first stop at Deep Creek, just in time to get lunch, and some groceries.

Going through Deep Creek Lock - no rain yet


Yes, that is two large pizzas - One for Kris and one for Dean

We did not spend the night, but pushed on in the rain and chilly temps, as the lock master had warned us that if any trees fell across the canal, we would be trapped for a while.   We decided to try to make the furthest south lock at South Mills.

Bundled up, motoring the Dismal in the rain

We made it just in time, and tied up along the wall between the South Mills bridge and lock


Charm tied up along the wall in the Dismal Swamp Canal at South Mills


We got lots of rain from now Tropical Storm Ophelia, but well protected from the wind.  The rain stopped by Saturday afternoon and Kris went for a short walk in South Mills.  It is a very small town, with quite a few run down homes, and some older nice ones.

Cute post office in South Mills

We will head out today for Elizabeth City, where we will wait for good winds to head further south.

Sunday, September 17, 2023

2023-09-17 - Dean Sailing south in the Chesapeake Bay, Kris visiting family out west

Kris flew back to Idaho and Oregon leaving on Saturday, an adventure to say the least, We mentioned that in our last post, but did not include how she got to the airport. Her Uber ride was a Tesla   She convinced her driver to floor it to see how it accelerated, and was not disappointed as it pushed her back in her seat pretty good.

Kris's ride to airport


Meanwhile back at the anchorage, Baltimore/Rock Creek Anchorage, Ed and Cathy on What If had shown up and kept Dean company and even fed him.  Early Monday when the winds went to the north Dean sailed down to Annapolis area.

What If anchored at Rock Creek, also where Charm was anchored.


Dean anchored in Harness Creek by Quiet Waters Park. We have anchored there several times and it very peaceful, just a long walk anywhere.  On one of the walks came across 3 deer in the path, this one let me take its picture. 

Deer in park.

Kris finally got to Boise, and stayed with our son Derek in his apartment.   Derek is not an early riser, so Kris took a walk, and picked up breakfast.   One of our favorite doughnuts is a maple bar - which is a west coast only doughnut - have never found them on the east coast.    Since Kris was out west, she had to get one.


Derek has a two bedroom apartment, but has a roommate, so Kris slept in the living room.  Derek had made up a nice bed area, and even put a wall of storage bins up to give Kris some privacy.


The bed worked great, and Kris even got to spend time with Derek's cat Smokey, who was the family cat for 5 years before we left for the boat.

Boise is a nice town, and there are nice walking trails near Derek's apartment that Kris used each morning.

One of many walking trails and parks in Boise


Kris left Boise on Wednesday, and caught the Greyhound bus over to Bend, Oregon to visit her parents.
It is a 6 hour bus ride, but there were only 4 ladies on the bus plus the driver.  It was a large bus, so Kris travelled in comfort.

View from bus travelling across the high desert between Boise and Bend - not that normal ocean view when travelling we are used to 


Dean left on Thursday morning and sailed down to The Solomon's, roughly 35 miles with nice north winds

Nice start to Deans trip


Dean spent the night and left early on Friday and sailed 51 miles south to Deltaville.  The winds and waves were from behind, thanks to Hurricane Lee, so made good time.

Nice following seas in the Chesapeake


Saturday was a short 20 mile trip to Mobjack bay/East River.  There is a catamaran haul out marina so Dean walked and looked at a lot of big boats.  Another Manta, Indie II is hauled out but the owners are not around.  Dean will hang out at Mobjack until Tuesday and sail the 25 miles to Portsmouth and anchor at Hospital Point to pick up Kris on Thursday night when she flies back.

Dean wandered around Zimmerman's marina, which had lots of large cats on the hard


 
Nice calm anchorage in Mobjack Bay near Matthews town


Meanwhile, Kris has been visiting her folks, and trying to help out with a few projects around their property.   
View from the back patio at Kris's folks.  Not the normal view of water.  High Desert in Bend

Kris will head back to Boise today, to spend more time with Derek before flying back to Portsmouth.








Sunday, September 10, 2023

2023-09-10 - Can you say HOT HOT HOT

We stayed at Rock Hall for a couple more days.  Did not go into shore - as we diagnosed issue with our outboard.  Our outboard prop hub is slipping, so we can not go faster than a putt putt, or prop hub fails, and just spins without moving the boat.  Worried about it failing completely, we did not want to make the long trip to land, and find we had to row our way back.   

In addition, it got HOT.  Temperatures in the high 90's, and with humidity the "feels like" temperature was up to 112 one day.  In addition, NO wind.

91 degrees inside the boat, plus humidity.  Luckily did not see above 91.

So we stayed on the boat, did miscellaneous small projects in the morning, but by lunch we were done, and spent the rest of the day, trying to stay cool in the shade, in front of a fan.   

Most the boats left the anchorage on Labor Day, so it was quiet again except for the crop duster flying overhead most the day - but that was fun to watch.


We did modify our boom vang, to give a little more support to the boom.  Dean had to customize some parts.



Kris jumped on the kayak, and cleaned the boat waterline.  Laying on the kayak between the two hulls was nice and cool.

We moved over to Rock Creek, near Baltimore in preparation for Kris to fly out.  Still HOT, so not much going on.

We had planned to walk to town on Thursday, as needed to pick up some Amazon orders, and get groceries for Dean.  Luckily a nice man at the marina where we left the dink offered us a ride, got to love the boating community.  We went to Ace Hardware, picked up our Amazon orders, had a nice lunch at Five Guys and got groceries at Safeway.   

No free ride back so we walked 2.7 miles back in 95 degree heat along the hot road in the middle of the day, hauling back our purchases.  Feel sorry for us yet :)    A very sweaty walk, we both took cold showers when we got back.

One of the purchases was a new prop for the dinghy.  You can see the old one is quite worn, the new one is 3 blades but we can still get up and plane.  We will be getting a new outboard in a month and selling the old one but it certainly could not sell in the non-running condition.

Old Outboard prop

New prop installed

On Friday afternoon, Ed and Cathy on What If came into the anchorage for a visit.  We had them over for pizza.  Nice visit - it was hot, but we did get some cooling breeze in the cockpit.

Relaxing in the heat after dinner - notice we even have a portable fan outside to help beat the heat

Dean and Ed solving world problems, just the important ones


Saturday, Dean took Kris to a boat ramp nearby, so she could catch an Uber to the airport for her flight to Boise, Idaho.  Which turned into a convoluted trip.  Kris got to the airport ahead of time, they loaded the plane ahead of time and then things went sideways.  The plane then was unloaded because of weather.  The plane was suppose to take off at 3pm but due to weather they now said 8pm which would not allow making the connection in Minneapolis to Boise.  Kris was reschedule to fly to Atlanta and catch a flight from Atlanta to Boise on Sunday.  Needless to say Kris did not have a smooth trip.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

2023-09-03 New York to Chesapeake Bay

We left Port Washington and motored down the east river, with the sun setting just as we got to New York City.  Neat to see all the city lights, but a bit nerve racking, with all the lights, hard to see boat lights – but most everyone except a couple of sailboats had AIS, so that was nice.

Tug with large side tow barge passing us on the East River

 

Pepsi Cola Sign all lit up on East side of the river


Getting darker as we are approaching Manhattan


Colorful lights at Pier 17


Manhattan skyline at dark



Leaving New York, under Verrazano bridge

No wind, so motored till around 2:00 a.m., but then the wind filled in and we got in a good 10 hours of nice downwind sailing.  Even used the spinnaker for a while


Offshore sailing down NJ coast. (under spinnaker)

We had a little friend that joined us somewhere offshore around Atlantic City.  Brave little one, even landed on the steering wheel for a while.   Kris got out a little container of water, and our feathered friend was happy for that, and drank a few times from it.   He/She hopped all over the boat munching on little gnats, and then Kris got some sprouts and he/she enjoyed those as well.  


Had to turn the motor on as we approached Lewes, DE, for just a little more speed, so we would not have to anchor in full dark


Sun setting as we approached the anchorage

We anchored at Lewes DE, for the night, and our little friend was still there in the morning, but left around 9:00.   We left shortly after and were able to sail up the  Delaware Bay – against the current all the way, but the winds were strong enough it wasn’t an issue.  

Anchored over night before the C&D Canal, and next day motored with current down the canal to Chesapeake City.  Walked up for burgers and ice cream at the Real McCoy restaurant.

You never know what you will see when walking through towns. Like the worlds smallest wedding chapel 

Nice small park in Chesapeake City

We only spent two nights in Chesapeake City, then sailed down to Rock Hall, MD, as it was the only winds over 8 knots for the next week going our direction. 

Usually when we have anchored in Rock Hall in the past, there are only a few boats, 4 at the most.  Maybe it was the Labor Day weekend, but there were already 5 boats in the anchorage, 4 of them catamarans.    As the day went on, more boats came in. 

Friday, we walked to town, and took our old dinghy seat, and old tachometers into the Marine Consignment store.  Back to boat and watched even more boats come in.

Saturday was the big day|  We walked in to town and went to the Scrapple Festival at the Fire station.  Scapple for those of you who don’t know (we didn’t – had to look it up)  Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name Pannhaas, is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then pan-fried before serving.

There was an all you could eat breakfast featuring Scrapple, and some vendors set up as well selling handcrafts.   We did not partake in the food, but it was interesting to walk around.   Quite the large nice building for the volunteer fire department.

Rock Hall volunteer Fire dept. building

 

Inside Fire dept. building - lots of folks enjoying their scrapple

This shirt sums it up nicely.

After that, a quick stop at the hardware store, and then onto the 5th annual Car Show at the American Legion building.   Fun to see all the fixed-up cars.  We aren't car buffs, but below a few pictures of some of our favorites.

Quite a few cars of various years on display

Who doesn't love tail fins

Can you imagine this guy pulling up to your house fire?

Love the rear fenders

We then headed to town to a really nice market, full of local grown fruits and veggies.  
Fresh Start food market




Lots of nice local grown foods as well

They even had a small deli counter, so we had lunch there as well as getting some produce.

We split a large sub sandwich


While eating lunch we listened to the chimes from the local Methodist church ringing in the noon hour,   Music, then 12 bells, then more music, then more music, followed by music.  Quite the noise for such a little church - but it was enjoyable


Small Methodist churn in downtown Rock Hall
 

On the way back to the boat we stopped at the Waterman's museum, which was open for the first time that we had seen, so had to stop.

Waterman's Museum - not a large building

Dean practicing his Waterman moves 

The museum is small, but we enjoyed walking around.  Quite surprised to meet the Mayor of Rock Hall, who was the volunteer working the museum.  He also was a volunteer fireman, and was heading back to the Scrapple Festival to help clean up when it closed soon.   Nice to see a "politician" who was actually in it to do good and support the community - easy to forget that sometimes.


Inside the museum

Back to boat, and even more boats had come into the anchorage.  Lots of boat rafting up, including 7 behind us, which turned into 8 later in the evening.   Glad there are no strong winds, and only one anchor out for all 8 boats.

Quite the raft up of boats 


Usually when you get so many boats in an anchorage, and multiple raft ups you get loud music and such, but none of that here - everyone quiet and respectful

Will be here a couple more days, then head over closer to Baltimore in preparation for Kris to fly out to Boise next week.