During the next leg of our adventure, you will see that we had to look closely at weather windows. If one person says "no go", then you are supposed to stay put. I have yet to find my voice and say "no go"! I think about it frequently, but have yet to vocalize it. 🙄
One of these days should have been when we departed the Portsmouth/Norfolk area. It was extremely foggy, and the ships were like ghosts coming through the dense fog.
The fog started to lift as a large freighter came up on our stern, and a Navy cruiser closed in up front.
We decided to leave the channel, as there was plenty of depth in either direction. When we looked up, we saw a large red buoy bounce off our buddy boat, Anchored Souls. We looked at each other thinking, "Did he just hit that buoy?". He did, but thankfully no real damage. Just some scuff marks on the rail, and maybe a dent to the ego. Apparently, he was watching which direction the Navy ship was going and lost track of the buoy. This has been a running joke for us now (the reason why it's mentioned here, lol). Wish we had it on video or in pictures, but unfortunately we don't.
As we entered the Chesapeake Bay, the waters were choppy, but much to my dismay, they progressively worsened throughout the day! We were rocking and rolling again, and things moved all over the boat (including the couch)! We increased our speed somewhat in order to get to our anchorage in Deltaville, Md.
Thankfully, the next day brought much calmer water. We enjoyed seeing many different boats passing by, as well as other interesting sights.
This is a shipwreck which the Navy actually used for target practice. We didn't get close enough, but they say it is riddled with bullet holes.
Bombing targets...not sure if these are still active, but we stayed as far away as possible.
Ship loading station for LNG, Liquified Natural Gas...
You will notice in these pictures, and others to follow, we were seeing the effects of smoke in the air from the Canadian wildfires. It was quite irritating for a few days.
Throughout our journey we have seen so many helium balloons just floating in the water. Too many to even count!!
Many people have told us not to do certain things or visit places due to hazards such as low water depth, objects in the water, etc. Although we are certain this advice is being given in good faith we have found you must use your own judgement, and not pass by all of the interesting places (i.e., Dismal Swamp). So far, with slow travel on our part, we have been able to steer clear of hazards and visit places not seen by all others.
One of these places is Tangier Island. It is said that this island is disappearing, and scientists have estimated that the entire island will be underwater within 30 years. The residents on the island are proud of their home and most vehemently deny these claims. Although, from some of our pictures it's hard to believe the land will be there forever. It is a one-of-a-kind place that we are so happy to have visited.
Upon our arrival to the only marina in town, James Parks Marine, Rob (local handyman, Fire Chief, Rescue, etc) gave us a personal tour of the island on his ATV. He was very informative on the history of the island, including a reference to the island's importance in the writing of the "Star Spangled Banner". This was later confirmed on the board in front of the church.
All residents use golf carts, ATVs, motorcycles and other non-motorized vehicles to get around the island, due to limited fuel availability. Mail and packages are delivered by golf cart.
They park their vehicles up on wood decks, so that when the tide comes in, they are not under water.
There were several cemeteries on the island, however some homes also have graves in their front yards. This was done years ago for multiple reasons (i.e., the family could visit more often, protection from gravediggers, etc.).
After our personal tour, we walked throughout the entire town.
The local school is for K-12th grade, has less than 50 students and is built on pilings. As you can see, the water was under the building the day of our visit.
There were 4 seniors graduating that day, and the entire town closed down for the ceremonies. We hurried to the only restaurant open (until 3:00) and enjoyed lunch for our 41st anniversary. The crab soup and crab dip were incredible. Thanks Chris and Cheri!
During our walk, we met 2 young women walking the town as well. We thought they were residents, but they had actually flown over by private plane for the day. One of them, 20 years old, had her pilot's license and needed flight time towards her commercial license. As we made our way back to the boats, we watched them fly out of town.
We took a dinghy ride around the island and to the adjacent beach. The island is surrounded by crab shacks which can only be reached by boat. Many docks and pilings are already underwater. It's quite sad to think their homes and livelihoods are disappearing.
The largest osprey nest seen so far...
Beach area...
We ended our stay with cocktails topside on Southern Tides and enjoyed the sunset. It was a blessing to visit Tangier Island, and we would recommend others do as well.
Our next stop was Solomons Island, where we anchored for the evening. Unfortunately, the smoke had returned as we cruised back into the Chesapeake Bay the next morning.
We decided to visit St. Michaels, Md and anchor for several days. We needed to catch up on chores and just relax. We arrived to our anchorage, rafted up to Anchored Souls and everyone immediately took a nap. BAD IDEA!! When we awoke, we realized the anchor had drug, we had run aground and we were mere feet from a rock wall. We were able to free our boat and tried several times to free Anchored Souls. The tide was coming in, so eventually they were free. We moved to a much better spot and settled in for 5 nights.
St. Michaels is another one of our favorite stops on this trip. The town is beautiful, and the people are friendly and helpful. As a matter of fact, after walking over 3 miles to the grocery store and seafood market, one of the owners gave us a ride back into town. Note: There are no Ubers in St Michaels 🤔
Some of the highlights of our stay...
Scott, Chris and Harlie went by dinghy to breakfast every day.
We walked throughout town and enjoyed the scenery.
Visited the Chesapeake Bay Museum...
Cheri and I went paddle boarding.
We had an amazing blue crab dinner, including fried green tomatoes, steamed crab and wagyu steak.
And Smith Island Cake, which we were on the hunt for since Tangier Island.
The smoke had cleared as we left and headed to Annapolis, Md.
We arrived in calm seas, however with heavy boat traffic and increasing winds throughout the day, we realized our rock and roll boat would not be comfortable. We said our goodbyes to Anchored Souls and headed to a mooring ball.
Sunsets and night lights were beautiful in the harbor.
We thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the Naval Academy. History abounds here, including the tomb of John Paul Jones.
The Naval Academy mascot, "Bill, the Goat"...
The "Elite" officer housing...
One of many sculptures on the campus...
Bancroft Hall, home of the entire brigade, is the largest single dormitory in the world and includes 8 wings. I must say it is an elaborate dorm!
The beautiful chapel...
The academy museum included a large display of model ships, including those made of bones by French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars. It was absolutely amazing how these were made with whatever rough tools they handcrafted from scraps of metal and wood.
We enjoyed pleasant afternoons and evenings on the back deck. One day we had 40-50 sailboats under sail come within feet of our stern.
Patricia and Joe (Our son-in-law's mother and friend) met us for an enjoyable meal waterside at Pussers Grill. It is great to be able to spend time with friends and family during this journey.
Next on our itinerary was Havre de Grace. We stayed at an awesome marina for a few nights, scootered to Market Street Brewery and watched more sailing.
Our only hope is that we, including Harlie, do not resemble this window dressing after our long journey.
We were now leaving the Chesapeake Bay and heading into the C & D Canal, which leads to the Delaware River. The canal was calm during our transit and we enjoyed our cruise.
One of many osprey nests on each marker.
Several different bridges within one hour (less than 5 miles) and a gang of jet skis.
We entered the Delaware River and did not enjoy the uncomfortable swells, but luckily had less than a mile to end our day at the Delaware City Marina. This is a popular marina for "Loopers", as they have a daily briefing to discuss the next day's weather and tidal currents.
After the briefing, we enjoyed "docktails" with other cruisers and also hosted a few on our boat. "Little Beers" were consumed by all.
We found the marina's unique seating arrangement very amusing.
During the weather briefing, we learned the river would be calm in the morning, with winds increasing throughout the day, so we decided (along with 3-4 other boats) to leave at 5:00am and head south to Cape May, NJ. The sunrise was beautiful, and we had an awesome day on the Delaware!
We anchored in Cape May, walked around town, enjoyed lunch at the Lobster House and then prepped for our outside journey (Atlantic Ocean) the next day.
Talk about "weather windows"!! Stay tuned...
NEXT UP: WORST DAY YET (16 HRS & ROUGH SEAS), BEST DAY YET (THE LADY), NY NY & THE ERIE CANAL
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