MORE BLOCK ISLAND

Tried to sleep in this morning, but when it starts getting light at 5 AM, it’s hard to stay in bed. Finally got up around 7:30 and spent the morning doing little projects on the boat. Late morning, we took the dinghy down and docked at the nearby marina to walk into town. It’s only a mile and a half or so to get into town, and it was a pleasant walk, although the wind has been quite steady.

We both now have the requisite Block Island T-shirts, so our shopping spree is over. We walked over to Dick & Carol’s house to meet them for some clamming. We went to their favorite spot over by the Coast Guard Station and started grubbing through the sand.

Look out clams! Here we come.

Basically, you just rake your fingers through the wet sand, getting 3-4 inches below the surface, and feel for anything hard. There is a size limit, and Dick supplied us with some measuring devices to make sure we didn’t get any undersize clams. We went around low tide, so we had plenty of sand to choose from and we got about three dozen clams in a little over an hour. Dick took them home in a bucket of sea water to sit overnight to clean the sand out of them, and we plan on eating those little critters for dinner tomorrow night.

Measuring the clam to make sure it's legal size

We got back to the boat and, although it was still pretty windy and rough on the mooring, I used the dinghy as a platform to clean the outside of the hull. It had gotten a bit marked up while we were in the boat yard, so it needed it. I cleaned everything with salt water, since we aren’t on a dock, but it is forecast to rain tonight and tomorrow, so that should rinse it all off for me.

We took the dinghy in to a nearby restaurant for dinner tonight, trying not to get wet in the wind and waves. We had just been seated at our table overlooking the bay when, in the course of about 5 minutes, the wind changed direction 180 degrees (from southwest to northeast) and started blowing even harder as a front came in. We managed to finish dinner and get back to the boat before any rain came down, but it was a rough, and wet, ride back. Once we were back to the boat, I doubled up all the lines between HERON and IMPROV. HERON is on her own mooring, and IMPROV is staying in place by being tied to HERON (rafting, in boating terms), so I wanted a secure connection. The wind is very strong tonight, so I made sure all of the cushions on the flybridge are securely put away and I braced the bimini frame with several lines, primarily to keep it from rattling all night. It looks like it’s going to be a bumpy night with the rough water in the bay. Oh well, being rocked to sleep…

BLOCK ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND

Looking at the weather forecast for the next several days, we decided that if we were going to get to Block Island it had to be this morning - early this morning. Winds and seas were predicted to pick up in the afternoon, perhaps up to 30 knot gusts and 2-4 foot waves.So we got up at 5 AM to get ready to go and found very thick fog in the harbor. We had about a quarter-mile visibility, but hoped the fog would burn off as the sun came up more. We turned on the radar and headed out. 

The first hour or so stayed quite foggy, but there were short periods of time when it lifted and I could see maybe a mile or two, but then it would close back in. The radar worked well, identifying unseen fishing boats, ferries and even crab pot floats at times. I even used it to find the navigation buoys which I couldn’t see in the fog.

As we were coming into the channel to Block Island, we could hear the fog horn and the bell on the buoy, but didn’t see anything until we were about 50 feet away from it. But, as soon as we entered the channel, the fog opened up, we could see for a couple of miles and even saw the sun for the first time today.

Elaine & Carol walking toward the East End lighthouse

HERON (Dick & Carol) saw us come in and hailed us on the radio. When they are at their house here, they keep their boat on a mooring in the Great Salt Pond and invited us to raft up next to them. We caught up a bit, having not seen them since Norfolk, VA, then they invited us on a several-hour tour of the island. It’s a beautiful and varied island and it was nice to be introduced to it by people who have known it for decades.

HERON and IMPROV rafted in the Great Salt Pond

We had cocktails and dinner together aboard HERON and talked about the possible activities the next few days. We really liked the part about going clamming tomorrow…

NARRAGANSET BAY

Thursday, May 28

Lazy morning sleeping in. After a couple of cups of coffee we decided, since we had a rental car, to drive up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to see the town and visit Nancy & Henry, friends who own the PDQ 34 SNO DOG. It took a couple of hours to get there - thanks, in part, to the traffic moving slowly through Boston - but we got there mid-day and had a nice walk around town,

Portsmouth Town Square

diverting into a bakery/restaurant at just the right time to 1) have lunch and 2) let the thunderstorm pass.

We had a very pleasant day with Nancy & Henry (and Adie), spending the evening over a delicious quiche Lorraine, red wine & brownies (of course). While Henry & I were checking out his new Devlin launch,

Henry's new boat

I got a call that our prop was repaired & we could pick it up Friday AM.

Friday, May 29

We left Portsmouth after breakfast and drove straight to the prop shop in Middletown, RI to pick up our shiny, newly-repaired prop. We took it back to the boatyard, and by early afternoon they had hauled our boat, again, and installed the prop. I stayed on the boat as it was lifted from the water - a strange feeling. The captain is supposed to go DOWN with the ship, not UP!

On the travel-lift

 It was a beautiful day, with hardly any wind, unlike the previous three days, so we thought we could quickly take off and maybe even reach Block Island this afternoon - until we remembered we had to turn in the rental car. Elaine took of with the car to Fall River and I got the boat ready so that when she got back, about 4 PM, we could leave and, at least, get down to Newport and anchor for the night. Winds are forecast to pick up again pretty strongly by tomorrow afternoon (35 knots) so we hope to get out to Block Island early morning, before the heavy winds begin. It’s only about 20 miles from Newport, so 2-3 hours should do it. Once there, the Great Salt Pond provides a very protected anchorage in which we should be able to ride out any heavy winds.

This is the second time we have anchored in Newport Bay, the first being with our trawler AD LIB about 5 or 6 years ago. That was not the best experience since a huge thunderstorm with tons of rain, lightening and 45 knot winds hit while we were on shore walking Duke. It’s much better this time, with a gorgeous sunset and the winds dying down for the night…

PROP REPAIR

Being pulled out 

Made a fair amount of progress today. The Bristol Marine crew was up early - we talked to them about 6:30 AM and discussed what we needed. Basically, we require a short haul, getting the boat out just long enough to get the prop off, then another short haul after we get the prop repaired. Although there seemed to be a pretty relaxed attitude around the yard, work was getting done, and they did actually have IMPROV out of the water by 10 AM. It was a bit of a challenge getting the prop off and they went through four or five prop and gear pullers before a couple of good whacks with a sledge

A few wrinkles from the rock

hammer loosened it up. While the prop was being pulled, Elaine was getting a rental car from Fall River, several miles away, and by 11:30 we were on our way to Middletown, near Newport, to drop the prop off at the repair shop. At the shop, the proprietor checked out the prop using his precision measurement device and figured it would take until Friday to get it repaired.

After the delivery, we grabbed lunch, then stopped off at a nearby store to buy fleece jackets. We’ve felt cold, even though it’s in the 60s near the water, because the wind has been relentless the last few days, blowing up to 30 knots most of the day today. It’s surprising that just getting off of the boat and on land made things feel warmer, but we still needed another layer of fleece.

We got back to the boat, which had been moved to a slip by the boatyard crew, and I started on my projects list. Working inside, out of the wind, I replaced a couple of halogen reading lights in the main salon with some LED lights. Not only did the original lights use a lot of energy, they got very hot when used, and one of them, which is just under the forward hatch, has “re-rusted” after I rebuilt and repainted it a couple of years ago.

The next project was on deck, and was made considerably

Not the usual perspective of our boat

more difficult than it should have been because of the strong wind. I replaced a couple of bolts on the supports for my instrument mast. The old bolts had bothered me ever since I bought the boat because they were the wrong length and someone had installed them with steel washers which rusted. They also loosened up regularly and made the mast rattle when we were in heavy seas or even with strong winds at anchor. Since the mast is right above our bed, I’ve been hearing this rattle the past few nights, and rather than just tighten them up again, I decided to replace them with the correct hardware. I was surprised that I couldn’t just lay a bolt or nut down on the deck without the wind almost blowing them away. I got everything reinstalled without loosing anything overboard and put it all together with enough Loc-tite that there shouldn’t be any rattles now.

Since we’ve got a day and a half before we can pick up the prop, and we have a rental car, we may take off for a short road trip tomorrow…

More notes from Elaine...


So my subject today - food! I love food - discovering different foods, eating, cooking,  ethnic foods, restaurants - need I say more? This trip is no different - although fairly common, I had never had grits before setting foot into South Carolina. We now have grits on the boat - we have grits with shrimp, sausage, greens, vegetables. We had wonderful Cuban and South American food in Florida. Subs are called heroes, hoagies and in Rhode Island - grinders. I love Maryland blue crabs - Dave prefers the west coast Dungeness. We are presently in Fall River, MA which supposedly hosts a plethora of Portuguese restaurants but we haven't had a chance to peruse the neighborhood yet. And I am pretty much game to try anything, unless it has anything to do with insects. I don't do insects.

And so we continue northward - looking forward to poutine, sausages, Canadian food, New England fare and probably other foods I have never heard of. Yum!

SOMERSET, MA

Memorial Day parade, Barrington, RI

Started the project of getting the prop fixed. I spent the morning calling around to boatyards, prop shops and the insurance company trying to get things coordinated. We developed a strategy, but first, we had to get out of the slip with the rock at the entrance. We waited until 1:30 PM, when the tide came in and there was enough water under us not to hit the rock on the way out. I was able to run both engines, but kept the RPMs low because of the damaged prop. This meant our maximum speed was about 6.5 knots. Kind of like being back in our old trawler!

Our "courtesy car" in Barrington (Stephen's Jag)

We went over to the Bristol Marine yard in Bristol, RI and picked up a mooring in a pretty rocky harbor. We took the shore boat into the boatyard and talked with the manager. They have an issue with the tides at that yard and can only use their Travelift (the device which lifts boats out of the water) at certain tidal levels and, once we got there, weren’t sure they could pull us out for a day or so. He suggested we go to their Somerset, MA yard, about 12 miles away. We jumped back on the boat and headed upriver to Somerset. We pulled up to their dock about 6:30 PM, tied up, and now we wait until morning. They don’t look too busy, so,

Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA

hopefully, we can get a “short haul,” where they pull the boat out, leave it in the lift slings, take off the prop then put it back into the water. We will, likely, get a rental car and take the prop to a specialized shop for repair. The repair could take several days, and since it is a short week after the holiday, there’s a good chance we won’t get it back until early next week. When we do get it back, the yard will do another “short haul,” put the prop back on and drop us back in the water. If it does take this long, we will take a short road trip with the rental car to see some of the nearby sights. Good thing we’re flexible…

BARRINGTON, RI

Well, we’ve been in Barrington, RI for a few days now. The trip up from Connecticut was fairly uneventful, except it was really cold and windy. The wind stayed from the north and most of the coastline was direct east-west, so we hugged the coast and were pretty much in the lee of the land to reduce the wave height. We got to Barrington Yacht Club in the early afternoon, got into our assigned slip, then found out there was no water or electricity on that dock. We went to the fuel dock to wash all of the salt off of the boat and left it there until the evening when the Assistant Manager showed up and said we could’t stay there overnight, but he had another slip available. The other slip was pretty shallow, but it would be OK for our shallow-draft boat, even with it being low tide at the time. We moved the boat and were about half way into the slip when the starboard prop hit a rock. We got the boat tied up and I got out my mask & snorkel and took a look at the prop. It appeared to be relatively minor damage with a few small nicks on the edge of the blades. However, it will need to be repaired before we continue very far.

The Yacht Club took no responsibility, accountability or liability for putting us in a slip with a rock less than two feet underwater. This was a brand new slip, and it had not had any boat in it before ours. Their view was that since I was operating the boat, I was responsible for hitting their rock. They have, basically, been real jerks about this whole thing. Although they advertise that they accept transient boats for short-term dockage, they do not have the facilities, the staff or the management skill to run a marina - they are a Yacht Club, and I have unfortunately found out their limitations in docking anyone other than members.

This happened on the first day of a three-day weekend, so I have to wait until Tuesday AM to start making arrangements for a repair. The prop will have to be pulled off and taken to a prop shop, repaired, then re-installed. It could be pulled either by hauling the whole boat out of the water at a boatyard, or by hiring a diver to do it while the boat is in the water (this is actually something I used to do when I was a commercial diver, but I don’t have the equipment to do it now). I’ll have to see which will be 1) quicker and 2) less expensive. I then have to decide where to have the repair done. There is a shop nearby, but the shop where these props came from is about 50 miles away, and they are the experts. If they are available to work on them I might rent a car and drive them up to Salem, MA.

I did tie up the boat securely to the dock, started the engine, ran it in gear and there was no vibration, so I am comfortable with the idea of moving the boat under its own power to a boatyard, if needed.

In the meantime, we have been having some very nice times with Stephen & Demetria Carr who live only a mile or so away from the Yacht Club. Stephen & I went to medical school together & I was his best man when he married Demetria 35 years ago. The only good thing about this incident is that we will be here a bit longer to visit with them. 

CONNECTICUT RIVER

Another challenging day. The weather forecast was not ideal with winds of 15-20 knots with 1-2 foot waves predicted, but we decided that since the wind would be from the North, we could sneak up the north side of Long Island Sound and be in the lee of Connecticut the whole way so even if it was windy, we wouldn’t have the waves to deal with. We also wanted to get through New York Harbor before the Memorial Day weekend started. That’s the start of the boating season around here and we were afraid it would be crowded with weekend boaters who don’t always comply with the rules of navigation. Lastly, it looked like we would have good tidal flow getting through Hell Gate, a narrow part of the East River which can have extremely strong currents to fight if the tide is against you.

NYC skyline from the harbor

We left Great Kills Basin around 7:30 AM and managed (for the second time - the first time was when we brought our previous boat down from RI) to get through New York Harbor without being stopped and inspected by any law enforcement organization. Ever since 9/11, they have routinely stopped recreational boaters in the harbor, and there are eight different law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction there. We saw a few, but, luckily, didn’t get boarded.

Even with the strong winds, the water through the harbor was reasonably calm, except for the wakes of all the ferries barreling through. Even east of the harbor, the water was okay until we got out into Long Island Sound. The wind had shifted to the southwest, unlike the forecasted north wind.

East River bridges

This meant that the wind had more and more time to build up waves the further we travelled east. By early afternoon the waves were 2-3 feet high and the winds were pretty steady at around 15-20 knots. Since the wind was essentially at our back and the waves were coming from behind us (a “following” sea), it was still tolerable. The waves were coming at an angle to our stern (quartering) so they gave us a boost and increased our speed a bit. As the afternoon wore on, the wind got stronger and the waves got bigger. The boost to our speed now came from surfing the waves which, although fun, requires a bit more effort in positioning the boat on the wave and keeping it in the right place.

Waterfront property

For anyone who has surfed, or whitewater kayaked or paddled an outrigger canoe, the feeling of getting picked  up by a wave is unmistakable. I was able to get “rides” on the waves that would last two or three minutes before I would drop the wave and pick up another one. When I wasn’t surfing, my speed was about 11.5 knots, but when I caught a wave, it would quickly accelerate to 14 to 15 knots or more, all while I was trying to control  the wheel and keep the boat going in the right direction. Our boat actually surfs quite well for something 34 feet long, weighing over 16,000 pounds, but when we finally got to the breakwater and saw the lighthouse at our destination, we were relieved to get into calm water.

Connecticut River breakwater

We are moored in the North Cove Basin of the Connecticut River, on a free mooring provided by the boating community here. I was glad to see the moorage, although we could have anchored out. The wind is still very strong, and forecast to hit over 30 knots tonight, so I will be able to sleep without having to keep one eye open to make sure we don’t drag our anchor.

Tomorrow we will head into Narraganset Bay, Rhode Island and stay at the Barrington Yacht Club a couple of nights while visiting a very good friend from way back in medical school. I am looking forward to the weekend…

One more beautiful sunset on the water

GREAT KILLS HARBOR, NEW YORK

Wednesday, May 20

We stayed in Cape May for an extra day since the weather was not conducive for heading out into the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, we took care of a few chores on the boat then biked through town over to the

Cape May Lighthouse

Cape May lighthouse and the military lookout tower. It was a nice ride - about 10 miles in all (with some detours to shops that looked interesting) on a sunny, but windy day. This is a nice community - we’ve been here before, both by boat on our trip down to the Chesapeake from Rhode Island several years ago when we bought our trawler, AD LIB, and by car when we lived in Philadelphia. It has a nice pedestrian-only downtown area, some old victorian homes which have been restored, plenty of marine supplies and some very good restaurants.

Military Sighting Tower

We had cocktails on MISS MY MONEY then went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant across from the marina with the crews of MISS MY MONEY (David & Barbara) and TIGER (Bill & Carole).

Thursday, May 21

Rough water at the mouth of the Delaware River

This morning we got up early, thinking the wind would have died down overnight, to head up to Great Kills harbor on Staten Island, NY. We left the dock about 6AM and hit waves of about 3-4 feet on the bow as soon as we got out of the harbor. We throttled back to a slower speed to handle the rough seas, but were concerned that we then wouldn’t make the whole 110 nautical miles in one day. We had contingency plans to find refuge along the way, but kept going and things,gradually, got better. We were at slow speed for three hours before the waves dropped to 1-2 feet so we could speed up, then, after another three hours, the wind shifted and by afternoon we had a reasonable ride with a tailwind and confused seas of about 1 foot. It was comfortable enough for me to take an quick afternoon nap while Elaine was at the helm, and then for her to get into the galley to make some crepes which she would use for dinner tonight. A cold front brought this changing weather and it was cold! It was in the low 50s when we started out, and the high today was only 60 degree. That’s pretty chilly when you’re out on the water with that wind. We started the generator for a while when we were underway so we could put the heat on and warm up the cabin. We usually pilot the boat from the flybridge (outside, on top) but today was spent down below, all day, due to the cold and rain.

We pulled into Great Kills Basin about 5PM and anchored out, rather than go to a marina. It is very peaceful here, with a calm water surface despite the wind howling outside. After anchoring, we turned the generator again, to heat up the boat, cook dinner in the oven (ham, cheese & kale crepes) and watch the news on TV. The generator is off now, so I’m sure it won’t be long until we crawl into bed and add an extra layer of blankets tonight…

Notes from Elaine...


Yes, I suppose I was MIA for awhile, but I had complete confidence that Dave was doing a superb job in describing our daily events. I just like to add a running commentary every once in a while on… well, life in general on the water.

One of the things that I enjoy on the boat is the navigation. Although I am eternally grateful for the GPS to pinpoint our exact whereabouts, I sit with the charts on my lap (like a blanket) and am completely in awe of the cartographers who have mapped out "tanks" and "spires" and "cupolas". Really? At first, it seemed like overkill, but I find them useful as landmarks (e.g., four tanks down there is an inlet).  And although we primarily navigate by computer I still like to know exactly where I am - down to the longitude and the latitude. When I had to navigate down the Delaware Bay in the dense fog, I still knew exactly where we were, and had the radar turned on so I could avoid running into blobs on the screen. I suppose that is "technically incorrect", but you get my drift. And for those who have not been out on the water, all land, from a distance, well pretty much looks alike.

Life on a boat does have its limitations. Since I had foot surgery just prior to starting this trip, I have been exercising and doing physical therapy on the top deck of the boat. Legs up in the air (like a bug on its back), sideways push ups against the railings, I did them all. Little did I realize that boaters tend to travel in groups (by default, going the same routes, places, etc.) so we start to recognize each other. Nobody has mentioned seeing flailing limbs however - boaters are so nice...

CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY

Our plan to leave early this AM to transit the C&D Canal got modified a bit when we woke up to fog. After an hour, things were a bit better so we headed down current  in the Canal with about a 2 knot tail current. That was fine until we hit the Delaware River where, not only was it foggier, but there was a head current. Both TIGER and IMPROV decided to follow a passing freighter downstream just

Following a freighter down the Delaware River in fog (the
small dot to the right of the freighter is TIGER)

to make sure we were in the channel and (somewhat) protected from any other vessels. We were able to keep up with the freighter at 12-13 knots for a good while, then he started pulling away when the current got stronger. TIGER has larger engines than IMPROV, so I told them to keep on going and we backed off to our “slow” cruising speed of around 8 knots, although with the head current we were actually only making about 5-6 knots over ground.

It was a very pleasant day, however, with the water very smooth and the fog giving a peaceful air to everything. We turned on the radar to identify any other traffic, and followed

A large container barge being transported by tugboats

our GPS-based navigation system so we were always aware of where we were. It was fun to see large vessels on radar long before we could see them by eye, then watch them emerge from the fog and pass by.

As the day warmed up a bit, I even spent an hour or so, while underway, waxing the boat. Then I took my turn at the helm and Elaine went below to clean the cabin and do the morning dishes. We latched on to a good classical music radio station that stayed with us most of the day, and our time on the flybridge was very pleasant.

We arrived in Cape May about 4 PM, refueled and got a slip at a marina and will take a look at the weather forecast carefully before making our next move. A cold front is due in from the northwest and our next leg requires going “outside” the barrier islands into the Atlantic, so we want good conditions. 

We might stay here for at least another day waiting for weather…

CHESAPEAKE CITY

It was a beautiful morning - warm, still, a little haze in the air to make everything look just a little ethereal. We needed the Spa Creek Bridge lifted to leave our mooring area, and it doesn’t open between 7:30 and 9:00 AM, so we got up early enough to leave before 7:30. Chesapeake Bay was as still, I think, as I have ever seen it. Very few boats out, compared to the weekend, so the water surface was smooth and reflective in the early morning sun.

Our initial plan was to go over to Rock Hall (our old home port for our trawler when we lived in Philadelphia) where there is a free town dock not far from the grocery store. We needed to stock up on a few things and we wanted to stop by to say hello to our friends, the marina owners. As we thought through the next day or two, we realized that we could be in a good position for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and on into Cape May on Tuesday if we left Rock Hall early afternoon and anchored out in the Bohemia River, so we got our groceries, said our hellos and took off again. Keeping our plans flexible, we passed by Bohemia River and kept on going to Chesapeake City, which is on the C&D Canal. We anchored in the basin with another PDQ 34, TIGER (Bill & Carole). There was quite a discussion, all around, about the tides and currents in the Canal and down the Delaware River. Leaving early, we’ll have a favorable tide going through the canal, but run into an incoming tide going downriver on the Delaware. However, the wind will be more favorable early, so we plan on leaving around 7:00 tomorrow morning.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, leaving Annapolis, early morning

On our run from Annapolis to Rock Hall this morning, we decided to travel at our slow, trawler speed since the conditions were so nice. Sitting at the helm on the flybridge I could only see the expanse of the mirroring water surface as I looked in all directions. The slight haze obscured the sight of any land, so there we were, cruising in our little boat, with nothing but calm, smooth water all around us, early on a warm morning. I got that strange deja vu feeling as I realized this was the exact scene in my fantasies a little over a year ago. I was lying in my bed exhausted, the pain dulled by narcotics, as a war raged inside me between my immune system and the cancer which had been successfully taking over my body. I kept trying to relax, to think positive, peaceful and pleasant thoughts and the scene that developed was what I was living this morning. It felt good.

SOLOMON'S AND ANNAPOLIS

Saturday, May 16

We left our peaceful anchorage in Potomac Creek and headed downstream toward the Chesapeake. We timed our departure to be in sync with the outgoing tide and picked up an extra knot or two in our speed. We had been watching our fuel consumption carefully, since it was a bit more than usual with some of the “faster” cruising speeds we were doing. We have two fuel tanks, the forward one holds 70 gallons of diesel and the aft tank holds about 115 gallons. The engines draw from the aft tank and only the generator draws from the front. Since I installed the solar panel, we rarely run the generator, but we can transfer fuel from the forward tank to the aft tank. We had already transferred almost all of the forward tank to the aft tank, but we always leave some in the forward tank for two reasons 1) just in case we do want to use the generator and 2) to prevent the tank from running dry completely, which would require re-priming the forward fuel lines - a major hassle (don’t ask me how I know!). So, with the fuel levels showing on the gauges, we were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough fuel to make it to Solomon’s Island. We decided to put in at Colonial Beach to get fuel. When we saw the price, we figured we would only need a little reserve. Diesel fuel was $4.20/gal when we knew fuel at Solomon’s was only $2.44/gal. We put in 25 gallons, just to make sure we wouldn’t get low and headed off again.

Our approach to fuel costs and consumption on this trip has been very relaxed, and we have not tried to optimize milage. One of these days I should sit down and do the math, but until then, we’ll just fill the tanks when they need to be filled. What we have found is that the gauges are not very accurate. Our recent fill-up was 122 gallons when the forward gauge read empty and the aft gauge read one-quarter. This means we actually had about 60 gallons on board when we pulled in to fill up. Even so, I’d rather fill up before we need to than after we need to.

We took a mooring at Zanhiser’s in Solomon’s Island rather than anchor out as the weather forecast was potentially threatening. The marina was having their “season opening” with live entertainment at the pool along with free beer/wine and food in the afternoon - talk about timing! Later, we were glad we took the mooring when the thunderstorms rolled through with heavy rain and wind - didn’t have to worry about the anchor dragging.

Sunday May 17

A leisurely start today after walking down to West Marine to buy an electrical switch (more on that later). Conditions on the Chesapeake were very nice, even though, since it was Sunday, everyone in Maryland who owns a fishing boat was out trolling right in front of us. It was overcast and “semi-rained” on and off, but not enough to drive us from the flybridge. A couple of times the visibility dropped to below about three miles, so I turned on the radar for a while since there were so many boats out today.

The switch — I replaced a worn-out deck wash pump while we were in Washington DC. Luckily, there was a marine supply store that had pumps in stock close to the marina . Unluckily, they sold me the wrong one, but I didn’t know it until after I had it all installed and wired up. The right pump has an automatic switch to turn itself off when there is pressure in the line. The one they sold me does not have this switch. So… I could either replace the pump with the right one (very pricey) or put in a switch conveniently located where the hose is hooked up (not pricey). That’s the reason for the walk to West Marine this morning. I now have the switch, just need the time to install it.

We got to Annapolis in early afternoon and moored in Spa Creek (behind the bridge, for those of you who know the area) right behind another PDQ 34, DIVA DI. We met the owners, Duane and Diane, as we dinghied in to town, then later were invited over for cocktails.

The weather looked threatening agin this afternoon, but I made things get hot and sunny by buying a new rain jacket. Hopefully this will have an effect for quite a while.

We’re off to Rock Hall (our old home port) on the eastern shore tomorrow. It’s not too far away, so we’ll have time to walk to the store and do some significant re-provisioning before, on Tuesday, heading through the C&D Canal to the Delaware River and down to Cape May.

POTOMAC CREEK

Anchored in front of Mt. Vernon

Locals saying goodbye in Washington Channel

Left the dock in DC about 9 AM today and headed down the Potomac several miles to Mt. Vernon - George Washington’s home. We anchored in front of the area and used our dinghy to get to the beach. 

It really is an

Dinner - barbecued pork chops

interesting place, not only for the historic value of the farm, but also the presentations about the life and times of General Washington. There were several theaters with short films telling the history of his military career, his presidency and his life with his wife, Martha.

Since we entered the area kinda by the back door (not many people visit by boat) we never did see a ticket desk, so don’t even know if it costs to visit all of the exhibitions.

After a few hours at Mt. Vernon we got back on the boat and continued our downstream journey. We ended up anchoring in Potomac Creek, just off of the Potomac River. After dinner (barbecued pork chops) we are now up on the flybridge having a glass of wine, listening to classical music and watching the sunset — doesn’t get much better than this.

Evening on the flybridge - Potomac Creek

Tomorrow we will get back to the Chesapeake Bay, probably going to Solomon’s Island for the night then on to Annapolis the next day. I think that will be Sunday, but Elaine & I have had the discussion several times about what day it is - not the date, which is a total abstraction - just what day of the week it is. Time is so irrelevant it doesn’t really matter, but it is nice to keep some contact with reality…

P.S. Thanks to Paige Caldwell (PDQ 34 GOLDEN) for some of the photos of IMPROV. Check out her blog - link is on my home page at the bottom.

WASHINGTON D.C. Part II

Just a quick update - we've been in DC the last three days doing the tourist thing - Capitol tour, Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Lincoln Memorial, etc., etc. Yes, we took some pictures, but no, I am not going to post any since I am sure everyone knows what all the monuments look like. Besides, most everything in DC was covered with middle schoolers on field trips. The first day we walked all over and it was pretty tiring, after that we got the bikes out and rode all around, big difference.

Yesterday afternoon was spent in the forward hold replacing a wash-down pump that I use to clean the mud off the anchor as we raise it. The old one (original at 10 years) just didn't do it anymore, the new one has lots of power to get that anchor and chain clean.

We were at anchor here for two nights and the second one was very windy, up to 30 knot winds. I sat up on the bridge until about 1:30 AM, through the strongest winds, just to make sure our anchor held. We had no problems, but another boat had to reset in the middle of the night.

The past two nights we have been at Gangplank Marina, making it easier to get on and off the boat, especially with the bikes.

We're about ready to head off this morning, one last historical tourist stop on our way down the Potomac. We'll anchor off of Mt. Vernon and tour that area, assuming the weather conditions are good when we get there. After that we plan on going downriver a few hours to an anchorage, then back out to the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow...

WASHINGTON D.C.

So here I am sitting on the flybridge, looking at the sunset and the Washington Monument as I write this.

Sunset from the flybridge

We had only planned on getting up to Mattawoman Creek on the Potomac, but we lucked out with the weather and water conditions. Most of the day we had a tailwind, the waves were from the stern, pushing us and allowing the boat to surf a bit and we had a flood tide helping our progress up the river by a knot or two. We made such good progress that we decided to keep on going all the way to DC. We pulled into the Washington Channel by about 2:30 PM and soon had the boat anchored.

Along the way, we passed Mount Vernon, Fort

Mt. Vernon

Fort Washington

Washington, Alexandria and many, many very large and very expensive-looking homes on the riverfront. I was a bit surprised by the lack of boat traffic on the river as it is quite large and seems like it would be a good transit way. Perhaps what is produced in Washington DC doesn’t have much of a market!

Tropical Storm Ana hasn’t bothered us much, although we hit a very strong downpour for several minutes today. We normally pilot the boat from the flybridge, which is only covered by a canvas, so when we saw the deluge coming, we headed down to the lower helm, inside. Although we were dry, and out of the wind, the rain was so heavy that we couldn’t see anything out the windows. I grabbed my rain jacket and headed back up to the bridge, getting soaked, but at least being able to keep the boat in the channel.

We had considered going to a marina here, rather than anchoring out, but, neither of the two marinas in the area had any space. One of the marinas, Capital Yacht Club, does allow boaters who anchor out to use their facilities (nice lounge, bar, showers, etc.) and provides internet access, both for a small daily fee.

We are definitely back in a major metropolis. Tour boats pass by regularly, the train runs nearby and blasts its signal horn as it passes, National Airport is right across the river with jets taking

Evening helicopter fly-by

off regularly, a major bridge (with major traffic) is a few hundred yards down from the boat and we seem to be right under the DC helicopter flight path (mostly military aircraft flying at about 100 feet altitude). Even with all of this, I don’t think I am going to have any difficulty sleeping tonight after the last couple of long days…

YEOCOMICO RIVER, VIRGINIA

The gang started splitting up today - some of the PDQs took off early for a long day’s run to Solomons Island while a couple of us headed up toward the Potomac. Our original plan for today was to get as far as Deltaville, maybe a bit more, but the conditions were really quite nice. We left

Traffic in Norfolk Harbor

Portsmouth about 7 AM with moderate wind, partly cloudy skies and a bit of a haze. It took about an hour to get through the Norfolk harbor and out into the Chesapeake Bay, but by that time the haze was dissipating. Initially, there was still some northeast wind and waves, but that turned around to a southeast wind which gave both the wind and waves to our back. The only thing holding us back was the ebbing tide which was against us pretty much all day. Nevertheless, it was a very nice day with, at the most, one foot waves and much of the time with only a ripple.

We were near Deltaville before 11 AM so decided to keep on going north and make the turn to the west up the Potomac River. We pulled into the Yeocomico River a little after 2 PM and tied up at a marina by about 2:30. That made for a 100+ statute mile (about 86 nautical mile) day.

Yeocomico River

Longer than we had anticipated, but it was nice to get so much distance under the keel with these nice conditions.

The tropical storm Ana seems to be weakening and no longer posing much of a threat to us. There’s a good chance we’ll get some rain tomorrow and a pretty healthy wind, but if we can get an early start and get a ways up the Potomac before the wind comes up too strong, we may have a little protection as the river narrows. It would be nice to make it up to Mattawoman Creek, across from Mt. Vernon. If we do, we might be able to visit Mt. Vernon the next day and make it up to Washington DC by late in the day on Tuesday. 

Weather depending, of course…

NORFOLK LAYOVER

Early morning fog on the breakwater

Well, the droning from the shipyard stopped sometime during the night - I don’t know when, since it didn’t keep me from falling asleep. This is a good thing because the same noise is there tonight.

One of our PDQ group, TIGER

After a restful night with a good sleep despite the noise, I woke up early and took my bike out to find a bakery. The one I was looking for had gone out of business, but I did find a Starbucks, which had to suffice. I was surprised at the fog this morning. It was warm and there was a breeze blowing, but the fog limited visibility to about a quarter of a mile. Later, we walked around the arts and crafts festival going on right by the dock, and there was a small farmers market where we bought some bread and produce.

There’s a small passenger ferry that goes from the basin we are in across the river to downtown Norfolk. It was easy to tell the schedule since every half hour when they docked they sent a wake toward the dock which rocked our boat. We took the ferry over to downtown and walked around some nice old neighborhoods along the waterfront and did a little shopping.

Six catamarans in the small docking basin

The afternoon was spent looking over the charts of the Chesapeake and listening to the weather forecasts. We may have a decent day tomorrow to get out of Norfolk and up, perhaps, as far as Deltaville, maybe even a bit further. This would position us to go up the Potomac the next available cruising day. That day might, however, be later in the week, since the forecast called for 2 to 4 foot waves in the bay on Monday. We might have to hole up at a marina up there for an extra day if that’s the case.

A Navy warship in drydock

One of the PDQ boats headed north this afternoon but did not make it more than a few miles before running into thick fog and having to find a protected anchorage. This, while it was sunny and bright here in Norfolk all day. After hearing this, I turned on my chart plotter and radar to run through all the operations I would need to do in case of fog. It’s been a couple of years since I have had to use the radar and didn’t want to be re-learning it all while bobbing around in a busy shipping channel…

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA

Well, our plan to cruise north through the Dismal Swamp got blown out of the water with tropical storm Ana. Although the canal itself would have, most likely, been passable, getting to the river leading to the canal would have been problematic due to the direction of the waves on Albermarle Sound as well as the weather exposure at the docks on the southern end of the canal. We were also told it was a bit risky going through there during stormy weather because the trees lining the narrow canal sometimes get blown over, blocking the channel. We heard stories of people being stuck in the canal for three days waiting for the channel to be cleared. It would have been interesting going through a shipping channel designed by George Washington, but it just didn’t work out.

We had a lazy morning today, not getting away from the dock until about 9AM. Before getting underway we strategized about visiting Washington DC by boat, cruising up the Potomac River from Chesapeake Bay. It’s about 110 miles up (and another 110 miles back) from the bay, so that means an extra four days of traveling, but we’re not in any rush, and it would be fun to go up there, see the sights and maybe look up some friends who live in the area. Not sure when we’ll head up that direction, but it will most likely be in a day or two.

Aircraft Carrier IKE

In the meantime, we are tied up to a public, free dock in Portsmouth, VA - right across the river from Norfolk. We have six PDQ catamarans tied up in this little basin, right next to the main street of Portsmouth where they’ll be having an art festival all weekend. We will probably be here for two nights, leaving on Sunday for the Chesapeake. A lot depends on weather, however. Right now, the forecast calls for Ana to travel up the East Coast, but be blown back out to sea by a low pressure system coming from the northwest. If this happens, the most we should see is some fairly strong wind and a few rain showers. The winds in this storm are just under hurricane strength, so if the path of the storm changes from the forecast and heads north, we’ll have to modify plans.

Mothballed Navy ship

Our course today took us through some beautiful Virginia waterways, through a lock and up to the Navy port city of Norfolk where much of the ship maintenance is done. The river is lined with huge drydocks and ships either being actively worked on, or mothballed. Unfortunately, the shipyard directly across the river from us is a 24 hour operation, so there’s a mechanical drone in the background all of the time. Oh well, “white” noise to help us sleep…

CROSSING ALBERMARLE SOUND

Wednesday, May 6

Got up this morning to a battlefield scene - thousands of dead bugs all around the boat. On the exterior, the bugs left little green spots all over, and I had to get all of that cleaned up so it wouldn’t stain the fiberglass.  On the interior, we had to clean up all the dead bugs and the smeared remains of dead bugs all over the bulkheads and overhead. The boat looked very nice by the time we got it all cleaned up. 

Remains from the "Attack of the Mosquitos" on our dinghy

We left Oriental about 8:30 AM and headed north on the Neuse River for a short day of only around 50 miles to Belhaven, NC. It was a very nice morning, so we kept the pace slow (around 7 knots) and listened to classical music up on the bridge, enjoying the weather and the calm water. The town offers a very nice dock complete with water and electricity for a very reasonable price. It’s located right in the center of town, so we walked around checking out the shops.

The grocery store is a couple of miles away, and I got out my little folding bike and pedaled over there for a few things.

The big discussion amongst our group was the weather forecast. A tropical depression has developed offshore and threatens significant, if not severe weather over the next few days and we need to decide whether or not we try to outrun the front as it heads north. The other option is to hole up in Belhaven for a few days - that would be OK, if we had to, but not our first choice. We decided to get together early in the morning, listen to the latest weather forecasts, and decide then.

The major factors in the decision to stay or go relate to the Alligator River and the Albermarle Sound. Both of these areas have a bad reputation for rough water even under moderate conditions, so an approaching storm with high winds could make the crossing very uncomfortable.

Late in the evening,one of the residents of Belhaven stopped by with gift baskets for all of us tied up to the town dock, We were all very impressed with the friendliness of the town and felt they were doing the right things to attract boaters.

Thursday, May 7

At the early morning conference, after reviewing the latest weather information, we decided to go for it, but to get as early of a start as possible. We pulled out of Belhaven around 6:15 in a moderate wind

NOT a sunset - this is sunrise this morning as we left Belhaven

of around 10 knots and reached the mouth of the Alligator River four hours later. The winds had picked up and were against the ebbing tide, so as we entered the Albermarle Sound we had around 15 miles of 2-4 foot high waves to head into before entering the North River and going up to Coinjock, NC to tie up at a marina. It was a bit bouncy/rolly, but we’ve been in worse conditions and did OK, so we just kept on going, making the crossing in under two hours. In conditions like this, Elaine takes the helm so she’ll keep occupied and not get seasick. It is difficult (and potentially dangerous) to move around the boat too much in this type of rough water, but we did manage to fix a lunch and eat it up on the flybridge during the crossing.

We arrived in Coinjock around 1PM, and since there isn’t much here besides the marina and restaurant, we spent the afternoon doing chores like washing down the boat, laundry and major engine checks. Tomorrow, we’ll actually do some planning (a little out of character for us) for the next week or so to assess the feasibility of taking a side trip up the Potomac River to Washington DC.

ORIENTAL, NORTH CAROLINA

Monday, May 5

Ahh - the joys of cruising in your own boat. The idyllic days on the sun-drenched water, the cocktails on the beach or with friends on their boats, the beautiful quiet anchorages that not everyone knows about… What could be better? Well, one thing that’s not on that list is coming back to your anchored boat in the evening and finding your whole boat - outside and inside - covered with millions of mosquitos. Get out the DEET, get out the flyswatter, get out the citronella candle - anything to fight back the hordes. I’ve been swatting for about the last fifteen minutes and the overhead is starting to look white again, rather than a speckled grey. It will be a mess in the morning. We’ll have to start the generator so we can vacuum up all the casualties and get the cleaner out for all the smudges throughout the boat. Ahh - the joys of cruising…

Live firing warning

Actually, up to the mosquito event, it was a pretty nice day. We started out about 8:30 AM from Wrightsville and had great weather all day with a south to southeast wind pushing us most of the time. There are a couple of low bridges along the way which only open

on the hour or, 20 miles further, on the half hour. Luckily, our timing was “on” today, so we only had to wait about 5 minutes at each bridge. One of the bridges was at the southern entrance to Camp LeJune, complete with warning signs about possible live firing exercises by the Marines - none today, however.

Forested shores in North Carolina

Earlier, we considered stopping in Moorhead City for the night, but we got there around 1PM and decided to keep going. We stopped for fuel a few miles later then kept on going to Oriental, NC. This is a pretty little place which is very friendly to the boating crowd. They have a couple of free docks (with an espresso shop across the street), some nice shops and good restaurants. The free docks were taken, so we anchored out before taking the dinghy to join the others for “sundowners.”

It was just after another beautiful sunset when the mosquito invasion occurred. We had been warned by a fellow traveler with local knowledge that the situation was ripe for the “blind mosquitos” to hatch tonight. Now, I really don’t know if they are truly mosquitos or just some other flying insects (although they look and sound like mosquitos!) and I don’t know if they are really blind, and I don’t know if they bite. I tried not to give them the chance, if they do. I think I’ve got things under control now in the salon, and I don’t hear much more screaming from Elaine in the stateroom, so we will, hopefully, have a restful night. Bzzz…..

Another sunset - they seem to get better and better

Notes from Elaine

I feel compelled to mention two things about this trip so far - "No-see-ums" and "manatees".

I am a western United States girl - had never heard of no-see-ums and they are in abundance in Florida through the Carolinas. Even the name reeks of juvenile mockery - really? How bad can these microscopic gnats be? Two weeks and hundreds of bites later, my skin looks like a mini chicken pox epidemic. They sting. They itch. And apparently industrial strength DEET is the only way to combat them (oh my, that sounds healthy) but I am so desperate I will do anything. We are now in the quaint town of Belhaven, North Carolina and I am hoping we are migrating out of their habitat. However, our next destination is The Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia so don't hold your breath folks.

The other mysterious creature that is prevalent here in Florida and Georgia are the manatees. Apparently they are endangered because boaters run into them in the waterways (probably akin to running into a cow in your car) so we have slowed down for them for hundreds of miles during this trip. I was beginning to think that this was a tactic that the communities used just to get boaters to reduce their speed until we actually saw not one, but TWO of these mammoth creatures in Haulover Canal in Florida. Warty and walrus looking, I guess I need to eat my words when we slow down for manatee crossings in the future.

Despite the slow downs and insect bites, we have been touring civil war sites ( such as Ft. Sumter) and quaint southern towns such as Beaufort, Isle of Hope and Savannah, South Carolina. And we are heading into the Chesapeake so I guess I will go brush up on more early American history.