Heading north to go south – Fall, 2023.

Alert: Here comes another long post!

After an active, entertaining summer, it was time to get ready to cut the docklines and head south again for our fifth trip to the Bahamas. But before we went south, we needed to go north. Wait – what?

Our good friends Jeff and Denise W. on SV Infinity had decided to make their first trip south to the Bahamas. Denise was going to retire after the new year, so we had agreed to buddy boat with Jeff who would single-hand down there. But in order to buddy boat, he needed to get his boat from Groton to Cambridge, MD.

That’s how on Labor Day weekend, Jeff B and I found ourselves dropping off our car in Baltimore at a storage lot and taking the Amtrak to New London. We were very much looking forward to traveling with Jeff W and seeing what it was like to sail for a length of time on a larger boat (he has a Catalina 34).

One last look for awhile (for us) at the UConn Avery Point campus next to Shenny.

Although there wasn’t any wind (typical), the weather smiled on us for the first leg of the trip. We went from Groton to Port Jefferson where we anchored for a few days, and actually went into town for the first time.

A beautiful sunset for Jeff W’s first evening of his adventure.

Jeff B and I have anchored in Port Jefferson several times, but we’ve never been into the town. This time we found a marina where we could tie up the dinghy for $10. Jeff W. has some ancestors from Port Jefferson that were involved in the Culper Spy Ring, so we did a self-guided tour checking out some of the related historical buildings.

The Samuel Thompson House. C. 1700, this is one of the best examples of colonial timber frame construction. Samuel Thompson and his son were farmers, Revolutionary War Patriots, and town leaders.

The Setauket Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. The present church was built in 1812 and contains the grave of spy Abraham Woodhull.

It was a VERY hot day, so by the time we were finished walking around it was time to quench our thirst with a beer at the local brewery, followed by an ice cream chaser. While we were getting ice cream, Jeff W was able to see one of the delights of cruising when we unexpectedly ran into cruising friends there!

As far as the brewery goes, you have to understand that I don’t like beer. I’m a hard alcohol or cider gal, and I have yet to find a beer that I like. I figured I’d have a cider while Jeff B and Jeff W had beers. But when I told the bartender that I didn’t like beer, she told me there was a beer for everyone and suggested I try a sour. Damned if she wasn’t right! There IS a beer for everyone! Unfortunately, I discovered later that afternoon that sours have lactose in them, and I am lactose intolerant unless I take two Lactaids (which I took when I had the ice cream, but apparently the damage was already done from the sour). Safe to say, I will be sticking with my stance that I don’t like beer.

I’m happy because I don’t yet realize that there is lactose in this sour that I’m drinking.

The next day we were off to Port Washington, one of Jeff B’s and my favorite stops on Long Island Sound.

It’s almost impossible to go to Port Jefferson without sharing the channel with the ferry either entering or exiting. Fortunately, it’s a wide channel!

We were lucky enough to spend 4 days in Port Washington while we waited for a window to go down the New Jersey coast. It was just enough time for Jeff W to thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of Port Washington (like Carlos Pizza). The two Jeffs even had a chance to go metal detecting where they had an unexpected adventure.

It was supposed to rain later that day, but they figured they could do some finding and get back to the boat before the rain started. I, having no interest in metal detecting, decided it was a good morning to do laundry. We all piled in Jeff W’s dinghy where they dropped me off before heading to the park and tying off their dinghy at the dock. After going through an open gate, the two Jeffs had been metal detecting for only around 1/2 hour when the sky opened and it started pouring rain.

Running for the dinghy, they discovered that the gate was closed and locked. Uh-oh. They tried to find a different way to get around the fence to the dinghy dock with no luck. By now they were soaking wet with no way to get to the dinghy, so they called the Port Washington Water Taxi (who runs the moorings) and the driver was kind of enough to pick them up at another spot, take them to the dinghy, and then tow it back so the two Jeffs could stay dry on the taxi. Now that’s customer service! We do love Port Washington!

A union was having a conflict with management and had set up the traditional rat to let everyone know. When so much has changed over the years, it’s nice to see that some traditions (like the inflatable rat) continue.

After a few days we had a weather window to go down the Jersey Coast, up the Delaware, and over to the Chesapeake. It was going to be a motorfest, but that’s nothing to complain about on that route. In addition, this was our first time doing the trip with more than the two of us, and Jeff W’s first overnight.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip down the East River (Jeff W’s first time!):

Jeff W is ready to go through Hell Gate.

Getting ready to head down the East River.

Seeing the Empire State Building is always fun.

Lots of ferry traffic. These guys are completely professionals. No concerns about them whatsoever.

The iconic Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline. This leg of the trip never gets old.

We popped out of New York Harbor and started working our way down the coast. What a difference having three people on board makes! Our watches were 4 hours on, 8 hours off, so we were actually able to get some good sleep overnight. Well, Jeff W was so excited that he didn’t really sleep much, but Jeff B and I definitely slept!

It was a calm overnight and we were making good time, so even though the current would be primarily against us, we continued through the Cape May Canal and halfway up the Delaware, dropping the anchor in Cohansey Creek. Jeff W was glad we had made it so far, but he agreed that fighting the current on the Delaware Bay sucks. It’s a boring enough stretch as it is without having to go slower than necessary!

The next morning Jeff W started to raise the anchor and realized there was an issue. His anchor rode (which consisted of some chain and primarily line) was wrapped around his wing keel. Hmmm. This was a first. We weren’t going anywhere until that was resolved. Working together, Jeff W got into his dinghy and started trying to turn the boat. Initially it wasn’t working, but then he pushed the boat the other way and we started quickly hauling up the line. Success!

We had timed this stretch so we would have the current in our favor, so we zoomed up the Delaware, across the C&D Canal, and dropped the anchor in Worton Creek. Eight days after leaving Groton, we were on the Chesapeake – definitely a record of us!

The obligatory picture of the nuclear power plant on the Delaware Bay.

Next up was Annapolis – as long time readers know, one of our favorite spots on the East Coast. Jeff W had been there by land before and enjoyed it, but being there on a boat is a whole different experience. He was thoroughly charmed!

We had made such good time that we needed to slow down a bit. After all, it was only mid-September and we didn’t want to get too far south when hurricane season was still going strong. So we decided to spend a week in Annapolis on one of the Spa Creek $25 moorings before moving on to Cambridge. There we would pick up Pegu Club and start buddy boating per the definition of the phrase.

While in Annapolis we took Jeff W to Davis’ Pub (a local hangout in Eastport).

Jeff W also had his first official cruisers get-together. Our good friends on Mer du Jour had arrived, so we joyfully got together with them and some of their boating friends at one of Annapolis’ Irish pubs. The owner was good friends with one of the group and kindly sent us all a free shot of Irish whisky.

We took Jeff to Bacon Sails (an excellent marine consignment store), and we made a last-minute decision to go to the Renaissance Faire which was still going on! It was Jeff W’s first Faire, and he had a great time (how can you not?).

Jeff B and Jeff W also spent a day doing some metal detecting at Sandy Point State Park which gave me the unexpected opportunity for some alone time! Wow!

People often express amazement that Jeff and I have been together on our 30′ boat since August of 2018. We are often asked how we do it, and how we it’s possible that we are still together. LOL! Fortunately, we make a great pair! Plus, we each have our side of the boat in the main cabin where we get “alone” time by putting in our AirPods and watching movies/tv shows/YouTube videos/general surfing. But TRULY alone time is rare unless Jeff is metal detecting or I’m out for a walk. But now I was going to have almost half of a day to do whatever I wanted, and I was excited!

So what did I do? I started out by treating myself to a late breakfast at Chick n’ Ruth’s downtown, and then I decided to go to the Naval Academy to see John Paul Jones’ crypt.

Commodore John Paul Jones was a great Naval leader of the American Revolution who died in Paris at the age of 45 during the French Revolution. He was buried on property owned by the French Royal family, and that property was sold four years later by France’s revolutionary government where the cemetery was subsequently forgotten.

Over a century later, a search began to find his body so that it could be brought back to the United States. The cemetery had been built over but was discovered, and basement walls and streets were tunneled through until his casket was found and disinterred.

The casket was ultimately laid to rest in the Naval Academy’s Chapel in 1913. It’s very impressive, with a 21-ton sarcophagus supported by bronze dolphins, and columns of black and white marble. Inscribed around the base of the tomb are the names of the Continental Navy ships that he commanded during the American Revolution.

I wrapped up the day with a self-guided tour of the Maryland State House (I’m such a government nerd.) The two legislative chambers are impressive:

And so are the glass ceilings:

Surprisingly, the State House also had a beautiful silver collection made in 1906 by silversmiths in Baltimore. The set shows scenes from the history of all of Maryland’s counties and Baltimore city, and the economy and culture of the state are symbolized in the borders. I spent quite a bit of time looking at each piece – it was fascinating.

Eventually it was time to meet the two Jeff’s at the dinghy to head back to the boat. We all had a great day in our own ways.

One of the nights in Annapolis, I woke up around 2:00 a.m. because I heard Jeff W get up. I asked him what was going on. It turns out that he woke up because he heard voices coming from the bridge near our boat. It was a group of drunk twenty-somethings encouraging their friend “Dave” to jump off the bridge. Jeff W heard this for a bit, and then he heard a “ploop” which was Dave hitting the water.

At that point I had woken up, and Dave’s friends, newly soberish, were encouraging him to swim over to the bank. “Swim, Dave! Over there, Dave! Swim!” I suggested that we call 911 and Jeff W was thinking about getting his dinghy to rescue drunk Dave when we heard the cavalry coming. Fire trucks, police, ambulance, the whole works. At that point we decided to sit back and watch the show.

It was clear that this was a not-uncommon occurrence, because the rescue service quickly got to work. They were peering over the bridge, looking for Dave, and at one point one of them clapped his hands twice, hard, and said in a deep voice, “Hey! Moron! Over here!” Jeff W and I burst out laughing at that point. Ultimately, Dave was rescued and presumably he was taken off to the drunk tank to sober up. Dave became a running joke for us for the rest of the trip.

After a great week it was off to Cambridge where Jeff W planned to take care of some boat work for a few days and we were going to finalize our preparations to take Pegu Club south for the fifth time. Jeff W had what he declared was the best hamburger ever at RAR Brewing, and then we were off to head south in earnest.

Let’s finish up the trip north in the late spring/early summer of 2023.

Looking back at my blog posts, I realized I’m much farther behind than I thought. I hadn’t even finished our last trip north! I looked back through photos and the old posts to refresh my memory and it all came flooding back. So here we go. Heads up: this is a long post. You’ve been warned.

After our cold, wet, splashy trip through the Alligator-Pungo canal so we could grab a very brief weather window to cross the Albemarle, we found ourselves with several days before we needed to be in Norfolk for the next decent weather window. We typically take the Dismal Swamp north and south, and the length of time we spend along that route is dictated by our next weather window. In this case, we had time to spare so we decided to stop at the Janette Brothers free dock for a night and wander about.

We weren’t that crazy about Elizabeth City the first time we visited, but it’s grown on us somewhat. It’s still not one of our favorite stops, but it does have a top-notch BBQ joint called Currituck BBQ. That alone makes Elizabeth City worth the visit.

Since we started making this trip in 2018, Elizabeth City has added a brewery and several restaurants and coffee shops. A section of restaurants are found along Pailin’s Alley, where you can dine in the alley under the lights.

Elizabeth City also has a lovely historic district with gorgeous houses from the 1800’s along the street that leads to and from Currituck BBQ. I foolishly didn’t take pictures of the houses, but I did take it of the BBQ! Priorities, you know.

Pulled pork for Jeff, burnt ends for me.

We thought “The Kraken” was a cute name for a coffee house:

And this was a great poster to have in the brewery:

We had hoped to scoot along the Dismal Swamp and head up the Chesapeake right away upon arriving in Norfolk, but it was not to be as strong northerly winds had everyone pinned down. Heading straight into a strong wind up the Chesapeake is not our idea of a good time. We did that once heading down the Chesapeake, and it was the closest I’ve ever come to selling the boat. Never again.

Another nice trip up the Dismal Swamp, finally making it into Virginia:

However, making lemonade out of lemons (as we try to do), we discovered that the last day we would be waiting in Norfolk was also the first day of the annual Harborfest. This is the United States’ largest, longest-running, free maritime festival, and we were psyched that we’d have this entertainment right off our cockpit while we were anchored.

Although we were only able to watch the first day (travel conditions were good for the second day of the Harborfest and we were still trying to make it to Connecticut for the summer), we did get to enjoy the tall ships parade and a Coast Guard Search and Rescue demo. There was also supposed to be a drone show that evening, but unfortunately it was cancelled.

When we woke up the morning of Harborfest, we looked out the port and saw that this guy had snuck in during the night:

The Tall Ships parade started with this tug spraying its hoses. It’s always fun to see how high the water can go!

More boats spraying water:

Then the tall ships started coming in:

Then this guy came in to show off:

And after lunch the Coast Guard rescue demonstration began:

It was a fun day, and we certainly wouldn’t mind being in Norfolk for Harborfest again if the timing were to work out.

Finally, finally, the wind settled down so we could make our way up the Chesapeake. We had just enough time to make it to Annapolis where we would have to wait again, but that wasn’t a hardship given how much we love it there.

With no wind, why didn’t we just motor outside from Norfolk to Connecticut or New Jersey? Because, unfortunately, our Pelagic autopilot was on the fritz again. Having hand steered our first year from Norfolk to Groton, Connecticut, we knew there was no way we were going to do that again. Our goal was to get the Pelagic replaced while we were in Annapolis so we could once again have an autopilot when we didn’t have enough wind for Bob the Monitor.

When we arrived in Annapolis, we contacted Scanmar about replacing the Pelagic. This was the second one we had trouble with, and they were happy to replace it with another one as long as we sent the old one back first and paid for the shipping. Looking at the weather, we had a solid window to make it the rest of the way up the Chesapeake, down the Delaware, and up the New Jersey Coast as long as we sent the old Pelagic back via overnight shipping and had the new one sent to us the same way. The shipping costs were almost the same as buying a new Pelagic, but the clock was ticking and we really needed to grab this window to get to Connecticut.

So we shipped off the Pelagic and then spent the rest of that day and the next day enjoying Annapolis, knowing the new one would arrive on the third day. Not so fast. But first, some scenes from the charming city of Annapolis:

Sailing is SUCH an ingrained part of the culture here. Kids sailing camps are ubiquitous during the summer:

Boats under 35′ can take a mooring in the Spa Creek mooring field for only $25/night – buy six nights, get the seventh night free. It’s so much more protected than the front 40, and it has a very nice view of the school and the bridge.

The Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, and is the only state house ever to have serviced as the nation’s capital:

We explored the Old Fox Books and Coffeehouse bookstore for the first time. It’s a great local bookstore right in downtown Annapolis:

So now it’s day three and our Pelagic is scheduled for delivery at the Annapolis Harbormaster’s office by noon. Then, a message popped up saying it had been delayed until the next day. Wait! What? We called FedEx and they said they had tried to deliver the package but the office was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. This was complete B.S. The dockmaster’s office is open every day. We knew they hadn’t tried to deliver it at all. Could we take an Uber to the Fed Ex distribution center to get it? No, they said. It was still on the truck. It would be delivered the next day. Grrrr.

Day four. The Pelagic is scheduled for delivery at the Annapolis Dockmaster’s office by noon. Then, a message popped up saying it had been delayed until the next day. WHAT???? We called FedEx and they said the driver couldn’t get to the Harbormaster’s office because the street was closed for the Juneteenth parade. This, again, was complete B.S. The street was GOING to close, but wasn’t closed when the Fed Ex delivery guy claimed he had tried to deliver it. AAAUUUGHHH!

By now our frustration was through the roof. We had been fighting the weather for six weeks trying to get back to Connecticut. We had paid several hundred dollars for overnight delivery of our Pelagic which had now failed to be delivered for two consecutive days. And after day five (assuming the Pelagic showed up), our weather window was slamming shut again. Fuck. This. Shit. We were angry. We were frustrated. We were done. We were throwing in the towel and going to spend the summer in Cambridge, MD instead (where we spent Covid summer.)

Once the decision was made, we relaxed for the first time in six weeks. We booked a slip for the summer at Cambridge’s Municipal Marina, waited out some weather, and motored across the bay with our new Pelagic (which was working – yay!) to our slip.

As we left Annapolis to head to Cambridge, we were passed by Aphrodite which is well known to boaters in Southern New England. We wouldn’t be seeing her in Connecticut during the summer, so it was nice get a last glimpse of her again. Lucky captain.

The new Pelagic – hopefully the third one will be the charm:

Annapolis – settling in.

After leaving Rock Hall we went to the Magothy River and anchored behind Gibson Island in Eagle Cove. This was a lovely anchorage where we planned to spent a few days.

As we sailed down the Magothy we heard announcements over the VHF about an open water swim fundraiser that would be held the next day, but we thought it was going to be in a different area. Imagine our surprise when we were were awakened bright and early the next morning by the voice of a very upbeat race announcer over a loudspeaker.

Poking my head out into the companionway, I saw that we had unintentionally anchored in the middle of “Swim Across America”, a fundraiser for cancer research whose participants swim either one or three miles in the Magothy River. We ended up with front row seats!

**The swimmers had picture perfect weather and we enjoyed cheering them on.**

After a few days bobbing in the peaceful anchorage, the winds were good for a sail and we were itching to move on. A small craft advisory was winding down so we sailed down the river and poked our nose out into the Bay. It didn’t take long for us to realize that we had jumped the gun. It was an easy decision to make a 180 and sail back into the river, dropping anchor for a few hours to let the winds and waves settle down a bit more before trying again.

The original plan was to go to St. Michaels, but as we sailed past Annapolis it was clear that the wind angle meant we were going to need to motor for a few hours if we wanted to make it before sundown. What followed was a half hour of indecision while we debated anchoring in this creek, then that creek. Finally we decided that we’d had enough of isolated anchorages for a while, and we turned around and headed to Annapolis. Continue reading “Annapolis – settling in.” →

Our first real taste of the Chesapeake.

Saying good riddance to Chesapeake City, we finished motoring down the canal and finally entered Chesapeake Bay. We knew the next day was going to have howling winds so we wanted to stay someplace where we might have something to go see rather than being boat bound. Initially we decided to go to Dark Head Creek up the Middle River where the Glenn L. Martin Aviation Museum is located, but we changed course en route to save ourselves a long trip up the river (and back).

Looking through our Waterway Guide and our Skipper Bob anchorage book while Jeff was at the helm, I found a promising looking spot with great protection in all directions up Worton Creek. Keeping with our new, post-hitting-an-underwater-dike routine, I closely inspected the chart, reviewed the Notice to Mariners online, and looked through Active Captain. In an abundance of caution I also called one of the three local marinas to make sure that I understood the entrance (the guy I spoke to couldn’t have been nicer). O.k. It was a go.

Continue reading “Our first real taste of the Chesapeake.” →