Chesapeake Bay 2023

As mentioned last post...way back in June...the plan for this years travels was to slow down and see more places than we did the last time in 2016. This year we're going to spend more time exploring the Chesapeake Bay! 

We finally got to MM 0 on the AICW in early June with our first new stop being Norfolk VA. As you head into the Elizabeth River and pass under a raised railroad bridge the traffic begins to pick up with ocean going vessels taking up much of the narrow channel.

It's not always easy to tell what these ships are doing and they are not really willing to talk to us on the radio as they are pretty busy maneuvering in the river. Our SOP is just to slow down and stay out of the way until their intentions are clear. Case in point is the first ship we saw taking up the center of the channel.

As we slowed to a crawl it became apparent that the 2 tugs were pushing the ship toward a pier on the right. We just waited until they were clear and proceeded on down the river.

A few miles further and after a few more ship dodging events we arrived at MM 0 and the Waterside marina in downtown Norfolk.

Norfolk is easy to explore from this marina with easy access to downtown as well as the light rail system to go a bit farther. One of our stops was the Gen. MacArthur museum and burial site. 

 Norfolk was the home to Douglas MacArthur's mother and the reason he chose to be buried here. 

After a couple of days in port we continued down the river toward the bay. It was a hazy day caused by the smoke from the wildfires burning in Canada we heard so much about during the summer. The last few miles before reaching the James River you pass the impressive US navel base. Being sure to stay in the channel and away from the patrol boats you pass ships of all shapes and sizes. Shortly after crossing the James on the way to Hampton we began to hear radio traffic announcing the need to stay clear of Navy vessels. We looked back to see an outbound carrier meeting an inbound sub! Apparently they were passing on the "two"...

After a short stay in Hampton we entered the bay and made our way north to the Rappahannock River. Up the river a few miles we stopped in the quaint small town of Urbana. Exploring into town we followed the sound of music and found their First Friday festival with a band and food tents as well as a couple of local breweries represented.

While cruising the Bay one morning we saw an amazing cluster of ships showing up as AIS targets on our chart plotter.

In the circle

As we got closer and through the haze this ghost fleet became visible. I can only imagine they were waiting for a pier to open near Baltimore to load or onload their cargo.

Next we headed to the Potomac River and then up the Yeocomico River to Lodge Creek Marina. We stopped here to visit the home port of the MTOA which is a boating club we belong to. It's a very welcoming family owned marina with a pool and a courtesy car available.

We next continued up the Potomac toward my most anticipated stop of the summer, Washington DC. We had reserved a 1 week stay at the Capital Yacht Club and were amazed at how welcoming they were to traveling boaters. After getting tied up and settled in we moved to the front deck for arrival cocktails. Now that I had a chance to relax and enjoy the view I began to appreciate the history that we were surrounded by.

 One of the nice things about this stay is that Jill's sister Amy flew in to spend time with us on the boat. She had spent time here back in her working life and became our tour guide. Our first fun was riding the hop-on/hop-off bus to get the lay of the land.

The bus ride gave us a chance to see all the major sites that we knew we wouldn't be able to cover in a week. The Metro also easily allowed us to travel a bit farther. We rode to see Arlington National Cemetery.

Kennedy Gravesite

And the USMC Memorial for dad.

 I took some time to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space museum while the girls spent sister time. 

As I was exploring the Need for Speed section I was amazed to see a display that featured the fire suit belonging to JR Todd from his days as a Top Fuel dragster pilot. My very early days learning to scuba dive were spent with JR's father Mario and Jill and I got to see JR race once in Indy. A truly small world moment.

I also went out to the Pentagon to see the 9/11 memorial site. It is very well done and very moving.

Another monument we saw sits along the river and off the beaten path a bit. It's dedicated to the hero's of the Titanic who gave their lives so others could have room in the lifeboats. Since we plan to travel to the Canadian Maritimes next year we'll be visiting the areas where the survivors landed.

After a week that went by way too fast we moved a short way down river to Alexandria. It's a fun little town to explore with plenty of good food and shopping opportunities. 

Next we continued back down river past George Washington's Mt. Vernon...

...and returned to Lodge Creek where we had rented a car to take Amy back to DC for her flight home. We were lucky that a planned bridge implosion had been delayed or we could have been stuck above it for awhile. It really didn't look like there was much holding it up anymore!

We decided to keep the car and spend a few weeks in Lodge Creek to get some projects done and do some sightseeing. One of the projects was a top coat of varnish.

After a nice break we resumed our trip and headed across the bay to the nice little town of Onancock. It's a scenic trip up the creek to the marina. We only stayed 1 night but 2 or 3 would have been nice.

Hazy Sunset in Onancock

At the marina in Onancock and again in the next stop of Crisfield I noticed a bit of pink sheen in the water after shutting down. After a bit of head scratching I concluded we had a leak in one of the fuel coolers (like a radiator in a car). We decided that the best option for repair was in Solomon's Island back across the bay and headed there the next day, a Sunday. The next morning I met the salty old yard manager and discussed the problem. He agreed with my diagnoses and was quickly on the phone to a shop that still builds them and had the specs for my model. I ordered 2 since you never know when the other one would let go. In case you wonder what I'm talking about here is a new cooler...

Since we had taken a few weeks off to do other projects there wasn't much to do but wait so we had a dinghy day...

And watched the evening storms roll through...

We were pleasantly surprised that the coolers came in on Friday and Monday morning the mechanic was on board to help install the new one. We were underway Tuesday morning and headed back across the bay to St. Michaels MD. We have met so many boating people who have told us St. Michaels is a "must stop" when cruising the bay. My reaction was...meh...overpriced marina in a touristy town. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice stop and a great cruise to get there but I'm not in a rush to see it again.

Having lost 10 days in Solomon's we decided to forgo a planned stop in Baltimore and head out the top of the bay on the C & D Canal. We took the shortcut from St. Michaels through Piney Narrows to get to the upper bay. When they say narrow they ain't kidding!

Once through the Canal we stopped in Delaware City and then continued up the Delaware river to Philadelphia PA. We found a slip in a small marina right downtown. Exploring was again easy with the subway and bus system as well as plenty of things within walking distance of the boat.

One stop was the Reading Terminal Market to try a famous Philly Cheesesteak sandwich...it did not disappoint. 

Our 3 day stay turned into 4 with a poor weather forecast making the decision to stay easy. They weren't wrong on the forecast...the storm was a doozy!

After our extra day we headed back to Delaware City to stage for our trip down the Delaware bay. Along the way we passed the sad remains of the once proud SS United States. Once the fastest passenger ship she now sits gutted and rusting. Like so many historic places and things, people fight to save them when they are headed to the scrap heap but most times can't find the funding to save them. My guess is this one won't be saved either so at least we were able to cruise past another piece of history before it's too late.

I'll wrap up this part of the trip here as it's gotten a bit long already. Next post will be about our most excellent trip from NYC up to and across the Erie Canal. I'd like to say I'll get it out before the end of the year but that's getting close....

Spoiler Alert: The Where We've Been map to the right has been updated to the end of the trip in case you just can't stand to wait for the next update!

Charleston SC to (almost) Norfolk VA

 Why "almost" you ask? Well, we're currently tied up at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake VA. about 12 miles from MM 0 of the AICW in Norfolk and have been for over a week. Why so long you ask? Well, several weeks ago I was trying to find the source of a water leak that was allowing more water to collect in the bilge than I like. You see, on a boat, the water is supposed to stay outside. I had adjusted the propeller shaft packing to slow down the drip to 1 or 2 per minute. These packings need to drip a bit because the water cools the packing as the shaft turns. Thought this had solved the problem and gave myself a hardy pat on the back. A few days later there was still more water than could come from the shafts...now what? The lightbulb finally went off and I remembered there is another set of packings on our boat, the rudders. These require some cabinet disassembly in the stateroom to access and once able to get my camera down to "see" the shaft it was indeed leaking!

 This is how you access the packing from above.

You're looking at the top of the rudder post and the "access" hole to get to the packing. Repacking this is above my paygrade and requires the boat to be out of the water so that's what we're waiting for. This is a very good repair facility but also very busy. Hopefully it'll happen Monday.

Now back to our regular programing...The trip up from Charleston was very nice. It's still been more windy so we've had some delays but we've also taken some great side trips. Not being on the same "schedule" as when we did the Loop gives us more flexibility to explore. The AICW above Charleston is lined with very nice homes, most of which also have very nice docks.

We've also been trying to stop at places we didn't see last time through in 2016. One of the first was Southport NC. We stayed a couple of days to explore the town and wait out another blow. We did get to see a SpaceX rocket that had been launched from FL.

Next was a short day to Carolina Beach where we found an amazing dive bar that had a walk-in cooler to pick your beer from!

Next we were off to Swansboro, NC which is a small town with a big history. This is the town where Chris Craft built their big boats and where Chasing 80 was born. The town dock is very close to the main street with several cool shops and restaurants. While enjoying a beer on the deck of one establishment we even got to see a couple of local waterman getting into some sort of argument and almost sink each other...can I get a witness? one asked...

Our next stop was Beaufort (Bow-fort) NC. Another town that we had missed in 2016. The docks are also right in town which is easy to walk around. They had a classic boat show the weekend we were there. 

We also took our new e-scooters to a brewery a bit farther from town. 

The brewery is called Mill Whistle and has a replica of the original that blows every afternoon. The original is inside. Check out the video and turn up your volume.

 After a side trip up the Pamlico river to New Bern we traveled back to Oriental NC. This was another 3 day stay to wait out a wind storm. Once it passed we had a couple of very calm days to run out to Ocracoke on the outer banks. It's a very cool town and worth the side trip.

 Next was side trip to Washington, NC. It's another town that welcomes boaters and had docks right in the heart of town. We were tied up right next to the park which was buzzing with people all weekend.

I also got to celebrate my special birthday here. Special because it was a number change from 5 to 6...

After a fairly snotty crossing of the Albemarle Sound we spent time doing part of the Albemarle Loop. This is a program where the towns on the sound offer free docking for 2 nights and well worth a visit. The first stop after the crossing was Hertford, NC. The have just had a new drawbridge built which was beautiful but, unfortunately, not yet staffed! Jill was able to contact city hall just before they closed and get a number for someone to come open the bridge. We only spent 1 night due to more weather coming in and moved on to the Albemarle Plantation which has very nice docks in a golf community setting.

Thanks Paul for the edit!

 Next was a short trip to Edenton, NC which we were lucky to get to on another fun weekend. So here's a tidbit that I didn't know...Edenton is apparently responsible for the resurgence of vinyl records!! We just had to check out vinyl record night!

The town also has the old Roanoke River lighthouse in the city park marina.

With another front approaching we decided to skip the rest of the towns on the loop and run to the protection of Elizabeth City, NC. This town also has free docks although getting on and off the boat was a bit "interesting".

The charm of the town makes up for the challenges at the dock. This is the sign that I'm always looking for in any town!!

From E-Town it's on to the Dismal Swamp canal which is anything but dismal. We had hoped to stay at the visitors center but just like the last time through it was full. We decided to complete the trip to AYB in one long day. The distance isn't far but the slow speeds in the canal and 3 locks take up time.

They like to make sure you don't get lost...

The last lock on the Swamp route is the Deep Creek lock. The next lock on our way to AYB is in Chesapeake City and is on a every 2 hour schedule. Luckily our departure from Deep Creek would put us at the next lock at the right time...so we thought. After being lowered in the lock we waited several minutes until the lockmaster walked back to us and said "well, you might as well tie up. I can't get the gates open".

In case you want to know exactly where we were stuck...

After about an hour a couple of trucks arrived from the electric company and were able to work some magic and get the lower gates open. We were now off the pace to make the next lock and just took our time going the few miles. We were tied up by 5:30 or 11 hours after we started for a whopping 41 miles! 

Just so you don't think our time here has been waisted we have been working on other projects. Earlier in the trip we had one of our AC units kick the bucket. After a quote from a subcontractor here of $5400 (!!!) I had a friend drive me to West Marine where I picked up the same unit for $2200...that's a hell of a markup for the install. We had the old one out and new one cooling in under 3 hours.

I'm afraid this post has become much longer than I expected. If you're still here thanks for sticking around. Hopefully by this time next week we'll be somewhere in Chesapeake Bay. Follow along on the tracker.