Friday, August 24 -- Chesapeake City

Motored up the bay stopping in Worton Creek and Georgetown on the eastern shore of Maryland. The weather had warmed to the 80s. Chesapeake City in the C and D Canal was a neat place. Lots of quaint shops and trendy restaurants. We were treated to music from live bands till the wee hours all weekend. Karen and David King, cousins, visited in the then sweltering heat.

Wednesday, August 21 - Middle River, Md

Having been at the marina for some time, we needed to move. As it was getting late, we decided to anchor just off the dock of the marina in Middle River, Md where it was rainy and cold--64 F. What a change! However, in the morning we would be leaving for the eastern shore.

Tuesday, August 7--Baltimore

Motored to Middle River in Baltimore, Maryland tieing up at the River Watch Marina--and air conditioning! Phew! The heat was brutal.

Mike left for Colorado Sunday, Aug. 12, so I stayed with my mom, (first picture), till he returned on the 17th. Spent Mom's birthday visiting cousin Karen (#2) in Pottstown, PA and her daughters and grandchildren: Taylor (#3)and Logan (#4) and Colton (#5).

We spent a few more days at the marina then left for the eastern shore of Maryland.

Monday, August 6 - Annapolis, MD

We briefly stopped in Deltaville, VA for the next night; then Crisfield, MD, Solomon'sIsland, Oxford, then Annapolis. Each night was just a waypoint for us. We went ashore in Crisfield for some crabs and then again in Oxford where we fought some rain to get into the restaurant. Unfortunately, in our haste to get to Baltimore, we really didn't get to see these places except overnight. Needless to say, we didn't see much. By the time we got to Annapolis, it was very, very hot. We anchored in Back Creek, but decided not to stay more than overnight as we needed air conditioning. We had reserved a spot at a marina in Baltimore's Middle River and knew that we could plug in there and enjoy our air conditioning. That turned out to be a good decision as it only got hotter.

We arrived in Baltimore ahead of schedule on the 7th of August. Unfortunately, we were unable to do much sailing because the winds were extremely light.

We did some sightseeing in Baltimore where Mike had spent some time in the Army. We were shocked at some of the areas we went through--very rundown, often boarded up and in general not where we wanted to be. On the other hand, we had some great homemade Italian pizza at a local pizzeria and discovered a crabhouse, Schultzes', with delicious soft crab sandwiches and hard crabs. Schultzes' is a local place that is packed on weekend nights with people knee-deep in hard crabs.

Wednesday, August 1 -- Hampton, VA

Finally got out of Portsmouth around 2 p.m. Decided to make as much headway as we could as we were trying to make Baltimore no later than August 9. We got as far as Hampton, Virginia. From the guidebook, we were expecting some nice bars and restaurants, however, everything was pretty much buttoned up. We did go into a hotel by the anchorage, but it was dead. So much for the guidebook! Needless to say, we were up and at it early, heading up the coast for our next stop, Deltaville, VA.

Going up the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay was a little hairy. There were huge Naval warships, as they call them, being escorted by much smaller tugboats. One called to us on the radio informing us that they were going to pass us, then cut in front of us. We, of course, indicated we would slow down and let them by--what choice did we have. All worked out well however. It is amazing to see those huge ships maneuver into a dock amidst other huge ships. They do it adeptly, however.

Tuesday, July 31--Portsmouth

A small thing of concern resulted in our hauling out the boat on July 8 at Ocean Marine in Portsmouth, VA. That small thing, though not critical, led to other big things and our anticipated two-day stay out of the water turned into the rest of the month of July, as parts were ordered, etc. Above is a picture of Jus' Now as she sits awaiting the work. In the meantime, we visited family in the Baltimore area. A stroke of luck occurred when Mike hooked up with the skipper of Seawalker , Richard Clay, with whom he made an ocean passage in 2005. Note the picture above of the happy reunion. Finally dropped the anchor at Tidewater Yacht Club in Portsmouth signifying the work was successfully completed and we were pursuing our trip.

Portsmouth was a wonderful town though. It is full of history and has beautiful restored homes along the narrow streets. We stayed in a lovely B & B --wish we had a picture. It was run by a Scottish woman with whom we sat on the front porch and in the morning shared a lovely breakfast of yogurt, fruit, scones, eggs, bacon...and the list goes on.

We also explored Norfolk a bit as it was just across the river. We got there by using the ferry, pictured above. The ferry system works well and is inexpensive--50 cents for those over 60--That's us!

Dismal Swamp and Locks, July 7, 2007

Our trip through the Dismal Swamp was enjoyable for the most part except for a couple of detractors. As mentioned in the last section, the Pasquotank River was gorgeous, peaceful and serene. It ran right into the Dismal Swamp, a very narrow canal with few other boats—fortunately. We passed at most three other boats and wondered each time if we could manage to get over far enough to let them by. Of course, we did, but it was iffy. We were very surprised at the amount of debris in the water. We were constantly on the lookout for floating logs, tree branches and other possible dangers. Since we were motoring, we didn’t want to chance getting anything caught in our props. This constant watchfulness became wearying towards the late afternoon when the extreme heat coupled with a zillion deer flies finally got to us.

However, along the way we had two locks to go through. The first was the South Mills Lock, pictured above. There we were one of two boats to go through. We had a great time visiting with Jim and Linda Allred on Boogaloo, an attractive trawler. After this lock we came to the Welcome Center where a rather large sightseeing boat, Bonnie Blue, was tied up. Before she tied up, however, we saw her coming and were sweating out her passing by us. We were sure it would be a very tight squeeze. Fortunately, no worries, as it turned out.

Then we traveled to the next lock at Deep Creek in Virginia. While waiting for the bridge to open—which occurs just before the lock—the heavens broke loose with a downpour. It continued to rain as we passed through the lock. The lock tender, Robert Peak, was quite a character. He had a collection of conch shells and gave us a demonstration of his ability to actually play a conch shell. He not only could play different notes, he could do trills! He and Mike were going to have a contest on who could play the best, but we quickly determined there was no contest. Instead he gave Mike a lesson on playing the shell. Robert also gave a short lecture on the history of the Deep Creek lock and the Dismal Swamp, all the time managing the three boats going through.

Shortly after the lock, we found a pretty little anchorage a few miles from Portsmouth, Virginia, where we spent the night before going into Portsmouth on July 8.

Belhaven to Elizabeth City & the Pasquotank River , NC - July 4-7 , 2007

We left Oriental, NC, a small, but friendly town across the Pamlico River, to Belhaven, NC. Belhaven is a charming small town noted as a place friendly to sailors with old-time July 4th festivities. We arrived around 1 p.m., dinghied to town in search of a town picnic. Some friendly townspeople invited us to join them at their private picnic on the waterfront so we had some fried chicken and moved on to find the rubber ducky contest a few blocks away. Indeed there was no town picnic but instead lots of booths selling the usual things one sees at block festivals including lots of southern food like crackling and barbeque. We found a charming little restaurant, Wine and Words, where after having a glass of wine, Mike managed to buy a coffee mug he wanted. Mind you, the coffee mug was not for sale. The owners use it and others like it. Later that evening, after attending a feast put on by a realty firm for the townsfolk, we were treated to a spectacular fireworks display. We had front row seats as it was right on the water not far from our anchorage.

The next day we proceeded on our way up the Alligator River. We anchored on the Alligator River with the wind whipping wildly around us. The next day, July 6, we proceeded to Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River. Of course, we had to cross the Albemarle Sound, a body of water that can be nasty when the wind is up. However, although we had a lot of wind, we actually had a wonderful sail for a couple of hours to the Pasquotank River arriving at Elizabeth City (pictured above) around 3 p.m. We wandered around the small town on a very hot afternoon somewhat disappointed because the celebrated Welcome Committee, which presents visitors with roses, was not there. It is said that the tradition of giving roses to visitors is to remind them to take time to smell the roses.

With a long day ahead of us up the Dismal Swamp Canal, we decided to get up early enough to make the opening of the Elizabeth City Bridge at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, July 7. The bridge tender opened the bridge a little early as there were two boats already there, ready and waiting. That got us off to a good start up the beautiful Pasquotank River. It was very still—no current, little wind. The reflections of the trees in the water made for a pastoral scene. In fact it was so relaxing that I felt comfortable leaving the cockpit and lounging on the front of the boat.

Georgetown, South Carolina - June 8-20. 2007

We left Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday, June 7, heading towards Georgetown, SC. As we left the large, busy harbor, our autopilot failed. Bad deal. Fortunately, we knew we could hand-steer the boat especially since we were traveling up the calm waterway to our next destination. We stopped for the night outside a little town called McClellanville, put down the anchor and proceeded to spin in circles as we were beset by conflicting currents from the ICW and a nearby little river. It was 5:30 p.m., quite a bit later than we usually anchor as we’d gotten a later than usual start. We worked and worked trying to still the boat finally putting out a stern anchor as well. Big mistake. That meant the two anchor lines twirled together creating a bit of a tangled mess. In the process, the windlass, our anchor control, broke! Truly a bad day….in terms of equipment. Mike took apart the windlass but couldn’t repair it. At least he was able to fix the controls to pull up the anchor—a good thing, as the anchor rode (chain) is very heavy. In the midst of all this turmoil, we found ourselves aground on a tiny island at the mouth of the river! Of course, we rightfully figured that as the tide rose, we would no longer be aground.

In the morning, we headed for Georgetown finding a marine mechanic who could fix our autopilot—but not till Monday. Alas, our schedule continued to fall behind. Bruce, the mechanic, did a fabulous job and by Thursday, we were all set—except for the windlass. We had ordered a part, but after trying to repair the windlass, we were told it wouldn’t work, and we’d have to order a new one. Of course, we did, but that meant another whole weekend in Georgetown—really setting us behind. Today is Wednesday, June 20, and we’re hopeful the new windlass, which arrived yesterday, will be installed early so we can get on our way.

However, we have had a delightful time in Georgetown, a quaint, historic district with a few good restaurants and charming shops. The town has beautiful live oaks spreading over the streets lined with well-maintained attractive homes—all with appealing front porches. The people here are friendly and helpful. In the marina, we’ve met a few people who have a boat here permanently like Dean Dawson, pictured above with his boat, Pawley Girl. Dean is an avid sports fisherman who has shared his catch with us and even brought us squash and tomatoes from his garden. Bruce Braynerd, the marine mechanic, brought us homemade peanut brittle. We also met a couple from California who along with their two- and four-year-olds were sailing on a large, 42-foot Catana catamaran—they’re picture leaving our boat in their dinghy. Another couple we met in Charleston, Sunny and Blake from Seattle, joined us for the weekend. Before they left Monday morning, Sunny insisted on fixing Korean specialty barbecue complete with sticky rice. It was delicious. We enjoyed their companionship.

Charleston, South Carolina – June 5 & 6, 2007

We spent a delightful couple of days in Charleston. As we arrived at 9 a.m. on June 5, we sailed past a couple—Sunny & Blake-- on a Manta 42’, Slow-Mocean. They seemed very glad to see other cruisers and almost immediately after anchoring next to them, they came over to tell us of their adventure. They had been caught crossing from the Bahamas in tropical storm Barry. They had weather 30-foot seas for 26 hours and had had to deploy their sea anchor. They were very happy to have arrived in Charleston the previous afternoon.

Later on we all went to West Marine as the City Marina provides a van there. That night, as it was Sunny’s birthday, we had planned to celebrate with a nice dinner in town. However, thunderstorms precluded that, so Sunny and Blake brought their Korean dish to our boat, and we enjoyed a pot luck dinner. Sunny & Blake are from Seattle and spent the winter in the Andros area of the Bahamas getting lessons from a seasoned cruiser on spearing fish and lobsters. ( Of course, it was also our daughter Brooke’s birthday, so we called her to sing happy birthday—the first time we haven’t been with her on her birthday.)

Wednesday, June 6, we joined Sunny and Blake for a walk through the city. Charleston’s a beautiful city with elegant old homes. It was founded in 1670 and has preserved its rich cultural heritage. We ate lunch at a wonderful, non-touristy restaurant, Mistral, across from the market, a group of open-air shops selling everything from hats to jewelry to straw goods. Mike and I restocked our pantry from a wonderful grocery store, Harris Teeter.