Pasadena, MD to Kilmarnock, VA (September 2013)

We stayed at Bob and Elaine's dock on the Magothy River just north of Annapolis over Labor Day weekend to avoid all the crazies that tend to take to waters on such holidays.  We could see and hear quite a group of them at Dobins Island across the way.  The weather was great, so each day they arrived and partied.  Apparently a good time was had by all - including us as we stayed out of the fray.

The night before we left, we had a farewell dinner at Mike's Crab House North with Elaine and Bob.  Joe was hoping for steamed crabs again, but at $65/doz they stayed on the table next to ours.  We had a fine dinner anyway and were treated to a great sunset.

The next day we took off for a big 22 mile run down to Annapolis.  On our way, we saw Jerry and Janet in their new boat - "Forever 39" soon would be sporting the name "At Last".  After what has to have been the most agreeable sale/purchase ever, they were leaving the South River.  Joe took the opportunity to take some "maiden voyage" pictures for them.

After the photo op, we continued on to our anchorage up the South River at Harness Creek. There's a big park there with kayak, canoe and paddle board rentals - among other things I'm sure. Instead of going on shore we spent a quiet afternoon being entertained by some of the novice paddle boarders.

The following day we moved a few miles to Bruce and Joan's dock.  "Carolyn Ann" looked lonely down there without "Forever 39"!
Until just before "Forever 39" left, Bruce and Joan had been living on the boat while they undertook some extensive remodeling on their home up the hill.  Previously they had done the living/kitchen/dining room area.  This time it was the bedrooms and bathrooms so they really needed to be out of the house.  The bathrooms were made functional just before the boat settlement and they'd started the process of moving things back in.

 We tried to stay out of their way, but were happy to be able to host them for dinner on Carolyn Ann as their kitchen was piled high with displaced belongings.

The house looks great inside and out, even if the dock looked lonely as we waved good-bye.  Bruce and Joan may not own a Great Harbour anymore, but they'll always be part of the family.

From Annapolis we cruised south for a short stop at our friends Jim and Judi's and then on to Solomon's Yachting Center to have Carolyn Ann pulled for some maintenance issues.  It had been almost two years since she'd been pulled and had the bottom painted.  Considering the length of time, we were pleasantly surprised at the condition of the bottom and the props.  Kyle and Quinton, the worker guys, did a great job setting her on blocks so we could stay on board while the work was being done.

Besides the bottom paint, there was a nagging issue with the sea chest.  A sea chest is basically a column of water to which all of the water intake hoses are attached.  Without a sea chest each intake - for engine cooling, etc - has a separate hole in the bottom of the boat and sucks water in.  Because it's using a relatively small hole, the suction is fairly strong and things like plastic bags and jelly fish can get sucked up - causing issues like over-heating.   With a sea chest the hoses are all attached to it and there is one larger hole in the boat covered by a grate.  In this way the suction is greatly reduced.  The black line in the picture shows where the water line is.  At any rate, our sea chest had a bit of a leak.  Nothing major, but not something that we thought we should ignore.

We were really impressed with the job Jimmie did to protect the engine room during the repair work...

... and also with the finished product.
Actually our whole experience there was positive.  The location is great as it is an easy walk to restaurants and Food Lion is about a mile away.  They have very nice restrooms with private showers, a laundry, a pool, and a cafe with sandwiches, full bar and three tvs.

While Carolyn Ann sat on the blocks, we took off for the weekend in our $9.95/day Enterprise rental.  The Retired US Park Police Association was having its annual get together at the Dulles Hyatt that weekend - an event we rarely miss.  That's the group from our table at the Saturday night dinner in the picture.  We had a good time catching up with everyone and Joe joined a group that went down to Anacostia where he used to work.

On Sunday we met up with a group of my former co-workers in Centreville.  I don't get to see those folks nearly enough, so it was really fun to catch up on everything with them.

When we got back to Solomons, there was time enough to clean and wax below the rub rail - which had not been done for about a year and a half.  She sure looked good going back into the water.  We made the short trip back around to Jim and Judi's where I managed to finish up the rest of the exterior cleaning.

On Sunday Joe's brother Rick and his wife, Carol, came down and spent the afternoon.  We'd hoped to get together more while we in the bay, but it just hadn't worked out.  We had a good visit that day, though.

So after one last happy hour with Jim and Judy, we decided it was time to start heading south.

We had a great day to cross the mouth of the Potomac and stopped shortly after that in Kilmarnock, VA. at Chesapeake Boat Basin. The plan was to spend one night there.  After we got settled we noticed a boat called Second Fantasy.  We'd seen them at the AGLCA get together in July so when Joe stopped in to say hello, Tom and Doris invited us for drinks.  We were having such a good time - probably over-staying our welcome - when we saw another couple from the AGLCA gathering, John and Dottie on Dar Sea.

 They joined us also and Joe said he thought we'd go ahead and stay two nights since we were hearing good things about the area.  John pointed out that if you pay for two nights, you get one free and the marina had a courtesy van that was hardly used.  So we decided on three nights.
The Car Wash Cafe was getting rave reviews, so we joined John and Dottie for breakfast the next morning before they left.  Joe had a crab and spinach omelet and we vowed to return for lunch before we left.  And yes, you really can get your car washed there too.

Later that day we toured Christ Church in near by Irvington.  It was built in 1735 and has beautiful brick work.  It is considered to be the best preserved of Virginia's colonial Anglican Churches and is the only one that still has the high backed pew boxes inside.  It also retains its triple decker pulpit.

We had to go to a wine tasting at the Dog and Oyster.  Any place that puts two giant cork screws out front can't be all bad.  We tasted the wines, saw and heard the dogs, but there wasn't an oyster in sight.  For oysters you have to come Friday or Saturday.  Oh, well.  We did find a restaurant that had oysters and clams. Joe said the clams were fantastic, the oysters over-steamed and my sliders with "bacon jam" were pretty darn good.

We got together with Doris and Tom quite a bit.  So much fun  - we just laughed most of the time.  On Friday nights the wine shop in Kilmarnock has a wine tasting, so we went.  Tasted a few wines and snacks, bought a few bottles - including some fantastic sparkling wine on sale - $19.95 instead of $64.95  From there we went to the wine tasting at River Market in White Stone.  Joe had been pretty happy with the gumbo and crab cakes from there earlier, and they also had some good wine and snacks.

So we'd snacked a bit here and there, and swallowed some of the wine we were tasting, but decided to stop off at Nate's Trick Dog Cafe.  Loved the name and had to see.  The menu was interesting and we'd heard the food was very good - too bad we weren't actually hungry.  Joe and I shared crab cakes - nice lump back fin crab meat.  If we stop here again we'll have to try it on an empty stomach.
The next day was windy and a catamaran pulled into a slip near us.  Joe went out to see if he could help.  Soon he came back with Ray, the owner, who had invited us to his house for lunch.  He and his wife were on their way home but the bay was too rough.  They decided to stop there and move the boat another day.  We rode along to their house in the courtesy van, then drove it back after lunch.  Ray and Paula have a really cute house on about 15 acres on the water.  The house isn't large, but big enough and well designed - lots of little nooks and crannies - and they have so much neat stuff and conversation to go with it!  You just never know what the day will bring.  Tomorrow we leave for Hampton, but that is the next Blog.
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