Kilmarnock, VA to New Bern, NC (October 2013)

After a last dinner on Carolyn Ann with Tom and Doris, we left Chesapeake Boat Basin and cruised down to Hampton Maritime Center.  We'd stopped there in the spring and joined their preferred customer club - which would give us reduced dockage rates for a year.  We again took advantage of Enterprise's $9.99/day weekend rate to do some shopping, ie. Costco of course.  We really didn't need anything, but...
Actually, we had been mounting a search for Joe's favorite marmalade which had recently disappeared from the grocery shelves.


 He finally found it again at a Kroger near Hampton, where he grudgingly let another shopper have one jar of the twelve that were in stock.  So that made the rental worthwhile.




Unfortunately, the night before it was to be returned to Enterprise, while parked in the garage that Enterprise uses, the car was keyed.



Now we get to find out how well AMEX takes care of us.  So far it's looking good.





Saturday Randy and Barb (Lazy Dolphin) showed up in time for dinner.
We had a great time catching up with them and hoped they'd end up staying a few days.  But the next morning they'd decided to leave to try to beat some windy weather that was predicted.  Before they left we heard a couple of loud "pows" from their direction.  Then we noticed our power was off.  Then it was clear the power was off all over.  Must have been a transformer that blew.  So, Barb and Randy started on their way south to Portsmouth.  Not too long after, the power came back on.  Then an email from Barb.  Evidently when the transformer went, it took their inverter along with it.  So, off to a Portsmouth marina they went to wait for repairs.

Our plan had been to leave Hampton and cruise to Manteo to spend a week at Duck on the outer banks with family.  The wind was not cooperating, so we called Enterprise - who didn't even balk at renting us another car after the keying incident - so we could drive there. As we got ready to leave the boat the wind blew and the rain fell.  Soon the dock was covered with about four inches of water.  We dug out our boots and waded to the car with our luggage.

By the time we got to Jean and Rich's beach house my other sister, Lynn, and our son John along with his wife Meredith and two boys, Alex and Samuel, were already there.  We hadn't been to the beach house in years and hadn't seen the grandkids since last spring.  Alex, at three years, and Samuel, at 9 months, had changed a lot since then.  The weather was less than cooperative, but we had a really good visit with everyone.

As always, Rich brought out some old wine from his stash.  After dinner we tried to learn how to play Mexican Train dominoes.  It seemed like every night we discovered a few more rules.  But we laughed a lot, so it was all good - as Alex's favorite, Pete the Cat, would say.

The weather wasn't great (as the photo of Zorro the weather vane demonstrates), but we did manage a few walks on the beach and Alex managed to destroy sand castles before they could be built.

 He even tried to teach John and thing or two about surfing. The house survived the visit, so we all plan to come back again.

Earlier we'd gone to the Air and Space center to see Gravity on the IMAX in 3D.  We were exhausted - mentally and physically - by the end but both really enjoyed it.

Since we had the car, we stopped in Portsmouth after the beach go to the Commodore to see Capt. Phillips and then to have another quick visit with Barb and Randy.  It's always so relaxing to sit at the table in the upholstered chair to watch the movie, except there was nothing relaxing about this movie.  Again, we really liked the movie, but even knowing the final outcome, it was stressful to watch.
The next weekend was the Snowbird Rendezvous at Hampton.  I had caught a cold while we were in Duck, but Joe participated.  Evidently, I really missed out on some good meals and presentations.

Finally it was time to move on - after nearly 3 weeks.  There are two routes south from here, we prefer the Dismal Swamp Canal.  We'd heard it was closed due to a large accumulation of duck weed.  As it turned out, it had been closed for a day or so, but it was now open and we were assured that the duck weed was under control.  There was really only one patch of it left as we started through.

The weather was perfect for the trip, with the incredible reflections of the trees in the water.  There were just the beginnings of some fall colors in the foliage.  We normally stop after the first lock and visit with Robert, the lock master, and walk to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. The timing didn't really work out this time, so we said hello and good-bye to Robert as we locked through and went ahead through the canal.  A few days later we found out that the Mexican restaurant has closed.  Sad news, as it had become a regular stop for many cruisers as they passed through.

We spent the night near the South Mills lock at the south end of the canal.  As it got near the 8:30am opening time boats began to join us.  There ended up being 11 boats in the lock, using all the wall space on the both sides - but there was still room for more in the middle.  Most of these snow birds are Canadian - does anyone stay up there for the winter?
When Joe booted up the ship's computer it failed to recognize his Nobletec I-key.  In other words, the navigational software would not work.  So as we went along he installed Rose Point, a new navigational program he was planning to try out this winter.  No time like the present!  He got it basically working, but he couldn't access radar without a code that was waiting with our mail in Green Cove Springs.
We ended up making it a long day - to avoid crossing Albemarle Sound in the wind that was arriving the next day - and anchored in the Alligator River.

The next morning we awoke to fog.  And had no radar.  We took our time over breakfast and it started looking a little brighter.  We also heard reports from boats a little farther south that there was less fog as they went along.  So, we started out, the fog lifted and all was fine.  After about four hours Joe decided to stop and anchor.  There was a cold front that was going to come through accompanied by strong winds.  He also was hoping to get on the phone with the Rose Point people to ask some questions about the software.  He chatted with the knowledgeable tech folks and I watched some great clouds as the front came through.

The next morning the wind was not as bad as we'd expected and we were able to make it all the way up the Neuse River to Fairfield Harbor in New Bern, NC.  Here, at Northwest Creek Marina, we will be spending the winter.  Joe keeps complaining about the possibilities of icebergs and polar bears, but if they have palm trees, how cold can it get?  We now must get our car from Charleston so we have wheels as we are 20 miles from town.





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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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Cambridge to Pasadena (August 2013)

We'd had a great visit with Dave and Vicki, but decided we'd better leave before they put us to work.  A return trip is definitely planned as they told us a few of the features to be added to the house in the coming years.

We moved to downtown Cambridge.  It took us about 5 hours.  By car it might have been 20 minutes.  But it was a fine day and we found our favorite spot waiting for us when we arrived.
In earlier times, Joe spent a lot of time on the eastern shore hunting ducks and geese, which meant spending a lot of time with some guys who became very good friends.  Shortly after we'd tied up, Bernie and Linda (who owned the father of our wonderful lab, Abby), and Fred (Fast Fred, who had been an art professor at UDC) and Marge, and Wayne and Nancy (who was from Moundsville, WV where we visited last year) showed up.  Fred had suggested dinner at the Suicide Bridge Restaurant.  Once we found it we were surprised to see the size of Suicide Bridge - not real conducive to throwing yourself off of since it's only about 10' high, but I guess it depends on how serious you are.  Anyway, we had a great dinner and a great time - all those years to reminisce and laugh about.

While in Cambridge, we had hoped to pick up some steamed crabs and have dinner on the picnic table nearby, but unfortunately had timed our visit wrong as the seafood plant wasn't open.  We did walk up and have lunch at Jimmie and Sook's, though.  A good stop if you happen to be in Cambridge.  Later a couple from a sail boat stopped by.  Turns out they know our friends Sue and Paul and also one of Joe's sisters.  Small  cruising world.

From Cambridge we crossed back over the bay for a visit with Joe's former boss, Bob and his wife Kathy, at Lake Ogleton.

Another Bob they worked with joined us for dinner - so we had two Kathy's and two Bob's and one Joe at the table.

Next was a fifteen mile run to the Magothy River to visit Bob and Elaine.  We'd met them on our first loop and have managed to get together several times since then.

Since our last visit, we've each gotten our first two grandchildren.  Not only that, our Samuel  and their Sadie were born on the same day!  Elaine immediately said we should "promise" them, so Samuel's dating days are over - at six months of age.

Bob and Elaine had been sailors before the loop and after the loop they sold their trawler and have gone back to sailing.  Every Wednesday night Bob participates in a neighborhood sailing race right behind the house.  During our stay we were able to catch up on laundry, grocery shopping and even managed a trip to Costco.

One afternoon, Bob took us for a ride around the area in his small power boat.  I'm always happy to see the houses from the water side, especially after I'd done so much walking on the street side.  The most spectacular house we saw was this glass one on a point.

Our next move was another big one - 25 miles to Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  At least we're keeping the fuel costs down this year.

We spent two nights docked in the Inner Harbor to facilitate a return visit to the American Visionary Arts Museum.  We'd discovered it two years ago and it ranks high on our list of favorite places.

They've done more mosaic's on the exterior since our earlier visit and many of the exhibits inside had changed also.  I'm sure we hadn't seen the Flatulence exhibit before - I'd have remembered that one.  In the building with large pieces there were more sculptures from the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race.  We're hoping to time our trip next spring for that one. The sculptures resemble parade floats, sort of, and have to use only human power sources to move along the road and through the water.  Sounds like great fun!

The weather had turned fantastic - how often do you hear that in August? - so we decided to anchor near the Anchorage and BMC Lighthouse marinas.  Gene and Judy (GH37 Lo Que Se A) were staying at one and Henry and Debbie (GH47 Seven Tenths) were staying at the other.  We visited back and forth with all of them, got in some shopping and good walks, and stayed almost a week.  The weather truly was fantastic - didn't need air-conditioning at all.

Joe kept looking for Donnybrook, a racing sailboat in Anchorage Marina.  One of his former co-workers, Pancho, is part of the crew, racing all over the world.  One afternoon while sitting on the boat, I heard someone calling for Joe.  There was Pancho in a different sailboat.  Joe was out in the dinghy, but they finally got together for a chat - drifting along in the harbor.

 Later, we saw Donnybrook 74' of speed - pretty impressive.


We had planned to spend a week at Md. Yacht Club in September, but our loose cruising plan seemed to be morphing in a way that would make that inconvenient.  So we went there from Baltimore, expecting more typical August weather.  The weather really didn't get that bad, but we had a nice week there anyway.  The facility is very nice - a nice building with a restaurant mostly open on weekends, a pool, laundry - and a great price for Loopers.  We met Jim and Peg (Sanctuary) there.  Joe had conversed with Jim a lot on at least one forum and was glad to finally meet him in person.  Another reason we wanted to stop there was to see Jerry and Janet again.  We had met them when we were finishing our second loop and they were just starting their first one, in 2011.  In July of this year,  they were one of the few couples at the Looper gathering that we'd met before.  While there, they had talked about how they had originally wanted a Great Harbour 37.  They visited on Lazy Dolphin - who they'd met on the loop - and renewed their desire to own one.  We mentioned a couple that we knew were for sale and also that our friends Bruce and Joan in Annapolis were planning to sell theirs (Forever 39) fairly soon.  Not too much later, we learned that Jerry and Janet were thrilled to be buying Bruce and Joan's boat.  So after arriving at Md. Yacht Club, we got together with a bottle of almost champagne and toasted the soon to be At Last.

With Labor Day weekend approaching, we decided we'd like to be somewhere away from the crowds, so we moved back to Bob and Elaine's.  Bob and Elaine actually had cruising plans with their sailboat group, so we held down the dock while they were gone.  Dobbins Island, across the river, is a big party place - especially on holidays.  With great weekend weather, all the boats were out.
The end of summer means we need to start making plans to work our way back south, but we have a few more stops to make along the way.

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