Chesapeake!

On the Hard in Oxford, MD

We had a great week with our friends last week and now Carry On is sitting on the gravel at the boatyard in Oxford, MD, a long planned stop to have the boat hauled, the bottom cleaned and painted, as well as some other jobs that can only be done when the boat is out of the water. 

We’ve been living onboard, more or less as usual, minus some of the comforts that we usually take for granted. For instance, a 45 degree, rainy day (like Friday) is not a big deal when we’re in the water, on an anchor or plugged into a dock. But with no generators or cooling pumps to run the A/C/heat, it was a mighty cold day! We scavenged extra fleece blankets from the guest stateroom and spent a reasonably comfortable night under 5 layers of fleece, plus one shared furry beast. Two days later and now the temps are over 80-- it seems Spring in the Chesapeake has much in common with Spring in New England! 

Welcome Aboard!

Some of you have asked questions about life on the hard, like how do we get groceries on board, can we use the bathroom, can we run water for cooking, etc? It’s a long way up to Carry On via a regular ladder to the swim platform and another ladder from there to her deck, so two hands are required. We use a rope and a bucket or canvas bag, lowered down or brought up by someone on deck to get items on and off. Yes, we have a large (55 gallon) holding tank, so with judicious use, we will be fine until we can safely pump out again. Most of the gray water (as opposed to black water in the holding tank) goes into sumps, or tanks in a special part of the bilge, which pump out automatically when they reach a certain volume. We’re showering in shore facilities, using water carefully and needless to say, when crews are painting or working under the boat, the dishes wait!

But back to our “vacation” days in the Chesapeake. Our friends joined us in Great Bridge, VA, and after going through the only locks on the Atlantic ICW, we transited Norfolk Harbor. That passage is always a thrill for Paul and me, as we both have roots in the area and the busy port demands attention with its multitude of commercial and navy vessels and timed drawbridges. We continued a long day up to our anchorage in Deltaville, VA in the lower Chesapeake Bay. We stayed on board that evening and were up again early to make our destination of Solomons, MD.

Chesapeake Bay Crabber

The size of the Bay and the distances between destinations by water still surprises me and makes careful planning necessary for a short cruise with endpoints fixed by dates and geography. We arrived late afternoon in Solomons, launched the dinghy and went out for a walk around town. It was not until after we’d passed the third Budweiser Clydesdale (don’t you see them every day where you live?) that we asked what was going on. Someone was happy to explain what is clearly one of the local rites of Spring-- the opening of the Tiki Bar! Apparently 30,000 people were expected the next day for the event, ready to see the Clydesdales parade, the Tiki Bar King arrive on the Tiki Barge and I’m sure you’ve already guessed this, drink lots and lots of beer! Some locals have been known to flee their homes for the weekend.

Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse

Tiki Bar aside, Solomons is a charming sailing and boating hub, with a well-protected natural harbor with several marinas and anchorages. Our boat guru, Scotty, is based in Solomons in the spring and summer, so we are very familiar with the area. This visit was still early in the tourist season, but it was a nice, warm Spring day and everything seemed to be in bloom.

From Solomons we traveled to St Michael’s, a tourist spot on the Eastern Shore with a large maritime museum dedicated to the watermen’s way of life-- crabbers, scallopers and oystermen. Unfortunately, the weather took a decidedly nasty turn with high seas, high winds and tornado warnings. After our guests and Paul made a brave trek to shore the first evening, with a struggle to get back in the dinghy, we all decided that our lay day would be most wisely and comfortably spent on board. Sadly, there went the sightseeing, the museum visit and the dinner reservations; instead we spent a cozy day inside with tea, hot chocolate and of course, good meals, while the wind howled and the seas raged!   

In the Middle of Things in Annapolis

We woke to a new day, sunny and quiet in our anchorage and we set off across the Bay again for Annapolis, a short run that put us in at mid day. Our dock was literally in the center of town (the dock is nicknamed “Ego Alley”), and as it was Palm Sunday and a beautiful day after a terrible Saturday, town was packed with sightseers and locals out for fresh air. Many Naval Academy midshipmen were also out and about, both male and female, looking fit and attractive in their summer whites.  Other tourists were perched on the wall alongside Carry On eating ice cream cones and tending children, a whole new experience for us! We were happy to join the tourists in a walk around town, then enjoy the hubbub from the sanity of our flybridge and salon!

Our guests left the next day after an all too quick visit, and here we are in Oxford, busy but looking forward to starting the last, long leg homeward to Marblehead.. 

Back to Zero

Cable Ferry South of Georgetown, SC

So here we are back at Statute Mile Marker 12.5 on the ICW, in Great Bridge, VA, just below Norfolk, the official beginning of the waterway, St M 0.0. That may not sound so impressive to you, but to us it represents about 1050 statute (land) miles covered since we left Miami. The first 500 or so miles usually seem to go pretty quickly, but the last week and a half or so can feel like forever. We’ve made good time and have put in long days, leaving at first light and anchoring just before sunset-- we are ready for a little down time!

We had a fine evening out in Charleston-- the weather was beautiful, if rather windy, the city was full of blooming trees, Wisteria and tourists everywhere. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants and made the long walk home, deciding it would be quicker than waiting for a cab. Up early the next day and on to Georgetown, SC with hopes of getting our propane up and running again. What began as a just a leak in the propane grill line escalated into a larger problem with the lines to the cooktop and stove. Sunday night dinner was a microwave success story, after a trek around town looking for an open restaurant. 

Whatzit on the Waterway

The helpful personnel at our little marina did manage to get the cooking propane working again and we managed to get the boat off the dock with more than 20 knots of wind holding us on and little room and depth for backing. Always a tense situation, but onward to Wrightsville Beach via the twisty, turny Waccamaw River. 

Usually I knit when I’m on watch. I can look up every few stitches, check the course, depth, speed and look around for other boats. If it’s a big open body of water and long course legs, I read. But on a day in the Waccamaw, knitting is out of the question. So to keep boredom at bay, I amused myself by counting the turtles sunning themselves on logs--  the four lined up head to tail like circus elephants got me going. I got to 23 with my haphazard methods, still giving the autopilot the attention it demanded! Some days we are reduced to such things.

Duck Blind on the Little Alligator River

We had a fine two nights in the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. I had a lovely walk on the beach and friends from our time at Bennett Brothers in Wilmington were in the area, so we went out for the afternoon with them, and had dinner together aboard Carry On. The next days were a blur of traveling, from breakfast in the pilot house and dinner shortly before falling into bed. 

The waterway went from twisting and turning and areas of shoaling (we bumped at least a half dozen times, but never got stuck) to the wide open, vast rivers and sounds of North Carolina-- the Neuse River, Pungo River,the Albemarle Sound, the Alligator River, Pamlico Sound and finally the Currituck. 

One of the Local Bubbas

It’s hard to imagine the feel of these bodies of water. Often there is no shore visible, and because they are very shallow (yes, more bumps), opposing wind and current can make for a very rough ride, as I can attest from personal experience having  spent my 60th birthday on the Neuse River, seasick myself and nursing a seasick cat. The good news is that on a quiet day, piloting is a piece of cake with long runs of 5 or 8 nautical miles between course changes-- all the benefits of running off the coast-- and you can get a lot of reading done!

   

And very finally and happily, we are in Virginia again. Company from home arrive tonight and we will spend the next week poking around the Chesapeake together, before Carry On goes into the boatyard next Monday to get hauled and the bottom painted!

It’s Spring!

Pink Birds

We spent a bit longer than planned in Ft Pierce, thinking that we had a good weather window to travel outside to Fernandina Beach, with a bailout at St Augustine, if necessary. When the day arrived, we looked at each other, took a deep breath and admitted we really weren’t so inclined to do the 30 plus hour run by ourselves-- meaning with just the two of us to stand watch overnight. So, Plan B, or maybe it was C or D, we headed north up the Indian River on the ICW. One  compensation is the leg through the Merritt Island National Refuge, near Cape Canaveral, with its’ rookeries and manatees-- and a chance to see the Roseate Spoonbills again, although there were not so many as we have seen there before. I always get a kick out of seeing these big pink birds with their distinctive bills, roosting in the trees.

Did Someone Say "Coffee"?

After a quiet overnight in the Banana River anchorage, we were treated to an early morning show by the local rowing club. Kayaks and shells of various lengths, with single and multiple crew, went racing by as we ate our breakfast. Very suddenly, they all turned in the same direction and paddled furiously back to the rowing club base-- it was if someone had yelled “Coffee!”

Another day spent in the Indian River with an anchorage in Halifax, just south of Daytona, and then a day’s run up to St Augustine. We’ve discovered that the $20 moorings, nice dinghy dock and shore facilities makes a nice stopover. And indeed, we walked across The Bridge of LIons, the beloved, recently renovated drawbridge, and had a downscale, but wonderful Saturday night dinner of fried local shrimp.

Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine

On to Fernandina Beach (Amelia Island) on Sunday, with a lay day for a major grocery shopping run, a few errands and a haircut for me on Tuesday morning, before leaving again to resume the northern march. The rain which started on Monday, continued all day Tuesday to our anchorage in Jove Creek-- in GA, Carry On’s first night out of Florida since early December. More rain on Wednesday, a little lightning and a lot of thunder, but the water was flat and we made great time to our anchorage in New River, near Daufuskie Island, SC. We saw lots of dolphins and all the birds seemed more active than usual, including the group of terns who circled Carry On for a couple of hours. We’ve seen this phenomenon a few times before-- we’ve speculated that because of our superstructure, they think we’re a fishing boat! Of course, we’ve had the same problem with the Coast Guard, so who could blame them?

Got Fish?

The run to Hilton Head the next morning was a short one, we had the afternoon free and dinner out with friends who live in the area. We woke up this morning to a very chilly, clear and sunny day--but it did feel a bit like an April Fool’s joke at 46 degrees!  But it’s definitely Spring. The ospreys are nesting in day marks on the waterway, the trees here in South Carolina are leafing out into a beautiful pale green and the azaleas are in bloom. We’re underway today in sunshine and tomorrow morning, we’ll be in Charleston. 

And once again, we’re having the discussion of going outside on Sunday for an overnight run to Wrightsville Beach!

Patiently Waiting