Category: Chesapeake Bay

Solomons to Kent Island, MD

June 17-20, 2017 Saturday-Tuesday

Saturday, June 17: Spent a fun filled day in Baltimore with our nephew Nick. Nick just graduated from Johns Hopkins University and will remain there next year working on a research project with one of his professors. He gave us a tour of “his domain” for the past five years. His apartment, friends, campus, and the Baltimore Museum of Art’s and Sculpture Garden, which included lunch at Gertrude’s, excellent.

On our way back to Nick’s apartment we walked by the Civil War: Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument. I was surprised to learn that of the four Civil War monuments in Baltimore three of them honor the Confederacy, it is obvious that Baltimore had a lot of Southern sympathies. The Confederate statues; Lee-Jackson in Homewood, the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and the Confederate Women’s Monument right on the other side of the Johns Hopkins campus.

Sunday, June 18: Two glorious days in a row, today was spent with our friends Sam, Damon, and family, it has been at least twelve years since they visited us in Italy. We worked with Sam in both Cuba and Panama and she became like family, joining us on Paradigm Lost for a trip to the Bahama’s and one to Jamaica. Damon might have been one of our most entertaining guests on Paradigm Lost and it was great to enjoy his unique charm today. Sam, Rick, and I spent the morning reliving old times and catching up. In the afternoon we joined Daman, Saffron (daughter), Darius (son) and Ashley (cousin) for Father’s day dinner at Damon’s favorite restaurant, Gilligan’s Pier, located on the Potomac River.

The only problem with the last two days, both were way too short.  We are already looking forward to our next visit.

Tuesday, June 20: Today was pretty uneventful as we left Solomons and cruised up to Bay Bridge Marina Resort on Kent Island. On the way up the bay, we passed the Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, these hundred foot high cliffs are famous as great fossil collecting areas and constitute the most complete section of Miocene deposits in the eastern United States.

It must be Dolphin Mating Season, around the Calvert cliffs we saw lots of dolphins frolicking in the sun.

Near Annapolis, we passed the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, the only screw-pile lighthouse still standing on its original site and the last manned lighthouse (1964) in the Chesapeake Bay.

Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and is roughly four miles from the western shore, at this point the main waterway of the bay is at its narrowest and is spanned here by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Tomorrow we plan to complete our journey on the Chesapeake and cross the fourteen mile C & D Canal to Delaware.

Coinjock, NC to Solomons, MD

 

June 13-16, 2017 Tuesday-Friday

Tuesday, June 13: Coinjock is fifty miles from Norfolk which is Mile Zero of the Intracoastal Waterway and home of Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval installation in the world. While a fifty-mile day is doable, we did not want to enter such a busy port at the end of a long day, so we opted to spend the night at the Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina, Great Bridge.

The plan was to secure the boat, walk a quarter of a mile for propane, return the propane to the boat, and then walk about a half mile, in the other direction, to the Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways Park. It was so hot that we ended up stopping for a very long early dinner, the dinner was okay but it was the air conditioning that we were really seeking, the temperature was 92 degrees with a “feels like” 102.

After dinner, we got the propane and went back to the boat. It was just too hot to visit the Great Bridge Battlefield. On our way back to the boat, we discovered a monument stating it was the site of the encampment area for the American Patriots of the Battle of Great Bridge. In 1775, the Battle of Great Bridge took place in this area and the success of the Patriots helped change the course of history. As victors of the battle, American Patriots gained control of the British Naval Operations in Norfolk, thus ending the rule of the British Crown in Virginia.

Wednesday, June 14: The Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina is located at Mile 12 of the ICW, just south of the Great Bridge Bascule Bridge (8 feet) and the Great Bridge Lock at Mile 11.3. We were up early to make the seven o’clock opening of the bridge and proceeded to the lock. The lock lowered us to sea level, a mere two feet, and we are now ready for the Chesapeake Bay portion of our trip, Norfolk to the C & D Canal, about 200 miles.

Today was a long day, about 10 ½ hours, the 12-14 knots SW winds were not bad because they were on our stern. However, when the winds changed to the northeast the waves pelted us on the bow which made for a bumpy, difficult to steer ride for the rest of the day. We are at the Norview Marina, Deltaville, VA and winds are predicted to be about the same tomorrow. Sounds like a good day to stay put and do some boat chores.

Thursday, June 15: With an empty water tank, we were disappointed to learn that Deltaville does not have city water. The well-water smells of sulfur and we were not inclined to fill our tank with it, but we did need water. Fortunately, Linda, from the Deltaville Market, over three miles away, picked us up at the marina and returned us with our water and groceries, better than a Taxi.

The best part of the day was the cool weather, the skies were cloud covered and the temperature never went above 77, perfect day for boat cleaning and doing laundry.

Friday, June 16: Today we were boarded by the Coast Guard, in all our boating time this is the first time they have ever paid us a visit. It is a calm day on the water which made the boarding easy. All went well, the inspection was professional, friendly, and took about fifteen minutes. All was in order and we now have our CG-4100, which should keep us from being boarded again for a year.

Tonight we are at Calvert Marina, Solomons, MD where we plan to stay until Monday. We will visit our nephew Nicholas in Baltimore on Saturday and friends from our Cuba/Panama Days on Sunday.