Week 9 (8/23/20)

Week 9

8/23/20 Horseshoe Bend on St. Mary’s River MD - Cruised up the Potomac River and anchored out across from St. Mary’s College. Beautiful old college with an onsite bakery. Best breakfast sandwich ever! Very picturesque and tranquil. Kent was excited to see his own Hall.

                            

8/24-1/20 Solomons Island MD - Why so long you may wonder? Damn dinghy stopped working again! But it’s also a fun place! We biked into town and enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch, found a Tiki Bar and just enjoyed watching the many boats come and go. Took a day cruise up St. Leonard Creek and walked over to the Calvert Marine Museum. 

Week 8 (8/17/20)

 

Week 8

8/17-18/20 Tangier Island VA

This is probably the most unique place we have visited so far. There is one marina and Milton, the owner, has been there for almost 90 years. Using a very distinct dialect we had to listen carefully to be able to appreciate his many stories. It sounds like a British variety of English but linguists believe it is a distinct creation of its own time and place. The population was 727 in 2010 and the islands landmass has been reduced by 67% since 1850, to 0.54 sq. miles. Due to global warming much of the remaining landmass is expected to be lost in the next 50 years and the island may need to be abandoned. Tangier is often referred to as the “soft-shell crab capital of the world”! We enjoyed watch the routine of the crabbing boats as they brought in their catch. There are free standing dock houses, not connected to land, which fishermen use to old the crabs while they moult. We biked around the entire island but were not able to get to the beautiful white sand beach due to high water. Excellent Adventure!

8/19-20/20 Onancock VA

We went on over to the east side of the bay to this adorable town and beautiful marina. Excellent cruising up the creek and gorgeous sunsets. 

8/21-22/20  Ingram Bay VA

Dinghy part arrived so back to Ingram Bay for Kent to fix and do some crabbing!

Week 7 (8/9/20)

Week 7

8/9-11/20 Coinjock/Chesapeake VA

Followed a tug pushing a very large barge through the winding Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. It was amazing to watch the tug maneuver it through the tight corners! We also went through our first lock. It was only a 2 foot drop but good practice for the bigger ones to come. I had never seen “boat barns” before. As we’ve moved north they seem to be a standard for boats to go through the winter. Some have lifts but others the boat is in the water. Also wanted to ask a boater with homeport of Boulder CO what route he took to get there.

8/12/20 Portsmouth/Norfolk VA

What a scenery change! Very industrial as we headed up the Elizabeth River! Some ships being worked on with impressive equipment. We saw naval ships, aircraft carriers, submarines, and a large hover craft. We went by the Norfolk Naval Station and Fort Monroe! We’ve also learned to hold off when you see massive, black clouds ahead of you. We stayed at the City Dock which just happened to be across from Legend Brewery. Nice walking town with beautiful old homes.

8/13/20 Hunt’s Cove near Kilmarnock VA

We had a great experience going back to one of Ginny and Jim’s old homesteads. They lived in this beautiful cove where they did some sailing. We had a beautiful evening anchored out in the middle and reminiscing great times. Unfortunately our dinghy conked out so we were not able to get back too far into the creek.

8/14-16/20 Ingram Bay VA

This was an unplanned, but enjoyable stop. We needed a part for the dinghy and a safe haven from the crazy waves we experienced on the Chesapeake. We learned that 3-4 foot waves are not for us. Great people and nice facility! 

Week 6 (August 1, 2020)

 

Week 6

8/1-4/20 Oriental NC

We are heading back out on Daydream! It’s so Great to be cruising again!

Beautiful water getting to our "hurricane hole" in River Dunes, until about 5 miles out, ran into a thunderstorm. Not a problem getting into our slip and we were well protected from Isaias, winds did not exceed 40 mph. Nice marina and even got to enjoy their pool/bar one afternoon.

                                                                                

8/5-6/20 Ocracoke Island Outer Banks of NC

Excellent anchorage! Well protected and nice dinghy ride into town. Rented a golf cart to check out the town. Just like being back in Peachtree City! Bodie especially enjoyed the cart ride, really sweltering heat. This town was hit hard by Dorian and is still working to rebuild. We checked out a couple restaurants and small shops. Also saw the second oldest lighthouse in the US. 

 

8/7-8/20 Manteo NC

We really enjoyed this adorable town! It had a European feel with coffee and gift shops, a brewery with the best baked brie, nice sailing area and a large park for Bodie to run free! We toured the outside of the Roanoke Island Festival Park, it offers an excellent 16^th century sailing ship and living history demonstrations. The Lost Colony adds some mystery to the island. English settlers vanished after settling on the island in 1587 and nobody knows where they went or what happened to them.