Tuesday, May 14, 2013 – Home!

            Wow!  We woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m., bound and determined to get home this afternoon!  We pulled up the anchor and left our final anchorage at 6:30 a.m.  Sometime during the night, spring forgot that it was supposed to be here, and we had to resort to hats, coats, and gloves this mornin

Leaving Solomon's Island

g in addition to the other warm clothes we had on.  Well, Bob was still wearing shorts, but he must be crazy!

            The sun was out, but it wasn’t doing much to warm up the morning, and we left the Patuxent River with it right in our eyes, but notwithstanding the cooler temperatures, it is a beautiful day!  The only incident that marred it was an ugly conversation between two boaters because of the wake one of the boats was making.

            The bay was not quite as rough as it was yesterday, and we made great time up to Knapps Narrows, past Poplar Island, and on up to Kent Narrows and the bridge.  We are back in the land of the watermen and crab pots, and dodging crab pots is part of the end of the journey.

Back in the land of watermen and crab pots

 It is windy, but once we get behind Poplar Island we have some protection from the wind, and the water is getting calmer.

We were hoping to make the 11:30 a.m. bridge opening at Kent Narrows but we didn’t quite get there in time, so we drifted around and ate our lunch while waiting for the 12:00 bridge opening.  The water on the north side of the bridge is still skinny, and I was glad when we got through this last “hurdle” without touching bottom!

Well, this is it – the last page – the last day of our great adventure!  And it has been a real adventure!  I never thought I would ever do anything like this in my life!  I suppose, as a non-boat person, that I didn’t really know what to expect – living on a boat for months (with a cat who probably wasn’t terribly interested in changing her life-style) to traveling to a new place everyday, and living the saying, “it’s mostly all pleasure interrupted by moments of sheer terror!”  Bob, I know, had a blast!  People who have done this before can tell you so many stories and give you so much advice about their experiences, but until you jump in and do this trip on your own, you just don’t have a clue as to what it will be like.  And really – it wasn’t such a big deal.  You are just living on a boat – yeah, there may be more “yikes” moments than if you lived in a house, but, truly, it’s a trip that’s beautiful, exciting, and filled with great memories!

            We’ve had 2,784 miles of great experiences!  I don’t think I can pick out one day over another that wasn’t worth the effort to do!  From visiting quaint little towns, traveling through some of the most remarkable scenery, meeting people from all walks of life who all have a story to tell – it was all fascinating!  

            One of the most memorable parts of this trip was crossing Florida by way of Lake Okeechobee and spending a week cruising the west coast with friends and being followed by an alligator as we toured a little bayou in a dinghy – even if it was for only a few minutes!  It’s experiences like that that leave me thinking I’m so glad we made the effort to make this journey.

            There are a few things that we will really miss now that we are back home – Publix Grocery Store, Florida tomatoes, the tropical plants, the variety of wildlife and birds, and one thing we really enjoyed was the simplicity of daily living on the boat.

            There were some observations that might be interesting to remember about this trip:

            The holding tank holds more than I ever thought it could!

            You can’t have too many fenders, especially in a lock!

            You can’t count on leaving a trail on the GPS because the “bread crumbs” always seem to vanish when you want them the most!

            The “magenta line” is only a guide – a good guide – but only a guide!

            I don’t know what kind of memories Miss Lucy will have.  I always told her she was going to become an adventure cat, but now she will have to go back to being an ordinary house cat and be satisfied with catching an errant mouse from time to time.  I know she became a braver kitty than I ever thought she would, although she’s still a “scaredy cat.”  She was a pleasure to have on the boat and really made the boat a “home” even though there were times I thought for a few fleeting seconds that I wished we’d left her home!  But that was just fleeting!

            We pulled into our slip on the Corsica River at 1:30 p.m., and now have to return to the real world.  I already have a “to do” list started.  I guess it doesn’t take long to assimilate back to our old lives.

            One final note about Miss Lucy – she came out as usual when the engines stopped, took one look around at her “new” surroundings and made a beeline for back “under the covers!”

 So…that’s all folks!

            I am wondering what could possibly be our next “adventure”.  I know Bob would do this again without too much urging, and I think I heard him talking to someone the other day about maybe doing the Great Loop.

            Yikes!

Lena Victoire back in her home port

THE END

            

Monday, May 13, 2013 – Deltaville, VA – Solomon’s, MD:

            After an uneventful night and morning, we left Solomon’s at around 8:30 a.m. with grandiose intentions of getting to Tilghman Creek in the Miles River, which would have been a distance of about 95 miles.  In addition to the current not being with us, and the wind picking up and howling at around 20 knots and over - by the time we reached Solomon’s, we decided the prudent course would be to head in there and anchor in Mill Creek.  I think the cat was happy we chose that course also.

            The weather has turned ridiculously chilly again.  The temperature is supposed to go down into the upper 30’s tonight!!  What happened to spring?  I am back in long pants, socks, a turtleneck shirt, sweatshirt, and jacket.  For Pete’s sake – this is the middle of May.  It also seems like we can’t shake that black cloud that seems to hover over us as we make our way up the bay.  It looks heavily laden with rain, but so far none has fallen on us!

            I think Lucy cat can sense that we are getting close to the end of our adventure.  When I came down to make lunch today, as we were being bounced all over the water, I tried to tell her that we would be home tomorrow, but I didn’t get much of a response as she was hiding under the covers.  All I received for my efforts was a disgruntled and curt, “meow.”

            We plan on leaving here tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. to get home by late afternoon.  That may be a bit of a stretch as we have 73 miles to go - although we have done more than that in one day on our trip!  We have mixed emotions about tomorrow…from happy to finally be arriving home to sad that this adventure is coming to an end and wondering how to readjust to the “real” world again!

            I’m hoping that we will have an uneventful trip the last day, but who knows – when you are on the water in a boat – anything can happen!  I’ll let you know tomorrow!

            

The last sunset

Sunday, May 12, 2013 – Great Bridge (Mile 8) to Deltaville (Chesapeake Bay):

            Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there!

            It poured rain in the middle of the night, and I wondered what kind of weather we would have today – well, we really had a mix of everything!   Woke up to gray skies and drizzle, and we didn’t feel much like charging around.  However, we finally untied the boat and got going around 9:00 a.m.

            We are now heading into Norfolk, and I am not looking forward to getting through this very busy area in the pouring rain and wind.  We have four bridges to get through this morning, but none of them are a problem.  As we passed through the heavy commercial area into the more “yachty” area, and we passed by “Mile 0” the sun actually starts to come out!  And by the time we pass the Navy yard the weather is pretty nice.  It is still pretty windy by Hampton Roads and the Elizabeth River, and I wonder what it’s going to be like out in the Bay. 

            Well, it was rough!  Big waves!  But eventually it calmed down, and for the most part we had a comfortable run until we got approximately 10 miles outside of Deltaville when the weather got nasty again.  No rain, but the wind really picked up and the waves were really big – I was starting to be reminded of Winyah Bay but fortunately there was no rain, but it was bouncy and rolling.  There were a few dark clouds overhead, but whatever was in them stayed there.  The whitecaps looked like giant wads of cotton on the crests of the waves, and I hoped that when we got into the lee of Windmill Point it would calm down.

            Which it did, and we arrived at Dozier’s Regatta Point about 4:30.  I was hoping we could anchor out somewhere, but it is just too rough to keep going and find a spot.  The marina here is full of boats that have done the Great Loop and they are having a rendezvous here.  I wanted to tell them that our boat had done the Great Loop twice – just not with us.  I don’t think that would count though!

            Miss Kitty Cat seemed fine today – although why she didn’t get seasick today is beyond me!  But she came out as soon as I told her we were “here” and decided to perch up on the shelf behind the helm next to us and observe the goings on.  Pretty soon she will have to become an ordinary house cat again!

Feeling much better

            Tomorrow we are going to try and head to Solomons – we are getting closer to home!

Saturday, May 11, 2013 – Alligator River Marina (Mile 84) to Great Bridge (Mile 8):

            Up again really early, and after a quick breakfast we are “on the road” by 7:00 a.m.  As we leave the marina the wind was 15 – 20 knots, but from the south so we weren’t bothered by it too much.  We are out in the Alligator River for four miles and then you enter Albemarle Sound and cross this for 15 miles into the North River.  You are warned to be careful of the weather in Albemarle Sound as just a little wind can make the shallow water very choppy and sometimes dangerous, but the weather worked out for us, and we got across in good time.

            There seem to be crab pots everywhere – I guess the season is starting!  We keep a sharp lookout for them as they can be hard to see when the waves are two to three feet!

            The North River has the typical scenery we find in these parts with cypress trees and cypress knees and swamp like areas bordering the river, but it’s attractive in here.  The North River takes you to the Carolina Cut and past Coinjock where we stayed on the way down here.  I wanted to find out where the name Coinjock comes from, but I don’t have very good internet service here, and I may not even get to post this blog.  We are just outside of Norfolk, and I would have thought there would have been no problem with getting online, but apparently not!

A cottage on the water that we passed

            Anyway, the Waterway Guide says that “Coinjock, named by the Indians for the berries still growing in the area…” so that’s as much as I can find out right now.

            After Coinjock we enter Coinjock Bay, which is where we passed the barge on the way down in October.  I think I held my breath the entire way in Coinjock Bay in anticipation of another passing incident!  But, fortunately, we didn’t run into any commercial traffic – nothing except a thunderstorm!  It’s pretty in here, but neither Bob nor I can remember it – we think the barge incident wiped out our memory of that day!

The thunderstorm 

            Coinjock Bay goes into the North Landing River (that’s actually where we passed the barge – in the narrow part!) and Currituck Sound; and at about Mile 34 you enter Virginia!  From there you enter the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal and then you start the parade of bridges!

            First up – North Landing Swing Bridge which opens on the hour and half-hour – we had no problem there.  Then the Centerville Turnpike Bridge, which also opens on the hour and half-hour.  Well, we didn’t think we could quite get there in time for the next opening, so we sort of dawdled our way up there, and we called the bridge tender because we thought he could see us and we didn’t want him to think we were trying to get there in time for the next bridge opening.  But when we called him he said he had another boat coming, and so we hurried on up and got through.  We thanked him profusely and headed toward the next bridge – the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge which is usually open.  You know my feeling about railroad bridges, but we got through this one without any trains barreling down on us.  The next bridge was the Great Bridge which only opens on the hour, and we knew we would have to hang around awhile for this one, but I called the bridge tender to let him know we were hanging around, and he told us that there was a tug and barge approaching, and he was going to have to open the bridge for him, and if we would call the tug operator we could coordinate both of us passing through the bridge when he opened for the barge.  Well, the barge/tug captain was listening, and he broke in and gave us instructions about how to coordinate both of us getting through the bridge – so that worked out great!

The barge we passed at the bridge

            Next up was the Great Bridge Lock which opens when the bridge opens, but I was concerned about who was going to be let into the lock – north or southbound traffic so I called the lock tender earlier to find out how to coordinate the bridge and the lock.  He told me that they would be taking northbound boats, and he also gave me instructions as to where to tie up, etc.  So that worked out much better than we anticipated.  The bridge opened early for us because of the barge, and the lock tender (who was also listening in on our conversation because it was all done over Channel 13 which the bridges, barges, and locks all monitor!) let us in early whereupon we had a nice conversation with him while waiting for the lock to open up for us.

Waiting for the lock to open

            Finally, we just had to get through the Steele Bridge which we thought opened only on the hour, but when we called the bridge tender, she said she opened on the half-hour also.  So we got through that one in pretty good time.

            Immediately after the Steele Bridge was the Top Rack Marina where we were going to stay for the night.  They offer fuel at a ridiculously low price, and if you have dinner at the restaurant, they left you stay in the slip overnight for free.  You can’t beat that!  And dinner at the restaurant was fabulous.  It happened to be “prom night” and all the kids were beautiful and handsome in their tuxes and prom dresses and on their best behavior!

            Once we got tied up in our slip, I informed Miss Kitty that we were “here” and she could come out now!  Which she did, but I noticed that she seemed like she didn’t feel very well and actually a few minutes later she had a little tummy upset.  I guess she finally succumbed to all the rocking around and maybe got a little seasick.

She perked up right after she ruined one of our dining chairs (no, no…just kidding!!).

            Tomorrow we are going to try and make it to Deltaville – another long day, but we will be that much closer to home!

            Oh, by the way, I finally found out via the internet that Coinjock means either “Land of the Mulberries” or “the place of blueberry swamps.”  Take your pick.  You can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true, right??