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| Heading up the C & D canal |
Wednesday May 18th /20th - Annapolis City Dock - Today was going to be a long day 58 miles, we untied the lines shortly after 7am. This would give us a little push up the Chesapeake Bay. Our timing was a little off, the current wasn't running as quickly as we thought. The Bay was a little choppy at first but mother nature had promises of much more pleasant weather. Around 1:30 in the afternoon we pulled into Chesapeake City. No one was on the free city dock because there were pilings that stated "NO DOCKING". This didn't bother us we just dropped the hook in the basin. We've been here before and knew this anchorage very well, if we could get the anchor to hold!!! There was quite a bit of grass because its early in the season and took a few tries. Finally, we dropped the hook, relaxed a bit before taking the dinghy down to visit the tiny little town. The weather had warmed up back into the high 70's so we changed into tees and shorts.
When we went ashore to the tiny little town we visited the town hall and inquired about the 'no docking'. The clerk explained there was a wedding on the dock in the boats scheduled for Friday. Weddings are quite picturesque and romantic in this basin. We walked around and enjoyed the English gardens surrounding the circa 1700 homes. Famished from our day we walked over to the Tikki Bar and restaurant by the water and enjoyed great hamburgers for a late lunch/early dinner. After lunch we went down to the city dock and met the groom and wished him well on his new adventure. He was very excited and invited us to tie up behind him because he had a cancellation and told us the wedding was around 11 if we were staying. We thanked him but told him that we were heading out early Friday morning if weather permitted. The conversation turned to boating and travelling the ICW, he was in his late 50's and looking forward to retirement and cruising. Walked back to the dinghy and headed back for the Summer Wind. That evening we enjoyed a light salad for dinner. We stayed two nights in this great little spot and enjoyed another great day of weather and walking around.
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| Chesapeake City Bridge |
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| Chesapeake City Boutique |
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| Quaint Circa 1700 Chesapeake City Home |
Friday May 20th - Chesapeake City Anchorage- Timed our departure around 6:30 in the morning, today was going to be another long travel day. Our destination was
Utsch's marina in Cape May, NJ. This stop was going to be special for us because we planned to leave the boat in Cape May and rent a car to drive back to the Flynn's in Arlington. Little Lauren and Moira were having a birthday celebration.
When we first entered the C & D canal the tide was against us for a while, but once we entered the Delaware River the tide would be with us most of the way. Once we entered the river we discovered it was like a sheet of glass, YEAH!!! It was a little foggy but we wouldn't complain! Shortly after 3pm we were tied up and called the car rental agency. As we were tidying up the Summer Wind, Dick met our next door neighbors Bill & Nancy aboard "Watauga". They were loopers and MTOAers and invited us to join them for ribs on the dock with two other couples. We were delighted and told them we'd join them. That evening we met Hal and Cheryl aboard "Mas Bueno" and Brenda and Ken aboard "Tellico Lady". Everyone brought a dish to share and we had a delightful time. The three boats travel together and they were all doing the loop, which sounds like great fun! Thanks guys we had a great time!
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| Flat seas on the Delaware River |
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Pot luck in Cape May! Great way to meet new friends!
photo courtesy of Tellico Lady |
Saturday May 21st /23rd Arlington, VA - Today we travelled by car and by boat, How do you ask? Well by Ferry! We drove to the Cape May/Lewes Ferry and took a ride over to Lewes Delaware then drove to Arlington, Va. The excursion was fine on the Ferry ,mother nature wouldn't have been so kind to us however had we been on the Summer Wind. The drive however became more harrowing as we neared Washington , DC, the indicator lights started coming on and flashing at Dick. The car seemed to be stalling and then all of a sudden it would accelerate. By the time we arrived at Debby's we were exhausted and nervous.It was wonderful seeing the Flynn family again and explained our dilemma with the car. Debby immediately said it has to go back and gave Dick the phone numbers to Enterprise. Because it was Saturday afternoon the only places open were the airports so Debby went with Dick to the nearby Dulles airport to pick up a much more reliable vehicle. They returned with a much nicer and reliable vehicle, Thank goodness! That evening Debby and Chris made a wonderful dinner and invited some close friends Ken and Mary Beth, and their parents. We enjoyed a lovely meal on their back porch by the fireplace topped off with celebritory cake #1. Debby told us to pace ourselves this weekend, but its dessert LOLOL! By the way we should mention that Meghan decorated each cake beautifully.
Sunday morning everyone went to watch Meghan play soccer with her team. The game was very exciting! Meghan scored an assist and a goal! Her team is amazing to watch, they had great sportsmanship and teamwork. They were incredibly athletic because they made running up and down the field look easy. Meghan's team won!!
In the afternoon we experienced two wonderful birthday celebrations! Moira and her friends celebrated with a Moon bounce, a egg spoon race, pasta necklaces and a lot of great fun topped off with ice cream and cake #2. Then we celebrated Laurens birthday with her friends with pizza, cake #3, ice cream and lots of fun! We think we paced ourselves rather well and enjoyed each delicious morsel. Sadly early Monday morning we said our good byes and drove back to the Summer Wind.
Late Monday afternoon we were back in Cape May restocking the boat and returning our rental car. Met up with our new looper friends who had been stuck here because of the weather. They told us it rained the whole weekend.
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| The Captain enjoying someone else at the helm |
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| Demonstrating the race technique |
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| Poise and Grace |
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| Oh what to wish for!!! |
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| Sharing a wish with friends! |
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| The return trip |
Tuesday May 25th -Cape May, NJ - Up early again and decided that the ocean would not be great to travel. So we decided to take the inside route. This is not one of our favorite trips because it adds approximately 15 miles because of winding through the marsh. The
NJICW is not maintained like the southern route and therefore has many areas with skinny water. Even though we timed our departure heading into high tide we did run aground in the channel on the Broad
Thorofare entrance near Great Egg harbor Inlet. After boating for 31 years we had to succumb to calling Tow Boat US to get us off. This was the second time the Captain had top do that in all his years. Luckily he had subscribed to unlimited towing, for the bill was $595.00. The rest of the day was just as harrowing because of the shallows. Entering from the back of
Absecon Inlet we saw first hand that the ocean was boiling, breakers were rolling up the inlet, so it we were smart not to be in the ocean. Finally about 5:30 PM we dropped the hook in Atlantic city. Broke out a bottle of wine and relaxed for the evening.
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| Our Hero to the rescue! |
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| Atlantic City at Sunset |
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| The Sky painted with a feather |
Wednesday May26th- Atlantic City, NJ - Mother Nature was at it again, the winds just wouldn't subside, therefore we decided the inside route again. Today would be a rather long day of 68 miles. The trip although long wasn't as tense because the waters are a little deeper. Our destination today was the Glimmer Glass anchorage in
Manasquan. It's a tiny little anchorage that we enjoy,,, however make sure your entering on a rising tide YIKES! We dropped the hook temporarily until we could move further into the anchorage past the low water.
Thursday May 27th - Glimmer Glass, Manasquan, NJ- Today we rose at the crack of dawn. The Ocean was settling with 2-3ft swells but Mother Nature was promising afternoon thunderstorms. Our trip was rather short into the ocean and the swells were rather easy for the boat to handle. We were able to keep the autopilot on and the Summer Wind handled her course well. As we were turning into Sandy Hook channel we came across the coast guard. They were there for two reasons, its Fleet week in New York City and unfortunately they were looking for 2 missing swimmers that were pulled in by the rip tide. After the past few days we couldn't believe that people attempted to go into the ocean when there are high riptides. Shortly mid morning we dropped the hook in Atlantic Highlands. We were 1of 3 boats anchored for the night. Mother Nature came rolling through in the evening and put on a spectacular show.
Friday May 28th- Atlantic Highlands, NJ- Our trip today was a rather short excursion. We were going to enter the New York Harbor and drop a hook behind Lady Liberty. There is a wonderful protected little anchorage that we shared with 2 other boats.
Saturday May 29th- New York City, NY- Weighed anchor shortly before 8 am to time our excursion up the East River. Dick had it timed well, we were doing 10- 13kts at most times. It was a fairly uneventful trip until we came to the notorious Hells Gate. She was boiling and wouldn't you know there were 4 Kayakers entering Hells Gate all abreast of one another in the middle. Although Dick had slowed down early and blew his horn to let them know we were coming through, it made for a difficult situation. If any of you know what Hell's Gate Eddy's are like you know you need to have a little engine power when you hit the Eddys. Well we couldn't because the Kayakers were still in the channel although they were trying to get out of the way. Dick kept great control of the Summer Wind but I must say I heard some great sailors terms! Our destination today was Manhasset Bay. We're hoping to surprise the Harlemites and join them for the Memorial Day Rear Commodore's Rendezvous! Dropped a hook and, we'll let you know of that event later!
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| World War II planes circling Lady Liberty |
