Summer Wind: October 2012

25* degree drop in one day!

Friday, October 5th,

Captain's Log -

Another beautiful day. Left Jackson Creek early in the morning heading for Portsmouth,VA. We have been on the Chesapeake many times and the last few days has been the best we have seen. Sometimes it can be pretty nasty with high waves, but this trip it has been as smooth as glass. NICE!!!

This trip takes us close to the Navy base and we see many "Warships" as they call themselves on the radio. As we approached the York River one of those ships was heading down and out to sea. Behind it was a very fast boat that was riding on an airstream. It approached the large ship as the back of that opened and this boat just rode right in and the back closed. Very Neat!!!

Came to the basin where we normally tie up and noticed new signs which we never saw before. "No Docking between 12am to 6am. Being nervo9us about that we checked with the marine store next to the basin and the coffee kiosk and both stated not to worry. The signs are for Liability since there is no electric or pump out service here. Have been here 3 days and no one has approached us.

In the morning we strolled through Portsmouth. We checked out the farmer's market and the flea market. Although we didn't purchase anything, there was a lot of tempting items. Had a great lunch with our friends Sam and Barbara yesterday. This has become a bi-annual celebration and this year was no different. Thanks guys for joining us again. See you at our new home in Paradise.

Tomorrow Monday, October 8 we will depart. Fill the fuel tanks and head south.

To be continued:

Sunrising on the Chesapeake

Wolftrap Light

LCAC entering an Amphibian Naval Ship

A Pod of Pelicans

Interesting Coat Hooks?

Some kind of Agricultural Gizmo?

Lunch on Granby Street

Sunday October 7th-

First Mate- Woke up to a chill in the air, the thermometer read 60 degrees and there was a cool breeze blowing in the hatches. At first we weren't sure where we were because we fell asleep to very comfortable 74 degree temperatures last night. It looks like fall weather is finally here! We enjoyed a warm sunny day yesterday of 85*! Needless to say, shorts was not the dress for the day. Out came the sweatshirts and long pants! We thought about travelling today and then looked at NOAA, nope, travel isn't in the forecast. Mother Nature is bringing in some pretty heavy thunderstorms. So, we're staying put for the day.
We turned on the generator to warm up the inside of the Summer Wind. Next order of business was getting a nice hot pot of coffee brewing. Breakfast,,, hmmmm, what to make for breakfast, a cool wet and windy day requires a nice hot breakfast. My solution was a steaming pot of oatmeal. But not ordinary oatmeal, no, out came an apple, a few strawberries and some cinnamon and a little vanilla.

Piankatank,, pronounced pee-an-ka-tank

Thursday October, 4th

First Mates Log:

Heading out into the Chesapeake Bay

The alarm was our friend this morning. We were a little worried about sleeping in so we did the unthinkable and set it for 7am. Well, I guess we know ourselves really well, because when it went off, fire drill practice! Quickly dressed and on the deck, we had just caught the first lights dancing across the clouds. But dallying around to watch the sunrise wasn't on the captain's mind. The crew began readying the Summer Wind and we made great time dropping the lines from the dock.
As we were heading out the entrance to the Patuxent River, coffee was brought up to the bridge. The river was calm and the sun was still making it's way into the sky. There were rain clouds off in the distance, but it was a peaceful sprinkle.
Turned south at the mouth of the river and headed out into the Chesapeake Bay. We came across several watermen. The picture below shows two boats working a huge net. They circle and then pull in their catch. Each watermen was wearing their traditional waders but what was interesting was that they were wearing hard hats. Hard hats? Were they expecting flying fish? Pelicans and Sea Gulls were circling hoping to catch an easy dinner.
Our trip today was relaxing and enjoyable, we had the current in our favor as we were clocking well over 8.5 knots most of the day. Six hours later we turned into our anchorage for the night. We chose a lovely spot in Jackson Creek off the Piankatank River. It was a beautful and quiet night topped off with a fabulous sunset.

Point No Point Lighthouse

Smith Light

Sunset on the Piankatank

Looking at the back view

Chesapeake Bay

Sept 20 - Oct 3

Captain's log:

Can't believe we haven't written anything on our blog for all this time. We have had a kind of tumultuous journey.

We left Chesapeake City on a glorious morning with the Bay being as smooth as glass. Planned on anchoring in the Magothy river where we have been before. Arrived in the river about 4:00 pm, dropped the hook, and settled down for what we thought was going to be a nice relaxing evening.

Our phone rang and we found out we had a family emergency that had to be taken care of. Couldn't do anything that evening so the next morning early we scooted across the Bay to the Kent Island Yacht Club where we rented a car and drove to NJ. Stayed a couple of days and then returned to the Summer Wind.

Left Kent Island Yacht Club and found the Chesapeake Bay again very smooth. Decided to do a long day to the Patuxent river and anchor in Mill Creek beyond the bridge. We had a beautiful clear night with a 3/4 moon which shown brightly. The next day we were scheduled to go into Spring Cove Marina where we were going to have our port salon windows repaired. The track on both windows had deteriorated and need to be replaced. Received a quote and decided to stay while the track was ordered and the work scheduled to be complete. That was Sept 25 and so we were there for 9 days until the track came in and the mechanic finished the windows.

Met and had dinner with an MTOA couple Paul and Joanne and also Jeffrey and Karen from Active Captain joined us. That was a beautiful last night in Solomon Island. Our windows are looking great and hope they will be fine for another 12 years.

The next morning we untied our lines and left Solomon Island to continue our southern journey.

To be continued: