The "Baltimore Bash"

White Rocks??

Sunday Sept. 12, 2010 - An early morning shower delayed our departure from the Chesapeake basin. Once the rain stopped we untied from the dock and headed for our next destination Rock Creek anchorage just a few miles south of Baltimore. The trip to the anchorage was uneventful. It was a muggy, dull and  very damp day. This was our first time into the anchorage and we were a little leary when we read 'be aware of white rocks'. Well we discovered that the area is well marked and the rocks were above water, so they were easy to spot.

 The bottom of the anchorage was heavy black mud and once we were able set the anchor she was set in good, but what work it made to clean off the anchor, YUCK!This anchorage was a great jump off stop to get into the Baltimore Harbor for the Northern Rendezvous of the MTOA (Marine Trawler Owner's Association).

Anchorage Marina, Baltimore, MD

Monday Sept. 13-17 2010 - Woke up fairly early and excited that we were heading for Anchorage Marina in the Baltimore harbor. The MTOA was having a National Northern Rendezvous and its their 20th Anniversary Celebration. We always have a great time with this very active cruising group. There were over 80 boats participating and over 200 people in attendance. Believe it or not there were 6 Nova/Heritage East boats and  seven couples, we had our own little mini rendezvous.

Nova/HE Owners' Group

Each morning most MTOAers congregated for a wonderful breakfast and then spent the rest of the day in seminars.  One of the highlights of the week was the Dinner Cruise aboard the Spirit of Baltimore. The cruise took us through the Inner Harbor of Baltimore and there was an outdoor concert being held  at Pier Six Pavillion by Crosby, Stills & Nash. Unfortunately we couldn't convince the captain that hey this would a great place to drop the anchor for a while! Oh well, we ate, drank and danced the night away, what fantastic fun! As usual the captain was very curious about the bridge and it was open for anyone that wanted to come have a look. 

Friday was supposed to be our day of departure but the winds were blowing on the bay. The sun was shining and the temperatures were warm despite the wind so we decided to take a side trip to Fort McHenry. It's a star shaped fort that survived the British invasion. Scott Key wrote the tribute to the Star Spangled Banner that is now the American anthem. There is a 'Star Spangled' buoy that marks the spot where the British prison ship was stationed just above the Scott Key bridge.


Fort McHenry



What a difference a day makes! Cape May, NJ - Chesapeake City, MD

Enjoying Ice Cream and Conversation along the C & D
Canal with Denise, Al, Lulu, Paul & Anthony

According to Skipper Bob (the boater's bible to cruising) leaving 2 hours after low tide is the best time to depart the Cape May Canal and head up the Delaware Bay. This meant a departure shortly after 6 am,, YIKES!! Whats with this 6am stuff??? Needless to say we took advantage of the knowledge of the 'bible' and headed out. We were not alone in this crusade, several boats were not long ahead or behind. There was a mass exodus heading up the Delaware Bay. To say that the seas were calm is a little misspoken. The seas had not quite settled and the first few hours were rocky, we can imagine with clarity what other captains faced the day before. The tide was with us and we were cruising at almost 10 knots most of the way. The 70 plus mile trip was complete shortly around 1pm. To say we were flying is an understatement. As we entered the Chesapeake City basin we noticed the free dock becoming available. A small day boat left the dock and the 55' Flemming was making room for another boater , US!!! It's incredible luck to get a coveted spot on the free dock because this stop is extremely popular with not only long distance cruisers but also with the locals. Chesapeake City basin is lined with a picturesque park, cute boutiques, a great ice cream shop and a jumping tikki bar.  It was a beautiful, hot, and sunny afternoon , so we decided to indulge in the delicious ice-cream. This is where we met a group of five friends and began to chat. It's always wonderful meeting new people and we had a lovely conversation with it ending that they will hopefully see us on our trek back north in the spring. What a delight!! You never know!!

Just one of those days!! Atlantic City to Cape May, NJ

Both of us were well rested, and up and dressed by 6:30 in the morning. Most of you know that we love to sleep in and this early rising just isn't our routine. The morning sky was brightening so  we took a peak out to see if anyone else was crazy and awake. Lo' and behold we noticed a boat just at the entrance to the Absecon Inlet. It looked like Horizon IV being assisted by another boat. Well, our ominous warning about the channel came to haunt our friends. They had left before sunlight in anticipation to beat the weather and get a 'head start' and unfortunately missed the last marker, YIKES! Fortunately they had a good samaritan boater that helped them off their grounding and then rescue their dinghy. By the time we raised our anchor and headed out to the entrance of the Inlet, our friends were already underway. So, we headed out into an ocean with waves and the promise of deteriorating weather. As a consensus both boats turned back into the Inlet and decided to try the inside route.  This is where we should have just all gone back to bed... like our friends on another boat called Irish Rover. They saw us turn back in from the ocean and decided to just go back to their slip.
The day deteriorated from then on, our friends on Horizon IV,in a narrow canal discovered they had lost their starboard steerage. They had to quickly find a marina that would short haul their boat, with the way the ICW winds there was no way they could have continued. We said good bye to them and headed onward. The winds piped up and with all the bridge delays and no wake zones, we lost the advantage of the tide. It was a new moon and low tide was 22 inches lower than normal. On the intracoastal that is more then substantial because the intracoastal is notorious for being shallow in normal conditions. We heard several boats ahead and behind warning other boats of treacherous spots and then there was the nonstop Towboat US calls for grounded vessels. The Summer Wind soon joined calling towboat US, one minute we were in 20 feet ,, then all of a sudden we were aground, the wind gave us an extra push for extra measure.  It took Towboat over 40 minutes to get us ungrounded. As we were stuck we received a call from our friends. Their boat was fixed and they were back on the water. Our boat had gone aground 2 more times but we were able to get her off ourselves. Another day we found ourselves racing the sunset at a very stressful snails pace, we finally made it to the marina shortly around 6:30 pm. Our friends on Horizon IV didn't fair much better, they too went aground and they were verbally guided into Utsch's marina by towboat US after 8:30,, what a very long day!! When Tim and Joanne came to their slip, we hugged and greeted them ,, then all four of us went to dinner at the "Lucky Bones".The NJICW (New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway) is not our favorite and I hope to never have to do the NJICW ever again!!!

Dinner at the "Lucky Bones" with Tim and Joanne

Joanne & Tim on Horizon IV

Our plan was to spend 2 nights in Cape May. Tim and Joanne changed their plans and decided to head out because the weather prediction didn't fair well for the next few days. They were unfortunately on a timing schedule so we sadly said our good byes. Well 2 nights turned into 4 nights. The winds were coming out of the north with gusts over 25 knots creating 4-5 foot seas. Oh well, so we did quite a bit of walking around Cape May. Its one of our favorite spots with great beaches, cute boutiques, wonderful ice cream and great restaurants. On Friday there were a few souls that tried to leave but shortly after an hour we saw their return with very unhappy captains and tales of high seas.

Cape May, B & B