Wednesday, June 12. Change of Plans

Delaware River Anchorage Adventure

We were in a safe but very uncomfortable anchorage due to strong river current with a strong wind blowing against it all afternoon. When the current switched direction, it was smooth for the next 6 hours, but at midnight we were both awake with the boat bobbing up and down.  Midnight discussion: have we had enough of this? Do we really want go down the Delaware and up the Jersey Coast for only about 4 weeks in New England before we have to go through this struggle again to come back.  We decided NO.  We have done this same trip south in 1977, 1987, 1990, north in 20025 and both directions in 2002, 2009, and 2011. We thought we could do it again but it's just not worth it this time.

Decision made, we got a little sleep and got up at 4:00 to catch the current going back through the canal.  It was still dark as Bruce was getting the anchor up and he yelled for a flashlight because something was hooked on the chain.  It was a huge sea monster composed of two giant loops of heavy rusty rotten metal cable, masses of old rope, and a thick stick of wood all wrapped in several loops of OUR CHAIN!  Below it was our anchor which was no longer holding us in place. I had to motor forward against the strong current while Bruce put out another anchor.  When it was holding, we confronted the monster.  I whined, "We'll have to call for help." But Bruce stared it down. He began to try this and that, hammering at the wooden stick, cutting away bits of small rope and trying to cut the cable with a hacksaw. I fetched tools and offered suggestions.

It was still very dark when I took this picture of the knot with the brown river flowing past it.

Eventually he put the dinghy in the water, tied as close to the bow as possible.  We cranked up the part of the chain and anchor hanging under the mess.  He detached the anchor and lifted it on deck. Then he passed the free end of the chain (about 15 feet) around the tangled mess 3 or 4 times while I took video.  (I'll try to put a video clip in later.  Don't know how to do that.)

All this took a lot of time and when we were done it was too late to go through the canal.  We had missed the tide as they say in 19th century novels of the sea. We would also have missed the tide to go down the Delaware, had that still been our intention. 

At noon we started through the canal and by 5 pm we were back in the Sasafrass River awaiting severe thunderstorms predicted for the whole area, to be followed by a cold front with NW winds blowing 40 kts. Fortunately, this didn't happen till the next day so we had a chance to rest and swim.

What next?  Have not made new plans yet.

June 9-11

We have had no wifi/Internet, so here is an entry from last week.
June 9. Sunday, the beginning of our 3rd week. We are now at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, ready to go through the canal and down the Delaware River. But the weather forecast for the next few days is not good.

Tuesday, June 11.  Rained off and on yesterday, but we were in the lovely Sassafras River where we could swim in fresh water and even had a little walk in a park ashore. It was stormy all night, so not very restful!

This morning we motored through the canal, timing it to get the favorable current, and whizzing thru at 8.8 knots. Now we are anchored on the Delaware side ready to leave tomorrow at zero-dark-thirty to get some help from the river current.

Surprise! Tropical Storm Andrea

June 6.  We motored up to Annapolis yesterday. It was a calm and sunny beautiful day.  We're here to wait out the rainy weather, probably 3 days maybe 4.  It's a pleasant city and friendly to cruisers.  We walked 20 minutes to the supermarket this morning and will go to the central harbor later and take showers, which you can still get for $1.  We do not have a shower on our boat.  There is an Art Festival this weekend, but maybe it will get rained out.  Things are supposed to be worse in Oriental so I hope you all will be ok.

My Lucky Day

June 3. Solomons MD.  Cloudy with showers. We'll stay here today and tomorrow. No internet connection on the boat, but when we went for a walk we found a brand new library in the strip mall by the dinghy dock.  In fact, we met Nancy Huff as we went in to check it out. This library has only been here since May 22!! What luck! A great place to spend a couple of rainy days. If you are looking at my blog, please comment once in a while, so I know you are there.

June 1 and 2. Which Way to Go

On this trip there are several route options from Norfolk.  The direct ocean route is shortest, but we won’t do it in less than perfect conditions.  Forecasts of foggy areas dissuaded us from heading out into the ocean on either the red line or the purple line. 

So we have started up the Chesapeake which means 100s of miles of sailing or motoring and anchoring every night; 60 miles a day is a long day for a 35 foot sailboat with a small engine.  We average 4-5 mph, maximum 7-8 mph. You could cover more territory on a bicycle.  So up Chesapeake Bay and down the Delaware River in a week or two if we don’t get delayed gets us to Cape May NJ. Then 1 day offshore to Atlantic City, the second red indent on the map. 

From there we hope to go offshore to Block Island in 2 days + 1 night, avoiding the whole NYC/Long Island Sound thing. I forgot to draw the line from Atlantic City to Block Island which is the white dot at the end of Long Island.  I did this map at home and perhaps I never finished it! 

June 1. Trippin

Sarah Creek to Reidville VA. 50 miles in 9 hours. Anchored at 5pm and had a quick swim. Both exhausted.  Sailed nicely for 2 hours, then suddenly calm. Motored for a while, then wind again quite strong for the last few hours.  You never know!

There's getting there and being there.  This part of our cruise is like being at the airport or on the airplane.  We're on our way, but a long way from where we want to be, which is Rhode Island and Cape Cod, MA.  In other words this is not the fun part.  Books and toys and music and patience and a positive attitude help pass the time in the airport and on the flight, but it's not really where you want to be. 

June 2. The Last Day of This Good Weather

Reidville VA to Solomons MD.  40 miles.  Left at 5:30 am, anchored at 1:30. Right after leaving Readville, we sailed across the mouth of the Potomac River.  So on the map we are on the west side of Chesapeake Bay above the mouth of the river that leads to D.C.  But the scale is off -- we are not as far up as it looks.  The forecast was for small craft warnings, gusts to 25 forecast.  That was an understatement, we had sustained gusts over 30, occasionally 40.  Good sailing! But a lot of tension for the captain who never took a break. To reach the harbor we motored to windward for an hour against 25-35 mph.

Internet Connection At Last

May 26. Off I Go at Last

Left the dock at 8 am, found the wind just starting to blow as we motored out into the Neuse. It blew from right in front of us all way to the Bay River, and it was cloudy. Very annoying. Where was the sunny day they predicted? After 2 hours we got sheltered in the Bay River and from then on the water was calm and the wind light. The sun came out and as we approached Belhaven it was hot and the sky was blue.  We had 2 unpleasant surprises- The plywood support for the steering geer had developed a crack, there was a rotten bit if wood, so we had to steer by hand and Bruce started thinking up ways to repair it. By mid afternoon he had cut some pieces of aluminum and drilled holes and we have a sort of repair in place, but dont know if it will work.  Also there is water in the fuel, a problem he had discovered weeks ago and thought he had fixed. But the engine ran fine all day because the fuel filter catches all the water--something I just learned about engines.  Anchored at 4 pm just before the Pungo Alligator canal. 6 other boats anchored here also.  Saw very few boats all day.

May 27. Fog and Sun

Left the anchorage at 5:45 with everything shrouded in fog. Into the 3 hour canal where all the fog was concentrated. It lifted slowly, but at one point it looked like we were driving into a snowstorm.  After that it was 8 more hours of motoring in sunshine until we anchored behind Buck Island with 3 other boats at 4pm

May 28. Norfolk VA.  Motored from 5:20 to 2:30. Good thing we left early because we got through Currituck Sound with no wind, that is a long open field of water,very shallow with a narrow marked channel where you have to steer very carefully at best. A power boat guy got on the radio and reported only 1 foot in the channel at the marker just ahead of us.  He was too close to the marker, the correct distance away there was 13 feet.  After that, miles of windy rivers 18 feet deep, a pretty totally wild area until you come to the first of 5 bridges several miles apart.  These open on various schedules and you have go as fast as possible to make some of openings and really slow to avoid getting to others too soon.  It's hard to wait around in a sailboat, backing and circling without hitting anything. After the bridges, another hour to Norfolk and it's hot, but luckily a nice breeze is blowing and we anchor across the river from Nauticus so actually we're in Portsmouth rather than Norfolk.  Everything is working except the steering geer connection, one prong broke off the plug, but Bruce has spare ones, not to worry.

May 29 & 30 Resting, fixing things and taking walks

May 30.  Sarah Creek

Got here about 2 pm and immediately jumped into the water. Hot day breezy at first. Lured us to sail up into the York River. Then calm until we were almost here and then as frequently happens a nice afternoon breeze came up.

May 25. Patience

It's a beautiful day.  So was yesterday.  Why am I still here?

Here's the Marine Forecast for Pamlico Sound:

Today -NW winds 15 to 20 kt with frequent gusts to 25 kt early...diminishing to 10 to 15 kt late. Waves 2 to 3 ft...then 1 to 2 ft late. 

The direction we have to go from here is basically North but the rivers wander NW and NE.  It's all about weather and wind direction. So far we've made the right choice not to leave.  There were storms all over the area between here and Norfolk all week, even though we didn't see any here except on Thursday.

I spent some time with Kathy at her house and met Anne at The Bean with Anne on Thursday,  Julie and I enjoyed The Bean porch on Friday morning, all of which helped pass the time.

Sunday looks like the day to go, which has the advantage of arriving in Norfolk on Tuesday instead of Monday/Memorial Day when the river will be crowded with every sort of little pleasure boat - - kayaks, jet skis, powerboats towing kids on saucers - all hard to keep track of as they zip around among the tugs and barges.