Our First Post

O God, thy Sea is so great and my boat so small

April 28, 2023, Solomons Island Yacht Club Solomon Island Maryland

 

 

 

This will be a short Blog as we were only able to make three voyages this week. Maybe the highlight of the travel was entering the state of Maryland our 22 state, or actually the best was cruising by Hoopers Island. This is a place where our good friends Taylor and Cathie Sage, who had a fantastic multi-generational family Duck Hunting lodge on Hoopers Island.  We spent many great days enjoying an old tradition that we will forever cherish. Wonderful memories of Hoopers Island Duck Club. It was a tough few travel days, no really great sights to see along the way, and lots of open water crossings. This is a very large body of water and pretty shallow, mostly in 20-40 feet depth. In large open shallow water, it makes for very confused waves and seas. Not for the faint of heart, So how did we get to Solomon’s, here is our week in review:

 

 

 

 

Sunday April 23, 2023, Travel Day # 124: Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown VA To Jackson Creek Marina, Deltaville VA.

Total Distance 40 Miles, Total Time 5 Hours

 

We had arranged to travel to Deltaville with Beach House, and so we both departed the dock at 7:30 with Duane and Brenda took the lead as we headed down the York river. It was a smooth departure and winds were low at the start of the day. Yorktown is located 13 miles from The Chesapeake, so it was an easy hour and a half down river at 8 MPH. 

Once we turned the corner and started North on the Bay the waves and wind both picked up. I wanted to run a little further off shore maybe a ½ mile to avoid the crab pots well at least reduce the quantity of them.  I have now figured out where the crabbers place their traps, which is where the water shallows. Two miles off the land the water depth goes from 18 feet to 40, so I wanted to be outside of that area. The track that the navigation software has you travel in is in the shallower waters. We have plenty of depth to travel in 18 feet of water but it’s much easier to not be dodging pots.  Beach House was following the navigation line (inside) and we were outside but after a half hour they fell in behind us and followed us to Deltaville. It was a nice day but as you can see on our track below we are pretty much off shore and not a lot things to see. That pretty much has been our week, three voyages all in the middle of the bay and very little to see. The major Shipping channel is located 10-mile East of where we traveled so we were not close to the big ships, which is usually exciting when they are ½ mile away.  We arrived around noon and cleaned up. There was a great restaurant at the marina and so we had lunch on the deck and had $1 oysters, what a treat. Duane and Brenda joined us for a beer while we ate (they had eaten lunch on the ride to Deltaville). After lunch we walked 2 miles into town and checked it out. There is nothing in Deltaville, if you ever are in the area go check out the waterfront however, there is NO downtown, (a Dollar General and an IGA)! We walked back to the boat and later met for Docktails. They had a great area on the front lawn of the restaurant and then used the grills to cook dinner. Beach House left the next morning, and we were planning two days there.  We said our goodbyes and hope to catch up down the road.

We were having an issue with our aft head, so I had arrange for the boatyard next door to check the issue out on Monday morning, which they did. Sean came aboard figured out what we needed and ordered the parts. They have an arrangement with a parts company that delivers their parts to then the next day by 6 AM, which was great. At 7 AM Sean was on board and fixed both heads, we just had to replace the gaskets, which was an hour project. We had planned to depart on Tuesday morning, but you never know how long a project will take or what they will find when the pee back the onion skin, and when it comes to heads, ANYTHING is possible. The other problem with heads is they double the charge per hour when they have to work on them! At any rate all turned out well, Sean was gone just after 8 AM and we were able to depart before our scheduled “go time” of 10 AM. Not many pictures this week.

 

Track   

 

Pictures

Following Beach House out of the York River

 Crusimg North on the Chesapeake Bay

Western Shoreline of The Bay

 

 

 

Tuesday April 25, 2023, Travel Day # 125: Jackson Creek Marina, Deltaville VA. To Fair Point Marina Reedville VA

Total Distance 26 Miles, Total Time 4 Hours

We had a short day today only 26 miles, and hopefully 3 hours. Unfortunately, as soon as we rounded Stingray Point, the winds and waves picked right up. Therefore, we had our first day of east winds and waves, which meant they were on the beam both hitting us sideways, a very uncomfortable tack. We could only run at 7 MPH, so it took us an extra hour to get to Reedville. As you see in the track there was no land mass to break either up, so it was just a bumpy ride. Once again we were 10 miles west of the shipping channel, so we really had nothing to look at or see on the way. Kind of boring and so overall not a great day, we haven’t had too many of these days, but in general Chesapeake Bay has been very hard to transition. Hasn’t been this difficult since Lake Michigan and we still have more than half the bay to travel. We got into Reedville at 1 PM and had lunch at the restaurant at the marinas. It was highly recommended and didn’t disappoint.  After lunch I had to spend 2 hours washing the salt off the hull and deck as we had taken a lot of water over the bow and stern, so the boat was very salty. We were the only boat at the dock that night, which Meredith doesn’t like doing. I understand her concern however there is not much you can do once you are settled in. Just hope another buddy boats shows up which didn’t happen. There was nothing near the marina and in fact his was one of the very few days we didn’t even go for a walk. Not much is happening in Reedville so another town you can just drive right on by when you are down this way.

 

Track

 

Pictures

Reedville 

 

Wednesday April 26, 2023, Travel Day # 125: Fair Point Marina Reedville VA Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown VA To Solomons Island Yacht Club Solomons Island MD.

Total Distance 47 Miles, Total Time 5.5 Hours

We headed out earlier than normal at 7:30 as we had a long day to travel and wanted to get to Solomons Island as it seems like a great spot to spend a few days which we had planned to do spend two nights here in town. We finally had a southerly wave and wind day which we understood to be the favorable direction. The wind was forecasted to be 10-15 and waves one foot, all week for Wednesday but Tuesday night it changed, (I hate it when that happens!) and we had a small craft warning and winds were now 15-20 with 2–3-foot waves. We still thought since it was a following sea and wave activity it would be a good ride. WRONG! We started out the first hour and it was ok. By 9 AM we had to drive the boat manually (we normally use auto pilot) but the waves that we were surfing were too long and steep. The rudder couldn’t work fast enough to correct the changes, so we just drove the boat the rest of the way. Once again when you see the track for the day we went out of the cove in Reedville and headed north with nothing in front of us to block the wind. We also had to cross the mouth of the Potomac River which is a VERY large body of water. It was an outgoing tide, so all that water was pushing us East (sideways) which added to the challenge. The Potomac is 10 miles wide at the mouth where it enters the bay.  That is a lot of water running out at us. we continued north and things did get a little better when we were north of the Potomac River flow. We pulled into The Solomons Island Yacht Club around 1 PM and were greeted by two other loopers who were also there, Kayak and Port A Gee. The yacht club is very looper friendly and have several members who have done The Loop, so they lay out the red carpet for us. They provide you with two free drink tickets when you arrive, which is a very kind gesture. They have free laundry and welcome you with open arms. We decided to meet the other two couples for drinks at the bar at 5:30 which was fun. There were several members at the bar, and many came over and chatted with us. Beer was only $2 a glass and wine was $4, so for $25 it was a very happy hour. We went across the street for dinner at a great little restaurant many members recommended to us. It was a most enjoyable night. The wind was strong all afternoon and the waves were banging on our hull all night. it was a great night. Kayak and Port A Gee were leaving the next morning, so we said out goodbyes on the dock after dinner. There is bad weather coming on for the next two days so after a night of getting pounded on the dock we decided to move to Spring Cove Marina which was located 1 mile up the river and in a much more protected area. That turned out to be the right thing to do. Its been pouring all day with winds 30-35 MPH so it isn’t a good day, however we are very protected. We hated to leave the Yacht Club and the members who were so wonderful to us, but unfortunately their location is extremely exposed to wind and waves. Very glad we did.

So I agreed to tell you all the good the bad and the ugly so here's a surprise to most I suspect. The reason we are spending three days here is that we met with a boat broker who we have become good friends with to list the boat. He flew up from Florida yesterday and met with and is listing the boat this weekend. The annual Great Loop convention is in Norfolk next week and to me that is the strongest market to sell Her Idea in.  I figured it’s the best time to target that audience and so we asked Mile to come see us. Many folks attending the convention are in the market to buy a boat and so hopefully we will have some interest. Regardless, we will finish The Loop and I am sure Her Idea will be back in Kennebunk this summer but wanted to target the convention and hopefully create some bites. So, Her Idea is now on the market. Meredith is very disappoint and I get that! She is a fantastic loop boat just not a great Maine boat.

We had some friends from Tug Bussell show up last night here, so we have arranged to meet Russ and Janet at 4:30 today and catch up at the captain’s Lounge. We have not seen Russ and Janet since Kentucky on the rivers in September but had spent a lot of time with them this summer in Canada and on the Great Lakes, just wonderful people. They are from Delaware and 12 hours from crossing their wake, which they plan to do tomorrow. Therefore, I think it will be an early night. We are very excited to catch them one last evening before the complete their journey of a lifetime. The marina is excellent and has everything you would want a pool, a nice ships store, courtesy bikes, a Tiki Bar, and a very nice courtesy car. We went shopping yesterday after we arrived and were able to reprovision the boat. This has been a great location and a nice experience. That’s a lot to say since it’s been pouring all day and blowing very hard. Tomorrow we are going to Saint Michaels, which is a 50-mile day, and only 6 hours hopefully. I feel better that Tug Bussell is doing 12 hours and its their home waters. The forecast is North winds 10-15 (I know N winds mean no) and only 1-foot waves. Hopefully things in the forecast don’t change as Sunday and Monday are another two bad weather days. We don’t want to spend 5-6 days here, so fingers crossed. While you folks are reading this with your Saturday morning coffee I sure hope we are as comfortable as you all are, Cheers.

 

Track

Cruising North riding  the waves they don't look like much!
 

West Shore of the Bay

Coming into Solomons Island

Pretty Crab Boats in Solomons Island

 

Flyby!

 Waiting for the grill to get up to cooking temp. great night 

 

Sad Day

Cheers