Chesapeake City to NYC

Thursday May 18

Ok, it has been a while since we posted but there really has not been a lot to talk about.  We left Chesapeake City T
hursday am.  We left very early as the entrance is very "Skinny" and we needed to leave as close to high tide as possible.

We progressed down the C&D canal which is a wide, gravel lined ditch that connects the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay.  It was apparently built as a short-cut to get boats to Philadelphia.  The currents can be quite strong along the canal and we progressed slowly but after turning the corner into Delaware Bay we picked up an almost 3 knot favourable current.  

Not much to see, a nuclear power plant, so the time was spent following Drift Away down he middle of the bay.  There was one lighthouse to break the monotony.!
 We also saw some whales flapping their tails.  Our first sighting on the trip.

Once you reach Cape May you go through a canal to cut off the corner.  We decided to wait until one of the large ferries backed out and turned around before it headed for Lewes, Delaware.

Friday -Sunday

We had planned to spend 2 nights here.  Debbie's sister Charlotte lives only 1 1/2 hours away and we had been using her address to send much needed supplies (more vanilla syrup for Sandy's afternoon lattes).   She arrived Friday afternoon and Jim and Sandy borrowed her car to go on a shopping expedition.  After completing our provisioning we ate dinner at Lucky Bones which is where we had eaten on the way down.  Sandy remembered the crab & shrimp cakes and had been comparing all the others on the trip to these!


We had originally planned on leaving Saturday morning but the weather gods have not been nice to us.  It blew 20 to 25 all day and Windy T said there were going to be 4 - 5' waves so we stayed put.  Drift Away was able to get some sewing done and I caught up on paperwork.  In the afternoon we rode bikes into town to see Cape May. This is a touristy neighbourhood and full of souvenir shops, mini golf, restaurants and of course Ice Cream  A stop at Ben & Jerry's was a must.

Interesting, they did not allow dogs to walk along the pedestrian mall.  You could use the cross-streets but not walk down the centre.  Weird!
We did leave early Sunday and started our trek north.  The winds continued to blow 15 to 20 and the seas were still 3 to 5' so we turned in at Atlantic City.

Our original plan was to anchor in a very nice bay just off the harbour but the entrance is quite shallow.  We anchored in the harbour and decided to have lunch and wait a few hours for the tide.
It was then that we realized that the trip the following day would be very long with over 85 miles to go soooo we elected to take the NJICW.  The only reason we did so was we were going to be leaving on a rising tide.  The new Jersey ICW is not meant for 5' draft boats and I saw a lot of 1 to 2' depths and even a few 0.  My props are now well polished!

We arrived at Barnegat Bay around 7:00 and Jim cooked up a great pot of spaghetti.  Just what the doctor ordered after a very stressful day following the ICW and constantly monitoring the depth sounder.  This is definitely not a do again.

This morning we woke up to rain, rain, rain.  It was cold 14 degrees C but not too windy.  We went back into the Atlantic and headed for NYC.  The waves were not too bad but from the starboard quarter so there was a lot of rolling.  The admiral spent the trip in her normal location for this type of weather.  Flat out on the settee with two blankets and a jacket. the captain was on his own!

An uneventful trip other than the rolling, cold and poor visibility with the rain but much preferred to the previous day.

 We are anchored in Great Kills harbour on Staten Island.  Jim found a spot among the many mooring balls.  This location was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy some time ago and many boats sank. We passed one that just had its bow pulpit above water.  Apparently all of the moorings are private and many are not maintained, just abandoned.

A good location and it will give us easy access to NYC via express bus tomorrow.

The unique barges hat you see here.  A ship bow and an inserts in the stern for the tug

Rock Hall to Chesapeake City

We had a slow start to the day. Bill made his "world famous" blueberry pancakes and some of Sandy's "world famous" sausages for breakfast. Yum!! Off the dock by 11:00 and proceeded up to the tip of the Chesapeake. The quality of the water deteriorates as you go north, a very murky brown and not at all appealing. 

An uneventful crossing until we rounded the corner into the C and D canal where we were confronted with an ocean going roll on roll off ship!! It certainly caught our attention!! We carried on to Chesapeake City where we anchored in the harbour for the night. 

The bottom is the consistency of chocolate fondue! Very goopy and stains everything. It is difficult to get a good hold but there was virtually no wind so we were good with both anchors out. Combined dinner on Drift Away, Bill's favourite General Tao Chicken!!! 

Annapolis to Rock Hall

In the morning we left the mooring and went to "Ego Alley" to the town docks to fill up with water. You really are on display here as it is right in the heart of downtown with lots of people sight seeing, tour groups, jogging enthusiasts and families with little children feeding all the ducks. 

Yard Patrol Boat

Out of the harbour, past the naval academy, heading north underneath the Bay Bridge and across the bay to the small town of Rock Hall. This at one time was very important in the commercial fishing scene but now is more into recreational boating, although there still is some crabbing and oystering being carried on by the locals. We were able to tie up to the town dock for the night. Plenty of room as we were the only two boats!!The 2 bikes and the motorbike came off Drift Away and Jim, Debbie and Bill all rode into town to provision. On the way to Rock Hall a boat had heard us talking and said that " he had had the best crab ever at the local restaurant" so we decided to go for dinner that night. Three of us had the soft shell crab, it was ok, Jim said that it could have been crispier! Maybe the boater was an employee of the restaurant?!?!? 

The problem with the town dock was any southern wind and the swell would rock and roll the boats. The Admiral got the Captain up at 1:00 am to retie and reposition the fenders as she was not happy!!! It calmed down a bit later too so happiness was restored.

Annapolis Day 3

Another glorious day! So nice to have warmer temperatures and sunshine.

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Today was a history lesson! We started by going to the Maryland State Capital building, whose main claim to fame was the resignation of George Washington as Commander in Chief of the military. 

This affectively turned the control of the government into the hands of civilians. A lot of time has been spent in restoring the chamber rooms back to the original decor and furnishings. 

Senate Chamber

This building is still the seat of government today. 

Our next stop was the William Paca house. He was one of the signatories of The Declaration of Independence.This house was built in the mid 1700 hundreds and has been restored to that time. Our guide was a former history teacher with a good sense of humour and was able to share some anecdotes.The house had been a hotel at one time so a lot of changes had been made.

Paca House Gardens with Summer House

The gardens had been completely taken over by garages and parking lots so there was only guesswork and some paintings to reconstruct them. We had a brief stroll through the gardens and then decided we had been historied out so proceeded to downtown for lunch!
We finished lunch with a quick stop at the ice cream store next door. Then back to the boat!! 

Spa Creek

After dropping Jim and Debbie off we took a little tour up Spa Creek. There are an amazing number of moorings in Annapolis, 80-100 at least. Some very nice homes along the way too. We passed by the burnt shell of the Annapolis Yacht Club. It had caught fire in December 2015 due to an electrical malfunction which ignited an artificial Christmas tree.    

Do not know what kind of boat but very large main and oversize rudder

Annapolis

Departure this am was at 7:30.  The wind was supposed to pick up to blow 20, so an early departure seemed to be a good idea.  It was pouring with rain when we left and continued until we almost got to Annapolis.  It was also cold,  11C.  I will be glad when the weather improves. 

To get into the harbour, we had to navigate through the middle of a race of one design (lightning) boats.  There must have been about 50 in the fleet.  We arrived at  the mooring field around 11:00 and picked up a mooring.  It was almost deserted when we arrived but by 5:00 it was half full.

We took the dinghy to shore and met up with relatives-in law of Jim Pyke and ate dinner at Harry Brownes on State Circle, just two blocks from the dinghy dock.  We had a terrific dinner,  softshell crab was on the menu and it was recommended that I try it!  I had already determined that I was not going to have steamed crab after the fiasco when I was on the delivery trip with Chuck, but these are entirely different.  You eat the crab just after it has moulted.  It is lightly coated and fried so you eat the whole thing. Delicious!

This morning we woke up to SUN!  what a pleasant sight after so much rain and wind over the past two weeks.

Jim and Debbie had taken the dog in for a run this am and put our name in at a restaurant for brunch considering it was Mothers’ Day.  We got there ¾ hrs later and walked right in while a lot of people were waiting so we had a good brunch.

It was then off to the Annapolis Naval College for a tour.  What a magnificent campus.!

Drift Away and Seas the Day in the background

It overlooks the harbour and has a lot of space.  Our tour guide was a former graduate, and also the former director of admissions.  He was full of knowledge and gave some great insights into the life of a “plebe”.  Apparently 19,400 apply each year and about 1250 are selected.  As it was when Michael went to Military College, they make sure that you are there for the correct reasons.  They stress honour, knowledge, professionalism dedication and loyalty.

30' tower

It was stressed that each Cadet must participate in an athletic function every day from 3 to 5:30.  It could be inter-collegiate intra-mural etc. but they have to participate.  Navy has turned out a few Heismann Trophy winners.

They have many facilities for sports, the view above is a portion of the pool area.  Every cadet must jump off the 30' tower to simulate what it might be like to abandon ship.  They must jump, they cannot be pushed.  He said it sometimes challenges their leadership skills!

Only graduates can enter via the middle door

The pictures above are of the dormitories.  All 4000 cadets live in the same dorm, the largest in the US.  There are many wings, interconnected.

Dining Hall

All cadets eat together.  They are allowed 3/4 hr for lunch but most take 15 min. in order to grab a precious 1/2 hr personal time.  Meals are served family style at 400 tables.  They area all served in 5 minutes.

We toured the hall where they honour former cadets and where they hold ceremonial functions.

On the wall the names of any of the former cadets that have given their life for their country are engraved.

The chapel is an impressive area.  They hold both protestant and catholic services.  Attendance is not mandatory but up to the cadet.  He did say it was very busy the past few weeks with final exams going on!

In the crypt under the main rotunda is the grave of John Paul Jones. This Commodore and naval leader had died alone in Paris at age 45, where he was interred. In 1905 his remains were discovered almost perfectly preserved in a tightly sealed lead casket He was honoured in Paris with a parade and religious service before being brought to Annapolis.  In 1913 he was moved to his current resting place in a 21 ton marble sarcophagus.

We finished up our visit with a tour of the Naval Museum.  Aside from a series of exhibits demonstrating the change of the Navy and their ships over the years, there is the largest exhibit around of ships models.  Included are the models made by prisoners with only basic tools while incarcerated.  Many of the models are spectacular in their detail.

Senior level administrators live on a row of very spectacular homes along one side of the campus.  The architecture of these and also the dormitories reflect the French style preferred by the architect, a cousin of the Vanderbilt's who had sent him to France to study.

St Michaels to Annapolis

We took the dinghy into St. Michaels yesterday afternoon. 

While the weather was cool and overcast, at least it was not raining!  

View of Seas the Day and Drift Away at anchor in St Michaels

This is a very touristy town with quite a few B&B’s and many, many shops selling what I call “kitch”.  Lots of pretty signs with clever sayings, jewellery, t-shirts etc.  One shop was interesting, in that it sold laser-etched maps of various waterways including the Chesapeake and Great Lakes.

While there are two crab restaurants near the water, including the one I ate at when we delivered C’est La Vie, we elected to have lunch in town at an Italian restaurant.  The food was delicious, including the cream of crab soup.

Portable saw mill for cutting logs

We then visited (another) Maritime Museum.  This one also had a screw jack lighthouse that had been saved. ( 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse)  This museum has a very active boat restoration/boat building program.  You can see from the pictures that they take logs and saw their own boards etc.

Building a 7 log boat

 The current project is to build a 7-log boat similar to the numerous boats built in the Chesapeake.

"Pusher Boat"

Pusher boat on display

One very interesting exhibit was a sailboat meant for oystering.  Rather than converting it to power, they used a small boat with an inboard engine to push it when required.  The throttle and transmission controls were led forward to the main boat.  Quite a sight!

There was an exhibit showing all of the recreational uses of the Chesapeake including an old Owens, one of the first mass produced boats.  They also had many examples of sailboats used for recreation.  A full size “Star” was on display.  I was impressed by the massive amount of sail for such a small boat.

Display of various tools used for Oystering

Numerous other exhibits explained in detail how they harvested oysters, including hand tongs, dragnets and hydraulic scoops for deeper water.  Did you know that they also harvested them using divers for a time?  Another display showed the difference between packing ousters flat in a bushel vs on end.  Only half the quantity was in the bushel when on end.  Apparently a good oysterman could shovel them so they all ended up on end!

The final exhibit was a public opening of a photographic exhibition.  Robert de Gast’s black and white photographs were taken in the late 60’s and 70’s documenting the Chesapeake oystering.

Also included was a standing exhibit of a 700 hp steam engine and its’ massive propeller that came from a tug. 

As we left the museum and did a little grocery shopping, it started to rain.  At least it held off for our visit.  Back to the boat for a quiet evening and another episode of Outlanders.

Solomons to St Michaels

We woke up yesterday to cool overcast weather.  Looking at the radar, it was going to rain.  We  waited until noon for the rain to stop but saw that it was going to rain all day so off we went.  It was cold, 12C, and raining the whole way.  We arrived in St Michaels around 5:00 and anchored just inside the harbour.

A great dinner aboard Drift Away.

This is our view this morning.  This is the Chesapeake Maritime Museum and they also have one of the screw Jack lighthouses.  Weather is still overcast and cool but we will go into town and look around.

Chesapeake Maritime Museum