Kinsale, VA

Saturday, October 17 was an absolutely beautiful day. The exact opposite of the day before. How lucky as this was the last day of our 2020 cruise. In the morning, Jonny went to meet with the manager of nearby Washburn Boat Works to discuss the list of repairs that Zendo needs before next year’s cruise.  While he was gone, Lynn did her exercise routine and walked around Calvert Marina. We’re surrounded by some pretty impressive vessels.  Zendo is the little boat in the picture below

  

At noon we left Calvert’s for what we expected to be a five hour cruise to White Hall Marina in Kinsale, VA. It is located on the Yeocomico River which is off of the Potomac River. The weather was perfect - sunny skies,  calm seas and little boat traffic with temperatures in the high 60’s.  We passed Pop’s Dream, a 30 foot Catalina like the one we used to have.  It brought back a lot of happy memories of sailing on Biscayne Bay.

We had turned off of the Chesapeake and onto the Potomac River and were just about an hour from our destination when Jonny saw a very small boat with 5 or 6 people on it somewhat tentatively waving us down.  It looked like they might be in trouble, so of course we headed over to check it out.  Their outboard engine had apparently broken down and they were stranded in the very middle of the Potomac which is a very wide river!  Through a combination of their English and our Spanish, we were able to determine that we would tow them to Lookout Point Park at the mouth of the river from which they had apparently launched their boat.  They were ill equipped at sea, lacking a radio, lines, etc.  Jonny rigged up some of our lines and had to jump on board their boat to secure them for the tow.  They definitely didn’t have the necessary skills to deal with the challenge.  Fortunately, the four men and one woman all wore life jackets.  So we took off in the opposite direction that we were originally headed and towed them 2 - 3 miles to their launch point.  Luckily, we were able to bring them all the way to a dock where they could tie up and disembark safely.  As you can imagine, they were most appreciative and we were glad to be able to help them.  What an event to cap off our last day of travel!

By this time the sun was getting low in the sky and the temperature was dropping.  We cruised back across the Potomac and turned up the Yeocomico River.  We arrived at our home port of White Hall Marina and tied up on the face dock at 6:30 just as the sun was setting.

We had recently learned that our marina had been sold.  The previous owner lives next door and will continue to manage it for now so we’ll keep Zendo here for the winter as planned.  It’s too early to know what we’ll do after next season.  But we celebrated the end of our travels with Jonny’s Perfect Manhattans!

This 2020 cruise was a shorter one than previous years.  Covid required us to leave later than we usually do and because of that we chose a shorter journey.  Concentrating on the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound proved to be perfect because we got to see so many friends and family who live nearby.  We revisited favorite locations and found some new very beautiful anchorages.  We are grateful to all those who provide support to us from afar with family and home responsibilities.  We know how fortunate we are to be able to keep living the dream we’ve created for ourselves!

Solomon’s, MD (return trip)

We left our Annapolis anchorage at 8:40 on Friday, October 16 for a long day of cruising to the Solomon’s. The weather was snotty - rainy, windy and cold.  We kept the Stratoglass on the flybridge fully closed, wore warm clothes and used blankets to keep warm during the six hour journey.  Fortunately, there was a following sea so it wasn’t terribly rough. However, it was uncomfortable enough that Lynn couldn’t read, write or go below. We didn’t even eat lunch and munched on Kind bars instead.  Lynn even napped a little which is very unusual.

It was still raining when we arrived at Calvert’s Marina in the Solomon’s.  Jonny donned his full set of rain gear and fortunately two dockhands were there to help us tie up.

Once we got settled, we relaxed on board and Lynn made a delicious new chicken recipe with Israeli couscous, lemon and feta. It was a big hit.

That night we did our usual Friday night routine watching the PBS News Hour, Washington Week and Firing Line. After that we watched another PBS show, the Lifetime Emmy Awards.  It featured a wide array of fabulous musicians and took us for an entertaining walk down memory lane, revisiting the music of our youth.

There is only one more day of travel on Zendo for us this year.  It’s always a bittersweet feeling.  We love cruising but we also love our Miami home. We’re so fortunate to have the best of both worlds!

Annapolis, MD (return trip)

We left the comfortable Sue Creek anchorage on the Middle River on Wednesday, October 14 at 11 a.m. for a short four hour cruise to Annapolis. It was a sparklingly beautiful day with temperatures in the low seventies. 

We arrived in Annapolis and stopped for fuel and a pump out.  As we were waiting, this unusual water craft went by with a man paddling something like an elliptical exercise machine!

We cruised a bit further up the harbor to Spa Creek where we dropped anchor for the first time.  However, we were too close to the moored boats nearby so we changed locations and moved closer to the fairway.  But Jonny wasn’t happy with this choice either because of all the passing boats so we pulled up the anchor again and moved further up the creek and anchored there.

That night we had the rest of the leftover chili and spent a quiet evening on board.

The next day Jonny went for a long paddle further up the creek. When he returned, we took the dinghy into Annapolis to meet Greg, who had driven over from Alexandria to meet us for lunch.  We met him at our favorite restaurant in town, the Boathouse  Grill.  In our opinion, this place has the best crab cakes on the Chesapeake.  We had assured Greg that there was outside dining but he was chagrined to see that the outside area was enclosed by a tent. Fortunately, there were some tables on the open porch so we ate there.  This was the first time he had eaten at a restaurant in the “Time of Covid”.  

After a delicious lunch we dinghied from the Eastport part of town to the center of Annapolis.

There, we strolled through town looking for a good ice cream shop. We found one and indulged in sweet treats and then went in search of Jonny’s new favorite coffee shop. Unfortunately, it was closed so we contented ourselves with espressos from the big open market in the center of town.

After dropping Greg off near his car we took a long dinghy ride all the way up Spa Creek looking at the lovely homes lining the waterfront.

When we returned to Zendo, we discovered an official warning from the harbormaster taped to the back of the boat.  Apparently when the wind shifted we had floated too close to the docks of the nearby homes. Fortunately, it was a warning and not a ticket. So once again we pulled up anchor and moved all the way to the very top of Spa Creek which turned out to be a perfect quiet anchorage. 

 

That night we skipped dinner because we were still full from lunch.  We made our usual family calls and settled in to watch the dueling town hall meetings by Biden and Trump that had taken the place of the cancelled second debate.  Oh, will this election season ever be over!

Sue Creek - Baltimore, MD

After a very busy weekend and a lazy, rainy Monday, we left Delaware City Marina on Tuesday, October 13 shortly after 8 a.m. Tim, our trusty marina owner, helped us to flip Zendo and maneuver the strong current and wind to point us in the right direction.  It was a cloudy, chilly day and we spent most of it on the flybridge with the Stratoglass closed.

We had a smooth, uneventful cruise through the C&D Canal passing Chesapeake City and onto the Chesapeake Bay.

We passed a couple of large ships - or rather they passed us!

Six hours later we arrived at our planned destination on the Middle River and examined two reasonable anchorages there.  We chose the smaller, more protected one on Sue Creek and dropped the hook.

It was a beautiful and extremely quiet, calm spot and we’ll definitely remember to use it again in the future.  Jonny went for a long paddle while Lynn did her Spanish and read and relaxed.

That evening we had leftovers for dinner and did our usual family check-ins. We watched a little TV and went to bed early.

Delaware City, DE

We left Utsch’s Marina in Cape May at dawn on Tuesday, October 6 to take advantage of the current on the Delaware Bay.

Although it was somewhat chilly, the bay was very calm all day and we had a smooth journey with only sporadic boat traffic.

The only mishap occurred when we snagged a crab pot which made an awful shuddering sound.  Jonny immediately stopped Zendo in the middle of the bay and dropped the anchor. Fortunately, the crab pot somehow disentangled itself and in just a few minutes we were able to resume our journey.  He was greatly relieved not to have to put on his wet suit and dive on it!

We arrived at Delaware City Marina by 2 p.m. Tim, the owner, was there to help us tie up. We really like coming here and do so frequently as it’s a perfect jumping off spot to visit Stephanie in Philadelphia. We negotiated a weekly rate because we were going to spend some time on boat maintenance before heading up to Philly. We were docked in front of a little cat boat, slightly smaller than the one we used to own and a huge catamaran.  The long dock is a welcome set up because we aren’t crowded among a bunch of boats and our scenery on both sides includes lovely grasses and trees.

Jonny spent the next two days deep in the engine room changing the oil in the engine, the generator and the transmission while Lynn did laundry and cleaned Zendo’s interior.  We took a few walks along the coastal walkway into town. This is a historic town whose residents obviously take pride in maintaining.

Late Thursday afternoon Stephanie picked us up to bring us to Philly.  We spent a wonderful weekend with her.  She loves to bring us to new (to us) little restaurants and we walked through her  beautiful neighborhood to one called Ambrosia.  It was a very good choice - BYOB and Italian. Can’t get much better than that! 

On Friday morning, we got up early to drive Stephanie to work at La Salle University so we could use her car to go to Ryan’s house in Conshohocken.  Jonny had asked him to buy some oil and other boat supplies using his Pet Boys discount (he recently started working at their corporate headquarters). This would be our only chance to see Ryan this weekend because as best man for his friend who is getting married, he was hosting a weekend bachelor party for him.  

When we returned to Philly, we met our friends Tracy and Jane for a take-out lunch on Rittenhouse Square, just a block from Stephanie’s apartment. They just moved to Philadelphia from Burlington, VT where we last saw them a couple of years ago on our cruise to Canada. We had a great time catching up on each other’s lives and strolling through that beautiful part of the city.

Afterwards, we picked Stephanie up from work and got ready for another picnic in Rittenhouse Square. This time she prepared a delicious cheese tray and we met her old roommate Sara and her boyfriend Mick and another good friend, Juliana and their dogs for a lively picnic on the green.  People are really taking advantage of the last vestiges of warm weather and the need to be socially distant by picnicking in parks all over the city.

On Saturday morning, we met Vince, another of Stephanie’s friends, for breakfast.  According to Stephanie, Vince always looks forward to seeing us when we come, especially when we bring Zendo to Philly!  But seriously, we love the fact that we can see Stephanie’s friends and they enjoy being with us. It always gives us a good feeling about the life she’s made for herself here.  In the afternoon we drove an hour west to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch in West Chester. We took a tractor out to the orchards and picked a big bag of apples, bought the obligatory pumpkin and had a fun time.

We followed that up with a stop at a local vineyard where we enjoyed some wine tasting in a bucolic outside setting.

When we got back to Philly we walked the few blocks to the fabulous DiBruno Brothers grocery where we bought a steak so Jonny could make steak frites for dinner.  That, along with fresh corn on the cob and haricot verts, made for a perfect dinner.

Sunday morning was a lazy one - our last day with Stephanie. We headed out about 12:30 for a Costco run where we all stocked up on essentials, especially wine!  Stephanie drove us back to Zendo where we unloaded all of our purchases.

We sadly said our goodbye’s for now. We won’t see Stephanie again until she and Ryan come to Miami for Christmas. As always, we had a most wonderful time with our lovely daughter. 

Jonny reinstalled the Stratoglass on the aft deck, a sure sign that cool weather is here to stay.  And as expected, Monday was a rainy and windy day so we hunkered down on Zendo and took it easy and planned to resume our cruise the following day.

Cape May, NJ

It was Thursday, October 1 and we decided to travel on the outside passage on the Atlantic to Cape May.  We left our Brigantine anchorage near Atlantic City at 9:30. We passed an array of windmills as we cruised past Atlantic City.

The seas were better today starting off with three to four foot swells and easing as the day progressed. It was quite a lovely day.  We skipped lunch and arrived at Utsch’s Marina in Cape May at 3:20.  Our plan was to keep Zendo at Utsch’s while we visit our friends Michael and Christina for a few days.  They live in Key Biscayne but are taking a break from Covid and staying at Michael’s parents’ beach house in Bethany Beach, MD.

After we tied up at Utsch’s we walked over to the nearby Lobster House restaurant that also runs a fish market.  There we bought some of their delicious shrimp salad and cole slaw which we enjoyed on our aft deck.  This treat was the main reason that we skipped lunch earlier in the day!

On Friday, we took a Lyft to the ferry that would take us to Lewis, MD.  It was a pleasant ride but cool enough that we spent the 90 minutes indoors.

Michael picked us up and we drove the approximately forty minutes to the beach house. We stayed with Michael and Christina for three nights and had a wonderful time. Each day we would go for long walks on the beach, just a block from their house.  Their dog, Kaiser, was a constant companion.

Watching the sunrise from beautiful Bethany Beach was a real treat!

We also walked into the cute little town of Bethany Beach, a place where Michael spent much of his childhood and teen years, and he regaled us with many stories of his escapades there.

We also took great walks in some of the local and state parks where the undulating landscaped reminded us of the low country and was even, at times, reminiscent of the Everglades.

We ate very well with the Brackens - no surprise! One night we had delicious cioppino (Italian seafood stew) that we got as take-out from a local restaurant.  And the real highlight was the last night we were there when Christina made fabulous crab cakes that rivaled those of Michael’s mother (and, in fact, were her recipe).

We had a great time catching up with each other talking, debating, arguing and solving the world’s problems!

On Monday morning Michael drove us back to the ferry and we returned to Zendo.  We took a walk to the local Wawa to stock up on some essentials and returned to our favorite fish market where we bought crab bisque and some fresh flounder for dinner.

The next day we’ll  head to Delaware City where Jonny will change the oil on Zendo while we wait for Stephanie to pick us up on Thursday night. We’ll spend the next weekend with her,  which we’re really looking forward to!