Sassafras River, MD

We had a relaxing morning on Sunday, August 20. Jonny was tying up some loose ends with boat repairs and I took Archie for one last long walk through town.

Because we weren’t leaving until lunchtime I even had time to watch one of my favorite Sunday morning political shows, Meet the Press, before it was time to make lunch. 

Our plan for the day was to leave Delaware City and cruise to an anchorage on the Sassafras River which is on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay.  We said our goodbyes to Tim and his crew and took off by 12:15 heading down the C&D Canal towards the Chesapeake.  Picking up the current after a couple of hours helped us make good time.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear with a nice light breeze and very comfortable temperatures. There was some boat traffic since it was Sunday and people were out enjoying their time on the water.

We arrived at the Sassafras River just before 5. Originally we dropped the hook on the north shore of the river but decided it would be better to go to the south side and anchor there. This way we were more protected from the fetch which could build up overnight.  This turned out to be a great decision because the anchorage was very calm all night long. 

Once we dropped the hook we took Archie on the dinghy into shore. The shoreline was completely undeveloped but it had a nice beach with lots of driftwood. We walked up and down the beach and Archie frolicked about chasing sticks and wading in the water. 

That evening we had cod, spaghetti aglio e olio, and spinach for dinner and sat on the aft deck watching  a small boat that was going back and forth checking a string of crab pots nearby.  

We loved the isolated nature of our surroundings and the only downside was very limited internet access.  So we spent much of the evening watching the gorgeous sunset and reading our books.  This is the best anchorage we’ve had thus far this year so we will surely return. When we have more time, we’ll head up the river a bit further to visit Georgetown,  MD.

Tomorrow we’ll go to Baltimore where Zendo will be docked for two weeks. I’m flying to North Carolina for a three day 70th birthday celebration that my good friend Cathy has invited some of her best girlfriends to at a house in the mountains in Asheville. From there I’ll fly to Miami where Jonny will meet me with Archie. We’ll be there over Labor Day weekend to go to a couple of parties, visit Janice, Jonny’s mom, and pet sit for Andy and Ed’s dog, Ollie while they go away for a few days.  We may also be moving Janice from her current place in a memory care facility to a nursing home. Wish us luck!

Delaware City, DE (return trip)

We left Cape May at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 13! Needless to say, it was pitch black outside but Jonny wanted us to catch the current going up the Delaware Bay and this was our best timing option for doing so. We used a torchlight to wind our way out of the marina. We got to watch the day begin with a beautiful sunrise.

Fortunately, it was very calm and we had a relatively quick passage that day because of our ability to ride the current. It was a beautiful day with light winds and equally light boat traffic. 

We arrived at Delaware City by 11:45 a.m. which seems very early but we had been traveling seven hours already!  Tim, the owner, and his staff are very skilled at managing the current to corral boats into the very long single dock that makes up their marina.

We are always happy to stay at our favorite Delaware City Marina. Tim and his crew are extremely friendly and helpful and we really appreciate the small town feel of Delaware City.  In addition, there are fabulous walkways into the cute little town as well as in the opposite direction that takes one several miles along the old C&D Canal. Both options are great for walking Archie.  There are also plenty of wide open grassy areas where he can chase squirrels to his heart’s content.  We took Archie for long walks every morning and evening along the coastal paths and through the parks where he can run free.

We kept very busy during the seven days we spent there. Jonny was especially productive doing the following:  changing the oil and the transmission fluid, installing new sensors in the water and holding tanks, washing the boat on the outside (while I did the inside), and working on the outboard motor. He also did a lot of MTOA work. No rest for the wicked! 

On Tuesday we took Archie for a long overdue haircut and although I thought I was keeping him relatively knot-free, the groomer found enough knots to give him a shorter cut then we expected. He looks so skinny but we promise that we feed him well! Here’s a before and after picture.

After picking him up we did a Costco run for Stephanie and Ryan and headed up to Philly. We also like being here because this is where we leave our car for the summer so we can get around with ease.   Stephanie and Ryan made a delicious dinner for us and Archie and Eloise got to play together until they were exhausted!

We stayed overnight so Jonny could get to his early morning eye doctor appointment and we were very happy to learn that his eyes are finally healing from his cataract surgery back in January. It’s been a long haul for him but thankfully he’s doing so much better!

We headed back to Delaware City in the afternoon and that evening walked into “downtown” for a blues concert in the waterfront park. It was a lovely evening, the music was very good and the local people who came out for it were very friendly. We ate ice cream and hung out until we got tired and walked home in the moonlight.

The next day was our 37th wedding anniversary and we treated ourselves to a very lovely date night in Wilmington. The kids had recommended a place to go for drinks as well as a number of very good restaurants. We went to the rooftop bar at the Quoin Hotel for drinks. It had a very cool vibe with people sitting outdoors as well as at the bar.  We have plenty of outdoor time living on a boat so we sat at the bar and chatted with the very friendly bartender named Jorge. We told him our story about living in Miami and on our boat and that it was our anniversary. He was intrigued and very graciously comped us our cocktails, which were especially good ones!

After that we walked across the street to have dinner at an Italian restaurant called Bardea Food and Drink. It had a unique menu including very creative small plates,  I had mentioned that we were celebrating our anniversary when I made the reservation on Open Table and we were greeted with two glasses of Prosecco. By this time we were feeling really special!  We had a delicious dinner and another excellent server who topped off our meal with a complementary dessert! What a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary!

I had been wanting to see the new Barbie movie because of all the buzz about it. Friday provided us a perfect opportunity to see it at the nearby theatre in Christiana. By the way, even through Delaware City is a tiny town, just 20 minutes away is every kind of shopping one could ever need. Because we have a car we can take advantage of it all - which we clearly did this week.  We saw Barbie that afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. It lived up to its hype!  That evening Jonny made dinner with the squid he had purchased during his last shopping foray.  Dinner turned out great -  he cooked it with spaghetti sauce and broccoli and served it over angel hair pasta. 

On our last full day in Delaware City I had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie for lunch and going with her for her hair and makeup trial for the wedding. We had lunch in the charming town of Media and headed a bit further west to the salon.  Stephanie was very happy with her stylist and with the results. She looked absolutely beautiful!  This is only a partial glimpse that doesn’t include the the ultimate look. She would not want me to reveal too much!

We had one last quiet night onboard Zendo since we would be leaving on Sunday to head to the Chesapeake Bay where we will spend a good part of the next month. 

Cape May, NJ (return trip)

Archie had a rough night with an unhappy tummy so we didn’t give him much to eat on Friday, August 11.  Jonny took him into shore at Barnegat Light while I did my exercises (which I do not do often enough).  We pulled up the anchor by 9 a.m. and headed out. Our desire was to make it all the way to Cape May. But if the seas were uncomfortable we could duck in and stay near Atlantic City.

Fortunately, it was a very nice day and the seas were calm enough for us to decide to go all the way to Cape May. It was an especially good idea because the following day was supposed to be worse.  It was a long day of cruising with Archie glued to my side (or Jonny’s) most of the time. Even though the seas were relatively calm, there are those rolling waves when you’re out in the ocean which can make one feel a little queasy at times.  It particularly affected Archie and for the first time in two years he got a little seasick, poor baby! 

We finally entered the harbor to Cape May and set our anchor at 6 p.m. We were too tired to think about making dinner so we took Archie into shore and ate dinner at the Harbor View restaurant. It was nice to sit inside in the air conditioning and we had a fabulous view of the harbor (hence the name).

We ordered drinks and she crab soup for an appetizer. We each ordered one of their fish dinner specials. Mine was delicious - a whole hake that was perfectly prepared. Jonny’s swordfish was over done and he sent it back. They then told him they were out of swordfish so he ordered something else. It wasn’t delivered until I was almost done with my meal so that was disappointing. But we didn’t regret going out because we brought enough leftovers home to incorporate into the following night’s dinner on board. 

We got back to Zendo and called it a night after a very long day. Our plan was to stay on anchor for two nights because our next cruise is up the Delaware Bay and we need to time our departure with the current so we can make better time on that day long cruise.

On Saturday, Archie was feeling better - we think he appreciated a day off from cruising!  We took him on the dingy to  the opposite shore near Utsch’s Marina. Going this way is a longer ride across a busy harbor but we can walk next door to the great fish market run by the Lobster House Restaurant. We walked Archie through that part of town which isn’t particularly interesting but it has a couple of pocket parks for him to play in.

At the end of the walk we went to the fish market which is a favorite of ours. It was busy since it was a Saturday and we had to wait in line for quite a while. But that was OK because it gave us a chance to cool off and decide what we wanted to buy.  We bought our usual shrimp salad, potato salad and cole slaw, and decided to try their macaroni salad. We also bought their she crab soup and some nice fresh cod.

Jonny made dinner for us cooking the cod with tomatoes and capers and serving it with the leftover rice and broccoli rabe from the restaurant. It was delicious!

We went to bed early because we planned to get up and leave by 4:30 a.m. the next morning. Jonny wanted to catch the current on our way to Delaware City where we’ll stay for a week. We’ll visit Stephanie and Ryan in Philly and Jonny has a follow up eye doctor appointment. Thankfully his eyes are feeling much better! We’ll also be celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary so we’ll have to plan a little treat for ourselves.

Barnegat Light, NJ (return trip)

We left our Manasquan anchorage on Glimmer Glass very early on Thursday, August 10. We wanted to get ahead of the predicted windy, rainy weather and if possible, make it all the way to Atlantic City. Our back-up plan, if the weather started to deteriorate, was to duck in at Barnegat Light. Jonny took Archie in at 6:00 a.m. (poor Archie didn’t know what hit him)!  We pulled up anchor by 6:30. The bridge tender opened the bridge for us and we were off.

The weather was overcast and it seemed warm at first so I dressed in a tee shirt and shorts but once we got on the ocean, it became a lot cooler. I ended up in long pants and two shirts.  At first the winds were mild but within a couple of hours they were getting stronger.  The seas were also starting to build.  We didn’t want to wait until it became uncomfortable so we decided to go in at Barnegat Light.  There are very few places to anchor along the New Jersey shore so we needed to be decisive. It was 10:15 a.m. when we dropped the hook in this calm anchorage which we stay in frequently on our way up and down the coast.

We kept busy the rest of the day with Jonny working on our finances and me catching up on blog posts. For lunch we ate the delicious Italian sandwich that Jonny had purchased at the Italian specialty shop the day before. It rained on and off all afternoon. Later we took Archie in for a quick walk as we dodged the raindrops.

Barnegat Light is a tiny beach town (borough) in Ocean County, NJ with a population of only 640! It sits on the tip of Long Beach Island, a barrier island on the Jersey shore. It is clean and tidy and primarily residential - very family-oriented. 

We had passed this painted rock several times during our previous visits but this was the first time I had looked on its back side!

We had the short rib ravioli from the same market for dinner and it was excellent. Afterward, we had a quiet and relaxing evening reading and watching TV.  We’ll have to see how much further down the New Jersey coast we’ll get the next day. 

Manasquan, NJ

On Wednesday, August 9, Jonny brought Archie into shore for a quick walk before we left Port Washington at 8 a.m. Our plan was to cruise the East River and on to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.  It was a sunny and mild day. There was some wind which may have become a concern so we were keeping an eye on it.

We cruised down the Manhattan coastline which never gets old. We passed iconic landmarks like the Empire State Building, interesting architecture and the city’s numerous bridges.

A seaplane landed right next to us which was rather exciting in this relatively narrow waterway.

And all sorts of boat traffic were our constant companions.

Because the waters were pretty calm and the aforementioned wind was out of the west, we decided to move beyond Brooklyn and head for Manasquan. After a long day on the water, where we encountered very few boats, we arrived at the Manasquan Inlet.  We passed Manasquan’s beaches where many people were soaking up the sun.  

One of our favorite anchorages is here, a tucked away cove called Glimmer Glass. Jonny hailed the bridge tender who opened the narrow bridge after just a short wait.

Winding our way in we passed a combination of lovely homes, many packed cheek to jowl,  as well as beautiful vistas of low grasses and calm inlets.

We found our favorite place, where we are surrounded by tidy homes with boats docked two and three deep, and dropped the hook at 4 p.m.  Now that we have Archie, we have found a little beach area that we can dinghy to which we did without delay.  The three of us took a nice long walk into the town of Manasquan which is just delightful. It has several appealing restaurants and attractive shops that I wished I had more time to explore.

Instead, we stopped at an Italian Specialty market called Joe Leoni’s where we stocked up on short rib ravioli, fresh bread and black pepper tarallis (delicious Italian snacks like small savory breadsticks).

Unfortunately, the nearby hardware store had closed but Jonny gave himself a consolation prize - a six pack of a local IPA from nearby Cape May.

As we returned to the dinghy, there was a family with a bernadoodle by the little beach.  Moose and Archie immediately hit it off and started playing together, chasing each other in and out of the water.  The owners were very friendly and interested in our boating adventures. We hung out together for quite some time. Archie was so happy to find such a great playmate.

Back at Zendo, Jonny rinsed off Archie who was now a very wet and tired dog. 

Dinner on the aft deck consisted of the last of the chicken/artichoke/orzo one pot meal that has fed us three times!  We spent the rest of the evening watching videos of Robbie Robertson who had passed away that day. His creative work with The Band was an important part of the soundtrack of our youth.

Hearing about the terrible fires in Hawaii caused me to call my friend Michael. He and Melina, who we had just been with in Vermont, had just been in Hawaii for Melina’s son’s wedding. Michael had returned a couple of days ahead of Melina. But by the time she was to leave all flights into and out of the island were cancelled and she was stuck. The fires had destroyed a good part of the town where they had been staying! Fortunately she and her sister were able to move to higher ground, though Michael didn’t know if that solution would remain a safe one for long.  Such a frightening situation.  Many people have already died and important cultural artifacts of the island have been destroyed.

We feel so blessed to be safe and secure in our little boat in a calm and protected anchorage.