Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina on the S. Yeocomico River

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We had a sunny and calm trip up the Potomac to Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina on Friday, May 15. This marina is located off the South Yeocomico River which is one of the first rivers on the western bank of the Potomac.  We learned of this marina from Fred Olverson himself who we met at our home port at Beach Marine and then again at a luncheon of the Marine Trawlers Owners Association (MTOA).  He travels from the Chesapeake to Florida each year and promotes his marina by offering MTOA members free first night dockage.  We couldn’t possibly pass up this opportunity to see Fred again and experience what he has built over the last couple of decades.  In addition to dock space for about 200 boats, he also uses his  40 plus acres of fine waterfront property to rent space for RV owners and long term storage for boats, trailers, etc.  What a friendly and helpful operation he runs!

 

 

We had never seen a marina with so many covered docks before and you can see from the pictures how gaily decorated they were!  There were four primary docks and we were assigned a T-head (end dock) at Dock B.   Locals, as well as folks from Richmond and Fredericksburg, keep their boats here and many spend their weekends at the marina.  Every night (especially on weekends) each dock has their 5:00 “docktail hour” in which we happily participated. Our original plan was to spend one night here and continue on to Alexandria.  However, once we arrived at this unique, funky and fun marina, we couldn’t help but stay a second night.

On Saturday, we borrowed one of their courtesy cars to go into the tiny town of Heathsville for a farmer’s market that took place within an interesting historic area.  There was an old jail and tavern and local artisans displaying their wares.  Lynn was particularly interested in the old spinning wheels, looms, weaving and beautiful knitting projects that were on display.  The countryside in that part of Virginia consists of rolling pastoral hills with a variety of crops just starting to show progress.  We had fun getting lost as we drove around. 

 

It turned out that the dock we were assigned was hosting the monthly dinner for all members of the marina and guests.  So we stayed for the steak dinner (a whopping $10 for each of us) and met  many warm and friendly people.  They helped us to scope out “local knowledge”  anchorages for the the remainder of our trip up the Potomac and treated us like family.  Afterwards we strolled up the hill behind the marina and watched the sunset.  What a beautiful setting!  You can be sure that we’ll stop here again and recommend Olverson’s to  all our cruising buddies.  We left early the next morning and watched the sunrise as we headed east back towards the Potomac and onward to Alexandria, VA.

 

Edwards Creek Anchorage on the Piankatank River–Chesapeake Bay

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The journey on the Chesapeake from the York River to Edward’s Creek off the Piankatank River was something of a rough ride.  Although the day was warm and sunny, the winds were blowing 15-20 mph.  Between the winds and the confluence of the rivers at each of their mouths, it felt like we were riding a bucking bronco at times.  We had to secure everything below deck more carefully than we usually do and even had to turn our heavy teak table on the aft deck upside down so it wouldn’t fly around. We went below only briefly enough to bring lunch fixings up to the fly bridge.  Neither of us could comfortably make sandwiches in the galley!  But our boat can take a lot more than we mere mortals can, so we finally arrived safe and sound at a beautiful tucked away anchorage behind Gwynn’s Island.  Gwynn’s Island is just inside the Piankatank River and we settled in on little Edward’s Creek. 

This was a perfect place to launch our dinghy and go exploring.   We found a little seafood restaurant just next to the bridge that leads to the island. We called ahead to see if they had fresh soft shell crab and as they did, we motored over  for dinner to the Seabreeze Restaurant.  As we cruise the Chesapeake, we’ll be in search of the perfect crab cake and soft shell crab meals. We haven’t found them yet!

After dinner, we explored our anchorage and discovered that every piling had a huge osprey nest atop  it and most of them had little baby ospreys in them with very agitated osprey mothers hovering nearby. 

When we returned to Zendo, we resumed our evening obsession – watching Mad Men episodes starting with season 1.  Now that the program is ending, we are finally tuning in!

Mother’s Day Weekend

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After the Great Loop Rendezvous, we rented a car and drove to meet Stephanie in Christiana, Delaware where she is now working.   She is still with Aramark but now she’s at a JP Morgan Chase Operations Center located there.   She is moving from New Jersey to  live in Philadelphia and will commute to Delaware.  She and Lynn were apartment hunting while Jonny drove on to Connecticut to see his Aunt Pearl and Aunt Roz (both of whom have been in poor health) and to spend part of Mother’s Day with his mom. What a good guy to drive a total of 24 hours over 3 days to see many of the important women in his life!
The drive through the eastern shore of the Chesapeake was very scenic, passing through peaceful countryside and quaint little towns.  We stopped for lunch at a little waterside restaurant in Onacock, VA.  What a charming town!  We want to come back here by boat.

 

Philadelphia is an exciting city with beautiful architecture, lots to do and a very cool center city area where Stephanie wants to live.  We looked at about 15 different apartments. Wouldn’t you know, the one she liked best won’t be ready until mid-June – so it’s temporary housing until then!  We celebrated our long day of trudging back and forth across the city with a nice glass of wine and a tapas dinner!

On Mother’s Day, we spent time packing Stephanie’s apartment and enjoyed a delicious Mother’s Day dinner in an outdoor patio – Italian food, of course!
 

Norfolk, VA

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Arriving in Norfolk on May 3 was a culture shock after spending three days in the “wilds” of the Dismal Swamp.  Norfolk is the biggest city we’ve been to since we left Jacksonville.  The channel is lined with large naval ships in various stages of readiness or repair.  The deep, well-marked harbor was easy to traverse and we made our way to the Waterside Marina where we would be docked for a week  We are in Norfolk to attend the Rendezvous, a semi-annual event sponsored by the American Great Loop Association.

 

 

Arriving a day early gave us a chance to explore the city to a small degree.  We took a walk through the historic district and had a pleasant brunch in a quaint restaurant in a neighborhood of cobblestoned streets and red brick townhouses.

 

From Monday through Thursday, we attended the Rendezvous and participated in an array of workshops on all aspects of traveling the Great Loop.  Workshops included Cruising the Chesapeake (which we are doing next), Cruising the Potomac River (also on our list), Personal Safety, Handling Locks, Government Red Tape and even separate workshops for men and women.  Comparing notes afterwards, we not unexpectedly discovered a huge difference in the topics of the latter two workshops with the men focusing exclusively on engine repair and maintenance issues while the women discussed their favorite on-board “gizmos,”  must see’s, lessons learned and boat sex (you’ll have to ask me about that one)! 

Each afternoon, there was a looper’s crawl, in which those who wished could open their boats for visitors.  Of course, Jonny was one of the first to sign up our boat so he could show it off!  It was great fun going aboard other boats, getting ideas and meeting other cruisers.  Although we saw some beautiful boats, we came away remaining perfectly satisfied with our own Zendo.

                              

The conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet many warm and friendly people who we’ll be likely to encounter throughout the next several months.  Many of them are currently in progress on the loop and  several have completed it one or more times and had lots to share.  And there were several couples who are in the planning stages and were even asking us for advice!   All in all, it was a great experience!

We’re leaving Norfolk and renting a car to visit Stephanie for the weekend.  Lynn will  help her with apartment hunting in Philadelphia while Jonny visits his Aunt Pearl who is quite ill in Connecticut.  When we return, we’ll be heading up the Chesapeake and the Potomac to visit Washington, D.C. and our friends there.

The Dismal Swamp

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We left Elizabeth City on April 30 on a wet and dreary day – a fitting start to our entry into The Dismal Swamp. It rained the entire route stopping briefly (and fortunately) when it was time to maneuver our first lock.  What an interesting experience – to see water rushing into an enclosed space (with 5  other boats) and lifting us all up 8 feet. Everything went very smoothly and just as we exited the lock, it began to pour again and it continued to do so until we arrived at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center.  There we took advantage of yet another free dock.  We rewarded ourselves with a cozy lunch on board of  tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and settled into an afternoon of reading.

Later on, we visited the Visitors Center and learned a bit more about the Dismal Swamp which had its beginnings during the Revolutionary War era with George Washington as one of the initial investors in creating a more convenient link between the North Carolina coast and the Norfolk area.  It also served as an important part of the Underground Railroad.  Many slaves hid in the swamp as they tried to make their way to freedom in the north. 

On Friday we were joined on the dock by our boating buddies – Corinne and Robert on Ariel and Duane and Diane aboard Diva Di.  We had our first “party” on board when they all squeezed into our salon for wine and cheese and crackers to  discuss the routes we were planning to take through the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.  What fun!

On Saturday morning, the weather cleared and made for a perfect day for the Paddle to the Border.  Scores of paddlers on kayaks and canoes of all sorts convened at the Visitors Center for a 7 mile paddle to the border of Virginia. The swamp was closed to all boat traffic that morning as the colorful and energetic paddlers made their way up the river.  Robert participated on his converted stand-up paddle board and was the first to finish!

  

Later that morning, we left with Ariel  for our next stop at the northern border of the Dismal Swamp just south of the Deep Creek Lock. There we stopped at yet another free dock and ordered pizza and salad from the local pizzeria that actually delivered it to our boat.  We enjoyed dinner on our aft deck with Corinne and Robert and a nice bottle of wine! 

On Sunday morning it was finally time to depart the swamp.  We entered the Deep Creek Lock where we were lowered 8 feet back down to the Elizabeth River.  It was there that we left Ariel (hoping to meet up again in the Chesapeake) and proceeded on our way to Norfolk.  We’ll be in Norfolk for several days attending the Rendezvous, a conference for boaters who are interested in learning more about The Great Loop. Stay tuned!