Philadelphia, PA

We had an easy voyage up the Delaware River on Sunday, July 11 heading for Philadelphia.  We shared the river with some significant vessels but overall it was calm seas and fair skies.

Archie did very well enjoying the breezes.  Our plan was to spend the week in Philly where we could visit with Stephanie a lot and see other friends and family.  

We arrived in Philly after five hours and tied up at a dock close to the river as the marina has silted in quite a lot. This spot is far from the bathrooms but we have a great view of the bridge and we’re very close to a big dock space which will be great for entertaining later in the week.

There was a lot of construction on the street in front of the marina but fortunately we found some good places nearby to walk Archie including a couple of pocket dog parks.  We’ve started a new 30 day on-line training program with him called Sexier than a Squirrel which is proving to be quite entertaining and effective for all of us!

The marina is in Old City, the most historic part of town. There are some very old and interesting buildings nearby and some cool pubs as as well, one of which is called Khyber Pass.  When Jonny told the server that he had been to the real Khyber Pass, she thought he was talking about a rock band! She had no idea it was an actual place in Afghanistan!

Some of the highlights of our week included a leisurely lunch with Ryan and a delicious dinner with Stephanie and Ryan that they prepared for us in their lovely apartment. 

We also met our friends Tracy and Jane who moved to Philly from Burlington, VT to be close to Jane’s daughter and grandchildren. They are in the process of building a home in a cool part of town called Northern Liberties just behind their daughter’s house.

It was so hot that week (highs in the high 90’s with a heat index in the low 100’s) that some afternoons we just stayed inside and “chilled” out in the AC.

Later in the week my cousin Taylor Lynn and her two little ones, Evie and Otto, met Stephanie and us in Rittenhouse Square for a late afternoon wine and cheese get together.  We didn’t get to see them last year due to Covid. The kids are just adorable and their dad, Stu, joined us when he was done working.  Unfortunately they couldn’t meet Ryan because he was out of town for a weekend bachelor’s party.

That evening Stephanie, Jonny and I went out to eat at one of Stephanie’s favorite restaurants called Entree.  On the way we ran into Ryan’s twin  sister Shannon who we had never met. She lives around the corner from Stephanie. We were glad to finally meet her and she got to thank us in person for the July 4 vacation that she, her boyfriend, Stephanie and Ryan spent at a our condo in Miami.  That night, instead of taking an Uber back to Zendo, we had a sleepover at Stephanie’s. It was quite fun for all of us except for Stephanie’s cat Sasha who isn’t happy having Archie around at all!

Sunday, the final day of our visit, was a real highlight. Ten of Stephanie’s friends joined us aboard Zendo for a short cruise on the Delaware River.  This has become an annual event when we bring Zendo to Philly.  First we had a picnic on the big deck beside our boat and then took off for our cruise on an overcast but thankfully not scorchingly hot day. Everyone had a great time and we stopped for a short while so some of the group could go swimming.  However, because we had a bit of trouble getting the engine started, we didn’t turn it off when we stopped for a swim. As we arrived at our dock, the engine gave out! The river has a strong current and we started to careen into the sailboat next to our slip.  Through the quick thinking of our captain and four of the female crew including Stephanie and me, we were able to avert a crash and Jonny, with the help of the sailboat’s owner, skillfully maneuvered us into our slip.  It was a nerve-racking close call!

The kids ( actually young adults) graciously and quickly cleaned up the boat, thanked us and scampered away.  Now we are left with the perplexing task of figuring out why the engine failed.  Originally we had planned to continue our cruise and leave the next day but that plan obviously had to change. Jonny’s original thought was that if we advance the idle a little, we could get Zendo started and make it back to Delaware City where we were headed the next day.  It may be that due to some of the recent repair work, an adjustment needs to be made. 

Unfortunately, the next day we were unable to get the engine to turn over at all!  By Tuesday we were finally able to get a mechanic onboard who confirmed that there was still a problem with the recently repaired injection pump. After several phone calls, we determined that the best thing to do was to have the boat towed back to Delaware City where the injection pump would have to be pulled and sent back to the place that had rebuilt it.  So on Wednesday morning Sea Tow arrived to tow Jonny and Archie the five hours to Delaware City. I walked to Stephanie and Ryan’s to hang out for the day, make dinner, and borrow Ryan’s car again for our undetermined stay in Delaware City!  Ahh, the joys of boat ownership!

Delaware City Sojourn

Since we spent a full four weeks in Delaware City, I thought I would capture some of the additional adventures we had while there. Due to Ryan’s generosity in loaning us his car we were able to explore the surrounding area more fully in between boat repairs. Some of the highlights of our visit included a couple of visits to nearby New Castle, a charming small town that is filled with historic homes and a lovely waterfront. On our second visit there we were joined by our boating friends, Liz and Steve, and we had dinner at an old tavern named Jessup’s that featured an endless list of beers and a menu with old-fashioned recipe selections. 

On another day we explored Wilmington where we strolled along its waterfront.  We also spent time touring the Nemours Estate, former home of Alfred DuPont. It’s a fabulous property with formal gardens reminiscent of Versailles.  The DuPont family owns so many properties in Delaware, it is quite amazing. Many of them are open to the public and it would take at least a couple of weeks to explore all of them.

We also spent a day visiting Longwood Gardens, another former DuPont property, with its stunning gardens. Ryan’s mother works there and she kindly gave us complimentary tickets. 

On the 4th of July we drove down to Havre de Grace, a charming little town that was hosting an old-fashioned Independence Day parade. The streets were lined with local residents and we had a lot of fun watching and joining in the festivities.

In the meantime, various repairs were being done on Zendo by Jonny and the staff at Delaware City Marina.  The injection pump was rebuilt and reinstalled, solar panels were installed (a long, labor intensive process), the rub rail paint was stripped, and new batteries were installed. In addition,  Zendo was hauled out for the bottom to be painted and a new depth gauge installed.  All in all, a lot of work and quite an expensive month!!

The people at Delaware City Marina are great and we feel very comfortable there.  The weather was beastly hot at times and we yearned for a swimming pool to cool off. But thankfully our AC managed to function well (fingers crossed).  

Archie got a much needed haircut and benefitted from the lovely shaded park next door as well as the miles long walking trail that ran all all along the C&D Canal.

Stephanie and Ryan met us for dinner on the last night of our stay so they could pick up Ryan’s car as we would be cruising up to Philly for a week’s visit.  

Delaware City, DE

The first thing we did early on Saturday, June 11 was to take Archie for a walk in the pretty town of Chesapeake City.  This historic town on the C&D Canal has a number of lovely houses and storefronts.

We had a short cruise of only to hours to reach Delaware City.  The weather was overcast and cool and of course, the waters were calm because we were in the canal.  We arrived at 11:15 and two young men helped us tie up at the dock.  We knew we would be here for up to a month because we’re having work done on Zendo. They wanted to be helpful and placed us by the fuel pump thinking that we would be hauled out shortly.  But our haul out dates are uncertain and we insisted on being placed further down the dock in a more attractive setting.

That afternoon Stephanie and Ryan came by on their way home from a week at the Delaware shore. We hadn’t seen them since Christmas so it was very exciting!  They drove us to their apartment in Philly and we went out to dinner at a cool restaurant called American Sardine Bar where we ate outside because we had Mr. Archie with us.   This was right up Jonny’s alley because he loves sardines.  We each had interesting items to eat and just enjoyed being together again.

Ryan kindly loaned us his car while we’re in Delaware City because he is working from home.  We are most appreciative!  The next day we used the car to go to Lums Pond State Park that had an off-leash section for dogs.  The park had wonderful trails through the woods and streams with watering holes.  Archie played with several large dogs including one named Jughead!  He’s never met a dog he doesn’t like and before long he was running “zoomies” with the big dogs and even following them into the water.  He looked like a drowned rat and was as happy as can be.

Having a car is a real blessing around here since the closest grocery store is five miles away!  On the way back from a shopping excursion, we discovered Fort DuPont State Park, located on a beautiful promontory. We look forward to doing a lot more exploring over the next few weeks.

Back at our marina there is a beautiful walkway that runs along the C&D Canal all the way to Chesapeake City.  We’ve been walking on it each morning. It is quiet and peaceful and a lovely way to start each day.

The only thing missing from this marina is a swimming pool.  Fortunately, the weather has cooled off and we’re not feeling the need for one for now.  And there are plenty of things to do to keep busy.  Since we won’t be traveling on Zendo for up to a month, I’ll be putting the blog on pause until we resume our cruise!

Chesapeake City, MD

We left Rock Hall Marina at 7 a.m. on Friday, June 11 to try to avoid the worst of the weather that was predicted. We hadn’t expected the cruise to be particularly rough but as we got into the Chesapeake Bay, the water became pretty choppy and there was a steady rain throughout the day.

Jonny and I were fine with it but we were worried about Archie who has had a habit of getting carsick (though we thought he was starting to outgrow it). He did OK for awhile but then he couldn’t “stomach it” any longer and over the course of the next few hours, he got sick four times! Pobrecito!!  If we had been more prepared for a rough passage we would have given him the CBD chewies that our vet had prescribed.  Though I tried to lure him into eating one, he was having nothing to do with it. So I held him in my arms to try to soften the ride and he weathered the storm.

As we entered the C&D Canal, things calmed down considerably and he was fine. We reached charming Chesapeake City by 12:50 and hoped to get a free spot at the town dock. But it wasn’t to be. The cruisers there probably chose to stay and wait for a better weather day.  We did have a Plan B and that was to drop anchor in a little calm bay which proved to be a very comfortable anchorage.  Jonny donned his rain gear and set us up for our first anchorage of the season.  

We always love anchoring but now we have an extra complication in that we need to find anchorages that have a place we can dinghy to so Archie can “do his business” on shore. It was easy with this one because there is a convenient dinghy dock right in the middle of town.  Jonny loaded Archie to take him for a walk and I stayed blissfully dry onboard.

We spent a quiet afternoon onboard, nice and cozy in our cabin.  Dinner included delicious pan sautéed fish, summer squash and couscous.  

This was obviously Archie’s first time anchoring out and he did really well.  He likes being on the dinghy and we have a backup pad of artificial turf on the aft deck in case he can’t wait to go on land!

We are really looking forward to the next day when we go to Delaware City where Stephanie and Ryan will meet us. We haven’t seen them since Christmas!

Rock Hall, MD

Jonny woke up very early on Thursday, June 10 to try to see the solar eclipse. Unfortunately our view of the eclipse was blocked by an array of trees. Regardless, it was a beautiful sunrise and a good way to start the day.

After taking Archie for a long walk, we left by 8 a.m. to cover as much ground as we could as we head to Delaware City for our repair work.  The day started off clearer than expected but then became quite overcast. The skies in the distance were very foggy and often threatening.  Rain was predicted for most of the day but we lucked out as the storms were surrounding us but not engulfing us.

Originally we thought we might stay near Annapolis, but the cruising was going so well that we decided to reach Rock Hall Landing Marina on Maryland’s eastern shore. Staying here would make Friday’s cruise, which is also expected to be rainy, a lot shorter.  Archie did very well during this 8.5 hour day even when we ran a little “fire drill.”  At one point in the afternoon we thought it would pour and we ran around closing all the Stratoglass but we managed to thread our way between the storm clouds and stay dry.  Archie was relatively unfazed.

We arrived at Rock Hall Landing Marina by 4:30 where the dockhands helpfully tied us up to the dock. Rock Hall is a cute town with historical significance.  George Washington took several packet boats from this landing during his extensive travels throughout the

Once Archie had his walk, we decided to scrap our plan to eat aboard and walked to the Waterman’s Restaurant next door.  Jonny ordered the local rockfish which he loves.  And Lynn had a most delicious crab cake.  We had warned our dock mates who were traveling on a beautiful sailboat not to worry if they heard Archie crying since we decided to leave him onboard in his crate.  When we returned from dinner they reported that his plaintive cries only lasted about ten minutes!

Our days seem to be structured around walking the dog and so after one last walk we were ready to relax and prepare for the next day’s trip. We are “on the move!”

Solomons Island, MD

Today, June 9, was the first day of our 2021 cruising season! We spent three days getting Zendo ready and enjoying the remote Virginia Northern Neck (between the Potomac and Rappahonock Rivers) location  of our marina in tiny Kinsale, VA. This year we are accompanied by the newest member of our family, Archie, our 9 month old Poodle mix (Miniature Poodle, Cocker Spaniel and Cavalier King Charles). He loved being able to run freely through the marina’s extensive grounds and surrounding countryside.

Archie warmed up to boating with a test drive on our dinghy which he loved.

We also made a quick run on Zendo to a nearby boatyard for a haul-out to scrape the barnacles off of the bottom and the running gear in particular.  The running gear was so fouled with barnacles that the bow thruster wasn’t working at all and our cruising speed was greatly diminished. Fortunately, the clean up solved those two issues but we definitely need to have the bottom painted when we do our next haul-out in Delaware City.

Temperatures have been very hot and luckily for us our White Point Marina has a deliciously refreshing pool which we took full advantage of every afternoon.

Finally, we were ready to depart on Wednesday morning at 9 am. We headed out of the Yeocomico River which led to the wide Potomac River and onto the Chesapeake Bay. It was a clear and calm day and we easily made the trek to Solomon’s Island in a little over five hours.  Archie was a trooper settling into doing what  he does best, sleep!

We arrived at Calvert’s Marina by 2:20 and tied up at a t-dock. Upon arrival, Archie hopped onto the dock which we don’t want him to do (yet). We were located across from their pool which was very inviting.  . It has been beastly hot every day with temperatures in the nineties.

We planned to go for a pre-dinner dip in the pool but an impending thunderstorm caused them to close the pool early. So we cooled off by showering onboard and spending a relaxing evening planning the following day’s cruise.