Lutz Creek Anchorage, NC

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We almost always like to get an early start in the morning but we thought we couldn’t leave Portsmouth until 8:30 on Oct. 23 because the railroad bridge we had to pass under was on a restricted opening schedule.  It wasn’t scheduled to open until 9:00 but because several boats would be gathered to pass under it at that time, we planned accordingly.  As predicted there were at least 15 boats gathering for the bridge opening but as we approached the bridge, it was already open.  Apparently the posted schedule did not correspond with reality.  It took Jonny a little while to get over the fact that we could have left earlier!

About a mile after the bridge, all 15 boats gathered once again to pass through a downstream lock.  It is very challenging for so many boats to stay steady in a narrow body of water while awaiting the opening of the lock.  But eventually it opened and we were all able to pass through it together.

After that it was pretty smooth “sailing” for the rest of the way to Albermarle Bay.  It’s been a long time since we were traveling with so many other boats.  We have to be hyper vigilant especially as the faster power boats want to pass us.  After awhile it was just the sail boats and us taking up the rear!

Most of the landscape we passed was very rural with wide open landscapes of gently swaying grasses and occasional hammocks.

Towards the end of our day we passed Coinjock Marina where we saw docked there  most of the boats that had passed us earlier.

During the day, Lynn did some more detailed trip planning so we could determine when we would be in Jacksonville for doctors’ appointments, etc. We also needed to contact the moving company to schedule the dates that our furniture would arrive in Miami Beach.  Back to the real world with its endless details and responsibilities!!

After a fairly long and uneventful travel day, we decided to select an anchorage that was not quite as far as the one we had originally identified.  This one was in a very large and somewhat open part of the North River (we are now in North Carolina).   It was protected from winds out of the northeast and was highly recommended by our research.  When we arrived there were about three other boats but they were separated from each other by several  hundred yards.  We found a spot to anchor and had a very quiet and peaceful evening.  We had delicious homemade salmon cakes for dinner and watched the last episode of Mad Men that we had purchased.  We need to get our hands on Season 7 now that we are seriously “hooked!

You may notice that this blog is more focused on descriptive characteristics of our travels and doesn’t include all the data elements that are of particular interest to people who may want to replicate this journey.  Suffice it to say, that Jonathan maintains detailed logs of our daily mileage, hours traveled, fuel consumption,  latitude and longitude of marinas, moorings, anchorages, weather and sea conditions,  repairs, oil changes, etc.  and detailed expense reports.

Portsmouth, VA

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October 22 was our last day on the Chesapeake Bay (at least for this trip).  We left Park’s Marina on Tangier Island around 7:15 bound for Norfolk, VA.  We have been blessed with absolutely beautiful weather and this day was no exception.  The weather was sunny and warm and the seas were calm.  What more could anyone ask for?  The first part of the trip was quiet and peaceful but as we got closer to Norfolk we entered the channel that leads to the very busy port towns of Hampton, Newport News,  Norfolk, and Portsmouth.  The channel is lined on both sides with huge ships – battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers and many more.  What a difference from the quiet pristine waters of the Chesapeake Bay!

On our way north during this journey, we spent several days docked in Norfolk where we attended a “conference” of boaters who were interested in the Great Loop.

 

This time we decided to stay elsewhere and Portsmouth, which is just across the river from Norfolk, came highly recommended.  We learned that the City of Portsmouth provides free dockage right in the center of the town’s historic district.  We arrived there around 4:30, found the free dock and tied up a a nice tucked away corner adjacent to a lovely park.

After tidying up the boat, we set out to  explore the town stopping first at the Visitor’s Center which was next door to our town dock.  We had a great time walking through this very attractive town following the walking  guide we received at the visitor’s center.  Portsmouth, like so many other cities on the east coast, is filled with interesting historical references and beautiful architecture.  It was officially established in 1752 .  During the Revolutionary War parts of the town were burned but many of the historic buildings remain.  Later on, Portsmouth became home to our nation’s first naval hospital and was a significant player in naval shipbuilding and the maritime industry.  It has had its ups and downs economically but it has managed to rebuild its waterfront into a very appealing area.  This, and its proximity to so many of Virginia’s attractions, makes it a very worthwhile place to visit.

After walking by many interesting attractions and museums that we were too late to visit, we were  becoming rather thirsty. 

We found a perfect solution in the The Bier Garden, a very authentic German restaurant with over 200 types of beer.  Jonny was in beer heaven!  It took forever to make a decision among so many choices but we finally decided and were very happy with our selections.  By this time we were also hungry, so we satisfied our cravings with some nibbles – enough to prevent us from having to make dinner.

As it got dark, it was time to walk back to the boat where we started to settle in for the evening.  About 9:00 we heard a knock on our door.  Someone was telling us that we had to move our boat because the ferry would be docking in our berth!  We were taken aback by this news as there were neither signs nor any indication on line or in our guidebooks that this wasn’t a perfectly acceptable place to dock!  Three other boats that were docked nearby were also notified of the same.  We had no choice but to untie ourselves and move a couple of hundred feet away.  This is where Jonny totally stepped up to the plate.  After having had two German beers and after 8 hours of piloting the boat, he maneuvered Zendo into the smallest possible space one could imagine.  It was a masterful job of parallel parking in the dark with a single engine!

About an hour later we saw the ferry – a huge paddlewheel style boat- pass us as it went to fuel up and dock at our little park side dock space.  Enough excitement for one day – it was time to call it a night and prepare for the next leg of our journey.

Tangier Island, VA

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Our trip on the Chesapeake Bay heading south is much quicker than our northern excursion due to the need to get back to Florida before Thanksgiving.  But there are still  many places to explore here so we wanted to visit those that were high on our list.  One of those places was Tangier Island.  We left our anchorage in the busy boating community of Solomon’s Island bound for the unique and quaint island village of Tangier on Tuesday October 21.  Traveling down the wide open bay was exquisite on this sunny autumnal day with just a touch of fall in the air.  The bay felt almost empty – we encountered only one large barge and very few pleasure craft.

We arrived at Tangier Island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay around 2 p.m. after a five hour cruise.

We were greeting at Parks Marina by the venerable old Mr. Parks, a legend on the island.  He is 84 years old and knows the waters by his marina like the back of his hand.  He guided us into one of his fixed docks and instructed us on how to tie up “just so.”  Once we were settled, he promised to give us a free tour of the island on his golf “buggy” later than afternoon. 

Tangiers Island was populated by the Pocomoke Indians for centuries but John Smith was credited with discovering it in the early 1600’s.  It was settled by people with the same English surnames as those who still live there (Crockett, Pruitt, Thomas, Marshall, Charnock, Parks, etc.)   The island is known for the distinct accent of its residents.  They sound more English than American, perhaps owing to the isolated nature of the island culture.  They are known locally as “Hoi Toiders” (high tiders) although the accent is starting to diminish now that communication channels have become more world wide. 

After washing down the boat, we set off on foot to explore the island ourselves.

Tangier Island is quite a special place.  It’s very small (only 1.2 square miles) with a population of 727.  There are practically no cars on the island. Residents get around on foot or by bicycle or buggy.  We walked the streets near the marina which were very narrow and laid out with neatly painted and decorated homes.  Everyone we met was very friendly.  Only a few stores and one of the four restaurants were still open as the season was clearly ending.  The local historical museum was open and we spent a little time in there learning more about the island’s history.

 

Tangier Island has a simple charming feel to it.  Houses are nestled close to each other.  The largest house on the island appeared to be the local church refectory. One interesting note – the homes were originally surrounded by white picket fences.  As they started to deteriorate, some families replaced them with more modern chain link fences.  After that, everyone put up chain link fences.  But now, many years later, those rather unattractive fences are rusting and being replace by – guess what – white picket fences!

The primary industries are crabbing and tourism.  Visitors from the mainland come over on ferries from nearby Crisfield.  Those ferry excursions  decline with the advent of autumn. We did see one small group of what appeared to be Mennonites who were exploring the town. It seemed like a fitting place for them to enjoy. There is one schoolhouse on the island that teaches children from kindergarten through high school.  The town is big enough to  have its own post office.  We visited one of the gift shops where Jonny bought a tee shirt. The proprietress informed us that the postmistress was her sister and her brother was the police chief. That seems to be the way it is on Tangier Island. Everyone is related to everyone else.

We passed an extraordinary number of graveyards.  In earlier years, families buried their dead in back yards.  When that became impractical, small cemeteries appeared in several locations around the island.  When Mr. Parks gave us our buggy tour, he pointed out a home where there was a fresh and good sized gravestone right outside the back door. Apparently the woman who lived there wanted her husband nearby.

Mr. Park also drove us by the recently built health center where his daughter works as a doctor and a very nice recreation center used largely by the children on the island.  The entire island was well kept and appeared to be a very comfortable and friendly place.  Everyone we passed greeted us and had special words of endearment for Mr. Parks, who is obviously a well-loved figure here.

When it came time for dinner and given the importance of crabbing to this island (especially soft shell crab) we, of course, had to sample the local cuisine. That evening we had an early dinner of soft shell crab and crab cakes at Lorraine’s, the only restaurant that seemed to be open on the island.  It was a basic restaurant with simple preparations but the food was good and plenty enough for leftovers.  Oh, did we mention that this is a dry island so we had to limit our liquor intake to that which we had onboard!

Solomons Island, MD

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It was another beautiful sunny day on October 20 as we made our way south on the Chesapeake Bay.  We left lovely St. Michaels at 9 for our seven hour  cruise to Solomons Island. The bay was calm for most of the trip with very little boat traffic.  As the afternoon wore on, the seas picked up a bit but we were still very comfortable.  Lynn worked on the blog and even Jonny was able to relax and read for awhile.

We found a quiet anchorage in a small bay next to the entrance to Solomons Island.  On our way north, we had stayed at a marina here, so there was no compelling reason for us to do so again.  We anchor out  whenever we can because we like the peaceful nature of anchorages and the price is right!

We spent the evening exploring the possibility of an alternative route south - bypassing  the Alligator River and the Alligator River – Pungo River  Canal.  This route may save us a bit of time and allow us to see some new ports of call.  However, the decision will be determined by the predicted winds and waves.  We want to be in Jacksonville by the second week of November, if not earlier.  We plan to leave our boat there, pick up our car and our cats, and drive to Miami to begin the process of moving into our newly renovated home.  We’ll bring the boat down a bit later. 

Later on we watched another couple of episodes of Mad Men and went to bed fairly early.  We are like farmers, rising with the sun and going to bed when it gets dark!

St. Michaels, MD

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We were looking forward to going to St. Michaels as we were unable to visit this charming town on our cruise north earlier this year.

 

Delaware City was very cold on Monday morning, Oct. 19.  It was in the thirties!  Stephanie had stayed overnight with us on the boat and she left at 6 a.m. to go to work.  Her favorite feature on her new car is her  ability to turn the car on and warm it up before she leaves the house (or the boat in this case).   The docks were so icy that walking was treacherous.  Lynn slipped off the swim platform  requiring her to change her pants, shoes and socks because one leg got soaked! 

As we left the marina, the difference in the air and water temperatures caused fog to hover over the water. 

But although it was cold, the winds were calm and so were the seas. We were able to get underway without any problems.  The day warmed up slightly as we traversed the  15 mile long Delaware & Chesapeake Canal and entered the Chesapeake Bay.  Like the Delaware Bay, this one is huge so it can be very pleasant to cruise or it can be quite rough.  We were lucky because the waters were amazingly calm. The trees lining the banks were ablaze in fall colors.

 

We had a long cruise – 70 miles – and beautiful weather.  Although there was little boat traffic, we did pass this particularly large barge. 

In order to get to St. Michaels from the north, you have to enter a very shallow and narrow waterway known as the Kent Narrows.  This area is very popular with boaters and it was lined with marinas filled with mostly powerboats.  Because we are out of season, there continued to be little traffic and crossing the hairpin turns of the Narrows was uneventful.

We decided to stay at a marina in St. Michaels so we could go into town and explore.  Also, our dinghy is folded up on deck so it wouldn’t be convenient for us to moor anywhere and dinghy into town. We found the most cost effective marina in this high rent boating town and tied up at their relatively empty docks.  By this time it was 6 p.m. (we had left that morning at 7:30 – long day!) and we had dinner reservations for 7.  We quickly changed and walked into town before heading over to the restaurant. 

St. Michaels is a perfectly charming Chesapeake Bay town.  We were lucky to be here off season because it can get very crowded.  However, on this Monday evening most of the stores were already closed and the streets were very quiet.

 

We made our way to Bistro St. Michael on the main drag.  This was an absolutely perfect little restaurant.  It was cozy and warm inside (the weather had turned chilly again) and we had a most delicious meal in a quaint and intimate setting.  It was a perfect Monday night date night experience and we were very happy!

Afterwards, we strolled around town a little more.  There were some interesting Halloween decorations!  The town was almost eerily quiet on a Monday night.  It’s often much nicer to be in a popular town during its off season.

We had a quiet evening aboard treating ourselves to yet another episode of Mad Men and going to bed early.   We had had a long and quite enjoyable day!