Revisiting the Carribean of the Chesapeake!

Weather: Partly cloudy; E 10 knots or less; 74 degrees – a very nice, comfortable cruising day.

Comment:
We awoke at 0700, but lounged around for awhile. I checked the engine oil and glued the helmet gaskets back on while Anna Marie prepared a sumptuous breakfast. Being such a beautiful morning, we took some time to look at the sights from the confines of the cockpit. Two swans swam up for photos. After they departed, it was time to raise the anchor.

The 25 lb. CQR anchor was our anchor of choice last evening. We have used this anchor when winds of 15 knots or less are predicted. When we expect a blow, we go with the 33 lb. Bruce. We also carry a Fortress FX-23 as our storm anchor. If I remember correctly, it was designed to hold a 20,000 lb. boat in 60 knots of wind. It should easily hold all of our 8,000 lbs.

We have found that the CQR digs in very well; so well in fact, that it is next to impossible to pull up by hand. We usually take up as much slack as possible, and then power forward gently. This procedure has worked flawlessly in the past and continues to work for us. It’s a good thing too, as we don’t have a windlass.

Just before entering the bay, we raised the mainsail. Once out in the bay, we unfurled the jib, shut off the motors, raised them in their wells, and we were off like a shot... as much of a shot as possible in a 5 knot breeze. We were happy to be doing four mph. As was true yesterday, we noticed an inordinate number of northbound sailboats. As it happens, the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis begins on Thursday. We guess that’s where everyone is heading!

As for us, we’re happy staying away from the crowd. We stopped early to do some boat chores. We set up the dinghy so it can hang from the davits while we’re sailing (or motoring for that matter) and we built a decorative key rack. We took time to lounge on the beach while drinking our sarsaparillas. The marina was kind enough to drive us to the West Marine store so we could get some parts for the dinghy.

Goodbye Baltimore!

Weather: Some sun but mostly cloudy; SE 10-15 knots; 75 degrees

Comment:
0720 Rise and shine!
0800 Slip lines from Inner Harbor East

Sail out of Baltimore Harbor (for 10 minutes) making all of 3 mph. We fired up the puppies again and promptly hit 7 mph.

We enjoyed our stay in Baltimore very much. It is a most cruiser friendly city and there is much to do. We didn’t even scratch the surface.

1000 The wind has freshened to 15 knots so it’s off motors and up sails! Before we raised the sails, we rolled up the dinghy and stored it in the port bow locker. When riding on the bow, the dinghy interferes with the roller furling line. It also “jumps” with the wave action. Since we thought we’d be using the furling gear frequently, we decided to stow the dinghy. We still need to configure a bridle so we can store it on the davits.

We tacked back and forth across the mouth of the Patapsco River and along the way encountered several inbound and outbound ships and tugs/barges. We also saw a couple of tall ships heading up river.

1200 The winds have dropped below 8 knots, so it’s on motors. We rolled up the jib, but kept the main sail up for the remainder of the day.

1600 Just outside of Galesville, we pulled into Parish Creek to rendezvous with Chester King, Sunshine’s former owner. Unfortunately, Jeanette was unable to be there. While waiting, we filled up with fuel and pumped the holding tank at Backyard Boats.

1715 Chester arrives at the appointed time. He climbed on board and took some photos of some of the modifications that we’ve done to the boat. We presented him with the “Sea Paws” pillow that Jeanette made when they owned the boat. Their new boat “Sea Paws II” has the same logo as that Jeanette embroidered on the pillow. We hoped to make a more formal presentation, but Jeanette was on a plane to Atlanta. Chester graciously gave us a tour of “SP II.” It is a marvelous boat. At 47 feet long and 27 wide, she is big to say the least. We took the tour and placed the pillow in an appropriate place. We bid our farewell to Chester and motored around the corner to Galesville where we anchored for the evening.

BALTIMORE AND VISITORS FROM NJ!

September 29, 2007

WEATHER: Overcast; NW @20-25; 73 degrees; gives way to 81 degrees and N 10 to 15

COMMENTS:
0500 We’re up and ready to go! … but it’s pretty windy, small craft advisories are posted and it’s dark. We decided to go back to bed.
0700 We’re up again. We had cereal for breakfast, did a few boat chores and listened to the weather radio.
0800 Fire up, weigh anchor!

We're underway in the protection of Bodkin Creek, but we could tell from the rustling tree tops, that in was breezy on the Bay. As we entered the Bay at the mouth of the Patapsco River, we found northeast winds in the 20 to 25 knot range. It was windy and lumpy, but not hazardous, or so we thought.

While underway, we listened in as the Coast Guard performed a search and rescue for a Gibson 41 Houseboat. The vessel was underway with four people aboard. It was bow down and taking on water. The skipper didn’t think they’d make it to port. He reported that they were “seriously bow down and the engine was cavitating.” After about 15 minutes, the coast guard arrived on the scene and took to people off of the boat. A short time later, there was talk about the chances of fluids (diesel fuel and engine oils) “leaving the boat.” The vessel apparently went to Davey Jones’ locker shortly after the people were rescued. The drama unfolded a few miles south of us at the entrance to the Magothy River.

After we went under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, perhaps the official entrance to Baltimore Harbor, we made a slight turn to starboard to see the “Star Spangled Buoy.” It is reported that this buoy, marks the position of a prison ship that held among others, Francis Scott Key. It was from that ship, anchored in this spot that he peered out into the morning sky to see Old Glory still flying over Fort McHenry. The sight inspired him to pen the poem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”

1200 We tied up to the face of “E” dock at Inner Harbor East Marina. After doing a few boat chores, we took a walk to Fells Point. It’s a cool place with some fun eateries, plenty of bars and interesting stores. We settled in for lunch at Bertha’s Mussels. Good food, particularly the shrimp salad sandwich enjoyed by Anna Marie. It was chock full of whole shrimp.
1600 The Shelley, Greg and the KIDS arrive! After they loaded their stuff on board, we hot-footed it to the Baltimore Visitor’s Center where we boarded one of the DUCKS. Although a bit pricey, it was a great tour. Driver/Captain Crabby was great fun. The tour lasted about 1 ½ hours. We used our “quackers” (a duck beak/duck calling souvenir) the whole way!

After the tour, we strolled a few blocks to little Italy for some homemade pasta at Caesar’s Den. The meal was authentic Italian and very good.

Back at the boat, we enjoyed a Starbuck’s nightcap and hit the sack! We’ll “git ‘er done” tomorrow.

September 30, 2007 LAY DAY #2 – LET’S PLAY WITH THE KIDS in Baltimore, MD


WEATHER: Overnight temp cooled off nicely; daytime high of 77, clear, cloudless sky; winds around 10 to 12 knots.

COMMENTS: The night was comfortable, perhaps even a little cool. We turned the fan off in the wee hours of the morning and pulled up the comforter.

0700 Shelley and Geoffrey were the first to get up and Anna Marie and I joined them in the salon. We talked about the day’s activities and sat in the cockpit enjoying the early morning harbor sights.

0830 Anna Marie and I worked on cutting cushions for the helm seats. Shelley graciously brought the closed cell foam cushions from home. We seats will be much more comfortable than the cushions we previously had.

0900 The girls got up and brushed their teeth, leaving only Greg still in the sack. Shelley, the kids and I walked off the find a McDonalds and to ride the dragon peddle boats. When we arrived, the peddle boats were still closed. By this time, Greg and Anna Marie caught up with us and we were off to McDonald’s on Light Street.

After breakfast, we marched back to the peddle boats in the hopes they were open. Alas, they were not. Anna Marie took the kids for a tour of the Constellation, the last “strictly sail” warship commissioned by the US Navy.

I took the water taxi back to Harbor East and made the short walk back to the boat while Shelley took the kids on the Dragon peddle boats. I needed to do some things on the boat and promised to catch up with everyone later.

The rest of the crew went to the Port of Discovery Museum and had lunch. They returned at about 1500 hours and were nice enough to bring me lunch. Shortly after their return, we bid farewell. I think the kids had a good time. Geoffrey wants to visit the boat again and he wants Joshie to join us!

After watching the ending to "The Guardian," Anna Marie and I filled the water tank and she was off to do the laundry and I check fluids in the engines and tended to the logs.

By the way, Mom called to say that the Phillies won their game (6 – 1) and were the champions of the national league east - amazing! The NY Mets had a pretty big lead with about 25 games to go but the Phillies caught them in the end. Hard to believe!

We’ll be leaving Baltimore early tomorrow morning. We hope to get to the West River by nightfall.

"SUNSHINE" Is Going Back Home!

Thursday, September 27, 2007 SUNSHINE IS GOING BACK HOME (for a brief visit!)

WEATHER: Hazy and hot again; 81 degrees, wind 5-10 SE building to 10 – 15. Small Craft Warnings for tomorrow.

COMMENTS:
0700 We arose slowly after a hot, restless night! We applied sunshine’s name to her port side last night and this morning, Anna Marie peeled off the tape that kept letters together prior to application. Our vessel’s name was reveled and we can now be identified from either port or starboard, but not from astern yet, we still have to put the name and hailing port on the transom.
0815 I completed some of the log; we fired up the puppies and slipped our lines. Destination: The fuel dock at Tidewater Marina.
0845 Took on 14 gallons of fuel and headed out.
1050 We were able to unroll the jib and do some motor sailing – such is the advantage of a sloop as compared to our catboat.
1545 Anchor down in Bodkin Creek. This is the creek SUNSHINE called home when she was known as SEA PAWS.

We rolled and unrolled the jib a couple of time on the day as the winds veered to our advantage. The sail gives the motors a lift. They don’t seem to have to work as hard. Unfortunately, we were never able to shut them off and sail on. They ran the whole time.

Shelley, Greg and family mentioned that they would meet us in the Solomons for the weekend if we were going there. We were excited by this prospect, but with the small craft warning for tomorrow, any chance of making the Solomons would require a very long day today. Our late departure probably meant that we wouldn’t be able to get far enough down bay. We cogitated for several hours and finally threw in the towel. Our destination became Bodkin Creek, the place from which we purchased “Sea Paws.” Our hope is to meet Greg, Shelley and kids at Baltimore. We’ll probably spend the day here tomorrow and make for Baltimore on Saturday morning.

Friday, September 28, 2007 OUR FIRST LAY DAY

WEATHER: Small craft advisories NW 15-20 gusts to 25; Showers in AM sunny in PM 81 degrees

COMMENTS: This is our first lay day. We’ve been going pretty hard for three days and finally are taking the time to slow down. Today’s agenda was reading, doing Sudoku puzzles, attending to some boat tasks. I also updated all of the logs and wrote a blog entry in anticipation of connectivity at the marina tomorrow (ED NOTE: When we arrived, we found that the marina’s service was down!)

Anna Marie made reservations at the Inner Harbor Marina East in Baltimore. We’re hoping that Shelley, Greg and the kids will join us for the weekend.

We made a call to Myrtle Beach to wish Rosie a happy first birthday! Happy Birthday Rosie!!! We wanted to talk to Josh, but he was out playing with Noah. Boy do we miss him, Rosie, Sandi and Matt!

The Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware Bay Legs

Old Coast Guard Station near Little Egg Inlet and Holgate, NJ

September 24, 2007 The Atlantic Ocean

It is 0600 and the anchor is up! We are on our way to Cape May, NJ. We motored down the NJ ICW along LBI, passed the Brant Beach Yacht Club, the Haven Beach Club, and Spray Beach Yacht Club. We observed that Morrison’s Restaurant, which burned down several years ago, has not yet rebuilt. We thought they would rebuild immediately after the fire, but that was not the case.
Atlantic City Skyline

After passing the Beach Haven Yacht Club, we unfurled the jib and motor sailed out Little Egg Inlet. The day was crystal clear and Atlantic City looked like a fine jewel jutting out into the ocean. Winds were out of the north east at 5 to 10 knots, so motor sailing was the order of the day. We ticked off the coast towns as we progressed south and entered Cold Spring Inlet at 1630 hours. We fueled up at South Jersey Marina and anchored just south of the Cape May Coast Guard Station at 1800 hours. It was a long yet satisfying day, and we toasted the fact that ½ of our Atlantic Ocean work was completed. (ED. Note: On “Fodder’s Cat,” a series of cold fronts caused a five day delay getting to Cape May.)

Anchorage in Cape May, NJ (near Coast Guard Station)

September 25, 2007 The Delaware Bay

We fired up the engines and weighed anchor at 0600 hours, determined to make our way to the bountiful Chesapeake Bay. We have settled in for a long day. The current is against us and will get progressively worse until we get to Reedy Point (the entrance to the C&D Canal where we’re timed it exactly right to hit the maximum foul current!

On the bright side, we sailed for 2 ½ hours on the Delaware Bay at speeds in excess of 8 MPH! Were we flying or what?

Shipping traffic was light in the lower bay but got progressively busier as we traveled almost due north. At one point, we were surrounded by fog, but visibility was at least two miles. We were out of the shipping lanes and we had no problem with the fog.

We have heard several cruisers on the radio and saw about 2 dozen vessels that appeared to be doing the same thing as us - heading south for the winter!

I get all of the necessary tide and current information from the GPS (Garmin 545s Chart Plotter) which is an amazing piece of technology.

We “enjoyed” the slow going through the C&D Canal. Our hope to drop the anchor in Engineers Cove on the Canal at Chesapeake City was foiled when we enter the cove to find greatly expanded dock space which took up a good portion of what used to be the anchorage. What anchorage was left was occupied. The tie up space along the town dock was full and, even at 10:00 PM on a Tuesday night, the joint was hoping. The marina is much larger than I remember. There were lots of boats and people. A live band was playing and the crowd was partying. One might have thought it was a Saturday night!

The evening was dark. Without the chart plotter, we would have been very apprehensive entering the cove. We didn’t find any channel marks, but with the chart plotter’s 200’ scale, we could pick our way in with confidence. What a difference from using paper charts!

The lack of room to anchor caused us to exit the harbor in hopes of finding a quieter anchorage at the nay end of the canal.

We followed the channel to Veasy Point on the Bohemia River. Just before making our turn around red nun “16” the starboard engine picked up some grass and wasn’t getting sufficient water. We shut down the engine and proceeded under port engine alone.

We got the anchor down in Veazy Point and immediately crashed. It was a long day. We made it out of NJ in just three days. Our delivery trip is over… now, we start cruising!

We're Off!

Motoring down bay shortly after departure
September 23, 2007
This is the blog of the good ship “SUNSHINE,” a 34' catamaran made by PDQ Yachts in 1989. "SUNSHINE" has just departed from our home port in Barnegat, NJ. with Fodder (Bll) and Grammy (Anna Marie) aboard. This is our second trip on the ICW.

We slipped our lines from Mariner’s Marina in Barnegat at 1700 hours on Sunday, September 23, 2007 and headed south, all the while waving good-bye to Mom, Shelley and Greg, and Geoffrey, Claire and Madi (mom, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren respectively). We are officially chasing the 70’s (70 degre weather that is)! We hope to follow the warm weather down the coast to Florida.

After our late afternoon start, we motored down beautiful Barnegat Bay. We tossed out the hook in Manahawkin Bay after only two hours underway. It was a calm, colorful evening. The yellows and oranges of the setting sun gave way to the crimsons and violets of the twilight. The water was an iridescent silver/purple, and we could just hear the clicking of tires as cars made their way across the Causeway that connects long beach Island and the Mainland. It was a splendid first evening on the hook.

While swinging at anchor, I reflected back to the summer Mariner races held on the west course of the Surf City Yacht Club. Crew Gary and I meet all of the goals we established at the beginning of the season, in fact, we exceeded some of them!

Three of our five grandchildren participated in SCYC programs. Oldest grandson, Geoffrey sailed in the Opti I (Optimist Dinghy - Level I) while Josh and Claire were in the Bay kids program. Madi and Rose were too young to participate but stayed with us for the summer as did youngest daughter Sandi. My mother, Mom-Mom to the kids, played with us as well. Beside activities at the Yacht Club, we spent time with the kdis at the ocean and bay beaches, Fantasy Island and Eagleswood Amusement Parks, not to mention many games of minigolf. The hardest thing about cruising is leaving family and friends.

While on the hook on this splendid evening, we took time to reflect on our previous journey south in “Fodder’s Cat,” the cozy, little vessel that we called home for eight months. We took great pride in that boat and the fact that we were the smallest boat in that year’s group of “snowbirds” to make the trip south.

This year, our vessel is more commodious. One of the reasons we “adopted” this boat is to have family and friends join us for various legs of the journey. So far, we have scheduled visitors for a total of about a month and a half and are waiting for commitments from several others.