October 18th- Jackson Creek/ Deltaville, VA to Mill Creek/ Hampton, VA

Captain and crew were up at dawn and prepared for our trip down the bay. The Chesapeake had some seas built up due to a windy few days. The harbor at Deltaville was pretty calm. The bay was not. Early in the day we had gusts topping 25mph. We had the sails properly reefed prior to leaving the harbor so we were ready for it. Having said that, the first half hour or so is always difficult as it takes a little while to process what is going on. Eventually, the coffee kicks in, the sails are set, and Catalpa is flying down the bay.

Sometimes I wonder if we all had a better sense of humor when naming things back in the old days. This is Wolf Trap Light. I find it difficult to photograph rough seas but they show a little in this picture.

Eventually the wind calmed down a bit but the bay was still rough. This creates a problem as we are still bouncing around, but not moving as fast. Eventually we fired up the diesel engine.

Norfolk is a city with a busy waterfront . You can see it in the distance for a while. It has a big port and is important for shipping. We probably saw about a dozen ships anchored or moving towards the port (along with military helicopters and Coast Guard cutters). More on Norfolk when we get to it.

This big guy was coming at me for a while.

The approach to the area is called Hampton Roads. All of this shipping gets squeezed into a relatively tight area. We got to this late in the day. We also ran into a 1 to 2 knot current which slowed us down. Our goal was to go up the Hampton River but with daylight ebbing, I spied a cove off our starboard side called MILL CREEK (again). We stopped at the cove for the night. It is bordered by a highway tunnel entrance on one side and Fort Monroe on the other. We planned on touring Fort Monroe the next day but plans change. The remnants of tropical storm Nestor are supposed to drop by this area sometime Sunday. On Friday night, they had a gale watch (34 to 47 knots) in effect for this area. This has since been down graded.

October 19th- Mill Creek to Hampton Creek/ Hampton, VA

I woke up this morning and decided that this particular Mill Creek was not a great place to be in a storm. It’s exposed to wind from a few directions and it would be a long, wet, dinghy ride for Olliver and me. Up a river, near a dock, would be better.

We raised the hook and motored up the Hampton River. We are anchored a short distance from the Hampton Public Piers. Today we walked around town. Ollie got some “me time” in a dog park. We had clam chowder and local beer for lunch. There is a brewery on the dock. We have access to hot showers. It’s a good place to sit out some inclement weather.

Some of the sights. We have access to WiFi again.

Hampton University

The area we are anchored in. The octagonal structure with the green roof, is the dock master’s building.

The Virginia Air and Space Center.

A seaworthy looking little Ketch

Catalpa anchored in the Hampton River

What happened to the HEAT!! Winter started to catch up to us again. I was starting to think I brought warm clothing for no reason. The temperature took all day to crawl up to 60. Supposedly the temps are going to bottom out at 46 degrees tonight. We’ll be lighting all of our oil lanterns this evening.The sun was out, so after doing some engine maintenance, we took a walk over to the Deltaville Maritime Museum and the Holly Point Nature Park. By the way, the park is on Mill Creek. There was a Mill Creek near Solomon’s. We stayed at a different Mill Creek a few days ago. How many Mill Creeks are there?

The museum and park were dog friendly and very interesting. Of course, I’m a big fan of wooden boats. I’m particularly interested in the boats that people worked in. Several years ago I read a book about Chesapeake Bay sharpies. It was great to see the real thing in person. The boats were largely built with flat bottoms to negotiate the shallow water of the bay. They were a lot easier to build than more curvy boats that involve steam bent frames and planks.

A power sharpy (and a dog).

A plethora of museum photos.

The park was also beautiful. It is a wooded grove along the creek. The paths are punctuated with bronze sculptures that were donated.

Someone got a lot of exercise.

We had access to WiFi at the marina.

Wait a minute! What’s this model doing down here?

October 16th – Jackson Creek/ Deltaville, VA

I’m glad we pulled in here. The weather today is quite stormy. Lots of wind and rain. Apparently, up in New England, it’s worse. I was told that they have been suffering from a draught around the Chesapeake, so hopefully this rain helps. We’ve been enjoying the dry weather. Tomorrow is looking ok but there are 30mph winds predicted. Sounds like to much work for us. We’ll stay another day.

Rainy view off the back porch. I have a canvas awning over the cockpit to deflect some of the rain.

I like this Deltaville Marina. The bathrooms and showers are the nicest we’ve seen in awhile. The staff have been very helpful. Lynne and Ollie did laundry today. They were able to spend the day in the lounge. I scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy. Both of us are busy most days. Tomorrow, I’m planning on changing the oil in the diesel engine. I’m hoping the boat yard will accept the used oil and filter. It seems like a good place to haul a boat if it was in need of work.

We haven’t had a chance to check out the town yet. There is a maritime museum up the road. Maybe we’ll make it over there tomorrow (between projects).

Incidentally, we left Padanaram Harbor (Dartmouth, MA) one month ago.

October 14th – Solomon’s Island to Mill Creek

We moved on from Solomon’s this morning. Before leaving, we fueled up at Spring Cove Marina. Lynne checked the place out and put it on the list for the return trip. With tanks full of diesel we headed out of Back Creek, down the Patuxent River, and back out into the Chesapeake. We had calm seas and no wind until the last couple of hours (reason for the diesel).

The Books of Bob mentioned Mill Creek so I picked that as our next stop. The problem with finding a specific Mill Creek are the sheer amount of Mill Creeks in existence. Eventually I figured out which Mill Creek we were going to. I really enjoy all of these different names as we pass through areas.

AND the name of the week award goes to…..?.

The Point No Point Light House

Eventually we crossed over the Potomac River into Virginia. The mouth of the Potomac is 10 miles wide, so it took a while. With an hour or so of daylight left we turned into Ingram bay and negotiated our way up Mill Creek to our anchorage for the night. This little cove had a small beach to tie up the dinghy and some woods to wander around in. Ollie had an unbelievably exciting deer chase. Fortunately he did not catch the deer. He just wants the antlers. We bought him a new antler at Solomon’s so I gave him that for eventually listening to me.

Catalpa at Mill Creek

October 15th- Mill Creek, VA to Jackson Creek / Deltaville, VA

Today’s passage was a fairly easy one. We were able to sail most of the day so we made good time to the Piankatank River. The entrance to Jackson Creek is a little tricky. It is well marked but a small mistake will have you in one foot of water. We made it in without issue.We’re anchored in a protected spot for a few days. We are a stones throw from the Deltaville Marina. We payed a facilities fee so we’re able to use the showers, laundry, pool, WiFi, and a car!. Luxury. I don’t think we have had a regular “house type” shower since Atlantic City. We have a solar bag that works pretty well. If we don’t have enough sun to heat it up, we boil a tea kettle. We also have a bug sprayer contraption that we use for a quick spray (mostly for Ollie). In Catalpa, we have 2 sinks. Both have a foot pump (no pressure water). We’ve used this setup for a number of years and are used to it. On the other hand, who doesn’t enjoy unlimited hot water?

We’re going to have some weather for the next few days so this is our spot until it blows over.

October 10th – Swan Creek,MD to Rhode River, MD

We left early and headed further down the bay. North wind again pushing us south, eventually pushing us under the Chesapeake Bay bridge. This was the longest steel bridge (when it was built in the 1950s).

Impressive Bridge.

Despite a “small craft advisory” the sun popped out and we had a nice sail. Generally I work on the next day’s navigation in the evening. I have several guide books (three of them by guys named Bob – The Books of Bob). I pour over the guides and the chart and try to find a good spot 35nm to 50nm away. Today’s trip was a short one so we proceeded at a leisurely pace. The anchorage was only 20nm but we’re doing a little site seeing.

Next we passed the very photogenic Thomas Shoal Lighthouse.

We then headed into the West river and up the Rhode River to our anchorage for the evening. There are some houses on the Rhode but 3000 acres are owned by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. There were a few boats anchored in a huge area. Our only neighbors were a flock of Canada Geese. The moon and stars were outstanding. Just to set the record straight, neither myself nor my dog have ever trespassed on any federally protected SERC islands in the state of Maryland.

Happy pup.

October 11th – Rhode River, MD to Solomon’s Island, MD

I think we’ve had “small craft advisories ” every day, since we left Barnegat Bay. In my normal life I try to avoid sailing on days with advisories. Today was another such day. The Chesapeake was tumultuous when we were leaving the river. Eventually we were able to bear off the wind and waves. Once again, going with the flow. Much of the Chesapeake is shallow so when the wind picks up, so do the waves (quickly). We had a good radio station on (out of Anapolis), so I cranked up the tunes and we surfed down the bay.

Boat or building?

October 12th and 13th – Solomon’s Island

This place lives and breathes boats. We took Catalpa up to the end of Back Creek to a quiet spot. Solomon’s was built up around boats. The entire harbor caters to boats. Among the 1000s of vessels there are restaurants (you can pull up to), fuel docks, a nautical museum (complete with lighthouse) and just about everything a boat gypsy could want. On my first trip to shore, with Ollie, I found a liquor store! We managed to replenish our food supply completely (back breaking work). We picked up fresh fish for dinner (something we haven’t had in a while). The local pet shop delivered a 50lb bag of dog food right to the dinghy dock that we’re using. We haven’t seen any place to get dog food (Orijen) since we left home so this was particularly important.

Solomon’s Island area was used as a training ground for the Invasion of Guadalcanal. Ironically, I’m reading a book about the Marines and the war in the Pacific. I just happen to be on the chapter about The Canal. The story of Guadalcanal is a scary one.

Today we’re going to tour town and look for a chain stopper plate (still). Catalpa’s jib has partially pulled out of the roller furling track so I’m going to fix that today. This is a great spot to reprovision and repair (and relax). Either rock fish or steak for dinner tonight (with fresh crab cakes).

Some of the sites at Solomon’s.

We went to the Calvert maritime museum but it wasn’t dog friendly. We looked around for a while and enjoyed watching the mini skipjack race. Eventually staff seemed unhappy about Ollie so we moved on. The lighthouse is the Drum Point Light.

We could have stayed in Chesapeake City another day. I could live off of the pizza and beer at the tiki bar. The brick oven pizza was one of the best I’ve had in a while. Dinner and several beers for $35. You can’t beat that! We’ll be back.

Army Corps of Engineers survey vessel

The view leaving the harbor

We headed down the C & D (with the current) into the Elk River. We actually had favorable currents all day. The scenery along the Elk was nice. A few houses. Mostly a very rural area.

We then headed out into the Chesapeake Bay. The bay greeted us with a perfect wind. I shut down the engine, hoisted all sail, and we flew down the bay. It looked like rain all day, but other than a shower in the morning, we stayed dry.

We ended the day at Swan Creek.

It’s a well protected anchorage. The bottom around here is a kind of gluey mud. Catalpa is looking pretty rough right now. I dump buckets of sea water on her deck every morning but the anchor gear keeps bringing up more goop.

The plan was to go into town (Rock Hall) but I think we’re going to push on tomorrow morning. Dinghy access to town is not good. We’ve been running low on provisions since Atlantic City but in a couple days we’re going to be in a spot where we can do a big resupply.

We were going to stop in Anapolis (a sailing mecca) but the Annapolis boat show is this weekend. We were informed by another cruiser that if we didn’t get there a few days early, we’d never get a mooring. Oh well, we don’t need a second boat. Maybe we’ll get over there on the return trip.

October 4th Atlantic City and Brigantine, NJ

We headed out of Atlantic City to anchor in the Absecon Inlet where we had anchored previously. The winds were blowing at 30 knots so we felt it was a bad idea to venture out into the ocean. Absecon was also bad. I launched the anchor but due to current and wind there was a lot of chop. Catalpa wouldn’t point right. The town opposite to AC is Brigantine. According to my charts, there was a completely protected pond with a narrow/ shallow entrance right near us. We pulled the hook up and cautiously entered the Rum Point Basin. It was a little like threading a needle but we were treated with a quiet protected spot to spend the night. We could once again see the stars as we were away from the lights of AC. Back to nature. I’m sure we’ll be back to Atlantic City one day but I hope our stay is short.

Goodbye AC

October 5th Rum Point Basin NJ to Cape May NJ

This was a tough decision. This was the last day of Northerly winds before they would clock around out of the south. There was a small craft advisory in affect but the wind would drive us down the coast. We went for it. The waves varied between big and very big. It was a bouncy day. No autopilot today as the large following seas would easily overpower the helm. I had to surf the waves all day.

We have a cargo area up in the bow of the boat. It has bedding, clothes, fishing tackle, charts, art supplies, etc. This jumble is all held in with cargo netting. When Ollie is stressed this is where he nests.

Ollie- “are we there yet?”

We made it into Cape May. Captain and crew were glad to be out of the heavy seas for the night.

October 6th Cape May, NJ to Cohansey River, NJ

We really wanted to spend the day in Cape May but it wasn’t to be. According to my Eldridge Tide and Pilot we needed to catch the current and wind up the bay. We would have bad timing on that soon. The current and tides change about an hour every day. This is compounded by the fact that the days are getting shorter and we are trying to avoid traveling at night.

We also needed some supplies. I arose at dawn and brought Ollie in for a “commando raid” at the beach. We then headed up Cape May harbor (in our trusty dinghy) to Utsch’s Marina. We needed gasoline for the Honda (dinghy motor), ice, and bread. Ironically, I can’t seem to find a packy (New England speak for liquor store). Booze is in short supply. There is a large Coast Guard base in Cape May. They played The Star-Spangled Banner while we passed by as they were raising the flag.

Some tough looking cutters

Fishing fleet

Finally at Utsch’s

Crew happy to be back on land for provisions.

Provisioning complete, we hauled up the anchor at 10:45 to start the days journey.

Catalpa headed down the Cape May canal to get into the Delaware Bay. It was a short scenic route with a 55′ bridge to go under. Our mast is only 41′ so no problems there.

The Delaware bay was rough when we started out but calmed down as the day progressed. It’s a big bay at the mouth. For most of the day we had grey skys, grey sea, and no shoreline. With the exception of a few distant barges we saw no one. The Pink Floyd lyric – Is there anybody out THERE? – occurred to me a few times during the passage.

We fly a naval ensign off the stern of Catalpa. Since we don’t belong to a yacht club I had no flag (burgee) on the mast. Last year we bought a Cuttyhunk Island burgee. So that’s our yacht burgee. Maybe we’ll get a Key West flag someday.

We arrived at the Cohansey river and anchored between its entrance and a small island. We were surrounded by tall marsh grass. It seemed to be a very remote location. There was a tiny beach on the island with a “party hut” built out of driftwood and scraps. Obviously it had gotten some recent use as there was a grill and a garbage can, filled with beer cans. Unfortunately, no buried treasure. I’m not sure how I would know that, assuming it was buried. It was another quiet night. There may have been another boat anchored further up the river but we didn’t see anyone.

October 7th Cohansey River, NJ to Chesapeake City, MD

We headed up the Delaware Bay again today. Interesting note, we are actually heading north to go south. We’ve discussed what our total mileage on this trip was going to be but I was actually never sure of the total. I’ve driven down to Florida and I think it’s around 1200 miles. I was thumbing through one of the cruising guides and found a page with some approximate port to port distances along the ICW. I pulled out the calculator and from Buzzards Bay to Miami is 1700 nautical miles (2000 statute miles). We travel at 5 miles per hour.

I was aiming at this for the first 3 or 4 hours. It’s the Salem nuclear power plant. This picture is for Ted if he’s watching.

Further up the bay the Delaware narrows (it’s a river) and there is a lot of shipping coming out of Philadelphia.

“Are we there yet?”

We avoided all big boats.

We finally arrived at the C & D Canal. This canal goes between the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay. I managed to catch a mostly favorable current up Delaware bay. This was not to be the case for the C&D. My Eldridge Time and Pilot said we’d have a favorable current in the canal for an hour. This means we’d travel at 7 knots for an hour and the remaining 5nm would be against the 2 knot current, not bad. Apparently, Eldridge was wrong. Maybe it’s because it’s based out of Boston? The current was against us the whole way. Over 4 hours to travel 12 miles. Next time I’ll be more careful about the canal.

A few more bridges to add to the list. Lighthouses are more photogenic.

We finally made it to Chesapeake City. It’s a nice little spot right on the canal. The harbor was dug out by The Army Corps of Engineers when they built the canal. The Engineers have a base here and seem busy doing engineering stuff.

It’s like a lake in here so we’re resting up today (Tuesday the 8th). There is a tiki bar at the Chesapeake Inn/ marina. They have a “happy hour ” and brick oven pizza. Dog friendly. That’s the plan for the evening. Last night there were about 10 boats in here, amost all from Canada. Maybe Canadians get sick of the cold too? Tomorrow we move on down the Chesapeake.

Chesapeake City

The Engineers have a museum. The canal used to have locks. They used 2 giant steam engines to turn a big water wheel . The wheel moved water to fill the lock.

Uncle Silas?

Plan “A” was to leave for Cape May yesterday. Plans change. The wind was still blowing out of the southwest, which is the direction we’re trying to travel in. I learned my lesson on the way to AC.

In a car you just point in a direction and hope there is a road in front of you. The problem we have is our boat is small as is our diesel motor . It is a 14hp tractor engine manufactured in Japan. It was then converted to marine use by another company out of Gloucester, UK. It is a very reliable little engine but has difficulty pushing Catalpa against wind and waves. Off the coast of NJ there is a small craft advisory in affect due to large waves (from tropical storm Gabriel) and there is that pesky southwest wind. If we just try to power into wind and waves our pace is reduced down to a 3 knot crawl. The waves slamming into the bow can almost stop the boat. The motion of the boat is difficult. On the other hand, when the wind is working for us, Catalpa can move along at 6 knots and has an easy motion. Patience. ” A sailor with no schedule always has good weather.” An old saying that applies to our situation. Today is stormy and grey with heavy East winds and surf. No-go for us. Tomorrow or Saturday are both possibilities.

So, we languish away the the days on the Golden Nugget pier. We’ve been around AC for a week. We’re ready to go. I made another tour of the casino today. A lot of the games are digital. When I was a kid I spent a lot of time playing Space Invaders on the boardwalk in Seaside and Point Pleasant. The casino games seem the same, probably more expensive than the quarters I was burning through. I also walked through the card and roulette areas. That looked more interesting if I was inclined to gamble. I made sure I glanced at no cards. I’ve seen Casino. They have a back room. Lynne found a place where we could get takeout pastries and bagels (today’s breakfast) and another that has takeout subs (dinner).

One way or the other we’re off this pier tomorrow. We’ll either anchor out or head down to Cape May. The dock rates increase on the weekends and we’ve been told it gets very busy. We met some nice cruisers on other boats. Ollie had a great time with a little dog last night. Doggy pandemonium on the pier.

View off the back porch- about 80′ long, from London. Looks like a real fast boat.

Yesterday we hauled up the anchor in Absecon Inlet and proceeded up Clam Creek. This is a basin filled with a combination of Coast Guard Vessels, fishing boats, and big yachts. We filled up with diesel and ice, both were a big priority. Then we proceeded over to the Golden Nugget and docked in the marina.

There are no dogs allowed in the casino. We considered disguising Ollie as a baby and putting him in a carriage but figured a baby in a casino might also attract attention. Lynne and I both went in at separate times. We both found it a little overwhelming. There are 1000s of people in those buildings. Almost like a whole town. I walked by several restaurants, lounges, sports bars, and stores. All of it mixed in with various betting machines. I only walked through one small portion of the Nugget. Atlantic City is an unusual place. There are these casinos and gated marinas and it all seems to be surrounded by poverty around this vicinity. Easy to buy a Rolex, diamond earrings, or a margarita but impossible to get a quart of milk. We were told we shouldn’t venture into the city without adequate transportation.

Today I’m going to fill up our fresh water supply and hose all the salt off Catalpa. Lynne is going to work on the laundry situation. They have fine showers in the marina so we’ve both enjoyed a little luxury. Tomorrow looks like it might be a good day to head a little further south. We are ready to move on. We’ve noticed the temperature around here seems to be about 10 degrees warmer than Massachusetts.

It’s been about a week since I’ve been able to post so here’s the story.

September 24th and 25th Port Washington, NY

Captain and crew lounged around in Port Washington and got in some R&R. We had a good meal at a local seafood restaurant (Fish On Main), did some shopping, and walked all over the place. Lynne and I also kept an eye on the whole United Nations thing so we could figure out when we could get down the East River.

September 26th Port Washington,NY to Atlantic Highlands, NJ

We left Long Island Sound for the East River. The first of many bridges to go under is the Throgs Neck bridge.

New York City (bathed in smog)

I didn’t get a picture of the infamous Hell Gate as I was busy. It wasn’t that bad. Woods Hole is worse. We were going very fast, for us.

The guide book says to take the West passage around Roosevelt Island. The East passage has the Roosevelt Island Lift Bridge. The bridge would have to be raised so that a sailboat mast could go under it. While raising the bridge one would have to fight the strong East River current.

So we took the East Passage. We couldn’t traverse the West side as it was blocked off by NYPD and Coast Guard boats (UN security zone). Lynne called the bridge and I fought the current for a while.

Roosevelt Island Bridge- UP

Amazing City view with the UN building in the center.

Empire State Building (one of my favorites) in the background.

What happened here?

After going under the Williamsburg bridge. We were intercepted by NYPD. A very nice officer, repeat- nice, told us the next part of the river was just shut down for an hour due to security restrictions around the Wall Street Heliport. Back to fighting against the current for an hour.

Eventually we got down to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Then on past Governors Island to New York Harbor and Lady Liberty.

The Bayonne Bridge. They somehow raised the roadway higher on the arch several years ago. I was born in Bayonne. Maybe someday we’ll go down the Kill Van Kull and get a closer look.

I wrote down a list of bridges as we went under each one.

• Throgs Neck
• Whitestone
• Hell Gate (rail)
• Triborough
• Roosevelt Island Lift Bridge
• Queensboro
• Williamsburg (The Willy B)
• Manhattan
• Brooklyn
• Verrazzano – Narrows

Problems

After going under the Verrazzano bridge we ran into some tall waves due to the wind opposing the current exiting the Narrows. We’ve done this kind of work before so it should have been no problem. At some point the bow of Catalpa was plowing into the waves. This forced the anchor (on the bow sprit) back, untensioned the chain, the “chain stopper plate” flew up from the water pressure, and 150 feet of anchor gear and steel flew off the front of the boat in an instant. We were now anchored in a big current with large waves bouncing the boat around. Lynne took over the helm to try to get control of the situation. I clipped in with harness/ jack lines and proceeded to ride the mechanical bull until I cranked all the anchor gear in. I lashed everything down and we proceeded on to Atlantic Highlands. In the ensuing mayhem the anchor locker (forepeak?) cap was damaged (since repaired) and the offending chain stopper plate was lost to the ocean (looking for a new one).

We pulled into Atlantic Highlands later in the day. Some day we’ll come back to explore. I have relatives around these parts. We stopped briefly and were off before dawn the next day due to a favorable wind. ONWARD

September 27th Atlantic Highlands, NJ to Barnegat Bay, NJ

We traveled from the Highlands to Barnegat Bay. It’s around 50 nautical miles, a long day for us. The winds were light so we motor sailed all day. The guide book says “only enter Barnegat Inlet with local knowledge “. Lynne called the Coast Guard and got some local knowledge. We made it in without issue. The anchorage was ideal. Oliver got some good play time in on the nice Sandy beaches surrounding us.

Our view Barnegat Light

September 28th Barnegat Bay, NJ to Atlantic City, NJ

This was supposed to be a short 28nm day. There was supposed to be light southerly winds, not ideal but doable. Well the winds fired up out of the southwest (The direction we were traveling in) and the day turned into a long upwind slog. What was supposed to take 5 or 6 hours took us 12. We picked out Atlantic City harbor (Absecon inlet) in the dark (a first for us). I’m reading a book about U-Boats and the battle for the Atlantic- it felt like a military operation. We glided in the dark to an anchorage area (on diesel fumes) and finally stopped for the night. I spyed the shore line for a landing. Then Oliver and I went on a commando raid to find a poop spot.

September 29th Atlantic City

We’re going to stay here for a few days to rest, dry out the boat, and reprovision. AC is a different place. Lots of casino lights at night. We’re thinking about renting a slip at the Golden Nugget. I don’t gamble but they have real showers and a laundromat.