12 October 2020
No travel.
Windy, rainy, chilly
During the night the wind picked up and the rain came down as the remains of Hurricane Delta passed over the area. With the wind howling and causing the boat to bounce around, I was glad that we were tied to a dock and not sitting at anchor somewhere. Yesterday, Clark did not know if we would stay here another night and plug in for some power or leave when the rain stopped and head to an anchorage. This morning he decided we should stay the night and pay the $15 for electric to recharge the batteries.
We walked the short distance into town and found the Town Hall. Since today is Columbus Day, the office was closed. We found the drop slot in the door but none of the promised envelopes to put our money in, so I took one of the brochures on display there and turned it into an envelope. Clark put the money in the "envelope" and dropped that in the slot.
When we docked yesterday, we just tried to place ourselves as out of the way of others as possible. We did not realize that we had chosen so wisely, as it turned out that the 50 amp power box was closest to where we docked. The others were 30-amp power. We hit the jackpot without even trying.
Given the weather, we stayed on board for most of the day. Finally, at 3:15 or so, I decided that in spite of the rain, wind, and cold, I needed to get off the boat and stretch my legs. Reluctantly, Clark went with me for a walk. Near the water, the wind blew strongly and turned the heavy mist into rain that wet our jackets and pants. On the side streets, we were protected from both and could enjoy looking around town.
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| At the docks, Flags blowing in the wicked wind |
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| Marina at Chesapeake City Inn |
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| AGLCA members will appreciate this ... NEBO! |
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| Nice Landscaping! |
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| Chesapeake Inn Frontage |
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| Sarah Beaston House c. 1848 example of old homes in area dating to 1830s and 1840s when Chesapeake City was know as Bohemia Village |
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| Looking at old homes down Bohemia Drive |
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| I liked the copper pumpkin on display here |
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| Bridge over the C&D Canal |
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| The Olde Gray Mare Gift Shoppe Chesapeake City, MD |
Our grand excursion lasted about 30 minutes. Then it was time to come in out of the cold, wet air. I decided that with all the cooking I have to do that I wanted a night off. I found a pizza place that delivers and called in an order. It was fine until they asked for my address.
"Uh, I don't have one. We're on a boat at the Chesapeake City free dock." After she told me to hold on, I heard, "They're on a boat! What do I do?" She offered to deliver the pizza to the Chesapeake Inn, but Clark looked up the address of the ice cream shop we could see from our boat and asked them to deliver it there instead. They said okay. When the pizza driver came; however, he stopped beside the boat like he had done that route before.
With nothing better to do, after dinner, we watched the Rizzoli & Isles marathon on the Life channel until it was time for bed. I had Clark turn on the heat in the stateroom, so when I went to bed it was nice and cozy down there!
13 October 2020
Depart: Chesapeake City, MD free dock 9:03
Arrive: West River Anchorage #2 3:30
Distance: 57.5 nm
Conditions: Cloudy, Breezy, Dreary, no Rain
Clark said that 9:00 would be a good departure time, and we met that objective more or less. I had trouble getting out of the nice warm bed into the chilly stateroom. Finally, I "bit the bullet" and forced myself to get up to make the 9:00 objective. Since we had plugged into the 50-amp power, we could run the heat. We had turned it off for sleeping, so I hit the heat-on button to warm things up for Clark to get him out of bed as well.
Once we were on our way, I headed down to the galley to make breakfast while Clark piloted. When I brought his breakfast up to him, he had a big smile and said we had the current with us. He was seeing 10 knots, plus or minus, of speed (about 11 or 12 mph). Practically flying!
We saw little-to-no traffic until we entered Chesapeake Bay. Then we saw a variety of vessels including an Army Corps of Engineers boat, fishing boats, commercial freighters, et al.
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| Tug pushing a barge |
We saw one boat that we could not figure out. It turned out to be a fishing boat covered in rusty fish traps. The picture turned out poorly.
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| Traps on the roof! Traps in the cockpit! |
The water is deep on Chesapeake Bay, so we did not need to stay in the shipping channel. It is better to stay out of the way of the "Big Boys". Unfortunately, straying out of the channel presents a different problem - traps! As I saw traps ahead, I would point them out, so we could navigate around them. Some had flags in a variety of colors; others were flagless.
I told Clark some traps were coming up. He pulled out the binoculars and said, "I only see a couple of small birds." Frequently, sea gulls fool us into thinking they are traps until the fly away, so I didn't question his response. Until we got closer ...
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| Is that a bird or a trap?? It, and its friends, turned out to be traps with frayed, white flags that, to Clark, looked like feathers! |
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| Today's weather in a nutshell! |
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| Chesapeake Bay Bridge up ahead |
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| Chesapeake Bay Bridge getting closer |
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| More of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge |
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| Under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge |
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| Under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge |
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| Freighter on Chesapeake Bay |
Clark said we would stay tonight at an anchorage near Dobbins Island. I thought that was great. I planned to look for Harry Potter's house elf when we got there. Unfortunately, we got there way too early, and Clark said we should carry on to the West River for the night. He actually would have liked to go further, but reaching an alternate anchorage would have put us in after dark.
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| View from our boat at West River Anchorage #2 |
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| Near West River Anchorage #2 |
As I looked around the upper helm during our ride today, I got more and more disgusted by the grime that has accumulated there. It looked like a layer of soot in some places. Makes me wonder what I'm breathing in sometimes. Once we got the anchor down, I went to work with a bucket of water and scrubbed the upper helm from ceiling to floor and everything in between.
I worked on it for an hour and a half. When I came back down, I found the captain stretched out in the pilot house taking a nap. Must be nice! I knew he would be back up top eventually, so I left things open.
Later, after dinner, I asked about the cleanliness of the upper helm (prompting him for a compliment hopefully - I always have to pry compliments out of him). He said, "Oh, I didn't notice!" Grrrrr! I told him I thought the worst-case situation would be that he would come tell me where I had missed a spot. (his typical "compliment"). Little did I know!
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| Sunset at the West River Anchorage |
This was funny!
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