2 May 2024
Depart: Pongo River anchorage NC 8:25
Arrive: North Landing River anchorage (just south of VA border) 6:00
Distance: 75 nm
As soon as we left the anchorage, we entered the Pongo River - Alligator River Canal.
The sun bounced off the water like a hundred glittering diamonds.
We spied a skeleton sitting on a boat dock.
We passed several miles of marsh land.
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| 115 miles to Norfolk and the end of the ICW |
Later, the lighting on the canal was such that I managed to capture amazing reflection pictures. Sometimes the wake from our boat made somewhat abstract reflections.
Clark told me to take cloud reflection pictures.
We were not alone on the canal. As one of the "fast" guys passed us, I took a picture of their wake to capture the color of the water in the canal.
Our travel today took us through the Alligator River Bridge. This bridge does not open if the winds get above 30 knots. Fortunately, today we had no such concerns with mild winds.
We passed the Coinjock Marina and saw a lot of boats docked there. We read the names of the boats as we went by. Clark found one he particularly liked named "Wave Function".
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| Sunset at the NC / VA border |
3 May 2024
Depart: North River Landing anchorage in NC 7:40
Arrive: Old Point Comfort / Mill Creek anchorage, Hampton, VA 4:30
Distance: ~ 48 nm
Today's travel took us through a number of bridges and one lock. We had plenty of company on the water with several of the vessels traveling along with us being tugs with barges. That proved both challenging as well as, on at least one occasion, helpful.
When we went through the North Landing Bridge, 4 tows were lined up for the opening. One was headed north like us and three were headed south. All of them had Edenton, NC stamped as there home port. We heard on the radio that all the ones heading south were carrying "steel".
Because of the delays at the North Landing bridge due to so much barge traffic, we figured that there was no way we could make the Centerville Bridge opening in time for the next opening. Given that Clark figured there was no rush and took his time. However, as we neared the bridge, we realized that if we picked up the speed and got close enough to the barge in front of us, we might just be able to get through "on his coattails". That worked and we followed "Aires" through the bridge at about 10 minutes after the hour!
Clark wanted a railroad picture, so I gave it a shot. It is always hard to get the timing right and this one was curved to make it even harder to get the "straight down the tracks" picture.
We saw some Corps of Engineers vessels as we approached the Great Bridge area.
We stopped at Atlantic Yacht Basin to pick up fuel, do a pump out of the holding tank, and take on water. We managed two of the three tasks. Their pump-out station was working, but their tank was full. This happened last time we were here as well. Oh well, "two out of three ain't bad". By the time we were done with out tasks, the clock showed us approaching the hour. Knowing the bridge before the lock opened on the hour, we got in line for an opening.
A tug / tow, "Island Girl", we had passed several bridges ago had caught up and was in line for the Great Bridge opening at 12:00. Besides the tow and us, we had 5 other boats looking to lock through going north. It was going to be crowded in the lock if we all got in together.
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| "Island Girl" |
Fortunately, because of our position at AYB, we were first in line behind "Island Girl". That got us tucked up nice and close to the stern of the tug.
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| Clark waiting in lock for the other boats to get in and tied up. |
It took a while to get the boats in, and it looked like one of the five others would have to wait a full hour for the next lock opening. Amazingly, they managed to stuff everybody in - even the guy they told would have to wait until next time.
Almost an hour later, we finally exited the lock. Of course, as we left the lock, the tug pulled out first and then everyone had to pass him.
Our day of stop and go was not over yet as Clark decided to see if we could get a pump out at Top Rack. This place has real short docks, so we normally stern in here, so I set the lines up on the starboard side. As Clark pulled into the docks, it became clear to me that he planned to go head in. Whoops! I had to rush to put lines on the port side.
Two dockhands helped us tie up, but it felt like a bit of a fiasco as the current pushed us away from the dock repeatedly. Instead of tying the line to the cleat so Clark could pull on the line for leverage, the guy with the bow line kept letting it out. Given that, Clark had to fight repeatedly to pull the boat back in to the dock. We finally got it tied up, but it took a while.
We had a leisurely ride of calm waters until we reached the Elizabeth River. Suddenly, we had 3 - 4 foot waves and salt spray coming over the bow of the boat. When I mentioned closing portholes to prevent water coming in, Clark asked if I had closed the hatch in the guest stateroom. I did not even know it was open.
Clark went to check and said we had water on the floor. He used a sponge to mop up the salt water. After he was done, I went down with fresh water and washed the floor and the wood around the hatch. Fortunately, most of the water went on the floor and not on the furniture. Although I did need to wash down his guitar case.
We dropped anchor in Hampton, Virginia. Even though we dropped anchor around 4:30, it felt much later due to all the activity of the day. Although we did not get far compared to other travel days, we got a lot accomplished.
Clark explored the anchorage looking for a place with less rocking due to the winds. He could not find any big differences, so he chose the spot with more swing room. After a busy day on the water, we decided to watch television and chill for the rest of the day.
4 May 2024
Depart: Hampton, VA anchorage 8:45
Arrive: Mill Creek anchorage in lower Chesapeake Bay 4:30
Distance: ~ 55 nm
Conditions: overcast skies; rainstorms visible in the distant skies
Today was not much of a picture day. We traveled on Chesapeake Bay with nothing much more interesting than water to look at. Clark took one picture. I took none.
Being a Saturday, we listened to "Wait, wait don't tell me" on NPR. I heard a great quote.
Wherever you may travel,
Whatever be your goals,
Keep you eyes on the donuts,
And not on the holes.
We could see lots of commercial vessels on the AIS (about 10 or so) and on the horizon. They all looked to be at anchor. However, our ability to see them clearly was blocked by heavy cloud cover.
5 May 2024
Depart: Mill Creek, Lower Chesapeake Bay anchorage 8:30
Arrive: Magothy River, Dobbins Island, Maryland anchorage 6:30
Distance: 85 nm
Conditions: Rain overnight, Cloudy skies, Rainy start to the day
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| Clouds over Chesapeake Bay |
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| Commercial Vessel barely visible on Horizon |
Clark tuned on the radar for today's travel - not a normal event. This view shows rain showers ahead.
We saw the typical Chesapeake Bay lighthouses but one had a bit of a tilt to it.
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| Leaning Tower of Pisa? (no just an abandoned lighthouse) |
Clark snapped some of his favorite type of pictures - views from under a bridge.
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| Baltimore Light is getting a face lift |
Towards the end of the day, the sun tried to break through the cloud cover.
Finally we dropped anchor in Mogathy Creek near Dobbins Island near a house with its own lit lighthouse.
6 May 2024
Depart: Dobbins island anchorage 8:00
Arrive: Cohansey River / Cove anchorage (off Delaware River in NJ) 7:00
Distance: 77 nm
Conditions: dense fog
Clark said we should get as early a start as possible this morning to take advantage of current in a helpful direction on the Delaware River. As I was getting dressed, Clark came into the stateroom saying "It's a little foggy out there!" I decided to poke my head out to take a look and snapped a picture of the house with the lighthouse that I took last night. I had trouble finding the house in the fog.
As we prepared to leave the anchorage, a small boat came in circled around our boat and left the anchorage again. What was that about?
We hoped the fog would clear. Clark took the helm, and I stationed myself on the bow of the boat standing on the anchor pulpit to look for obstructions and markers. It wasn't raining, but we had a chill in the air from the foggy mist. Every two minutes Clark sounded the fog horn meaning every two minutes I stuck my fingers in my ears to reduce the impact to my eardrums.
We exited the anchorage at way less than the posted 6 mph speed limit.
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| Fog duty! Baltimore Lighthouse is to port. |
My eyes played tricks on me as I searched the water. I saw lots of objects that weren't actually there. We calculated at one point that we had only 1/4 mile of visibility. At times I think we had less than that.
Eventually, it was clear enought that Clark got to increase our speed to about 5 mph.
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| Green Marker |
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| Baltimore Lighthouse |
Very few boaters were out there traveling with us. We saw a couple of sailboats making their way slowly though the fog. Of course we saw one crab boat going over 8 knots.
I stood out on the bow for two and a half hours until finally we felt we had enough visibility to see from the upper helm. Just before I abandoned my bow position, I saw that the sun was fighting to break through the cloud cover.
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| Reflection of the sun on the water |
As we traveled the Elk River, at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, visibility improved, and we could see the shoreline. Clark had slowly upped the RPM as we traveled. After many hours at painfully slow speeds, we could finally up the speed to our normal cruising RPM. Unfortunately, with the current against us, that only gave us a speed of around 7 mph.
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| Crowded RV Park on edge of River |
We continued to have the current against us on the Elk River as well as the start of the C&D Canal, but it quickly turned in our favor.
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| RR Bridge on C&D Canal in down position with a train going over |
On the Delaware River, as expected, we had the current with us. He was elated to see the speed reach 11 knots! Unfortunately, as we got further along the river, the fog started to reappear.
After almost 11 hours of mostly stressful travel, we finally turned off the Delaware River into the Cohansey Cove to drop anchor in New Jersey! If the weather cooperates, and that is a big if, we can be to our home in just two days.
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