2026 April: Chesapeake Bay

 29 April 2026
Depart: Old Point Comfort, VA anchorage 7:25 a.m.
Arrive: Wicomico River, VA anchorage 2:00
Distance: 55 nm
Conditions: 52 degrees, sunny, storms coming in from the west

Once again we woke to 62 degrees in our stateroom. Clark said we needed to get underway early today to avoid storms predicted to arrive on the east coast mid-afternoon. Given that, we had to drag ourselves out of the warm bed and get going. 

Early morning sun in Virginia

Scenes as we left the anchorage at Old Point Comfort in Virginia ...

Traffic on Chesapeake Bay

Old Point Comfort

Fort Monroe

We had very little traffic on Chesapeake Bay today.  

We saw a couple of sailboats,

but for most of the day, this was our view.

Where is everyone??

We passed a spot where the houses along the coast were extremely tightly packed side-by-side.

One problem with Chesapeake Bay is the abundance of fish traps scattered all over the place. We found traps in a section designated as a "no trap" area. At one point we barely missed taking a trap with us. Clark saw it at the last minute and could not navigate away fast enough. He quick put the engines in neutral to stop the props from rotating as we passed by the trap. Whew! Missed that one by a hair!

Later, we came across a "parking lot" for freighters.

Freighters ahead on the horizon

A screen shot of the chart showed 15 vessels in the parking lot / anchorage.

Lots of vessels at anchorage

One of the anchored ships "Wisdom Line"

 

Chesapeake Bay has several lighthouses. We came upon one today.

Wolf Trap Light

The current Wolf Trap Lighthouse has been on this site since 1894. It is no longer in use and is privately owned with restoration underway. It was built in the "Caisson Style". I find it remarkable that these lighthouses have survived for so long. 

Clark decided we would drop anchor in an anchorage on the Great Wicomico River.

Great Wicomico River

Clark had a couple of chores to address after we got the anchor down. In New Bern, our stern line rubbed up and down the stern of the boat. It appears that as a consequence of this repeated motion the cover to one of the drainage door was pulled off. I noticed the opening in the stern before we left New Bern, or we might have lost a part of the boat on our travels!

Working on the repair - inside the cockpit

and sitting on the swim platform

I pulled dinner together from the leftovers in the fridge plus some pasta I cooked while underway. It was nice to have a shorter, more relaxing day after yesterday's odyssey. The severe weather and winds that were supposed to arrive never happened. The front hit the cooler air which reduced the severity and the rain passed north of us.  

30 April 2026

Depart: Wicomico River, VA anchorage 8:40

Arrive: Dobbin Island, MD anchorage 7:45

Distance: ~ 86 nm

Clark said he wanted to wait until the winds died down this morning and the current to switch before getting underway. While I was waiting, I got so engrossed in my latest novel that he surprised me when he said it was time to go. I forgot we were supposed to be leaving!

Today was a great day to admire clouds.

Early morning sky

Leaving the anchorage

When we leave anchorages, I have the helm. I was doing well navigating us out of the river until Clark said I should increase the RPM. As I was busy trying to get the RPM to the right level, I took my eyes off the chart. Next thing I know Clark is grabbing the wheel and we have almost no water under the keel. We had quickly been blown into shallow water. 

He, thankfully, got us out of trouble! I gave him the helm and told him I would take over looking for traps! Between narrowly missing going aground and dodging fish traps, it was a stressful start to the day!

Once out on the bay, we got to see more of Chesapeake Bay's lighthouses. The first one today was Smith Point Light. This light was established in 1897 and is located near Reedville, Virginia. It is currently for sale for the low-low price of $450,000.

Smith Point Lighthouse

A short while later we passed another milestone as we crossed the state line from Virginia into Maryland!

Next up on the lighthouse list was the "Point No Point" lighthouse.  As we approached this lighthouse, I mentioned that it looked similar to the Smith Point lighthouse. Clark commented, "This one has a better paint job." This lighthouse was established in 1905.

Point No Point Light

Both the Smith Point and the Point No Point lighthouses are the Caisson style also referred to as the "spark plug" style. 

The next lighthouse we came to was Cove Point Lighthouse.

Cove Point Lighthouse Lusby, MD

This lighthouse, established in 1828, is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay. It is a 38' conical, brick tower. It was converted to the Calvert Marine Museum in 2000. 

Nearby is the LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminal.

I noticed that 4 boats appeared to be guarding the facility.

Security

We saw several large vessels on the bay today starting with a Royal Caribbean cruise ship returning to Baltimore from an 11-day cruise. The ship has 11 decks and is 915' long.

"Vision of the Seas"

We also saw a few freighters off in the distance.

Container Ship "Agios Domitrios" Monrovia

As afternoon turned towards evening, I enjoyed views of the sun trying to shine through the cloudy sky.

As we approached the Chesapeake Bay bridge, we saw an "empty" container ship coming towards us. 

"Wagenborg"

As we approached and passed under the bridge, Clark thought I should take a few pictures.

We saw the last lighthouse for the day immediately after the bridge. Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse has a caisson-style base and was established in 1883. This one was red in color. Due to the positioning in relation to the sun, the pictures are mostly silhouettes.

As the sun got lower and lower in the sky, it became more and more difficult to spot the fish pots as we made our way into tonight's anchorage. When I had a break from pot watching, I grabbed some amazing pictures of the sun going down.

As we traveled the bay today, Clark had two destinations in mind. One put us done for the day around 5:30, and the other kept us underway for another two and a half hours. We ultimately ended up at the further location because, after some analysis of upcoming weather, Clark decided a side trip would be a good plan to delay our arrival at the Atlantic Ocean by a couple of days. 

We looked into it and made a decision to visit Havre de Grace, Maryland.  They have a festival of sorts on the "First Friday" of the month, and this Saturday they have an event including fireworks. It will make a nice change from cruising day after day.

View at Dobbin Island anchorage in Maryland