Summer in the Chesapeake

July 20 - July 29, 2010

 

After 5 days in Washington, DC, we left Gangplank Marina at 6:30 a.m.  Our next stop was the US Marine Corps Base Marina in Quantico, VA.  As we got closer to Quantico, we could hear booms (gunfire) going off in the distance and we could see the smoke on land.  I was kind of excited to stay in Quantico because of all the novels I’d read about the CIA and Marine Corps training there.  I was sure that we would see someone undercover from a Robert Ludlum storyline.  But it was probably too hot for those people to be out and about either!  So, we walked into town with Danny, Susan & Ella from Potest Fieri, and all we saw were barbershops.  Obviously, there is a big market for military-style haircuts there.  It really was unbearably hot and there was nothing else to see in Quantico by foot.

 

The next day we left again at 6:30 a.m. to make our way down the Potomac River.  We came close to the Dahlgren Gunnery Range and got a call on our radio from the patrol boat that protects the range area.  We skirted the edge of their target practice area just before they closed off a section of the river to boat traffic.  They told us to HURRY UP and get clear or they would make us go back UP river to wait until they finished target practice.  (Oh no --- not UP river!  And “hurry up”??….we’re in a trawler, there’s no way we can hurry up!).  We no sooner cleared the restricted zone and we heard the huge booms.  Poor Louie, he was shaking so badly.  Again, it was brutally hot and Roger started the generator and air conditioner about 5 miles out so that the cabin would be a little cooler when we got to Colonial Beach Marina.  The major problem was that the water temperature was 82°+ and that did nothing to help the air conditioner cool.  Roger walked to the beach near the marina, but I stay onboard and prepared forms for Florida Motor Vehicles.  Believe it or not, that was better than facing the heat outside!

 

We made reservations for our last night on the Potomac at St. Mary’s Yachting Center.  They had quoted me $2.00/foot, but so what --- they had a pool!  It ended up being a fire drill when we got there.  We had gotten conflicting instructions on dockage and we barely eked through the shallow water at the entrance.  Then we squeezed our big fat Manatee into a narrow slip.  Roger backed her in because the docks were really short and beat up and we wouldn’t have been able to get off the boat.  He went to the office to register and came back with the furious crew from Potest Fieri.  Apparently they wanted to charge us $2.25/ft. and their pool had been closed for 3 days (which they’d neglected to tell me when I called the day before).  So we got on our computers and through the “Active Captain” website, we found Point Lookout Marina a little further down the river  --  with a pool that was open and we planted ourselves in it until dinner time.

 

After 3 days down the Potomac, we said good-by to our Canadian friends, Susan, Danny and Ella and hope to meet up with them next summer.  Roger & I continued northward on the Chesapeake.  One of our overnights was at “Herrington Harbor Marina South”.  There was reggae music playing on the outdoor speakers and a huge pool and  a tiki bar  --  a slightly different atmosphere than the rivers in 2009!  We got a complimentary welcome drink – an Orange Crush – and the waitress served us drinks in the pool!  This place was like a resort and we were very relaxed  --  that is, until we saw the storm clouds coming toward us.  We ran back to the boat just in time to secure all the loose items and a huge storm blew through and took out a transformer, so the entire area was without power.  Luckily, the storm had brought in some cooler air, and we also had our generator to run the AC because we didn’t get power back at the dock until about 4 a.m.  Oh, did I mention that the restaurants were all closed and Plan B went into effect – I had to cook.  Hot dogs it was that night.

 

Next day, we arrived at the Maryland Yacht Club, our boat’s home for the next 2 months.  We met the nicest people there and we were confident that they would keep a good eye on “Karen Anne” while we were away.  It took us a couple of days to get organized and then we left for Indianapolis.  It was the end of July – and time to pack up and move out of Indy after 16 years.  We were dreading the work ahead of us, but excited to move to Florida too. 

Portsmouth to Washington, DC

 July 9 – July 19, 2010

 

We spent one more event-filled weekend in Portsmouth.  Our dock neighbors had shared highlights from last year’s “Richmond-to-Portsmouth Poker Run” of “go-fast” boats, so Roger was DEFINITELY interested in staying for this last event.  Plus, it gave us the chance to wait for Susan & Danny (Potest Fieri) to catch up with us.  On Saturday afternoon, the boats started to arrive in our marina – 120 Cigarette boats, Donzis  -- anything that was fast and loud and filled with hard-bodied, bikini-clad girls.  As luck would have it (for Roger), the gathering place was on the dock across from us, so our neighbors came over and watched the parade of boats and people from our upper deck.  Everyone on the party dock looked like they were having fun – there was music and a DJ and it got louder as the day went on.  

 

All the guys on our boat had their binoculars out and were positioned perfectly to watch the wet tee shirt contest, which took place on “a pole” on one of the boats.  Fifteen minutes before, I had said, “Those people are probably saying to each other, ‘Hey, look at all those old people checking out our party from their old-people’s boat’!”  And sure enough, the DJ spotted the ten of us watching them and told everyone on the party dock to turn to us and give us a hand.  They yelled and whistled and applauded.  And Roger took that as his queue to stand up and lift up HIS shirt and showed them HIS chest  -- which brought an even bigger roar from the party dock!  You know, there are times that I really wish I could control my husband.

 

On Monday morning, we finally cut loose from Portsmouth after 48 days at a dock.  We left the Elizabeth River for the Chesapeake Bay.  Passing by the largest Navy base in the world, there were ships on both sides of us.  We heard on the radio, “This is Warship 7 – radio check,” and that took me by surprise.  What was I expecting?  “Good morning, this is Happy Days Cruise Ship – radio check”?  It was a humbling experience to meet the “warships” in the channel on their way to or from resupplying at the naval base, knowing the jobs of the men and women aboard are to protect us and our freedom.

 

The first night out, we anchored in Put In Creek.  Susan & Danny invited us to raft up next to them so we wouldn’t have to clean off 2 anchors in the morning.  Ok, here we go again, taking Louie to shore in the dinghy:

     Good News – there’s a dinghy dock!

     Bad News – it’s infested with crawling bugs, cockroaches maybe?

     Good News – there’s a boat ramp!

     Bad News – there are jellyfish in the water!  

     Good News – Roger pulled the dinghy all the way up so I wouldn’t      

                            even have to get my feet wet.

 

In spite of the hassle of taking the dog to shore, it was a nice calm anchorage that night.

 

The second day underway was a long one – 9 hours to Tangier Island.  The owner of the marina, Milton Parks, offered to take us on a tour of the island in his golf cart.  Only 600 people live on Tangier Island and fishing, crabbing, and a little tourism sustain their livelihood.  The island is only 2 miles long and the mode of transportation here is golf cart, scooter or 4-wheeler.  It’s a simple life.  There are no alcohol sales on the island and people bury their dead relatives in their front yard!

 

On Wednesday morning, the wind was howling in the marina, where generally we are “protected.”  It was not a good sign for the day ahead of us, but we left anyway in small craft warnings.  We battened down everything inside the cabin – bungee cords on the TV, end table, shutters; computers were stowed away; and everything was off the counters.  We were hardly away from the marina and the boat was rolling back and forth from one wave to the next.  The seas were about 5 feet, and abeam (coming across the side of our boat), the most uncomfortable scenario.  You EXPECT to be heeled over in a sailboat, but not on a Manatee.  The wind was blowing stink – gusts of 35 mph.  I didn’t like it one bit!

 

Any of you who know me well, know that I can whirl off a cuss word or two occasionally (haha).  Let me tell you, I was too scared to tempt fate, so I prayed instead (always the better choice).  And the only expletive that I said to Roger was, “YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU’D NEVER TAKE ME OUT IN WEATHER LIKE THIS!!!!!”  Two hours later, we reached Smith Point Lighthouse and we altered course in the direction of the Potomac River and the seas were now on our port bow, a little better.  With my life jacket on (the entire trip), I went down the ladder into the cockpit to bring a bucket up (there was NO WAY I was going to use the bathroom inside the boat in this weather).  I saw that my mint plant had tipped over and come out of the pot and the swim ladder, deck brush, and coffee table had fallen over – what a mess!  It was an early night to bed.

 

The next two days heading up the Potomac River toward Washington, DC couldn’t have been any calmer.  You could have skipped a stone across the water.  By Friday afternoon, we were entering the capital area.  We passed Quantico (the training grounds for the FBI, CIA, etc.), Mt. Vernon (George Washington’s home), Alexandria, VA, Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) and arrived at Gangplank Marina in downtown DC.  We’ve been to DC several times, but it was a thrill to arrive by water.  The location was great, easy to get to public transportation or to walk to the attractions.  

 

On Saturday morning, Roger & I took the Metro to Alexandria, to go to West Marine, of course.  That afternoon, back in DC, we went in separate directions.  Roger went to the Museum of Natural History and I went to the National Gallery of Art for 3 hours.  What a treat!  On Sunday, we went to the Holocaust Museum and while it was certainly sobering, it’s one that definitely should be seen and remembered.  We walked back toward the marina and stopped off at a seafood market nearby, where we had shrimp for lunch.  That evening, we caught up with Susan & Danny and their granddaughter Ella for dinner.  We are staying at the same marina, but on docks that are far apart.  We talk on the phone when we want to plan something because it’s too hot to walk to each other’s boats.  Yesterday, the temperature reading on a marquee at 6:30 p.m. was 106 degrees.  It’s nearly unbearable.

 

This morning, all of us met up to take a tour of the Capitol Building.  It is a remarkable site and we often forget what it stands for when we see the Capitol Building on a news report.  But when we come face to face with American history like we did today, we understand so much more about our country and we can’t help but feel the patriotism in our hearts.  It sounds a little sappy, but that’s how both of us felt today.

  

We will stay here one more day and then leave for the northern Chesapeake Bay.

Dismal Swamp, NC to Portsmouth, VA

 May 23 – July 8, 2010

 

After Elizabeth City, we were on our last stretch of the Intracoastal.  Our next big decision was which fork in the road (or rather waterway) do we take to get to the Norfolk area at Mile Marker 0:  the Virginia Cut or the Dismal Swamp.  The Virginia Cut is much deeper at 12 feet (hey, it’s all relative!) and wider, but there is more commercial traffic and the go-fast boats that rocked us further south prefer that route.  The Dismal Swamp is narrower, shallower at 6 feet, and more winding, but there is no big-boat traffic.  

 

Roger and Danny, never timid about an imminent adventure, made the decision to take the Dismal Swamp.  Susan and I were torn because we didn’t like the big boat traffic that we’d have on the Virginia Cut, but even the name – Dismal Swamp – doesn’t sound inviting, does it?  I envisioned a bug-infested, mucky swamp with alligators lining the shore or maybe traversing the waterway in front of us.  Well, there was none of that after all!  Other than a couple of locks to ride down a few feet and a couple of bridges to wait for an opening, the only other act of nature we encountered was a bad thunderstorm while we were underway.  

 

The Dismal Swamp is also a rest area on Virginia Highway 17.  When people pull off the highway to stop at a rest area, they don’t expect to see boats there!  We tied up along with several other boats at the free docks behind the rest area for a night.  There was a feeling of accomplishment (it sounds kind of silly to say that now) because frankly the Dismal Swamp conjures up all kinds of negative connotations.  And I get myself worked up into such a frenzy about these “unknowns”, expecting the worst and wondering how I’m going to handle it.  Then I realize that I’m silently congratulating myself for “making it through” yet “another adventure” on this Great Loop!  Poor Roger, see what he has to put up with on a daily basis?

 

Out of the Dismal Swamp, we parted ways with Potest Fieri and Monk’s Vineyard and headed into Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, VA on May 24^th, where we have been since then.  Two days after we arrived here, Roger, Louie and I flew to Tampa for 8 days.  It was Louie’s first plane trip and he behaved perfectly.   We looked at a lot of properties and we settled on a townhouse in Clearwater, with a pretty view of the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway across the street.  It’s time to have a land-base that we can call “home”.  Travis came down to Florida for Memorial Day weekend and he and Heath helped us with the home search.  By the time we left to return to Virginia, all of us were excited and knew we’d made the right decision!

 

We rented a car for two weeks back in Portsmouth, so I had some independence while Roger took an 8-day trip back to Indianapolis.  While he was gone, I worked on getting things we needed to close on our new home.  I polished the stainless steel stanchions on the boat – it was a dirty job, but worth the effort.  I also went to Harbor Fest in Norfolk with some of our dock neighbors.   Every time he leaves me on the boat by myself, I manage to keep very busy and I’m never bored.  (I also sleep with my pepper spray next to my bed!)

 

When Roger came back, we took the rental car to Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks on Father’s Day.  I really wanted to visit the Outer Banks after looking at the area from the Intracoastal.  We had a great day – climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and went to the beach.

 

A few days later, we invited Michael and Elizabeth Barton, parents of Heath’s girlfriend Kara, to the boat for dinner.  Even though the temperature was still hot, we enjoyed our time with them, getting to know them a little bit better.

 

The next weekend was the Cock Island Sailboat Race and there were bands and activities all weekend in Portsmouth.  Between Portsmouth and Norfolk, there is something going on almost every weekend.  Ferries run between the 2 cities across the Elizabeth River every ½ hour and the ride only takes 10 minutes and $3.00 round trip.  The following weekend was the Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Food Fest in Norfolk.  Roger was in heaven – he loves Cajun music and food!  We took the ferry to Norfolk and listened to the nationally-known bands each day.  Roger was determined to make it a 3-day fest, but I couldn’t go on Sunday because it was 102 degrees with a heat index of 112 degrees!!  

 

Last week, we left the boat again for an unexpected trip to Rochester.  We lost my Aunt Peg (my 2^nd Mom), at 71-years-old, to ovarian cancer.  In spite of our shock and grief, it was good to be with all of my family.

 

We drove back to Virginia on 4^th of July and stopped off at Gettysburg, PA to tour the battlefield, an interesting side trip.  The fireworks were just about to start when we pulled into the marina, and it’s still so hot here.  Yesterday was 104 degrees and neither of us wants to leave the dock in this kind of heat.  We’d like to cut loose from the dock and head up to the Chesapeake Bay.  If we anchor out, we have limited use of our air conditioner, so the heat is a big factor for me.  We’ll keep you posted and hopefully I will write more often now.  We’ll stay on the boat until the end of July, when we have to go back to Indy again. We’ll move to Florida mid-August and plan to return to the boat at the beginning of September.