Oh What a Night!!!

Forgive me for giving you the latest news first...well, it has to be!

We parked up in this Putuxent River hidey hole in Mill Creek/St Johns Creek (Solomons Island) , ahead of weather that was brewing and coming our way. We thought it best to sit tight for a couple of days, rather than be caught somewhere the protection was less. Good thing we did, and a good thing we anchored where we did, under the circumstances.
We originally put down anchor not too far from this boat shed and pilings/dock. We didn't want to be right in the middle of the entry to the creek, so we are slightly off to the up-creek side. Plenty of space for other boats to get around, and the basin is large enough for many boats to anchor, if necessary.

 

This was the view behind the boat, when we anchored facing south west, the direction of the prevailing wind...or breeze, at the time. That was Tuesday afternoon, around 4pm.

 Here is a more accurate view of the boat house, showing how far we actually are, from it.

Ok..Im going to hold you in suspense about last night, while I go back two days....

We left the Chesapeake City Dock at Top Rack Marina, straight after our dining companions of the night before left their dock. We thought it wise to follow closely due to bridge openings etc. as we were all going in the same direction, for the most part.

They turned off half way up the main shipping channel, towards Hampton Roads, while we continued up the Chesapeake Bay.

There were two rail bridges that we had to get under, first thing. The first one, we had to do a slow pass due to men at work on the side of the bridge, but the bridge remained open. Slow motoring was the order for a few miles, and we had a second open bridge to go under with the next rail bridge. No more bridges to wait for openings, once we hit the main drag of the Norfolk Shipyards...the NAVAL shipyards.
If you ever wonder where your tax dollars go, just take a boat trip down to the Norfolk Naval Shipyards...you will see billions of dollars worth sitting at docks, and in various states of repair. it was pretty mind boggling, to say the least. The enormity of the whole place kept the camera very busy. Cant show you them all, but a few samples are coming your way.

Please note the water depth, far right number..36.6ft :) One bridge, at the top of the screen, to get under and we are in the mainstream into Norfolk.

This is the hold-up at the first rail bridge...with a scrap metal yard just beyond. They fill huge barges with the stuff and ship them off to who knows where.

 The second rail bridge...that center span goes up and down....the first tow of the day coming our way, and our mates in their Mainship, just ahead of us.

These barges were everywhere. They serve as offices, and accommodation blocks for the ships under construction. They are usually parked right next to the ship, at dock.

  The last bridge before hitting the main Norfolk River and the Naval presence.

 An Aircraft Carrier undergoing repair...notice the security fence in the foreground!

 and more naval ships....

 The official Norfolk Naval Headquarters...one of many red brick buildings.

 ...and more Navy Ships...see the accommodation block moored alongside, in the foreground.

 ...and more....

 a Warship under construction or renovation. There are no names on these boats, just numbers. When they identify themselves on the radio, they only use the number.

There was lots of radio traffic as we went through Norfolk, Virginia.

Following our mates in Moon Dancer.

 Some of the hardware docked at one of the Norfolk Marina. She is a good 100ft, I would guess.

 The security was pretty tight, around the Naval ships...this boat is no exception. You don't want to get within reaching distance of any of the Naval hardware, believe me. They will use deadly force, we were told on the radio.

 That is the security boat again on the right...guarding yet another Carrier.

 Looking back down the Norfolk River and the busyness.

Norfolk City waterfront at 10 am -ish.

At the Naval Museum, this Warship reminds us of the firepower.

As we made a move to pass this Navy Tug, she sped up. Not sure why, but she did...who are we to ask??

There were boats left, right and center...some going 4 knots, others, like this Pilot boat, in a heck of a hurry.

This is Battleship row, Norfolk. When the kids were little...the youngest was 4, I believe (19 yrs ago) , we took them for a stroll...literally, down the dock right in front of the ships anchored there at the time, including a Nuclear Submarine. I remember the guard at the gate waved us through, once we told him we wanted to show the boys. It would be unheard of now, of course, but the memory is vivid.

We were on standby on the radio as this Aircraft Carrier was pushed into position to steam out to the Atlantic, through the Bay. We were informed that all ships and other boats should stay at least 500 meters (yes, meters) away from her, or  action would be take to deter anyone entering her space. She was backed out of her dock and turned by four tugs.

 This is one of them.

We are about to enter the mainstream. You can see how many boats are around us...well, those with AIS...you cannot see all those who don't have identification, on the screen. That is the last of the shipyard on the right hand side.

You can see that outside of the main channel, which is 50-something feet deep, there isn't that much water.

 There she goes, accompanied now by a Coast Guard boat, which broadcast constant warnings to : Attention all boaters..... He kept the 500 meter distance around the carrier, all the way up the channel to the open ocean. We watched her go into the distance. One fighter is visible on her deck, just to the right of the superstructure...see it? She will pick up the rest when she is out to sea. They will be airborne from the nearby air station.

 

 Don't ask me when the numbers appeared on the photo...cant remember turning the date and time stamp on, lol. I had been playing with the camera settings, so who knows!!! The ship on the right is coming into the Chesapeake Bay. There were 8 ships sitting at anchor further up the bay, and another container ship joined them while we watched, going past.

 

The trip up the Bay wasn't that interesting, as we were a long way from land, on this inland ocean. Plenty of other boats and ships, but we were side on to the wave action, so we rocked and rolled a bit. The wind came up in the early afternoon, and my body didn't like the increased wave action, so I sat at the back of the fly deck, on the cushioned seats and read a book...first time in the past year!! it was the best way to take my mind off the rolling. Waz put the boat on Auto-pilot which sure helped him relax, though one of us had to be vigilant due to stray things in the water. We saw 6 Mylar balloons, out there ...I have a dislike for balloons of any kind. So many of them end up in the water where the rubber ones in particular get ingested by turtles and other sea creatures, and they are permanently damaged or killed by them. The mylar ones don't pop, so they float all bright and shiny, on the surface of the water. Lets hope they don't have long strings attached for some unwary boater to get around his propeller.

The wind was pretty high by the time we found our night time anchorage, and we were glad to be getting out of the waves. We turned into them, which helped somewhat, but then we had the challenge of some Fish Traps to negotiate. Because we are high on the fly deck, when steaming along, we can see the water color change, when it gets shallow...mostly!!! In this case, we were preceded into the passage up a river, by a Catamaran. We didn't follow too closely, but watched as they made the first mistake of trying to go the wrong side of the fish traps, and made a sudden right turn. The red poles told us where to go, but it was a bit confusing to begin with, We are glad the Cat made the mistake, and not us!!
Here we are following him into the anchorage where two others are already parked. There was plenty of room for all of us.

Late afternoon stillness, after a bit of a wild ride out on Chesapeake Bay.

We watched the Cat take three goes at setting anchor. Our guess was that these people had not anchored out much before. The wife was left at the controls while the husband put down the anchor, up front. Problems started when he put out a short bit of chain...not enough to hold them, and he was too close to the boat behind him. He then tried again, but the wife didn't know what she was doing, and was steaming ahead towards us...hmm...Third time, he let out enough chain (we hoped) to hold them midway between boats. It is always a concern to those around them, when we see this kind of thing going on. If the wind came up in the night and he didn't have enough chain laid out, he might drift into any one of us around him...likewise the other boats, ourselves included. We have dragged the chain enough to know that it can be detrimental to all.

Next day it dawned clear, though cool. We rounded the point back out into the Bay. You can see the Fish Trap in the middle of the photo on the horizon. It isn't far out, but we were careful this time to stay well clear of them. This is something new for us. Plenty of crab pots around still.

 On the way out the channel...

 The fish trap is easy game for the various birds. Lots of Shags sitting on the nets diving in for an easy meal.

You can see where we anchored for the night, bottom left, out of the wind and any possible storms...which we knew were approaching, bringing a cold front, eventually. Antipoison Creek!

The fish traps are large structures in relatively shallow water. Good to stay clear of them.

 This fish factory ship was docked at the Factory, just before our anchorage. Sorry, photos are out of order.

 

Our second day in the Chesapeake Bay was more of the same, but not the same wave action,. We started out with less, which was good, and the autopilot went on again. I started a second book...nothing else to look at out there, and gave Waz a break when needed. Apart from listening to the Navy Warship warning any boaters in the area to keep well away, and asking other ships and boats what their intentions were, the only exciting news was that the French Navy were in the mix. We eventually heard them trade passing directions with the US Warship that was doing patrol, and I got a photo of the two passing...the US Warship being massively larger than their French counterparts:) Sorry...needed Waz's long lens for that shot and he hasn't downloaded the pics yet.

 

Waz had done his homework, per usual, and he had us coming up the Putuxent River to Mill Creek, one of the offshoots, for our anchorage, ahead of approaching bad weather.

We are parked in the basin just ahead of the letter K in Creek...where it says 10.

 

 Coming around the corner towards the anchorage. Again, nice homes along the water, for the most part, and some absolute mansions as well.

You can see how the Creek curls back around, on the right. We followed those red markers to the right.
It is very pretty here, but for the Navy planes flying overhead. They are so noisy!!! these are fighters, for the most part. I guess you would forget they are here, after a while??? maybe!

 More boats together than we have seen for a long time. These are but a few. This place is wall to wall boats....up the other side of the river, that is. Where we are anchored on Mill Creek, is very quiet.

Can you see the Osprey sitting on her nest right below the red light? Their nests are fascinating, and watching them build them is even more fascinating. They chirrup and call all day. We love watching them fly, fish and collect nesting materials. Fascinating, period!

 This brand new home took my fancy.

This Osprey couple didn't choose their nesting spot that well. The signs are very close together and they can only sit on the nest one way.

 This lovely home is directly opposite where we are parked.

One minute it was gorgeous and hot...with 80% humidity, mind you, and the next we were watching the cloud front come over. We battened down the hatches and waited for the storm to pass. There was very little rain, unfortunately. We were rather hoping that the rain would wash the boat for us. She is rather dirty.

 Behind the boat, down the rest of the creek. Very pretty.

 

 

The rain was gone in a flash, and out came the sun again, hotter than ever. The humidity didn't go with the rain, however.

It was a dry night, though rain had been expected later in the evening.

 

We planned to go tiki-touring yesterday (Wednesday) and to get some basics at the grocery store. This would give us a good 3 mile walk, at the same time. Not much fun in the extreme heat and humidity, but we did it. Left the boat around 11am. We took our red grocery bags with us, because plastic is hot and hard to carry long distances.  This is a no wake zone, so we went quietly all the way back to the fork in the river, and all the way up to the Holiday Inn Dinghy Dock, where we paid $2 for the honor! ha!

As I went into the office to pay, the fellow in there was smoking, and the place wreaked...I made him come outside to take my money...that room was a death trap! aieeee...how can a workplace allow that??

 

We walked the 1.3 miles up the Putuxent Parkway to the Food Lion Supermarket. There were many fast food joints along the way, and we chose the Chinese for our lunch. We got lunch specials but didn't eat all the friend rice. The shrimp and veg and General Tso's chicken were good though. Lunch for $11 for two!

We ate AFTER we did grocery shopping.

 

We retraced our way back to the boat, intending to do a Tiki-Tour afterwards, but it was just tooo hot. We put away the groceries, and Waz stayed downstairs with the aircon on for a bit, to cool things off. I went upstairs hoping for at least a small breeze, which was a long time coming. It was like a sauna everywhere. I swear it was 90F! at least!

 

The clouds came over, as predicted, and we took the dinghy out for the necessary tour up river, at 4pm. It is always fascinating to see how other people live, and this was no exception. Homes on hills...yes, HILLS!!!! real green, tree topped hills. I am exclaiming because we hardly ever see hills. This might be a good Hurricane Hole, if we ever need one!!

 

I forgot (how???) to take my camera, so you will just have to be happy that we went, saw, got lots of weed around the prop, and had to keep stopping to remove it. We then stopped by a yacht that had come in for anchor, that we had passed on the Alligator/Pongo River, some time back. We chatted with Jim and Cathy for a while, catching up and comparing notes, and then invited them back to the boat for cocktails, or whatever it is called. Jim brought some of his home brewed beer with them, which was delicious, finishing with a Raspberry note. yum! We broke out the smoked Salmon I had put away for such an occasion and we thoroughly enjoyed the company, the food and the sunshine, while it lasted, through to sundown.

They departed after sampling the sugar-free cheesecakes...which I am going to rename: Chocolate Silk Cheesecake!

They don't have lights on their dinghy, so they left as the light was fading.

 

The forecast said we were supposed to have rain and storms yesterday afternoon...well, we obviously didn't! However, they arrived with gusto (yes, the pun is intentional!) around 11pm...though midnight storms had been predicted.

 

First, we noticed the sound of the heavy rainfall, then the boat began to swing wildly. We are somewhat insulated inside the boat, from outside noise, so it wasn't evident at first, the change in the sounds. Waz went upstairs to watch our horizon, as best he could, in the dark. It was a little troubling to find ourselves swinging so much, and with good cause. The call went out to me as he descended the stairs and started the engines...we were heading at speed towards the poles on the nearby house's dock. Aieeee!!!

 

It was too late! We were already on the poles by the time Waz had started the engine. The best we could do , in the torrential rain and swirling wind, was tie ourselves to the poles. Thank goodness they were there and thank goodness we didn't go backwards into the end of the next dock, which might have been major!

 

We both got soaked, despite our raincoats, and had to strip off on the back deck before going back inside.

This is what it looks like this morning...

 

 The house appears to be unoccupied, fortunately for us. None of the neighbors have come out to see if we are ok etc...yet!

 

and last night....

 

 You can see the river running down the side of the boat, on both sides...the whole of the cockpit was VERY wet, right up to the salon door.

 

I swear the water was ankle deep along the side of the boat when we were trying to tie up sufficiently (tidal allowance necessary also) and put fenders out. We had a few anxious moments, but feel eternally grateful that we are safe and able to tie up before any real damage was done to either us or the poles. Obviously there is normally a big boat inside the poles next to the dock.

 

Well, the weather is still funky, but no rain so far. Lots of Navy air activity right now, so it is noisy. Waz has changed the oil in the Generator, and fixed the water pump to the sink.:) A good day for maintenance. We will wait until tomorrow to move north. Annapolis is our next port of call. We hope to stay there a few days and see all that there is to see.

 

Ciao for now.

Leaving Dismal Swamp for Chesapeake Bay

It is with some trepidation that we leave the loveliness of the Swamp for regions north. We have so enjoyed the camaraderie  of the other transient boaters, like ourselves, while docked at the Visitor Center, and were reluctant to leave that safe and green spot on the canal. It had to happen!

The rest of the 19 straight miles of swamp were relatively uneventful, apart from the odd THUNK against the props, of submerged logs. We don't have any vibrations from these encounters, so assume that our props are fine.

It is just 7am, Monday morning, as I write this. We have had a good night sleep and feel somewhat refreshed. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with our Marina neighbors Alexa and Berwick, last night, at the Amber Lantern Restaurant, here at the Marina. We had both signed up for the Dine and Dock promotion that the Marina is running. If you spend more than $75 at the restaurant, (Tip included) you get to dock free. The marina normally charges $2 per foot, so we did ok...and got a top knotch meal at the same time. How lovely to be able to say that, after so many disasters where we leave feeling grumpy:)

Warren ordered Mussels for a starter...though they were small, they were sweet, he said. I ordered Seared Ahi with seaweed Salad..yum! Perfect, it was!
For our mains, Waz ordered the NZ Rack of Lamb, which was charbroiled, and pronounced it 'perfect'...with garlic mashed potatoes and very al dente baby veg. I ordered the Crab Cakes (per usual..though it was a toss up with the Lamb!) which were full of chunk crab and light to boot. They were delicious. I ordered the Risotto alongside, but didn't do more than taste it. It was good! We finished with a cup of coffee, but had also enjoyed an Italian Pinot Grigio, between the four of us.
Conversation was easy and we thoroughly enjoyed the company from Houma, Louisiana. That is where Waz went to the Hospital to get the splinter out from under his fingernail! They treated us well, there....we had also retreated there ahead of a Hurricane Warning!
 Our new friends are in a spotless Mainship 43, and have taken a year's sabbatical to do the Loop. We hopefully will run into them more as we go north.
Warren has just gone along the dock to rendezvous with another boat that we see ( and hear on the radio), Queen Anne's Revenge (which is the name of a Sailing Ship that foundered off the Carolina coast)...well, to see if they have risen yet. These folks are  veterans of the waterway, we believe.
We are just checking with them to see where they are headed.

We are waiting for the fog to lift. I took these pics at around 6.45am. This plant is opposite the boat to our left (out back).

 an to our right, out back.

 The sun was coming up behind the Marina Building. The restaurant is on the second floor, so it has a nice view.We are actually parked in one of the fuel docks. They wanted to move us, but this one has 50amp power, which we need. Waz wsa out washing the boat hull down in the dark, last night...we had collected a lot of brown water muck from the swamp, along the way. That stuff sticks, if you don't get to it early!

The reason we are REALLY here...the fuel price is the best on the coast. Filling up at $3.49 per gallon was great! We also got a pump-out and filled up with good quality water. Phew! Their wifi was good too...A few other shortcomings, and for a Marina that is well positioned to receive and dock Transients coming through the ICW into Norfolk, we aren't sure why they don't have more amenities.

Looking left (out back), along the marina and row of boats towards the new bridge that is being built to replace the current one at the end of the ICW, which opens on the hour. It causes a lot of congestion on the water, both sides of the bridge, apparently. By all accounts, we did the better route through the Swamp!:) Good Planning, Waz.

This is predominantly a Dry Stack Marina...the young men (dock hands) were VERY busy all afternoon...it was a lovely day, and Sunday to boot. Lots of traffic out there as soon as we cleared the Lock at the end of the Swamp Canal.

Speaking of which...I need to back up the horse...

We left the dock at the Visitor Center, Dismal Swamp, around 8.45am. It was a glorious day, but a cold wind, and windier than previously. As the swamp thinned out, and the trees gave way to more farmland, around us, the wind was more in evidence, and we were back to wearing our hoodies. I even put a scarf on when I went out on the bow for spotting duty.
We had gone for a hike the afternoon before, at around 4pm, hoping to see some wildlife feeding in the late afternoon. First up, I was looking down at the uneven ground, hoping not to trip on anything, and I almost did...a medium sized black Rat Snake. It got as much of a surprise as I did and slithered away into the grass, albeit slowly, after finding that we were not a threat. I was a bit too dumb struck to get a photo of it out in the open..bummer!

We walked at quite a pace for half an hour, then, mindful of the bridge opening schedule (we had to cross the canal to hike the trail), we decided to walk back the way we came. A little further back along the trail we stopped and watched a mother deer with a new fawn, in the afternoon sunlight. The little one was playing on the trail:) Pretty to watch. Mom's ears showed she was ever mindful of our presence, though we were a good distance away, and she hurried her baby into the undergrowth again.

These two were not far from the bridge, and we were able to get almost adjacent to them before one of them had second thoughts about staying and took off into the undergrowth.

About to cross back over the bridge to the side we are parked on, at the Visitor Center.

I took this photo from the middle of the bridge. It was just 5.15pm. We had two more south-bound yachts to join us, before sundown.

Isnt this just so pretty?

I love the way they have made fences the original way the settlers made them.

The bar-b-q and covered tables were just along from where we were docked. What a great place to share a meal. Too bad we didn't have the fixin's for a bar-b-q, tho! We did think of going pine cone collecting!

When the last two yachts arrived, just as the sun was going down behind the tall trees on our left (port side) , going south, one rafted with the left hand yacht, and the other rafted with us. The yacht was full of young men (and one woman), most of whom were Navy Doctors from Norfolk. They had accompanied their friend who owns the yacht, down this far, and then another friend drove down to take them back for work on Monday. Good scheme. They loved coming down the Swamp. They stayed long enough to bar-b-q hot dogs and pizza on the back of the yacht,  and then left for home, leaving two to sail south the Bahamas for the summer (hurricane Season???hmm..)
They had a dog with them, so they traipsed back and forth across the cockpit of our boat...everyone did! It was a bit like Main Street on our boat for a bit, until the crowd dispersed.
The other boat to arrive, also going south was manned by Burt. We all thought he might be drunk, such was his boat handling.  His boat was also in bad shape, and we all wondered if he would make it to his goal...The Islands down off the Venezuela Coast. Good luck to him. He managed to get the other yachties to 'donate' some fuel to him, to keep him going till he found a Gas state he could tie up close to. I have a feeling he plays the  'poor me' card often, and the 'My social security check is in the mail' card. He made off the next morning, bright and early, with the youngsters leading the way, and looking out for him. The rest of us went north in two different shift.

The vegetation changed, as I said, and a bike path ran alongside the canal for quite a way, with many cyclists taking the opportunity, on this sunday, to enjoy the lovely weather.

On the other end of the canal,  everything changed. The countryside gave way to urban views, industrial views, which is what we get a lot of, coming into and out of towns and cities. In some ways we see the very worst of places. Along the way, though, the same gorgeous green and stillwaters, until the trees got thinner and the wind came through. You can see the wind patterns on the water in this photo. The Kayaker disappeared down a side canal!

The sign said...Superintendent's House. I don't think anyone has lived here for some time!

 Reflections of the trees in the water:)

 The little 'house' is actually a public bathroom along the bike trail. A brand new dock, kind of invited us to pull up:)

 Most of the 32 miles were straight, with two bends in the canal...as far as the eye can see.  Look at that still water!

 Like I said, it all changed. We stopped before the bridge, before the Lock at noon, went across the road for some last minute food supplies from Food Lion supermarket, and got ourselves some Chinese food for lunch at the same time. We had enough leftovers for another meal. General Tso's Chicken and a Vege supreme...with pork fried rice. Very good! We were eventually joined at the bridge by three yachts. The bridge only opens just before the lock does. The  lock attendant does both jobs, and we had to wait for him to drive down to the lock to operate that.

This lock is on the Historic Places Registry. That is the original Lock House on the right.

We went down 9 feet. We are now back in Tidal territory.

 That is smoke coming out the back of us. We had been idling a little too long in the lock and needed to burn some of that off! We did have our engines off, but I guess we started them too soon.

This beach party was at the entry to our night's anchor, so we moved on from there. Too many boats already in that spot. It rather forced our hand to go to the Marina. Not a bad choice, given the lovely meal we enjoyed.

 Thank goodness they are building this bridge. It is sorely needed to alleviate the traffic congestion...boat traffic, that is.

I wont be posting for a few days, and I shouldn't be posting this, on our jetpak..it uses too much of our monthly allowance. I will need to wait till we have free wifi somewhere to post photos again.
Ciao for now...the old boy is snoring, here beside me. It has been a long day, with nasty southwest winds and 4-6ft waves, in the latter part of the day. Side on to the wind and waves makes for a lot of intense motoring and lots of rock'n rollin'.
Night Night.