Leg 7 - Sunday, August 7, 2016

Dropped lines at Delaware City Marina and headed out of the creek at 0615 heading toward Cape May or further if we feel up to it. We left early to catch a favorable current in the Delaware River towards Cape May.  We caught the current and were making over 11 knots for the first few hours of the trip.  For a boat that does a top speed of 7.5 knots, it felt like we were on a rocketship.

About half-way down the Delaware we approached Miah Maul Light and turned to head directly toward the inlet at the Cape May Canal.  As we changed course we began to be bitten by a swarm of green head flies.  There were hundreds of them!  We had 2 fly swatters aboard, one stayed in the cabin and the other went to the bridge.  The attack and massacre of flies was relentless.  They just kept coming.  We littered the cabin floor and bridge deck with fly carcasses. They bit our ankles and legs for almost 5 hours causing a lot of sailor talk and jumping around.  We learned the secret of the "old one-two".  First you swat them, then step on them.  If you didn't finish them off, many would lay there for a second and then take off to bite again.  

As we approached the Cape May Canal the Ferry to Lewes, DE, was pulling out.  I thought about my brother-in-law, Lee Mills, who we had planned to visit, in Lewes, but we had to by-pass due to the schedules of the crew.

We entered the canal and proceeded toward Cape May and the Atlantic Ocean.  

Rich Terry had met a young man, Sean Polk, at the Bristol Yachts Rendevous earlier this year who was sailing his Bristol 35 to Key West and was currently anchored just outside the channel near the Coast Guard Station at Cape May.  As we appraoched his position we spotted him in his dinghy and taking pictures of our approach.

We chatted with him for few mimutes and wished him a safe journey and he wished us the same as motored off down the canal.

We exited the canal and turned Northeast toward Ocean City, still battling the flies.

We decided that we could press on to Atlantic City which was only an hour past Ocean City, but it will give us shorter day on Monday to Manasquan Inlet.

We arrived at Atlantic City, NJ, at 1800, after an 11.75 hour day.  The good news is that are now over half-way to Boston.

There are to marinas listed in Atlantic City.  One is the Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget Casino, which has 640 slips and each dock looks like it was a mile long.  

On the opposite side of the inlet is Kammerman Marina that is a much smaller and is just inside the inlet, and has a fuel dock.  So, we decided to fuel up and spend the night at this marina.  The couple who owned the marina were very nice amd made us feel welcome.  The wife runs the marina during the day and the husband is a Sargent with Atlantic City PD.  We fueled up with 61 gallons of diesel and then moved to our slip.  

As we came into our slip the marina attendant and the owner of a 49' motor yacht next to helped us dock.  The owner of the motor yacht named Rene' was from Ontario, Canada.  He and his wife had been cruising simce April and were heading back to Canada.  We will be traveling the same route through New York City, but they will be heading up the Hudson River toward Canada when we go up the East River toward Long Island Sound.

The owner if the marina recommended a restaurant for dinner that was about a half-mile walk, so we decided to walk over to the restaurant.  It was called the "Back Bay Ale House", so we thought it appropriate being from Boston.

We ate dinner at the bar because the restaurant had a one hour wait.  Food was good and the ladies behind the bar were generous with our brinks.

We walked back to the boat as the sun set behind the downtown casinos.

Leg 6 - Saturday, August 6, 2016

Got an early start from Annapolis Landing Marina after filling the water tanks and heating water in the microwave for coffee.  The dockmaster greeted us and tanked us for staying with them.  We dropped our lines and headed out to get to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal that connects Chesapeahke Bay and the Delaware River.  We left Annaplois just as the sun rose over the Bay.

The trip toward the C&D Canal was very uneventful.  We passed under the Annapolis Bay Bridge and then proceeded up the Bay toward the canal.  We entered the C&D Canal about 1420 and past under the first of several bridges along the canal.

We contacted the Delaware City Marina and booked a reservation for the night at the marina.  

We passed under the Route 1/13 bridge that is the similar design as the Zakim bridge in Boston.  Fran and I have driven over this bridge many times on our way to Rehoboth Beach to visit my brother and his husband, Lee.

We arrived at the Delaware City Marina about 1530 and tied up to be ready to leave early tomorrow morning.

After checking in we purchased some oil for the engine and a foam cooler with some ice to use as refrigeration.  We decided to go to dinner at "Crabby Dick's" in downtown Delaware City.  On our way to Crabby Dick's we stopped to listen to a band concert being held on the town green.  The band was excellent and we enjoyed the music for a while.  It is a volunteer community band and they really did a great job.

After dinner we went back to the boat to plan our trip for tomorrow.  We hope that tomorrow we will reach Ocean City, NJ, that is 81 miles away.  At 7 kts, the trip will take us over 12 hours, so we will leave early in the morning. We will take two hour shifts to avoid fatigue.  

Leg 5 - Friday, August 5, 2016

Another early day.  Up at 0630 to untie out dock lines and head up the Bay to Annapolis.  We headed out of Smith Island with the knowledge we would not be returning too soon.

The day was a long hard drive up the Bay.  The current in the Bay was against us initially, slowing us down.  But, by 10 am we had a favorable current and following seas that helped us speed along at close to 8 knots.

The following seas were difficult to drive in because of the effect on the boat which requires almost constant steering to stay on course.  We set up 2-hour shifts to give everyone on board some rest time.

After my shift ended I decided to repair the head in the master cabin.  This worked out fine and now we have 2 working heads.

We arrived at Annapolis Landing Marina and fueled up taking on about 94 gallons of diesel fuel.  We pulled into our assigned slip about 6 pm and tied the boat up for the night.

After which we borrowed the courtesy shuttle to go to dinner at Tom's Bayside Grill.

We returned to the boat to plan the next day's travel.  We are planning an early departure to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal on our way to Cape May, NJ.

Leg 4 - Thursday, August 4, 2016

We woke early to get underway into Chesapeake Bay.  Before disconnecting the power cord we used the microwave to heat up water for coffee.  We dropped lines at 0710 and headed up the Elizabeth River toward Hampton Roads.

We reached Thimble Shoal Lighthouse at 1015 and turned north toward Smith Island about one third of the way up the Chesapeake.

The wind was from the northeast at 10-20 with a heavy chop which slowed us down for a while.  But, then we caught a northerly current that helped our progress.

We arrived at Smith Island at 1730 and tied up at the Bayside Inn and Restaurant which had the only open slip that was usable.  Unfortunately, the restaurant closes at 6pm, so we were too late for dinner.  The woman at the restaurant said we could spend the night on the dock as long as we were gone by 11am.  Our plan is to leave early to get up to Annapolis at the head of the Chesapeake Bay.  So, we will be well underway by 11am.

We are sitting on the sundeck watching the sunset over the Chesapeake and snacking on Oreo cookies and cheese crackers.

Leg 3 - Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Up early to get breakfast at a local bakery in Elizabeth City called "Th Flour Girls" and then dropped lines and headed to the Elizabeth City drawbridge.  We arrived at the bridge at 0750, but the bridge operator told us he could not open the bridge until 0830. We waited for the opening and then headed up the Pasquatuck River to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

It is a very windy river and then turns into canals that are as straight as an arrow.  We entered Turner's Cut (the canal that leads to the Great Dismal) at 1015 and on to the South Mills lock.  We arrived at the South Mills lock at 1100 for a 1130 opening to enter the Great Dismal Canal.  While waiting we met a couple, Dan and Kim, in a 21' power boat "Two Wheels", who had motored from Virginia to Moorehead City, North Carolina for an adventure.

After the lock raised both boats 8' to the level of the canal and the gates opened, we motored the length of the Great Dismal Canal.  It was a long straight run.

We arrived at the Deep Creek lock at 1415 and needed to wait for a 1530 opening. We tied up south of the draw bringe with the other boat.  Across the road from where we tied up was a Hardee's Drive-Through restaurant, so we walked over to get a cold drink.  Rich and JeffJ had chocolate milk shakes and I had a vanilla milk shake.

We called the lock operator at 1545 because he had not raised the bridge and he said he had been caling to see if there was any northbound traffic.  Since we were off of our boats we did not hear his radio calls.  He agreed to open the locks for us, but our mistake delayed us by about an hour.  We entered the lock and JeffJ and Rich tended the lines for the 9' drop inside the lock.

The operator opened the gates and wished us safe passage .  We headed down the river toward Norfolk.

As we approached the Gilmartin Bridge we got a call from a tug captain on the other side saying he was pushing a barge through the bridge and requesting we hold on the other side until he was through.  We waited for him as he manuevered the large barge of scrap metal under the bridge and down the river.

We began our drive up the Elizabeth River past numerous ships and barges being loaded and unloaded.  We then approached the Navy Yard with many ships in dry dock and under repair.  It is an impressive sight to see the might of the U.S. Navy on display along the river.

We had decided to stop at a marina along the way, but when we called them they were closed for the day.  It seems most marinas in the area close at 5 pm.  We called six or seven marinas without success, but saw a marina on our portside that had plenty of open slips.  We called them and tied up on their face dock for the night.  We had electricity so we fired up the AC, took showers and then headed into the old town of Portsmouth, VA, for dinner.

The dock manager, Justin, had recommend an Italian restaurant named Mannino's about 6 blocks away and we decided to go there and had a great Italian feast. We walked back to the boat and fell asleep clean, cool and well fed.

Leg 2 - Tuesday, August 2 2016

We had breakfast at a local Belhaven restaurant decorated with Coca-Cola memorabilia and retro styled furniture. Good, stick to your ribs food.

We left Belhaven Town Dock at 0750 and headed up toward the Pungo-Aligator River Canal.  The canal is as strait as an arrow for as far as you can see.  Jeff Jackel remarked that you can almost see the horizon at the end of the canal.  

As we exited the canal a thunderstorms overtook us and the rain and waves began.  We picked our way up the Aligator River to the Aligator River Swing Bridge.  Just before reaching the bridge the storms subsided so the bridge would open for us and a sailboat that had been traveling just in front of us.  We continue up the Aligator River and into Albermarle Sound where additional thunderstorms continued with driving rain and thunder and lightning all around us.  Jeff Jackel was at the wheel and Rich was navigating.  I was very tired so I laid down for a nap and slept through one of the worst storms to hit North Carolina in a long time.  When I awoke we had reached the other side of Albermarle Sound and were heading up the river toward Elizabeth City.  Rich and Jeff filled me in on the storm and said the boat handled very well in the bad weather.  I am glad of that.

As we approached Elizabeth City we decided to stop at a marina for the night and take showers and relax.  However, no one seemed to be at the marina to answer our calls on both my cell phone and the VHF radio.  We finally decided to go to the public dock for the night.  The public dock is free and open to all boaters on a first come, first served basis.  However, there are no bathrooms or showers available.

After tying up we walked around town to find s restaurant for dinner.  Everyone told us that there had been severe thunderstorms that had caused major power outages throughout the city.  We walked by many stores and businesses that had lost electricity earlier in the day and the employees went home without shutting down the lighting.  But now, the electricity came back on and the store lights wrre on, but no one was there to shut them off.

We finally found a bar that served sandwiches and had a few drinks and a sandwich for dinner.  Not very exciting, but filling.  We walked back to the boat to plan our next leg of the journey tomorrow through the Great Dismal Swamp Canal to Norfolk, VA.  After talking with our wives and checking the time for breakfast we went to bed exhausted.  Good night!

Leg 1 - Monday, August 1, 2016

We were woken at 7:30 by a phone call from the electrician with bad news about the windlass.  Parts are no longer available for my model and new unit would not be available until late on Wednesday.  We figured out a way to haul the anchor safely without needing the windlass.  We decided to leave without it.  After returning the rental car to Enterprise, at 1310 we dropped the dock lines and headed toward Boston.

We headed up the Intracoastal Waterway toward the Pungo River and on to Belhaven.  We decided not to stop at the R. E. Mayo Shrimp Factory because there were no pleasure boats stopped there, only shrimp boats.  So, we continue on to Belhaven.

Jeff Jackel cooked up some stew in a sauce pan on the propane barbecue and we enjoyed dinner underway.  We pulled into Belhaven town dock at 2200 and tied up for the night.  We had traveled 61 miles today in 9 hours.  It had been a long day, but we are now back on schedule for the trip.  

Tomorrow we plan to head up the Alligator River Canal to Elizabeth City, NC, to spend the night there before heading to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal towards Norfolk, Virgina.