Chesapeake - Annapolis

Chesapeake Bay (or Let’s Rock and Roll)

A few days ago I sat down and looked at the charts trying to figure out where we are going.

I was shocked at the HUGENESS of Chesapeake Bay, seriously, I don’t know what I was thinking but it is way bigger than I thought. So I panicked! 

We met a lovely lady in Elizabeth City who sat down and went through the charts and gave us some hints as to where to anchor and so forth.

When I mentioned my fear of the open waters, she suggested waiting for a weather window……as always, the WEATHER!!!!

So after we left the Dismal swamp and said goodbye to new and old friends, we passed by Norfolk and anchored just short of the Chesapeake Bay entrance.

"Docktail" hour at the Dismal Swamp

...is for Lovers

Leaving the Dismal Swamp

A woman's work is never done, cleaning the boat



Very long trip....the flowers we smelt along the way were wonderful



Locking through with MV Spiritus and the FLM.




"Norfolk - Frequently mispronounced.
Properly "NAW-fuk".
Really. 
And make the second syllable as short as possible, almost "fk". 
Think of, "We don't drink. We don't smoke. Norfolk. Norfolk."
If you can make that come out in a humorous manner, you have it exactly right."

Now, I know many of you will ask why we bypassed Norfolk but frankly we are now in a hurry to get home, and besides we are going to be back here in a few months. (And I have seen enough military boats, planes and aircraft) Guess what I saw next?????



A Re-supply ship

A frigate

A large tanker being escorted by a 80 foot tug, big hey!

Hospital ship named Comfort

Aircraft carrier for vertical take off
planes

F18 on George W Bush aircraft carrier

A minion from Despicable me
floated over us while we were anchored near Norfolk

So on a cold and blustery day we set out into the Bay. It was rough and after about 2 miles we decided to turn around. As we turned around we saw another trawler leaving so we figured we were just being a couple of babies and turned back into the Bay once again. After about 8 miles we decided finally that we had had enough rocking and rolling, so I checked my charts and found a nice little anchorage.

Here I was wearing the cap Anna made for me, under my
hoodie and the big fluffy towels that Tammy and Steve gave us, over my legs
and shoulders.
(Not very glamorous but toasty warm)
It was so cold we could see our breath ....

As we approached the entrance to the creek, a guy in a little John boat started frantically waving his arms in the air. Now what?? Turns out they were dredging the channel and he needed to get some of his gear out of the way, a few minutes later we were escorted into the shallow creek, we dropped the hook and looked around us at the flat calm water. One wouldn’t have known it was bouncy in the bay; it was so nice and flat calm in the creek.



The guys dredging the channel escorted us pass the shallow areas into
the nice protected harbour in Salt Pond

It was still early so we went back to bed. When we woke up we decided to lift the anchor and give the Bay another shot. We were able to do another 35 miles until we decided, enough, so we headed into yet, another creek to drop the hook.

Now this creek didn’t have any nice guys dredging her so guess what? We ran aground, not hard, just touched a little and thank goodness it is all sand bottom. So in between weaving our way through damn crab pots and checking the charts and depth sounder for depth ( by the way, I believe the charts are wrong  and I blame Hurricane Sandy for shifting so much sand around)we made it in safe and sound.

The anchorage was so calm and quiet we forgot we were on a boat as we drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, on the way out of the creek we hit another sand bay (also NOT on our charts) but the skipper kept a cool head and soon were in deeper waters and away from all those crab pots.

Ok just a word to all you CRAB eaters out there….do you know what a pain in the A$$ crab pots are?????!!!

Crabbers

Sorry, yet another wonderful sunrise.

The weather started off yucky but actually improved as the day progressed so we decided to cross the Potomac river and head to Solomon’s to anchor for the night.

Solomons

We anchored in a creek near Solomons and after a long day on the water we went right to sleep.

Early the next morning a text from Gerry on MV Teaghlach informed us of the bad weather that was expected for the day so we decided to stay put. They had rented a car for the day and invited us to go and do some shopping and sightseeing with them. We jumped at the opportunity to get off the boat and stretch our legs a little.

Drum Point/Cove Point Light house
Solomons Maryland

Calvert Marine Museum
Solomons



A VERY cool place to visit in Solomons



Mermaid Christelle

Yummy Oysters!!




Pirate Gary

Annapolis

On Wednesday 15 May we left Solomon's and had a smooth, calm, flat Bay all the way to Annapolis. Here we at last caught up with our friends the Mortensens on SV Flying Free who we last saw in November.

The Bay bridge - Annapolis

Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse

MV Teaghlach in front of a huge tanker



The Chapel at the Annapolis Naval Academy

A fisherman just dropped this off for us, Gary filet it and now we have
fresh fish to eat.

Our dear friend Henning



Beware the Goat, yes, seriously, a goat is a mascot for the
Navy football team.

Chapel

A copy of the first plane -Wright brothers

Annapolis Naval Academy, only the best of the
best make it in to this school

Naval Cadets called Mid-ship men



Narrow alleyway

Annapolis

We had met many sailors from Annapolis in the Bahamas and they said to look them up when we got here, so we did.
We are blown away by the amazing hospitality:
Our thanks to Sharon and Pete , SV Kankita, Jim and Ann  SV  Ubiquitous , Diane and Mike SV Varmit , Dawn and Ron SV Dawntreader  
               
                                              THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DID FOR US.!!

Gary, Jim, Mike, Ron
Christelle, Ann, Diane, Dawn



Ego Alley - Annapolis



The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial commemorates the place                      
of arrival of Alex Haley's African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, to the New World, as told in the book Roots.
It is located in Annapolis, Maryland at the head of the City's harbor.
This Memorial is the only memorial in the United States that commemorates the actual name and place
of arrival of an enslaved African. It portrays in word and symbol Alex Haley's                      
vision for national racial reconciliation and healing, and symbolizes in Kunta Kinte and his descendants
 the triumph of the human spirit in very difficult times.
The Memorial includes a sculpture group of a seated Alex Haley reading from a book on his lap to three children of different ethnic backgrounds.
As he stretches his hand toward the Chesapeake Bay, he tells his family's story and the story of the Annapolis port, a symbolic Ellis Island for African Americans.