Still love Williamsburg, after all these years.

Rick rented a car for two days while we waited out weather here in Yorktown. We took a ride through  Jamestown where we boarded a 15 minute ferry ride to the other side of the Pagan River. From there we followed our nose to Smithfield,VA,  where hogs are king and hams are made. Rick addressed his fantasy head on: yes, we have a Smithfield ham and lots of Virginia peanuts on board now. It's a cute town of two blocks, and one trip in a lifetime to Smithfield is enough. We were glad we drove and did not sail up here.

Tuesday we drove to Williamsburg 30 minutes away. That completes the "historic triangle." Our first visit to Williamsburg was forty years ago and we continue to love this destination, it never grows old (OK, it is old, but we love it.) We had a guided tour of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and enjoyed reenactments in the Charlton Coffee and Chocolate Shop, the Governor's Palace, the Fife and Drum March before sunset, and of course, dinner at Christiana Campbell's. The weather was spectacular and it was nice to visit without feeling we had to see everything in a day. 

Today was a lazy day with a little provisioning for Thursday's sail to Hampton, VA. This port is new to us so we are excited to see it. Great news, the winds look good for sailing tomorrow.

Snap, crackle and pop. It's not an electrical short it's the shrimp

Saturday morning as we were getting ready for a courtesy ride  to Yorktown, Susan asked me to listen to a new funny sound on the boat.  We turned everything off and could hear a faint crackling sound that we thought was coming from the bilge.  As we started to open up the floor boards the sound became more distinct, but couldn't pinpoint the source. We kept pulling up the cushions, opening up the access and storage compatments and just couldn't find the problem.  Susan went up the the service department to ask for help, while I started to investigate if the sound was also comming from the dock or other boats.  As I was laying on the dock for the boat next to me, Susan came back to say it was just snapping shrimp.  It turns out the local Grass Shrimp feasting on the bottom of our boat are territorial and when another shrimp apporoaches they snap their claws to defend the spot.  An hour later we'd put the covers and cushions back and were off to another adventure.

More later,

Rick

Every Picture Tells a Story



Tools of the trade, crabbing on Tilman Island.

The Osprey have left Solomons Island.

Light Houses and Our First Dolphins

Friday morning we set off early to beat the predicted seas of 4-5 feet. Yet another day of winds on the nose with the expected seas! Land lovers, we call those "lumpy seas." However, Rick always finds the best in everything so here's our sights for today. We are settled at York River Yacht Haven across from Yorktown. We'll be here several days to enjoy Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown.

Wolf Trap Light

Mother and Baby

Fences And Fog

Before we left Oxford, Rick made sure we saw all the fences! We spent the next two days in Hudson Creek at anchor, just us and the rain. Our next stop was Port Kinsail where we tried White Point Marina. We tied up just before a storm- but look what we had for a reward just before sunset!After just one night we moved to Dosiers for a two day rest in Deltaville. The weather held calm and sunny (not what was called for), Susan finally did some sewing, and we met several cruising couples. Everyone traded war stories of selling homes and all that stuff we had to have years ago, and then shared they cruising history and plans for this year. This was very helpful for us. There isn't much to do in these towns but we did explore each of them, caught up on reading and boat maintainance. Our only disappointment, we aren't getting to sail enough.

Finally Setting Sail!



Baltimore Light in the fog.

It felt like we would never leave, but we did sail away Wednesday September 21st! Fog did not deter us, winds were 8-12 knots, and we managed to sail past Annapolis before heading into Tilghman Island. The "season" has ended so this trip is about as serene as one could hope for, mostly lighthouses, cruisers and fishermen for companions.

Love a good ol' boat.

Thomas Point Light

The fog persisted until rain ended the day in Tilman but the fishermen are hard workers, full of color and history.

Thursday we headed carefully through the Napps Narrows toward Oxford, a short ride sans sailing. Each year the town of Oxford holds a fund raiser, auctioning sections of fence milled in the Oxford style and decorated by local artists. This stop was just for a bike ride through the sea captain architecture and the photo op with the fences. Tonight is dinner with my favorite chef at the Robert Morris Inn. We'll decide later if we'll cast off tomorrow or not, all depending on the rain event over us.

Rains, Fire, Earthquakes, Hurricanes and more Rain

We've watched storm after storm roll across Chesapeake Bay from a nearby beach this summer.

Even the Oyster man at the Rock Hall Harbor Memorial has had enough rain.

We've been holed up here in Rock Hall completing preparations for our departure the third week of September.  During the preparations we started waking up to smoke from the Dismal Swamp fire that started August 4th.  Even though the swamp is in Virginia and over 150 miles down the bay the prevailing Southwest winds would occasionally bring the smoke all the way up to our area. 

Then one of the few sunny afternoons when we could go to the pool along comes the earthquake.  I was standing by the pool when it filled with 1 foot waves.  Oddly friends on their boats never felt it.

When Irene came through we tied the boat off with extra lines, took off all the canvas and the jib, then headed to Washington, D.C. for a long weekend.  I'd offered to help Micah teach a fly casting class to a lunch  and learn at the Discovery Channel that Friday   Then we spent the weekend watching the weather channel to see how bad the boat would get hit.

Sunday afternoon we followed the trailing edge of the storm back across the Bay Bridge to find all was well. That evening we were treated to a great sunset.

The following week we sailed up the Chester River to an anchorage in Grays Inn Creek.  To our surprise in the morning we were treated to a huge flock of swallows.

After a while I rattled the halyards and finally blew the horn to chase them off, but the next morning they were back again with the sunrise, but didn't stay as long the first day.

It's raining again today and we're off to Baltimore this afternoon to pick up family for the weekend.  I hope to get Gus on our crew for a Saturday race on a friends boat.

More pics and notes to come, we're just getting started.

Rick