Washington DC
 |
| A Million Dollars |
Carla went to see how the government prints our money while Dwayne kept an eye on the boat and did some work on the computer. She said the tour was very interesting and informative.
The weather has been fair to poor. It rained much of the night and the winds are picking up today. We are locked in here until the tropical storm passes north of the Potomac.
Washington D C
 |
| Holocaust Museum |
Returned to complete our tour of the Holocaust Museum. Well done videos described the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party to power and the efforts to purge Europe of Jews and other undesirable people. The museum's main exhibit was laid out chronologically and well presented. Recent and on-going events of genocide are presented.
Washington DC
 |
| Dorothy's Ruby Slippers |
Toured the Museum of Natural Science and Museum of American
History.
The Museum of American History was one of the best on the
Mall. Among the most interesting
artifacts on display were: George
Washington’s sword, the portable desk used by Thomas Jefferson while drafting
the Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin’s walking cane, the stove-pipe
hat worn by President Lincoln the night he was assassinated and Dorothy’s ruby
slippers, to mention only a few.
Definitely, one of the better museums on the Mall.
Washington D C
 |
| Holocaust Museum |
Another maintenance day.
Pumped-out and took on water.
Carla scrubbed decks and polished stainless. Dwayne went to charge up the electronic
devices.
Later Dwayne went to the
Holocaust Museum. Had a great dinner of
scallops Dwayne picked up fresh from the fish market.
Washington, D.C.
Went to the Mall.
Visited the Hirshhorn Museum, Sculpture Garden and National
Archives. The docent at the Hirshhorn was
young and tried to engage those around her by asking questions intended to
elicit comments on the artworks. The
responses ranged from the inane to insane.
Every answer is a good answer because modern art is whatever it is to
the beholder. The Sculpture Garden was
more “down to earth”. We also had a
wonderful lunch there for just a few dollars more than what we would have spent
for hot dogs from the street vendors
Saw all of the important documents of our government: Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights,
Constitution, etc. Surprisingly, the
lines were very short and we were not rushed through the exhibits. This is another advantage of retirement – you
can go in the off-season.
Washington D.C.
 |
| Caisson Arlington National Cemetery |
Had a great lunch with Bob and Sandy, old friends of
Dwayne. Went to Arlington National
Cemetery and the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Saw a wreath laying ceremony at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the horse drawn caisson used in burials, the
Kennedy gravesite and other monuments in the cemetery.
Stopped to visit the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial
on the way back to the boat. It was a
good day for walking: sunny, yet cool.
 |
| Kennedy Gravesite |
 |
| Pentagon 9/11 Memorial |
Washington D.C.
Maintenance in the morning: pumped-out, filled with water
and fuel. Went grocery shopping and hung
out at Capitol Yacht Club until dark and came back to the boat to watch a movie
before going to bed.
Washington D.C.
 |
| Jefferson Memorial |
Still at anchor at the Capitol Yacht Club. Beautiful sunny day and a light breeze. We got a new neighbor The 75 foot motor
yacht, “Emelina” docked a few feet from where we are anchored. It is registered in a foreign county;
however, it appears to be primarily used by an elected, high ranking person in
the US government. The US Coast Guard appeared in our anchorage shortly after
its arrival (just seeing all was well here, I guess).
Washington D.C.
Looks like the weather will keep us in Washington until Thursday. We will leave here bound for Hampton, VA. The winds between here and Hampton are forecast to be in the mid-teens up to 30 knots through the rest of the week. We plan to head down the Potomac to Point Lookout and decide when we can proceed from there to Hampton.
We took advantage of the situation by doing laundry and restocking the boat. We got to know some of the Capital Yacht Club members and other sailors who are also waiting out the weather. Freddi and Scott met us at the dinghy dock and welcomed us to the CYC. Freddi is the CYC commodore. Scott is the commodore for the Seven Seas Cruising Association. Carla and I are associate members of SSCA. We had a great evening getting to know each other.
After Happy Hour, Carla and I visited the Jefferson Memorial. Really impressive at night.
Tobacco River to Washington D.C. Yacht Basin
 |
| Fort Washington |
Left shortly after sunrise to get a favorable tide and as
much daylight as possible for the 52 mile run to Washington, D.C. It took us 40 minutes to work our way out of
the Tobacco River to the Potomac due to the many crab pots. Once on the Potomac we made good time while
the tide was with us. At one point we
were going 7 knots. The sun was shining
bright and the waters were dead calm until late afternoon. The river was not as heavily populated as we
expected. In part, I suspect this was
due to much of the land being federal or state property.
St. Clements Bay to Tobacco River
The US Navy Special Operations units had their day on the
Potomac today. Several “Fast Boats”
passed us coming and going as we speed along at a steady 6 knots. Their wake was pretty significant and rolled
our boat some.
We saw the Coast Guard buoy tender again taking care of another
buoy on the Potomac. Very little traffic
on the river today.
St. Inigoes Creek/St. Mary River to Breton Bay and St. Clement's Bay
Woke up this morning to heavy dew on the boat, fog hugging
the water and at 0800 the Star Spangled Banner softly filled the air as the
sound carried across to us from the nearby US Coast Guard station. Carla made a fine breakfast of bacon and
eggs. The sun was out and the day was
well begun.
Solomons to St. Inigoes Creek on the St. Mary River/Potomac River
Beautiful day for a run to the Potomac. Sun shining and warm with some wind in the
morning (8 – 10) which allowed us to sail and motor with the tide and hit 7
knots for a good hour before the winds gave out. Covered 42 nm in 7 hours and found a great
anchorage on St. Inigoes Creek. Plenty
of room and good depth. Very quiet among
a few homes with the exception of a couple of barking dogs and some jet traffic
from the naval air station at Patuxent.
Two flights of 4 fighters passed overhead at about 8 pm. A spectacular sunset topped off the day.
Patuxant River and the Maryland Dove
 |
| Maryland Dove |
It was a bright sunny day for our trip up the Patuxent
River. We went as far as Benedict, MD
and turned back upon reaching the MD Route 234 bridge. Total distance covered today was 37
miles. Motored up-stream with winds
against us and sailed back on reaches and runs.
Total time on the water 8 hours.
The Patuxent is the longest river in Maryland and is wide and very
deep. It is not as densely populated as
most of the other rivers and is a mixture of agriculture and housing. The Patuxent Naval Air Station is
directly across the river from Solomons.
So, we get a lot of fighter jet traffic flying over. Further north is the Marine training center
at Quantico. From there we get buzzed by
helicopters.
Solomons Island September 12 and 13
September 12
Rained most of the day.
Laundry and maintenance day at Solomon Island. Spent time planning our journey up the
Potomac River and touring southern Maryland by car.
September 13
Gray clouds, light rain and high winds made for a stay
aboard morning. We changed the engine
oil and filters. Sun came
out in the afternoon and winds decreased.
We went food shopping and stocked up.
Read some more and watched a movie before going to bed.
Solomons Island
We walked Solomons Island and visited the University of
Maryland Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Visitors Center where we learned
about the research being done on the Bay and some of the many problems facing
those trying to improve the health of the Bay.
It is amazing to see how quickly the vegetation and sea life have
changed in just the past 75 years. The
oyster harvest is less than 1 per cent of what it was a hundred years ago. The blue crabs are barely reproducing at the
rate necessary to sustain the current catch rate which is also a small
percentage of what it was in the recent past.
Cambridge to Solomons Island
We took a chance with the weather and made a run for
Solomons Island. We had seen and done
all we wanted in Cambridge and didn’t want to be anchored out in the bad
weather predicted for the next few days.
The forecast was for rain the entire day with a chance of thunder and
lightning. The winds were forecast to be
in the 10 – 15 range and waves up to 3 feet.
So, we left early and hoped we could dodge the worst of the
weather.
Fortunately, we made a good
passage. We were able to avoid the worst of the storms thanks to weather radar and
being able to maneuver between major downpours.
The sun was coming out as we approached Zahniser’s Marina which made us
feel good after the gloomy day of travel.
We took a mooring ball and slept well knowing we wouldn’t have to worry
about dragging an anchor. Carla did a
super job of getting us on the ball. She
stopped the boat well within reach of the boat hook.
La Trappe Creek to Cambridge and return
We came in to Cambridge to refuel, pump-out, get water and
food. We anchored out for 10
consecutive which appear to be as long
as we can go without restocking our food and water. We came into the Cambridge Municipal Marina
for fuel and pump-out. Took on almost 26
gallons of diesel. The Cambridge Yacht
Club let us dock at their facilities while we went to the grocery store. We had a wonderful lunch at their clubhouse
and got directions to the nearest market.
Little Choptank to La Trappe Creek (Choptank River/Cambridge)
We returned to the Choptank and Cambridge to refuel,
pump-out, get food and water. Found a
great anchorage on La Trappe Creek just north of Cambridge. Spent the night with plans to go into
Cambridge tomorrow for re-provisioning.
Once again, we are the only ones in the anchorage. Very peaceful and great scenery.
We expect the watermen to show up tomorrow morning as the crabbing in the area is very good right now.
Oxford to Little Choptank
This Labor Day Weekend has been great for the powerboaters –
flat water for high speeds. We did have
a few brief hours of wind.
Fortunately,
the wind was up a little in the morning and as we passed Oxford, we crossed the
bow of Sea Shadow, a Catalina 320
owned by Allan and Linda who took us under wing and provided good advice since
our first meeting them at Herrington Harbor a year ago. It is a big Bay but small world.
The Bay was once again full of sails heading home from the
holiday weekend. We motored all the way
to the Little Choptank since the winds were so light. We found a good anchorage at Cherry Point and
were the sole boat at anchor. Very quiet
and best of all we finally have a good cell phone connection.
Harris Creek - Broad Creek and the Tred Avon River
Oxford is one of Maryland’s oldest towns. It was a colonial port of entry and home to
several heroes of the American Revolution.
Tourist are drawn to Oxford because of its quaint, small town
atmosphere. One of the major attractions
are the many older homes some of which date back to the colonial period.
The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry has been operating since 1683 and
is believed to be the oldest continuously operated private ferry in the US. Of course, today's ferry is not the
same as carried colonial passengers across the Tred Avon to Oxford.
Wye River to Dun Cove (Eastern Shore of Tilghman Island)
 |
| Bodkin Island |
Left the Wye River and headed out to the Bay for a run south and then around Tilghman Island to Dun Cove on Tilghman’s
eastern shore.
Hundreds of sails covered
the Bay today as the wind finally blew 5 to 10 knots in most locations. Not great but better than the most recent
flat calm, windless days.
Took a photo of the “navigational hazard” that appears on
charts where Bodkin Island once existed.
The first lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay was constructed on Bodkin Island in 1822. Since then, the island
has disappeared into the Bay due to erosion as have other smaller islands.
Wye River and Miles River
Woke up in Lloyd’s Creek with watermen working their
trotlines. Rather than setting out crab
pots as is common in other parts of the Bay where the water is deeper and more
open, here the watermen work trotlines.
Basically, they lay a baited line off a buoy maker for the crabs to feed
on. The crabs grab the bait with their
claws and hold on to the bait. The
watermen motor to the buoy, snag the trotline and as it rises to the surface
they capture the crabs who refuse to let go of the bait.
By early morning the Wye River was full of
professional watermen and non-professional crabbers working the trotlines. We did not see anyone fishing in the morning,
everyone was crabbing. The Wye River is
noted for having the biggest and best crabs on the Bay.
Shipping Creek (Kent Island western shore) to Lloyd Creek (Wye River)
Carla deserves special mention today for her superb docking
performance in front of the St. Michael’s Marina restaurant and resort
crowd. The guests are usually rewarded
with some laughs at the expense of those demonstrating poor docking skills (we
let them down this time).
Carla had to
bring our boat into the turning basin, make a standing turn to position herself
for the approach to the fuel dock and get our 42 feet of boat and dinghy into a
50 or so foot space between a mega-yacht and pontoon boat.
We talked in detail about what each of us had
to do to maneuver our boat into this tight dock. Carla amazed those watching as she made a
perfect landing leaving about 8 feet of clearance between our bow and the
mega-yacht and about 3 feet of clearance to the boat astern of us. All this was due thanks to our prior planning
and teamwork (and some luck). Our
departure was also challenging as the wind and current were not favorable. Carla came up with her departure plan (which
I agreed was a good one). She briefed me
and the dock hand on what to do and once again, looked like a very experience
captain as she left the dock. I even got
some of the gawking guests to give her a hand for a job well done. Looks like the docking class we took was
really worth it. We hope we do as well
in the future.
Ridout Creek to Shipping Creek
Another very calm day on the Bay. Little to no wind and waves less than one
foot. Motored all day from Ridout Creek
just north of Annapolis to Shipping Creek on Kent Island’s eastern shore (about
27 nautical miles).
Several ships were at anchor waiting to get into Baltimore
harbor and one passed us going to sea. The Midshipmen from US Naval Academy in Annapolis
had one of their training vessels out and passed close by us.
Lankford Bay Marina to Redout Creek
Departed Lankford Bay Marina at noon bound for Ridout Creek
on Whitehall Creek which is just north of Annapolis. The Chester River and the Bay were nearly
windless and calm the entire day. We
motored for almost 5 hours to cover the 27 nm to our anchorage in Ridout Creek
.
Whitehall Bay and its tributaries are lined with modern homes
and private docks. Shoaling is extensive
and the creek channels are narrow in several places. So, you have to simultaneously keep an eye on
the chart, the depth sounder and the water scanning for channel markers so as
not to run aground. Fortunately, the
chart and markers matched pretty well and we made it to our anchorage without
any difficulty.
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