Rebel Marina, Day 2

Yes, we are still here.  The North winds arrived as predicted, just around midnight.  However, they were a bit stronger than predicted, with winds at 0800 being sustained at a shade under 25 knots with gusts at 30.  While Hampton Roads isn’t a large region of water by any stretch of the imagination it was rolling enough for us to reconsider leaving the dock.   The other thought was that since it was so windy there might be a good chance the boats in the free basins in Portsmouth might not be going anywhere today so we decided to stay put.  I am sure the kids won’t miss the $80 it cost us to stay today as they have to divide their inheritance three ways

We walked over to the beach on the Chesapeake Bay side before lunch.

While the Mate sipped her morning coffee and checked out what was on TV the Skipper spent an hour touring the steel vessel docked across from us.  MOSBY is an interesting steel vessel.  The owner worked in the experimental commercial aviation field and this is his first boat.  He has spent the last 12 years working on it, and has a few years to go before the interior is done.

Mosby. The boat originally had teak decks (over steel). The owner doesn’t think that he will put the teak back on. Good move, who wants steel starting to rust under the teak?  The boat is powered by a keel cooled single MAN engine dating from the early 70’s.

The background of the vessel is interesting.  It was built in the Netherlands in the early 50’s.  He found it in Texas, has completely gutted it and has been totally rebuilding the interior.  There is a local guy doing the woodwork, all in cherry and it is perfect.  I can’t imagine his bill as the number of man hours must be incredible.  The owner is highly knowledgeable and spends all his time working on and designing the boats systems.  Absolutely everything is accessible and done first class.  The boat leaves the dock at least once a week, just to go out and exercise the systems.

There are two stories relative to what the boat was originally used for.  The first story is that it was an “escape pod” for wealthy individuals during the early days of the cold war as you couldn’t build a bomb shelter in the Netherlands.  The boat had a range of 8,000 miles and was built for the North Sea.  The second story was that it was used to smuggle Nazi’s from Europe to Argentina to escape prosecution.  Of course the reality is that the boat might have been built for less “glamorous” reasons.

All the panels for gauges and electrical breakers/switches on the boat are highly polished silicon bronze that were sent out for engraving.

 

The boat has 5,000 lbs of batteries with an automatic watering and venting system. All AC power is via some large commercial grade inverters. The genset doesn’t produce AC power but drives a 500+ amp DC alternator from some military vehicle to charge the batteries. The propulsion engine is getting the same alternator.

Other musings:  We have been reading about the history of Bell Labs and the design of Telstar, the first active (as opposed to passive) communications satellite in 1962.  We are old enough to recognize the tune by the Tornados that was recorded right after the event although we never associated the song with satellite.  We were too young to understand the significance of it all.

No miles traveled.  We won’t complain too much about being tied to shore power this evening as it will be in the mid 40’s overnight.  Tomorrow we definetely will be docked in Portsmouth.

Dave

Rebel Marina, Newport News VA

We left the dock at 0730 as is our custom and commenced our motor down the Chesapeake.  Our initial plan was to stop at Rebel Marina, home to Olive Oyl, a Pilgrim 40 owned by Fred and Nancy.  It turns out they weren’t going to be around this evening so we went to plan B which was anchoring behind Old Point Comfort at the entrance to Hampton Roads.

Looking across at the Omega Protein Manhaden processing plant in Reedville. We couldn’t include this last evening as our Verizon signal was almost no-existent. Yesterdays blog posting took almost 45 minutes.

Winds started out at 10 knots from the South West and  by 1030 were down to 3 knots, 60 degrees off our starboard bow.  The winds were up and down all day, staying pretty much south which kept the true wind just off our bow.  It wasn’t until we were an hour or so out that the wind increased to 8 knots.  These were ideal conditions to make the 57 nm run down from Reedville; light winds and calm seas.  We had lots of company, there were five sailboats and one trawler that accompanied us down the coast today.

We have two chart plotters that use two different sets of charts. This is Coastal Explorer using the free NOAA charts. Wolf Trap light is clearly shown abeam of the boat. This plotter is set to North – Up.

 

This is our Raymarine chart plotter with our expensive C-Map charts. Wolf Trap light is that tiny orange dot just to the left of the cursor (red circle with the arrows). If you select on the dot it says it is a rock that is always exposed. No fooling; there is a lighthouse on top of it.  This plotter is set with Heading – Up.

The forecast for this evening is for winds to switch to the north and increase to 15 to 20 knots as a cold front drops in to push out the 80+ degree temperatures we had today.  As there aren’t many good anchorages around here besides the Point Comfort one in Northerly winds we were going to be stuck there.  We ended up fighting our way into Hampton Roads at 4.5 knots as the water was flowing out pretty fast.  We also had second thoughts about this anchorage.  Having been there before we know how little area there is to actually anchor.  It appears to be a large area on the chart but the majority of it is labeled as having underwater cables which means that you may or may not be able to retrieve your anchor if you are unlucky enough to snag one.  Since the wind direction will  change almost 180 degrees in the middle of the night and increase it makes being around other boats a little dicey as you wonder if their anchor will reset.

Another nice day on the Chesapeake.

As there was no chance in making Portsmouth before dark, and by late afternoon all the free docks would have been spoken for we called Rebel Marina to see if they had a side tie at the end of their pier available.  The last time we were here we squeezed into one of their resident slips that happened to be open as their transient dock was full.  Not wishing to repeat that if it wasn’t necessary we requested the side tie.  They still had one available so we killed the anchoring plan and came in here.

Fred and Nancy’s Olive Oyl.

Actually, it really worked out well.  They have multiple loaner vehicles here, just pick a key and drive away.  We were able to go to the grocery store and then to a laundromat as it has been a few weeks since we did laundry.  It is not that we are running out of clothes, it is the fact there are fewer places to put the dirty ones as our laundry hamper was overfull.

We did have to go to three laundromats before finding one we liked.  The first one only took “cards”.  The card cost $1 and it was hard to know how much money to put on the card as some washing machines didn’t say what the charge was.  The next laundry place was in a rather sketchy neighborhood, busy and not the cleanest place in the world.  The third place was a winner, the machines took coins.

The laundromat had a TV tuned to a NFL game, helping us pass the time.

Getting back to the boat we had a nice salmon, baked potato and salad dinner.

Tomorrow we make the 10 nm trek down to Portsmouth where we will probably spend two evenings.  One of the evenings will be spent at the Commodore Theater were we can eat dinner and watch a move.

Today:  57 nm in 8.8 engine hours.  Total:  1004 nm.  Tomorrow we switch to statute miles to correspond with mile markers in the ICW.

Dave

Well, another miracle happened today!!!  (A dock, no anchor!!) We were able to get all our laundry done and a little shopping done.  Life just couldn’t get any better!

Tomorrow we’re off to Portsmouth.

Bobbi

 

Jennings Boat Yard, Reedville, VA

We left Bob’s dock at 0730 this morning (sunrise being 0728), temperature a balmy 42 degrees.  Winds were from the South West at 8 knots, increasing to 10 by 1000 which put the winds right on the beam.

With a change of course in rounding Smith Point Light at 1100 the winds were forward of the beam and gradually shifted to the SSW at 12 knots which had us motoring straight upwind.  Temperatures warmed into the low 70’s making for a pleasant day on the water.

The day on the water ended early as we arrived at Jennings Boat Yard at 1245.  After lunch we walked around the boat yard, then the local roads before coming back to the boat to scrub the decks before catching up on some reading.

A misty morning on the St. Mary’s River heading out to the Potomac.

 

All yards have a place where boats come to die, and Jennings is no exception. Nobody in their right mind would be paying yard storage bills on this group of boats.

Today:  34 nm in 5.4 engine hours.  Total:  974 nm

Dave

Alnutt Dock, Day 3

Today was exactly as predicted, wind wise.  Winds were North West above 20 knots as reported by the weather station at Point Lookout.  Not a good day for traveling, and we weren’t.

We changed the oil in the gearbox this morning before heading out for our morning walk.  We had Bob aboard for lunch which consisted of a nice salad and some salomi/cheese paninis.  Bob doesn’t have a panini maker aboard his boat or in his house for that matter.

The afternoon was spent relaxing, the Skipper catching up on some reading, the Mate with some movie on TV.  Dinner on Liberty with Bob was the Mate’s one-pan skillet lasagna; excellent as always.  We sat around and chatted and with the wine gone bid farewell to Bob as the weather is such that we will be on our way south come early morning.  Bob knows he is always welcome aboard Liberty and maybe he will show up in Florida to visit with us for awhile, allowing him to escape the cold and snow of southern Maryland for a while this winter.

Again, no miles traveled.

Dave

We’ve had a wonderful three days at Bob’s dock.  I’m pretty sure we could not every thank Bob enough for his hospitality!!! Hope to see you down south this winter!  There’s always room Bob!

Tomorrow we head to Reedville!

Bobbi

Alnutt Dock, Day 2

As predicted, the winds were southerly from 15 to 20 knots this morning.  We weren’t going to be moving as we don’t get paid to cruise.  Instead the Mate and Skipper went for a walk, then it was back to the boat for lunch with Bob where the Mate whipped up some grilled tuna melts and some home made soup.  Early to mid afternoon was spent grocery shopping.  It is about a 20 minute drive from Bob’s house to civilization so a simple trip to the store does eat up a fair amount of time.  As it was a rainy afternoon we spent it relaxing on the boat and then Bob came down to the boat for hors d’oeurves and dinner.  We almost never eat red meat but tonight was an exception, the Skipper made filet mignon steaks on the grill with baked potatoes, salad and grilled vegetables.  Bob’s comment was that he was going to chain our boat to the dock as he doesn’t gets to eat like this too often, him being single.

On our walk we came across the corner of Waterview Dr and Waterview Dr. Actually there is an explination for this. If you follow either of the Waterview Dr streets, eventually you come back to the same place as the street makes a big loop and intersects itself.

Actually, we aren’t going anywhere for another day as tomorrow’s forecast is calling for north west winds and waves 3 to 4 feet.  While we could handle the conditions, if it isn’t absolutely necessary, why subject ourselves to it?  With age comes wisdom (somewhat slowly in our case).

Today:  No miles traveled

Dave

St. Inigoes, MD Alnutt Dock

Leaving the dock at 0735 this morning we stopped in Solomons for fuel.  While we theoretically could have made our next favorite fueling station south of Norfolk with about 10 gallons to spare, we decided that it is the last place we want to be short of fuel.  We took on 50 gallons at $2.11/gallon and were on our way by 0900.  While the forecast called for North winds at 5 to 10, the reality was the winds were North East at 10 right out of the gate.  Given our course for the next few hours this put the waves exactly on our beam so we rolled around a bit heading down the coast.  Our course changed during the the last hour going into Point Lookout (the north side of the Potomac) such that it brought the waves almost directly astern of us.  We rounded the point at slack current with 8 knots of wind on our stern, and for that we thank Father Neptune as we had a real nice ride around the point.   The Potomac is dumping lots of water in the Chesapeake and depending on the tide driven current and wind there can be some rough conditions generated here.

The winds were light to non existant and the water was flat heading up the Potomac into the St. Mary’s River.  Just as we exited the Potomac a USCG boat came blasting up along side us although it was no surprise.  We had seen him sitting motionless in the water a long way off and when he took off and headed for us we knew where he was going.  “Have you been boarded recently?” they asked.  “Yes, in February” we responded.  “Do you have the yellow boarding report?”.  “Yes”.  “Can you pass it over?”  We gave them the document, they glanced at it, mentioning that it was in Florida, handed it back and told us to have a nice day, no boarding and inspection necessary for us today.  There was a sailboat that had been following us about a mile astern but evidently they weren’t interested in talking to that guy.

Heading up the Potomac in flat calm conditions.

Not long afterwards we were tied up to our LNVT friend Bob’s dock.  Unfortunately his boat, Victory (Hull #2) isn’t here at the moment, it being on the hard for some maintenance work.  After some housekeeping on Liberty we headed up to the house for a glass of wine allowing us to get re-acquainted having not seen each other for six months.  The Mate went for an afternoon walk while the Skipper and Bob kibitzed and then we headed down to Liberty for dinner and some more gabbing.

At Bob’s dock in St. Inigoes.  The orange fenders are over the side simply to get them off the deck and out of the way, we are using our fender boards on the pilings on the dock side of the boat.

 

Good-by old deck shoes. We purchased these in Key West two years and they served us well but it is time for the trash bin, the soles haveing been worn thin.

It doesn’t appear that Liberty is moving tomorrow as the forecast calls for Southerly winds to 25 knots.  Straight upwind in that much breeze is not our cup of tea.

Today:  43 nm in 6.7 engine hours.  Total:  913 nm.

Dave

Cuckold Creek, Hollywood MD

We dutifully checked the weather report before the crack of dawn and decided that the forecast winds would be such that the velocity and direction would be in our comfort range.  Last night we set a departure time of 0730 assuming that we were leaving.  A few minutes before that time Dave and Mary showed up to either send us on our way (and collect their giant boat fenders) or have breakfast with us if we were staying.  They handed us our lines and we were on our way.

There actually were two different forecasts we looked at.  Predict Wind had the wind dropping a bit in the early afternoon before building, NOAA simply said  North West 10 to 15 with gusts to 25.  Once in open water the winds quickly built to 13 knots from the WNW which put the waves 30 degrees aft of the beam.  This will roll a Pilgrim around a bit even with the steadying sail set.  By 1000 winds were in the 15 to 20 knot range, same direction.  By 1100 the winds had shifted slightly to the NW and coupled with a few degree change in course the waves were now 30 degrees off our stern.  This is enough of a change in direction that the boat hardly rolls at all and we settled in for a very comfortable ride down to the Patuxent River.

Earlier a 46 foot sailboat (according to the AIS) passed us, motoring.  The boat had an in-the-mast furling mainsail and of course a roller furling headsail.  If they were ever going to sail this thing, these were perfect conditions; a broad reach in a decent breeze.  It certainly was a perfect day for a sail boat if there ever was one, but obviously not perfect enough for this guy.

The original plan was to anchor up Mill Creek in Solomons as Bill and Judy are working out of town and besides their dock wouldn’t have enough water for us to leave at low tide.  We had met their neighbors, Tom and Elaine a year or so ago when we were here and Bill emailed us that they really would like us to stay overnight at their dock.  They have recently put their house up for sale and have a nice dock that is located 41 feet below their house with a new set of steps to it although they have never run power down the hill to the dock.  The deal was that if we stayed at their dock so they could take pictures of Liberty docked there (for their house ad) that Tom would run some power cords down so we could plug in.  OK, twist our arm.

We had Tom and Elaine aboard Liberty for hor dourves and dinner and spent a pleasant evening with them.  The wine we had during dinner was the other bottle that Bill had given us during the Pilgrim rendezvous, so the bottle didn’t get very far from home in the end.

Point Patience on the Patuxent River. We are 300 feet from the red buoy and are in 120 feet of water.  The S-49 (USN Submarine) foundered here off the Navel Mine Warfare Proving Ground in 1942 and Navy and recreational divers visit her.

 

At Tom and Elaine’s dock.

 

Steps leading up the hill.

Today:  48 nm in 7.7 engine hours.  Total:  870 nm.

Dave

We really had to leave Mary and Dave’s this morning!  The morning started out with quite a bit of rocking and rolling.  Poor Finny had to spend most of the day with Dave and I up front since her cage was rocking and rolling as well.

I expected to be at anchor tonight (I had come to grips with it!) when a miracle happened!!  Tom and Elaine (who we had met over a year ago) invited us to stay at their dock.  We had a fun dinner together on Liberty.  Hopefully, we will get together down in Florida this winter.

Tomorrow we are off to St. Mary’s to visit our Lord Nelson Victory Tug buddy, Bob!!

Bobbi

Annapolis Cove, Day 6

Around noon our rental wheels turned into a pumpkin so the first order of business was to drive to Walmart for bird seed and a few odd’s and ends.  Of course the nearest Walmart was 18 miles away in Bowie.  Evidently they don’t want Walmart’s getting too close to Annapolis.

Back at the boat the Mate went for a walk with Mary while the Skipper took it easy, napping and catching up on some reading.  This evening we helped Dave and Mary celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary at their favorite restaurant with Colleen and Todd.  The food was excellent but their so called glass of wine should really be labeled shot of wine.  It was back to Dave and Mary’s for a nightcap before returning to Liberty.

Will we leave the dock tomorrow morning?  We will find out when we look at the weather at dawn.  Tonight’s forecast is for winds to 30 knots.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be better than today with maximum winds of 20 knot from the north west which would put the wind on our stern quarter.  At the moment the winds seem to be dropping with sustained winds at about 12, gusting to 16.

Dave

Have we ever had a wonderful time!  I’m not sure how we can ever thank Mary and Dave for their hospitality. Every time we stop in Annapolis it just gets better!!  Thanks Mary and Dave and Happy Anniversary.  You’re kindness and friendship are so appreciated.

On Saturday Mary and Dave  drove down to Solomon with us and we visited more Pilgrim friends, Judy and Bill.  Dave and I had planned to stop at Judy and Bill’s with Liberty but the wind had other plans!  The six of us had a great afternoon together.

Tomorrow we just might try heading south again if the wind cooperates!

Bobbi

Annapolis Cove, Day 5

The wind is still blowing in Annapolis.  The J70 races scheduled for yesterday were all postponed.  While the Mate went to the farmers market with Mary the Skipper sent some time on boat maintenance, installing a new oil transfer pump as the old one died just as we attempted an oil change before we left Erie.  A USB charging station was also added to the helm station so we can power our tablet PC using DC power rather than having to run the inverter with the AC adapter.

New oil change pump. The positive lead is only hooked up when we actually use the pump. We still need a cap for the outlet port when not in use.

 

Additional USB charger port at the helm station.

 

This is the wiring on the underside of the helm station. It might be hard to believe but this is the neatest this wiring has ever been.

This afternoon Bruce and his wife Karen stopped down for a visit.  Bruce is the brother of our friend Steve on the Erie Canal and lives in the Annapolis area.   While they were here Bruce inspected the boat and issued us a Vessel Safety Check sticker as he is a Maryland Natural Resources Police Examiner.  We had a nice visit over cheese and crackers, and they gifted us with a few bottles of adult beverages which was greatly appreciated.  As they will be staying in the St. Pete area for a few weeks with Steve and Wendy this March we will be meeting up with them again.

Dinner was at Dave and Mary’s along with their daughter Colleen and son-in-law Todd.  A good time was had by all and Dave even broke out some of his recent birthday gift Jelly Belly beans for desert.

Dave

 

Annapolis Cove, Day 4

One year ago today we left Annapolis Cove for Church Creek on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake where were we ended up being weathered in for nine days.  Today we are still weathered in at Annapolis Cove.  A forecast of 35 knots is not what we like to see.

Today being Saturday, it appears we will not be going anyplace until Monday at the earliest, more than likely it will be Tuesday before we can continue our trek south.

 

Winds off Annapolis today. The Eastport YC was hosting a J70 regatta this weekend, Friday through Sunday. We are not sure if they sailed today with the winds gusting in the 28 knot range early this morning.  This afternoon was more of the same.

We visited Harrington Harbor North where Gatsby is hauled out for the winter to inspect not only Gatsby but the hundreds of other vessels currently hauled.

Gatsby.

Today we had a Pilgrim Rendezvous in Solomons.  In attendance was Dave and Mary from Gatsby, Bill and Judy from Dreamboat Annie and Dave and Bobbi from Liberty.  The only thing missing was a real Pilgrim boat.  Gatsby and Dreamboat Annie are on the hard for the winter and Liberty is currently in Annapolis Cove about forty miles north of Solomons due to high winds and waves on the Chesapeake.

A good time was had by all in spite of the fact that we had no boats to tour.  The afternoon activities had us at the CD Cafe in Solomons for a late lunch after which we parted company.

This is where one of the Pilgrims (Liberty) would have been docked if the weather had cooperated; at Bill and Judy’s dock.  As it was there was little water at the dock as the NW winds have blown most of the water out of the cove and the bay.

 

Judy’s new toy, a Sea Skiff.

Back in Annapolis, this evening was spent at Dave and Mary’s.  While Bobbi and Mary watched a movie on TV, the Dave’s worked on solving the worlds problems over a bottle of wine thoughtfully provided by Bill at the rendezvous.

Dave