August 18-25, 2014 Magothy River to the Potomac River (Big Vibrations!)

 

The Severn River: We rose late and had a leisurely breakfast, showers, and even watched a little TV news. Backed out of the Magothy Marina slip after 3 weeks - still remembered how - and stopped for another pump out before heading down the Magothy River and into the Bay. It was overcast and that kept the sun out of our eyes as we were traveling east. We went under the center span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - 168 feet clear - just to say we did it and continued south and west toward the Severn River.

Annapolis is at the mouth of the Severn and this is the first time, even with living here in the 80's, that we approached town from the water - pretty cool feeling as Annapolis is one of our favorite cities. There is even some language in the will about having Ger's ashes scattered here. As we passed the Naval Academy, we saw all the training boats lined up - about 15 of them in two rows, and the always impressive education buildings.

We then passed under two more fixed bridges and headed 3 miles up river to Little Round Bay and settled R Island behind an island and out of the wind in about 15 feet of water. Consistently beautiful homes on both banks of the river. Probably "Wealthiest River" of the trip.  Ate lunch and did some small "do list" activities, read our books and just relaxed. There were passing boats to watch and kids enjoying the last week of vacation. Funny thing - after our 25 mile trip. we are only about 3 miles from where we started - as the crow flies.

Small snap-shot of the Magothy Marina and Hotel.

Our view off the stern for 3 weeks.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge  and her twin spans.

Some guy actually working on the bridge!

Naval Academy

PT boats - or a close cousin.

The West River:     Lots of black mud on the anchor when Judie pulled it up. She used lots of water to wash it, and the deck off, and make everything clean. Passed Annapolis one last time and into the Bay. We saw a  large ship, looked like a grain hauler, drop her anchor. We assume they are waiting for their berth to open up in Baltimore harbor - she was riding high and empty.

We went around Thomas Point Light - most popular light on the Bay for it's beauty and durability. There were actually visitors there that day, but our photographer had trouble with the boat rocking and could not get their craft in the picture.

We went on to the West River and the town of Galesville. Docked at Hartge Yacht Harbor. Hartge is the oldest family held marina in the US, started in 1865. It is a working boatyard that happens to have 270 boat slips attached to it. The marina is up a side creek and we were in a very well-protected slip. There is a lot of work going on here, but also an effort to preserve the past and foster the family pride. The second night is free, so we stayed two nights. The second day Judie cleaned all of the exterior stainless steel while Ger put air in the dingy, cleaned the boat transom, and mounted a new drink holder in the bridge.

 Thomas Point Light

 

 This big Cat had dual steering stations - one at each pontoon.

The guest House

The original house is now the museum

The office

                             
The Patuxent River: Judie woke up early, so we all got up early. We finished our morning routine, including a nice breakfast, and were away from the slip by 6:40. It was a great cruise down the Bay. Periods of sun and clouds and a very light breeze - none at times. This is only the second day of the trip that we traveled on water like glass.

Stopped at Solomons, at the mouth of the Patuxent and refueled at Calvert Marina. 95 gallons and the worst mileage of the trip. Judie says it's from going fast to keep up with Inch-N-Along, and using the extra power. She's probably right - looks like the skipper will have to back her down a little bit. Moved over to Zahnisers Yacht Harbor (a re-visit) and got a very nice end-tie with a great view. Took the shuttle into town and the Food Lion. the went to CD Café for one of the top 5 dinners of the trip.

Our view of the house of the founder of Solomons.

The Potomac River: Our goal for today is to travel 39 miles to the Point Lookout Marina on Smith Creek near the mouth of the Potomac River. We want to spend the weekend getting ready for our trip up the River to Washington DC. It was a nice day as we surfed down the river with a light following breeze. In fact. part of the time the water was flat - only the second time on the trip.

About 10:00 Ger noticed a vibration in the lower stern of the boat. with Judie's great hearing, we were able to determine that if we kept the engine RPMs low we could eliminate the vibration and still make 6 knots of speed instead of our usual 7-7.5. We called the marina and they agreed to do a "short Haul" (leaving it in the slings) so we could see what was happening and hopefully fix it. Well, no crab line tangled on the shaft or around the propeller. We did find a wobble in the rudder and the top bushing needs to be replaced. We went back into the water and decided to move on to Deltaville the next day where there are more facilities and related marine businesses. Point Lookout Marina is pretty isolated, pretty but isolated.

After 4 days we are still here waiting for the rain and now wind to let up. Our trip to Washington DC will have to wait  - maybe next year. We will still visit our son and his family in Annandale VA before heading back to AZ.

This marina took it tough in Hurricane Sandy. They lost their main dock and most of their customers. They are coming back slowly. They have a restaurant on site and there is another one close by, but we have eaten almost all meals on the boat while watching it rain and the wind blow. Hopefully we are out of here tomorrow.



Rain and high tides have really brought the water level up!

July 25 - August 18, 2014 Annapolis, Chesterton, Chicago, and Baltimore

The 6 hour/50 mile trip from Havre de Grace to our new stop-over was all down-wind and mostly with the tide - that's how we cruise at 8+ mph; about a mile over our usual speed. We chose to stop at the Magothy Marina, on the Magothy River - the same river we lived on when we were here from 1983-1986. We are about 3 miles from the house and half way between Baltimore and Annapolis. We did have to speed up at one point of the trip to beat a large car carrier on it's way from Baltimore Harbor to the Atlantic. We passed the Baltimore Light at the entrance to the Magothy, and had a great 4 mile cruise up the river. Lots of new homes and community piers since we lived here. The marina is condo - most slips owned by the boaters; with great dock hands (mostly young kids) and the best showers/restrooms of the trip; along with a pool and great deck area. There is a lot of wave action and one evening we lost our boarding ladder (boat knocked it into water??) and the finger piers are short and narrow. We got the monthly rate as we were planning to be here a while and it saved greatly on the budget. One downer was that night before last, one of the live-aboard guys had a heart attack and died in his sleep. I guess at least it was quick and he died on his boat!

Next day we rented a car - seems Ger made the reservation for Arnold MO (Missouri) instead of Arnold MD (Maryland) and when he called for pickup (Enterprise) the could not find us to come and get us! Had to start from scratch with a local reservation and we had to take a larger car than requested - but it turned out well for the trip to Chicago.

We spent the first day crossing the Bay Bridge back to the Eastern Shore to visit Chestertown MD - a place we bypassed on the way up the bay. Chestertown, on the Chester River,  is almost like stepping back in time - because there is no highway by-pass, and the downtown area is surrounded by restored homes and narrow streets. We visited the waterfront with a salute to the local ducks, walked past houses with beautiful flowers/trees and drove the neighborhoods to see many, many, many homes on the historic register.

Local hero who still holds Major league records today! (whose name we forgot)

Local ship!

...with uncomfortable figurehead!

Salute to the Ducks

one of many

 

We spent the next few days visiting Annapolis and renewing some of the fond memories of when we lived here. The City Dock with all it's activity, the quaint houses in the Edgewater neighborhood, the shops along main street including McBride's Art Gallery (they lived across the street from us) and of course our old neighborhood. We did not enter the Naval Academy, (Security turned us away because Judie had no ID on her) but remembered the sporting events we attended and the beautiful Church with all the weddings the day after graduation. Don't miss this place if you are ever even close. We were able to catch a light dinner at O'Leary's  - the first place we ate when we were looking for a house 31 years ago.

 

We also celebrated Mike's birthday and going away party at Mezzonotte's Italian restaurant as Inch-N-Along left for downtown Baltimore, Mike for a trip to see Mom in CA, and a schedule that does not quite match R Island. We hope to catch up with them at the Solomon's after we go to Washington DC for Labor Day.

 

The Baltimore Light

Annapolis City Dock/Marina

Best breakfast and all the local gossip!

Our next boat - really!

State Capitol building

Happy Birthday Mike!

We left for Illinois to visit our two children who live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Had a great time with them, their spouses and our grand-daughter. Visited the Brookfield Zoo, AA Baseball game in Kenosha, and stopped at Ger's sister and husband's home in South Bend IN coming and going and had a great time reconnecting and visiting Amish shops. Trip was August 1-13.

 

When we returned, spent the first day recuperating (read: slept late, grocery shopping and naps). Then headed to Baltimore to Fort McHenry where the Star Spangled Banner was written during the war of 1812. We had visited here in the 80's but we learned many new things but mostly how little we knew about this "forgotten war". It still sends shivers up our spines during the orientation video - another "don't miss" historical site. It was then off to the Inner Harbor and lunch at "Bubba Gump's" . We see this restaurant lot's of places - but seldom go in - but it was great sitting on the deck overlooking the harbor. Food was good and lot's of good memories when we used to come with the kids.

 

Francis Scott Key and the Flag!

Baltimore Fire boats next door to the Fort.

The Pride with water reflecting the morning light.

Firing the guns!

Entrance to the Fort

Judie and the dedication plaque.

Drill and music practice

At the inner harbor

Much like we remembered only seems smaller!

Viking ships at dock and patrolling the seas!

Ger worked on the conversion of this old power plat into an attraction.

Baltimore - home to McCormick Spice and Old Bay Seasoning! 

Not really sure....

Some Fords never die!

 



July 22-24, 2014 Havre de Grace, MD

Havre de Grace is a small community at the north end of the Bay, on the western shore and at the mouth of the Susquehanna River (the great river that is the northern water source of the Bay). It was a close vote in the early 1800's that selected Washington DC as the national capitol instead and left Havre de Grace as a transportation hub for the Bay and up to Philadelphia.

Our easy 23 mile cruise from Georgetown was smooth and easy into a light northwest breeze. we did hit about 1,000,000 problems when we cruised into a giant swarm of very small gray bugs that seemed to cover the outside of the boat and US! Judie scrambled for the bug killer and we cruised out of the cloud. They all seemed to die in about 15 minutes, many with her help, and we spent several hours after docking washing them all off us and the boat.

Later in the day we went for a nice ride into town and visited several quaint shops. We found an antique store with thousands of old post cards and purchased 3 from our hometown of Mishawaka IN that were of our high school, the old hotel, and Uniroyal - the factory where all of our parents worked. Next day we bicycled to the grocery store, West Marine, and the CVS to get some supplies. Also visited the local Museum and discovered we were full of Bay information and have visited our last museum on the Bay.

The following day we rode bikes around town, made a few stops at the stores for birthday supplies (Mike and the Adi-cat). Went to dinner at Laurrapin Grill - don't bother! (The north bay has not been too good for restaurants?) and ended the day by going to a very nice concert (at the museum) - great folk songs of the area accompanied by a driving rain storm; but luckily we were inside and it stopped raining before we rode our bikes back to the boats.

The local lighthouse

Old 60 room hotel, then convent for retired nuns and finally converted to Condos.

Inch-N-Along and R Island at the dock

Teresa Whitaker & Frank Schwartz in concert

Shop where we got post cards and other downtown buildings - all neat as a pin!

July 20-21, 2014 Georgetown, MD

It will be difficult to be positive in this blog, but I will try.

Georgetown is a community near the north end of the bay and on the eastern shore. It should not be confused with the Georgetown near Washington DC.

The Bay was calm and the slight breeze on our nose made for a pleasant passage - until the other boaters woke up and fired up their engines. I am positive (see, I'm trying) that most boaters on the Bay believe they are God's gift to the boating industry and can go full speed as close to other boaters as they please. I am positive, that they never heard of the law that "You are responsible for any damage caused by your wake". The trip ended pretty miserably as we ventured 7 miles up the Sassafras river amid all types of craft going every which way; and culminated with about 100 boats anchored right next to, and into, the channel right in front of the marinas. I am also positive that the marina has spent no money on their docks since they were built 35 years ago. See how positive I can be! Never travel to Georgetown on a weekend - it just isn't worth it.

Georgetown is a small, almost non-existent, town that supports about 5 marinas that are easy for people living in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to commute to. They claim to have a plaque that George Washington slept there, but no one seems to know exactly where George slept or where the plaque is. There are 2 restaurants, both owned by the same folks, but managed by different staffs. We tried one each night. The first had great service and adequate food and the second had rotten service and pretty good food. I am positive they could do better.

We got first hand experience with the "algae bloom". When the water heats up in late summer, the algae blooms a bright green and the water gets so green that you can barely see 12" into it. A photo follows.

Needles to say, we were happy to leave on a Tuesday. The water was calm, the scenery very nice, and the river a beautiful Kelly green.

The Algae Bloom1

The "Kitty Knight House" and restaurant (our second night).

Nice houses on the Sassafras River.

Oyster beds.

It's a long way down to the water!

Sunset over the Marina - highlight of the trip.