And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 34

We were anchored last night in Mill Creek, just off the Patuxent River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.  It is also known as Solomons Md. a very popular boating area, so there are lots of marinas and the channels are well marked with nice deep water.  Easy in, easy out.  We got up early again and had the anchor up and were under way before 7:00.  The winds were expected to pick up as the day wore on, so we wanted to get as close to home as we could before that happened.  The morning was beautiful and the sunrise was spectacular with the sun reflecting off the sparkling calm water of the Patuxent River.  Once we hit the bay the winds were from the south creating some following seas which made it a little more challenging to hand steer, but not too bad.  Actually it was quite a pleasant ride with plenty of sunshine.  The air might be a little on the chilly side but it warmed up nicely and by the afternoon we were up on the flybridge enjoying the ride.

As expected the winds did begin to get a little stronger and blustery, but by that time we were in Eastern Bay, approaching Kent Narrows, a rather tricky area with a very narrow and windy channel out into the Chester River, our home waters.  It was high tide, so no problems there.  And then we were on the Chester River.  It really felt good to be so close to home.  Around Eastern Neck Island, up Lankford Creek to our home port marina, Lankford Bay Marina, and we were home, in the slip and tied up by 3:00.  Rick was there to greet us and help the marina guys get us tied up.  It was time for a beer.

Well, the trip is over, 69.8 miles for the day, bringing our total 1404.3 miles for the trip north.  That’s a lot of miles. The round trip mileage is 2788 total miles.

 

So now we are home and it’s time to give Rogue some TLC.  She needs some maintenance work, and definitely a wash and wax with as much salt as she has had thrown on her on the trip.

This will most likely be my last blog entry completing this blog.  I hope you all have enjoyed following along as much as I enjoyed sharing the experience with you.  There is plenty of work here on land for me to catch up on, mail is stacked up and I am looking forward to seeing my family again after being away for the better part of 5 months, so I don’t think I will be doing any long trips again anytime soon, at least nothing worth writing about.  But, you never know.  Take care everyone.

Sincerely, Me.

P.S. Hi Tyler

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 33

Today we were up at the crack of dawn.  It was a gorgeous sunrise with the sun peeking under some clouds and reflecting off the relatively still water in our anchorage.  I had no idea what was to come, it was just so idyllic.  We had the anchor up and were moving out of the anchorage before 7:00.  By the time we hit the bay, the chop and swells were starting gather some momentum.  By the time we turned to head north near the main shipping channel, the waves had gathered some intensity.  By 8:00 or so we were into it pretty good.  You see, there was a good stiff 20 mph or so “breeze” coming out of the north.  When you live in this area, you know a north wind on the Chesapeake Bay can lead to some “unpleasantness”.  As I was listening to the marine weather on the VHF I hear “small craft warnings until 10:00”, “seas 1 to 2 feet.”  Yeah, I’ve heard that before.  What reality are you looking at Mr. Forecaster. Looking out in front of me I’m seeing a lot if intensity at more than 2 feet.  By 10:00 there are waves as high as the foredeck before we ride them up and then bam, it drops us like a stone and the boat crashes down with a smack, bang and shudder.  Sometimes I can’t see the horizon when the bow goes up before it comes crashing down with a bang.  I know, you’ve all heard this before, and that’s true.  Things inside were being rearranged yet again.  To tell you all the truth, I’m getting pretty sick and tired of having to deal with all this.  It just doesn’t end.  Every day is yet another difficult time.  I thought this was supposed to be fun.  Well, this all went on for five hours, yes, five hours, and we hadn’t even reached the Potomac River which also has a reputation of being a bit rough at times.  At one point I was able to make it to the galley to try and make some lunch.  I opened the freezer door to get some ice for a drink and all the ice trays fell out dumping ice all over the floor.  So much for a cold drink.  There were times when the boat hit a wave and it felt like it hit a wall, you were actually throw forward into the steering wheel like being in a car accident but without the high intensity.  Anyway, you get the picture.  On the bright side, by midafternoon the sun was out the winds had calmed, the sea state was calm and it was actually a beautiful late afternoon on the bay.  We went up to the flybridge to finish our trip for the day.

As I said, we were on the move before 7:00, and we didn’t drop the anchor and settle in until after 7:00 p.m.  And, are you ready for this?  We have established a new Rogue daily distance record.  Drum roll please.  We traveled 103 miles in 12hrs. 30mins. breaking the old record of 100 miles set with Rick George on the crew.  Sorry Rick, as you said so eloquently, “records are meant to be broken.” And it was.

If all goes according to plan, tomorrow will be the last day on the water.  We should reach our destination near Rock Hall Md. by tomorrow afternoon.  The trip is expected to be about 71 miles.  Of course the wind is predicted to pick up there around the time we are arriving which should make docking this monster a little more “interesting.”  I’ll let you know how it goes.

So boys and girls, until then……

P.S. Hi Tyler 

And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 32

Well the title says it all.  We are back to the Chesapeake.  We left Coinjock Marina this morning bright and early.  We pushed off from the dock at 7:00 after wiping the flybridge down from all the rain last night.  We stowed all the extra lines and disconnected shore power and were off.  Getting across Coinjock Bay was a little nerve wracking, the channel is extremely narrow, and if you wander off a little bit you can run aground.  We didn’t run aground, so that is good.  Another boat that was docked at Coinjock caught up with us and followed us for a little while.  He called me on the radio and asked if I was trying to time for the 8:00 or 9:00 bridge opening.  I thought for a second and told him I wasn’t timing for anything, I would get there when I got there.  I had hesitated because I couldn’t figure out what bridge he was talking about.  There wasn’t a bridge we had to open for quite some distance.  There was a bridge nearby, but it was 65 ft. high.  Not a problem.  Eventually he went by me and said he was going for the 9:00 opening.  I thought, go for it.  We did have to negotiate four bridge openings today, and one lock.  Jan is sure getting an education being on the water full time.  She did pretty well at the lock, just a couple of tips to make things a little easier for her.  She got the fenders out and at this lock you have to supply your own lines.  All the other locks they had lines hanging and you grabbed them when you stopped in the lock.  Here we only went up a foot, so not much turbulence.  All in all a pretty easy first time for her.  I will say the lock tender here was pretty useless.  When we pulled into the lock, he stood about six feet away from the side and stuck out a boat hook, which we had to stretch and get the line on the hook so he could pull in the line and wrap it around the post.  That was about all he did.  He barely moved.  Nonetheless, we got through the lock.

We did have to wait for two bridges.  We waited at one for about 15 minutes; it opened on the hour and half hour, and the other about 35 minutes, which opened only on the hour.  Timing wasn’t so good, so we lost almost an hour, and then the lock slowed us down some.  All in all we lost probably close to an hour and a half. 

Today was also Jan’s first trip through Norfolk’s never ending waterfront.  Very industrial with lots of Navy vessels.  There is a section where it looks like you go through downtown Norfolk; you see hotels, parks and other “normal” cityscapes, but most of the tour is dry-docks and freight and cargo terminals.  There were also several tugboats and barges moving around too. 

We arrived at our destination right around 6:00.  Not too bad even with the delays.  We are anchored in Chisman Creek just off the Poquoson River which itself is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.  So yes we did make it back to the Chesapeake.  Tomorrow we are hoping to make it to the Patuxent River where we will anchor.  That anchorage I estimate to be 97 miles from here.  Another long day and another early start.

Today we traveled 86 miles, for a total of 1231.5 miles thus far.  Travel time was 11 hrs. 9 mins.

So boys and girl, until next time…..

P.S. Hi Tyler