Sitting at a Dock in Point Lookout, NY

After debating our departure day from Atlantic Highlands, NJ, we made a decision to leave yesterday (June 21st). Thought we'd have the best conditions of the next couple days. Although there were small craft advisories & gusty North winds forecasted; the conditions were perfect for our 25 mile easterly sail to Point Lookout. All was great until we were going through Jones Inlet. A rain storm came through and we could barely see the buoys for the channel. Fortunately it was short-lived and we proceeded into Reynolds Channel. The Fishermans Catch dock, where we thought we could tie up was filled with 3 large fishing boats, so Jim's Mom made arrangements for us to go to a friend's dock. But.....the current was running at nearly 5 knots, so we decided to anchor in Reynolds Channel for 4 hours til slack tide. Finally at 2000, we were tied to a great floating dock. We are happy to have made our schedule to be here by June 23rd, when Lauren (daughter) & Adam (boyfriend)from Montana are arriving! Ahhh....schedules!

Anchored Behind Breakwall in Atlantic Highlands NJ

We are spending a few days anchored in Atlantic Highlands NJ waiting to go to Point Lookout L.I. This is a very cruiser friendly spot - short dinghy ride to the dock, nice town with hardware, marine supplies, restaurants, movie theater, grocery store, & deli. Yesterday it rained all day so we didn't get off the boat. Today should be nice. We'll be here til Monday, June 22nd.

"Kismet" Does New Jersey

Since our last post, we left Chesapeake City at 0515 on 6/13/09 and motored and sailed down the Delaware Bay to Cape May NJ. As soon as we exited the Cape May Canal a very thick fog came in; we were happy to be safely anchored by the Coast Guard station within 20 minutes. The current was with us going down the Bay and at times we were traveling at close to 10 knots. The next day we checked into Utsch's Marina for one night to fuel up, change the oil, do laundry, go to the grocery store, and fill the water tank. The weather forecast sounded abit foreboding for the end of this week, so we decided to make tracks up the Jersey Coast in a two day trip; Cape May to Atlantic City & AC to Sandy Hook - a total of about 134 nautical miles. Ab & Karen on "Whipporwill" were our traveling companions for the trip. In Atlantic City we anchored behind Rum Point, a beautiful spot that we stayed in on the way down. Yesterday, we weighed anchor at 0515 and motored and sailed about 80 miles to Sandy Hook NJ. It was a very long day, and Jim had abit of "mal de mer". We set the anchor down by the coast guard station in Sandy Hook and went to bed by 2030! "Whipporwill" and "Kismet parted ways this morning; as they are heading back to Lake Erie and "Kismet" is heading to Long Island in a few days.

More Gardens

 

Houses Surrounded with Gardens

 

"Kismet" at the Free Town Dock in Chesapeake City

 

Waiting for a Good Wind

We spent two nights in Worton Creek on our way towards Delaware Bay. On the second night, thunderstorms came through with 64 knot winds! Manson Supreme anchor held us tight. Then an unforecasted west wind with 20 knots followed - we were in an unprotected spot for those winds that blew directly towards us, the entire width of the Chesapeake Bay for about 3 hours. They finally settled sometime after midnight. Yesterday we motored 25 miles to Chesapeake City; an historic small town on the C & D canal; which connects Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay. There is a reasonable spot to anchor & a free dock if there's space. No space at the dock when we came in so we dropped the anchor. Went to the Chesapeake Inn for crabcake sandwiches - Yum! This AM a spot opened up at the dock so we motored over & tied up. It is a convenient spot to fold up & stow "Porty" on the deck before our trip down Delaware Bay & up the New Jersey Coast. Also it is nice to step off the boat to explore Chesapeake City. Our plan is to wait til Saturday morning to leave for Cape May with a forecasted 10 knot wind from the North.

"Hooligan" Sailing Up The Bay

 

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge

 

Meeting "Hooligan" at G1a near Galesville

 

Spending Time With The Halls on The Bay

We hung out in Solomons til Saturday because of weather. Motored about 40 miles north to the West River to meet Ray and Susan, "Hooligan"; friends from Lake Ontario, Key West, and now they keep their boat on Middle River on The Chesapeake. Anchored near Galesville; very nice spot. Yesterday we had a beautiful day to sail downwind to the Magothy River. We anchored in front of the beautiful horse farm that we were at on the way south. Today we will leave The Halls because Raymond goes back to work on Tuesday. It was wonderful spending time with them. We will slowly make our way north towards the Delaware Bay; then to Cape May. Tonight we will probably be in Still Pond.

Rainbow At Solomons Island

 

We Met Our Sailing Hero!

Yesterday we sailed & motored further up the Chesapeake to Solomons MD. It was a long trip - about 60 miles & it felt longer because the wind died and the flies were biting & it was very hot. We anchored in Back Creek just before a strong thunderstorm came through. Once again our Manson Supreme anchor did its job very well. We decided to hang out here at least at couple of days because it is a beautiful spot & the weather is going to be bad (thunderstorms & rain). So today we got into the dinghy to explore - at the marina right across from where we are anchored I saw the boat "Quetzal". This is the name of John Kretschmer's boat. But, thought it was impossible that this could be "His Boat". We decided to stop and get a gallon of gas for "Porty"; so that we could check this out further. There were three guys working on the boat. We got our courage up to ask him if he was "John" - and he said yes! For those of you who aren't familar with John Kretschmer - he is an amazing sailor; sailed around Cape Horn in a 32 foot Contessa. He is also a writer - one of our favorite sailing books is "Flirting With Mermaids". For years we have followed his adventures and were thrilled to meet him. That memorable meeting will stay with us forever!

Lessons Learned - Hopefully!

On Sunday we spent a pleasant day anchored in Old Point Comfort, VA; where Jim successfully fixed our SSB radio. The problem was a result of trying to connect a new coax cable from the radio to the tuner in a dark corner of the lazzarette. Once he could see, and disconnect the tuner and work on it in the cockpit, it was an easy fix! One broken boat thing; off the list! On Monday morning the wind was blowing in the 20s; so we waited til late morning to begin our trip for the day. We were surprised with how rough the water was going out the inlet to Chesapeake Bay. The boat was bucking 3 - 4 foot waves coming very close together. We would have angled better, but we were avoiding cargo ships; also in the channel. Finally, when we turned North things settled down and we were more under control. But......we hadn't sailed in these conditions for awhile and two things we didn't do were - the secondary anchor (Fortress) was not secured well at the bow and it broke free and was swinging. Fortunately, another boat called us on the VHF to let us know it was loose! And we hadn't secured the portholes in the forward cabin (our bed), and water came in and soaked the sheets, etc. It could have been worse; but another lesson learned! No damage from the anchor, and fresh sheets on the bed! We did have a great sail after that - 6 knots up the Chesapeake to Jackson Creek near Deltaville, VA.