Archive for October, 2008
Well, we are true cruisers now…we spent our first day in the Intracoastal Waterway (the ICW or the Ditch). Doug here, by the way.
Today was the coolest day I’ve ever had on the water. We spent last night at a great little marina in Portsmouth, Virginia, called the Portsmouth Boating Center. The folks that run it are great and they had the cheapest diesel we have seen yet. We paid $2.499 per gallon. A far cry from the $5.59 we paid in Block Island in late May or the $5.19 we paid to fill the tanks in Yarmouth, Maine after we cleaned the fuel tanks in June.
We got up this morning and once again found frost on the dinghy cover. We are definitely not going south fast enough. 
We left at 8:30 on the dot. The first bridge which was in only 2.6 miles didn’t open until after 8:30, then opens on request so we got to sleep in and not leave at “o-dark hundred”. Tammy and I had decided to split the helm duties today as we do many days and she was nice enough to let me have the first watch so I got to do most of the fun stuff! We only went 30 statute miles today because we had a lot of bridges and one lock to go through and didn’t want to push it too far.
Portsmouth Boating Center is less than a mile from Mile 0 of the ICW so very shortly after pulling away from the dock we were officially in the ICW. The ICW runs from Norfolk, Virginia to Miami, Florida, 1096 miles away, and is used by most cruisers who head toward the little latitudes. We may not stay in the ICW the whole way and may go outside (into the Atlantic Ocean) for some of it but the first 200 miles will definitely be inside. Actually the ICW runs most of the way from Maine to Miami but much of it is not usable by boats. The part from Norfolk to Miami is heavily used. 
Because the Ditch has land on both sides it has a lot of bridges, many of which require that they be lifted or moved in some way to allow boats to pass under.
Some are for cars and some for railways. In the first 15 miles (my watch today) we went under two bridges that were high enough for us to go under without help, two bridges that were for railways and are kept in the open position unless a train is on the way, six bridges that we had to wait for an operator to open and one lock that had to lower the water level 2 feet to account for the difference between the water depth in the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound. One bridge required a wait of nearly 45 minutes because the railway bridge clsed well before the train got there.
The next bridge opens only once per hour and because of the earlier bridge requiring a 45 minute wait we missed the opening and had to wait another 45 minutes.
Now in a car, if you want to wait you just sit there with the brake on but in a boat you are constantly in motion. There is current and wind moving you, as well as the other boats waiting, so everyone is just moving slowly around trying not to run into each other. It is wild to watch. In the Navy we used to call it a Charlie Foxtrot…but I won’t go there. At most of the bridges there was a group of about nine boats waiting – the same nine each time – we got to know each other!
The group of nine boats consisted of sailboats, a large powerboat, a bunch of go fast powerboats and us, the lone trawler. One of the go fasts was a 51 foot Sea Ray which probably has a top speed of 40 mph. They were behind us at first and we cruise at 7.5 knots. After following us for a while they decided they needed to get in front of us so they sped by us (with about a foot to spare!), giving us a big wake to deal with. After all that, they were right in front of us in the Great Bridge Lock twenty minutes later. They were from New Jersey, go figure!
The best part of the day for me was going through the lock. Tammy and I have been through a few locks before in the Panama Canal but as a passenger (hmmm – maybe there next???). This was my first one as captain. It was too cool for words! After milling about for ten minutes waiting for the lock to open, we were the third boat into the lock and docked against the starboard wall.
When you dock against the wall, you use just one bow line and one stern line. The line is looped around a cleat on the side of the wall and then held by one of the people on the boat. John and Colleen were our able line handlers.
After all the boats were in (about 12 of them), the back gate was closed and the water level was lowered two feet. Then the front gate opened and we all poured out of the lock. The lock master asked us to hurry because he had a tug and a barge that needed to use the lock. Commercial boats usually get priority in a lock so we were lucky to get through ahead of the tug. That same tug and barge passed where we were anchored about two and a half hours later. Boy is he slow!
After all my fun at the wheel, I turned it over to Tammy, the co-captain, at about 1:00. That four and a half hours at the wheel was great fun. Just driving Gypsies in the Bay or outside in the ocean when there are no other boats around is fun but having all that activity was simply exhilarating. The boat kitties seemed to miss the excitement of the moment. They slept right through the whole day.
I actually felt bad because I had all the fun but our friendly (???) go fasts decided to make Tammy’s watch memorable. Shortly after taking the con she was steaming through the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal and four of the go fasts decided they needed to pass us in order to get to the next bridge on time for the opening. The first three slowed down to a speed just faster than us and passed with as much room as possible between us and them. We got wake but nothing serious.
The last one was the New Jersey goomba I mentioned earlier. He got just even with us and gunned his engine. It threw a wake at us that rivals anything we have seen before. The furniture in the salon was thrown across the room in addition to other miscellaneous stuff. I got on the radio and suggested that trying to swamp boats in the ICW was not proper maritime etiquette and that the next time he passed a boat he not accelerate until he was completely passed. He actually apologized but said he “had to accelerate” because he was running out of good water – duh, that would make you run aground quicker! We were not amused.
With little additional excitement we arrived at Blackwater Creek where we intended to anchor. Tammy did her normal masterful job locating the right spot to drop anchor and I proceeded to do just that. The spot Tammy chose is a perfectly wonderful, scenic spot about 200 yards off the ICW so we can get a quick takeoff tomorrow.
I think I can get used to this life!
October 31st, 2008
A lot has happened on Gypsies since last I wrote!
Tammy here by the way…
Let’s see – the Gypsies crew is back up to four (welcome back John!); we left the Chesapeake Bay (not to return for 3 or so years – but what a blast we had!); we visited St. Mary’s City, MD, Fishing Bay, VA, Hampton, VA, Williamsburg, VA and Portsmouth, VA, where we are sitting as I write this. Tomorrow starts a new chapter in our adventure as we head down the Intracoastal Waterway (a/k/a the ICW or just the Ditch) on our way to Florida in search of the sun!! Warm weather has been elusive this past week or so and sun pig is in need of a fix…we’re obviously not heading south quickly enough (yeah, I know, its just unseasonably cold – or at least that’s what everyone keeps telling me…) It’s supposed to be in the 30s tonight we just heard, which in my mind is just WRONG!!! But no matter where we go, it seems that beautiful sunrises and sunsets follow us, as if they are taunting us … we’ll take it!!
We have been sponges this past week absorbing lots of local history (as well as our share of the local beers) – St. Mary’s City was the capital of Maryland back in the mid-1600s
and then all but disappeared after the capital moved to Annapolis in 1694 but much of the city has been recreated including a replica of one of the ships that brought the first settlers to the town.
While in Williamsburg we not only got to see Colonial Williamsburg, which was the capital of Virginia for a time,
but also William and Mary (Doug’s alma mater)
and Yorktown, where the last major battle of the Revolution was fought and where Cornwallis surrendered to Washington.
Funny how in each place we also found time to find the coolest little bars…Marker 20, Seasons and our favorite college bar in Williamsburg, the Green Leafe Cafe, where we drank pitchers of really good beer (Shock Top Belgian White … with oranges to prevent scurvy) and ate really great wings all afternoon for $20!! We now know to look for the dive bars closest to the college for the best prices if not the best beer – we just happened to luck out at the Green Leafe since they were having a special on all VA beers!
But the best part of our stay in Williamsburg (which lasted several days longer than we had anticipated thanks to Mother Nature and the gale force winds we had for several days) was getting to see Doug’s family. The first afternoon we got in to Kingsmill marina in Williamsburg we saw Doug’s sister Dale and her youngest son, Levi (he’s 19 and about to head out on his own to attend the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School so he’s not that young – guess everything is relative) – they came by after the William and Mary homecoming game to drop off a car for us to use during our stay (not sure they thought we’d have it for 5 days but it sure was wonderful – thanks tons Dale!!) The next day Dale and Levi, followed shortly by our nephew Luke and his girlfriend Laura, joined us on the boat and it was actually warm enough to sit topsides for the afternoon – yippee!!! Meanwhile, Colleen picked John up at the airport in Richmond and the prodigal son returned to the boat – the Gypsies crew was reunited and there was much celebrating!! Late that afternoon the rest of the clan arrived: Kathy (who was married to Doug’s dad before he passed away – we know he was there too in spirit!!) and her boyfriend Alan, Scott (Dale’s husband) and Larkin (our other nephew). What a great night of catching up and merriment!
We were even joined by a majestic blue heron in the afternoon who clearly wanted to join the party – she strutted her stuff down the dock as if she was walking the runway for America’s Next Top Model!!
There were also about a thousand other birds of all kinds (including a turkey vulture and 3 big black buzzards shredding a dead fish- yuch!) Kingsmill could be where Hitchcock filmed the birds!!
But we also got to see some really amazing sunrises and sunsets during our visit!
The next day was one of errands and provisioning for us – boring but necessary both since we wanted to make use of having a vehicle for a couple days and since we are heading into the Ditch! Luke and Larkin came over that night for dinner so we got to hear the real scoop of what was going on in their lives (not the filtered version of the night before!!!) Luke showed up with three bags of homegrown shrimp from a buddy of his – these things are bubba gump shrimp they are so big! Thanks Luke – we will enjoy every minute of them and think of you as we devour them!!! That probably didn’t come out right, but… Actually Colleen and John are up on the docks cooking up a bag of shrimp as we speak – we will eat good tonight!!
Larkin flies Blackhawk helicopters for a living (very kewl!) so we made tentative plans for him to do a fly-by to take pictures of Gypsies while underway from the air. Today as we headed into the Elizabeth River we got a radio call from “Punisher 11″ aka Larkin that he was headed our way – he did several fly-bys after getting permission from the airport to enter their airspace and got some great pictures of Gypsies (we think); we in turn got some awesome pictures of his helicopter!! How cool was that – we know that guy!!
But all good things have to come to an end at some point and after another quick visit with Dale and Levi last night, this morning we headed out the James River and arrived in Portsmouth, VA which sits at the head of the ICW. Norfolk (right across the river) is Mile 0 – Miami where we are headed is Mile 1090 on the ICW – believe it or not, we have already traveled over 1200 miles!!! Tomorrow we have 8 bridges to go under (some of which we have to call to have opened for us) and one lock, which we’ve never done before – should be an interesting day!
Tomorrow starts the next phase in our journey to find the sun and the perfect rum…
For additional Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, Boat Cats and Larkin flying his Black Hawk, Punisher 11 pictures click here.
October 30th, 2008
There’s just something about arriving by water at a place you know pretty well, especially when it’s on your own boat, that somehow makes that place seem very new again…
John’s not back, so you’re still stuck with Tammy…
Now you know a little of how we felt when we journeyed up the Potomac River and arrived in Washington, DC on Saturday evening. DC is a place Doug and I at least know fairly well – Doug lived and worked outside of DC for about 17 years and I spent a fair amount of time working there, especially back in my old economic consulting days. But as we approached the city we all had an excitement that even we wouldn’t have guessed at. About half way up the Potomac River we passed under the Harry W. Nice bridge – the only reason I mention it is who the heck was he?? Our first real taste of the city was passing Mount Vernon with its majestic columns, red tile roofs and sweeping lawns that rose up from the river. Now this is the way to see the city!!
Next we headed up to the new Woodrow Wilson bridge (now we know who he was!!)
and were met with a million snailbotters cutting back and forth in front of us – of course we were!! Actually the new bridge is still under construction making its passage interesting to say the least but the old one has already been torn down – huh??? Anyways passing under the bridge we saw the city laid out in all its glory before us – the Washington Monument, the Capital, the Lincoln Memorial and of course National Airport to our left (just like I still call the Tweeter Center Great Woods, I haven’t yet been able to call National the Ronald Reagan National Airport).
Planes and helicopters were all around us, as was a police boat towing a capsized sailboat (that took a couple looks!!) Of course just as we were passing the bridge and about to head up the channel to our marina to dock, the wind picked up to about 25 knots – making docking in a 17 foot wide slip (when we have a 16 foot beam) an interesting little challenge! What us worry???
The next morning after a power breakfast on board, we set out to see the sites – and see them we did!! We started at the Washington Monument
and worked our way down to the new (2004) World War II Memorial at the base of the reflecting pool – it is truly spectacular with an oval pool full of fountains and granite pillars circling the pool representing all the states that had participating soldiers.
On the right and left were statues reflecting the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns with names of many of the prominent battles. The memorial is amazingly well done and befits the American feelings for the war which re-established democracy in Europe.
We also went to the Vietnam War Memorial, which for Doug was very personal having fought in it – very different memorials for very different wars is all I will say. While it is impressive by the sheer number of names inscribed on the wall, there is none of the grandeur or pomp of the WW II memorial – interesting.
It was great to see though that they have subsequently added a wonderful statue to honor the many women who served in Vietnam!
We also saw the Korean War Memorial with its ponchoed statues of soldiers walking through the rice patties with guns, radios and med paks. I swear one looked just like Hawkeye Pierce … but maybe that’s just way too many MASH reruns for me…
As we walked along the reflecting pool towards the Lincoln Memorial, the ducks had us literally doubled over in hysterics – they would duck (no pun intended) their heads in the water using their feet to keep their heads down – well you guessed it, that meant we got the other view (butts up in the air). A couple of the ducks were even synchronized in their movements – now that sounds like a new olympic sport to me!!
The Lincoln Memorial for me has always been a special place that brings to me such a sense of history and greatness. Maybe it’s his imposing presence or his words etched into the walls, but I am always awed by what this “simple country man” was able to accomplish for our country!
I got a similar feeling walking through the FDR Memorial – while many people think of FDR as the “war president,” he was so much more than that.
Not only did he lead our country through a time of war, but he got this country through the Great Depression with his New Deal policies.
Such an amazing grasp of both internal and external forces we haven’t seen since (at least in my humble opinion). Being in such places made us reflect that historically in times of trouble for our nation, there always seemed to be someone who “stepped up” and really made a difference – unfortunately there hasn’t really been anyone like that for some time. For the country’s sake, I truly hope Obama can be that type of leader!! But enough politics….
After the Jefferson Memorial,
we went to the US Holocaust Memorial, which was pretty personal for me since my dad was in the army that liberated Dachau.
As a result, I have always been a pretty ardent “student” of the Third Reich and World War II (we have Mein Kampf and the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, as well as Goebbels autobiography, on board in case I need some light reading while drinking a pina colada on some island in the little latitudes). I can’t (and won’t) even try to describe the emotions the museum and its exhibits invoked in us. Suffice it to say that it is one of the most amazing museums I have ever been privileged enough to visit and should you ever have the opportunity to go there, make a point of it and bring your children. Through education maybe we can prevent recurrence. What did amaze me about the museum was how crowded it was with people of all races, nationalities and ages, including many 20-30 somethings that were there of their own volition, and how respectful and well mannered everyone was. I guess we were not the only ones deeply effected.
After 2 1/2 hours (although we easily could have spent much longer there), we found ourselves out on the street at happy hour – so naturally we found our way to a bar on the water for some appetizers and beers. There we encountered loud mouthed Redskins fans – now there were the Americans we are used to! All in all it was a great day – so good in fact we decided to stay another!! The only low light of the day was the Sox loss to the Devil Rays. In true cruising fashion, we were glued to the ESPN play by play – all for naught! Next year baby!!
Now there is no way you can see all that DC has to offer even in 2 days, so we decided to take the time and visit Arlington National Cemetery the next day. After a 15 block walk and 3 Metro stops later (yes we are cruisers and we don’t take taxis), we found ourselves at the cemetery gates.
As we walked through the cemetery on our way to the JFK burial site, I was struck with how impressive the main part of the cemetery is.
Each small white headstone is perfectly in line with every other headstone no matter which way you look (up, down, left, right, diagonally) and no matter the land contours or terrain. Who knew you could spend the better part of a day at a cemetery and enjoy it thoroughly?? We saw the JFK and Bobby Kennedy burial sites,
the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers,
Arlington House (the memorial to General Robert E. Lee – being a good southern boy, Doug couldn’t not!!), the memorial to the Challenger astronauts
and the Iran rescue mission, and the mast of the Maine which when it sunk in Havana Harbor started the Spanish American War.
One of the highlights for me though was stumbling upon Supreme Court row (as I nicknamed it) – so many of the greats were there – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, William Brennan!!
Others like Burger and Potter Stewart were also there. I stood still for several minutes hoping upon hope that just a sliver of such intellect and greatness would seep through the ground and infuse me through osmosis. Wishful thinking but it was still really cool!!
As we left Arlington, there was really only one thing left to do (at least that we had time for) – have dinner in Chinatown!! So we hopped on the Metro and found a great little place and enjoyed one last special treat in DC. What a great ending to a very kewl trip!
There is so much we didn’t have time to see during our short stay in DC so we have decided to spend at least a week there on our next trip (sure that trip may be 3 years away but at least we have something to look forward to….)
We had 20-25 knot winds with gusts topping 30 as we came in to anchor for the night (I could barely stand up vertical on the flybridge!!) but we found a protected little hidey hole out of the bulk of the wind to settle down for the night. After a restless night with the boat rooster (why has she suddenly decided now that she is on the boat that she is nocturnal??), we weighed anchor at sunrise to head down the Potomac to St. Mary’s City (told you there were a lot of St Someplaces down here!) The plan is to anchor and then dinghy ashore to take in more historic sites – the guidebook likens St. Mary’s to a mini Williamsburg. We’ll be in Williamsburg on Saturday so we’ll see…..
For more Washington DC pictures click here.
October 23rd, 2008
Doug here…
If you have been paying attention to the blog, you may remember Tammy mentioning that we were in Haven Harbour Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland, to have our watermaker installed. Now, many of you may be up to speed on what a watermaker is but I’ll bet very few of you know how it makes water. I thought I’d write a short blog entry about the watermaker and the excitement that came along with the installation.
First, we decided to buy a watermaker from a reputable company rather than buying the parts and assembling it ourselves. A lot of cruisers, to save money, do the later, but I didn’t think my mechanical skills were quite up to the task. We purchased the Newport 400 by Spectra Watermakers. In a nutshell, this takes salt water from the ocean, filters it three times, runs it through a reverse osmosis process (more on that later) and voila… distilled water. The Newport 400 uses a Clark pump, which is very quiet, and makes 16.5 gallons of nice pure water per hour using only about 26 Amps of DC power.
The first step in the process of making the water is to use a lift pump to pull the water from the ocean through a thru-hull fitting and a strainer. It then pulls the water through a 20 micron filter and then a 5 micron filter to clean it as much as possible.
The cleaner the sea water the longer the filters last. In the Chesapeake Bay, they don’t last very long. In the islands they should last for about a month of making about 50 to 60 gallons a day.
After the water is pre-filtered with the 20 micron and the 5 micron filters, it passes into the Clark Pump where it goes through a reverse osmosis process to desalinate the water.
Watermakers don’t actually MAKE water, they DESALINATE water. Now how does it work? The underlying technology is pretty cool. If you put non-salty water in a container on one side of a membrane and salty water on the other side of the membrane, the non-salty water will osmose through the membrane until the pressure on each side is equal. With normal osmosis, the water moves to the salty side of the membrane until equilibrium is achieved. If you apply pressure to the salt solution side equal to the osmotic pressure you can create equilibrium without the water moving. If you add additional pressure you can actually force the pure water to flow from the salty side to the non-salty side. This process is called reverse osmosis. So basically, the clark pump puts pressure on the salt water to make the pure water reverse osmose to the other side of the membrane, thereby “making water” and leaving salty brine behind to be flushed overboard. The osmotic pressure of seawater is approximately 460 PSI. The Clark Pump produces pressure between 800 and 1100 PSI, depending on the temperature of the sea water. Colder water requires more pressure.
The folks at Haven Harbour Marina ordered the watermaker for us and we docked at the marina for a couple days to have it installed. Installing it entailed mounting it on the wall in the lazzarette and running power and water hoses through the wall into the engine room. We already had a thru-hull in place in the engine room to get the water from the ocean. They had to cut a small thru-hull just above the waterline in the lazzarette for the salty brine to be flushed from. In addition to setting up the water maker and getting electricity to it, they had to run a very small hose from the watermaker in the lazz, at the stern of the boat, forward to the water tank which is under the sole in the master stateroom about forty feet away. All of this took about two days and they were ready to go. Then Murphy took over the installation. You know… Murphy’s Law.
When they tested the unit, the probe that tests the salinity in the water after it has been desalinated was faulty so the unit kept rejecting the water it was making. The manufacturer in California had to over night another one out to the marina. That arrived late in the day the next day and was successfully installed. Once the unit was successfully pressurized, it began to leak. After testing all of the fittings they had put in, the team realized that the leak was coming from inside the watermaker itself. Once it was opened, it was determined that the people at the factory had tightened one of the connections into the manifold too tight and had cracked the plastic manifold. So the team got back on the phone with the manufacturer and had a replacement manifold mailed out for over night delivery. Late the next day, Friday, the manifold was installed and the system was fully operational.
This system is the coolest thing. You push a button, either on the front of the unit in the lazzarette or on the remote panel installed in the pilothouse and the system starts making water. You tell it how long to run and it runs for that long, shuts itself off and back flushes itself with fresh water to keep it fresh until the next time you use it. It is so easy and so far has worked flawlessly.
The team at Haven Harbour were great, as always, and did a fantastic job. Neither of the problems were of their making and they got them fixed within 24 hours… each. They kept their spirits up and did not get too frustrated. The two main guys, Randy and Mike, were on the boat, often curled up like little pretzels, due to space constraints, for the better part of four days.
Now we can make water in the islands to replace the small amount we use each day. Water in the islands is very expensive and often not very good quality. This Spectra watermaker makes water that does not even have the hint of salty taste to it. In fact, the water has absolutely no taste at all. It is essentially distilled water. There is a little release valve and hose on the side and you can direct the water flow to it to taste the water before it gets mixed in the big tank. It is totally tasteless. I know because I tasted it!
October 20th, 2008
Dorothy, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore – heck I don’t think we’re even still in the Chesapeake!!!
Sun pig (Tammy) by the way….
This morning I went topsides at o’ dark hundred (what is also known around here as 6:00 am!!) to open up the flybridge for our 10 hour steam to DC and there was FROST on the dinghy cover!!!! Now that’s just not right. We obviously are not headed south quickly enough – hurricane season needs to be over soon so we can “go where its warm” (thank you Mr. Buffett!).
Yesterday when we woke up in St. Leonard Creek in the Patuxent, it was chilly and rainy – not usually the weather we like to steam in (and certainly not sun pig’s favorite), but we are on a mission to make it to DC so we raised anchor around 7 and hit the seas. Literally – it was a pretty bumpy ride out the Patuxent River and then got even worse when we hit the Chesapeake Bay. Big following seas are not ideal for a powerboat and the boat kitties and one of Gypsies’ crew had a tough morning. Things started to look up a little when we rounded Lookout Point and headed up into the Potomac River – although whenever it was my turn at the helm, it started to rain again!! How does Doug do that??
Days like yesterday and today make us realize how much we love Gypsies – unlike sailbotters, in bad weather we steam from our inside pilothouse! So even though it was in the mid 50’s and rainy with sustained 20 knot winds, Doug and I stayed toasty warm and dry inside despite the constant ocean spray we took all day! Colleen and the kitties curled up for the day and tried to get some sleep to make the day go by faster!
The rain finally broke as we headed into our anchorage for the night yesterday in St. Clements Bay. Originally we had planned to anchor in Deep Creek, but that just seemed too close to banjo music for me so I called an audible on the way in and we wound up in Canoe Neck Creek. Actually the quick change of plans was based on the wind direction and velocity and was meant to give us a more protected anchorage for the evening – who knew, it worked – we slept soundly (except for the boat rooster and me of course)!! It rained most of yesterday afternoon and evening so we didn’t get much exploring in but we did get a chance to catch up on work, trip planning, maintenance etc. – sometimes those things are necessary! You know what they say about all fun, and no work…..(actually that sounds pretty good – but this cruise is not just a vacation, its a way of life – so sometimes we actually do need to accomplish stuff).
We are now underway with Doug at the helm headed up the Potomac River to DC – as we weighed anchor this morning, it was not just cold but bitter (23 knot sustained wind on the water – you get the idea!) I always steam from the flybridge when we are dropping or raising the anchor and in skinny water or tight locations, but once we were out of the crick and into the Potomac, let me tell you how quickly we all adjourned to the warm pilothouse for hot tea (no crumpets).
We should get to DC early evening so Doug and I will swap 2 hour watches – Colleen is feeling better today so she may jump in for a watch too! Tomorrow we plan to sleep in a little (boat rooster allowing) and then play tourist all day. Colleen and I realized that we haven’t played tourist in DC for a lot of years so we are looking forward to hitting the memorials, the Smithsonian, etc. Doug lived in DC for 17 years but even he is pretty psyched – this time he’s arriving by water on our boat!!!!
October 18th, 2008
If we haven’t made you hate us in awhile, keep reading!
Tammy here by the way – in fact, you are stuck with just me for the next 10 days while John is back in Manchester doing the “work for a living” gig – yuck!!
I’m writing this post from our flybridge while sitting in St. Leonard’s Creek off the Patuxent River – the sun is blaring and its 82 degress!! Yup, I’m in a bathing suit and suntan lotion and still getting fried. Sun pig (as I have been nicknamed) is loving life!! Oh yeah, I’m also quaffing a Natty Boh – this stuff actually grows on you!
We left Baltimore Wednesday morning and about 5 miles out of the harbor read an email from one of our friends from Maine, Marc Feldman – his cousin owns a really cool bar Max’s in Fells Point (where did I mention we just LEFT!!). Can I tell you how bad that timing was – we could have been scarfing down really good beer instead of the Natty Boh and Coors Light that exists on our boat. So anyone who has cousins or families out there that own a bar, tell us now so we can plan accordingly!!!
After being docked for 3 days in Baltimore, we needed the tranquility of a nice anchorage and we found a great one! Past Annapolis in the South River, we found Harness Creek – it was an amazingly beautiful little crick (we are getting further south!) which had several little coves and even a hurricane hole. When we pulled in, there were a couple other boats already anchored but we had plenty of room – at first we thought we were in for another Eagle Cove, but such was not to be the case. With everyone watching our anchor dance, we were secure and safely quenching our thirsts within half an hour.
With the sun burning brightly, the crick was begging to be explored so Doug and I launched the kayaks and did the grand tour through the hurricane hole and then back as far as the crick would take us. On the way we saw tons of fish jumping, blue herons swooping and ducks swimming!! One particular heron was so unafraid of us that I swear it kept telling us to take pictures of her left side since that was her better side!!
Talk about photogenic – the only thing that rivals her are our boat kitties who seem to love to get their picture taken (at least some of the poses they get into leads us to believe that)!
After Colleen took a spin on the kayak, we watched another tequila sunset (oops think that is sunrise, but….)
Thursday morning we got to witness what has to be the most breathtaking 45 minutes I’ve ever been privileged enough to see – and before I go any farther, I’m just going to tell you that no picture that we took can possibly do it justice. For those of you that know me, I’m not often speechless but I was this morning (and Doug wanted to record it for posterity since it likely won’t happen again soon!) It was another early start for the Gypsies crew as we had a 6 1/2 hour trip ahead of us. As we were weighing anchor, our cove was bathed in shades of pink as the rising sun was just starting to dust the clouds. The pink shades of the skies were reflected in the waters of the creek and magnified if that’s possible.
Thinking this was all the show that Mother Nature had for us, we got under way… but Mother Nature was not done with us yet! As we headed out the South River, a blazing red fireball started to rise from behind the headland and bathed the entire river in a sea of color.
In front of us was this amazing sunrise vista that was reflecting every shade of red, orange and gold known to an artist’s palette while behind us the moon was dropping between the pink shrouded clouds to disappear for yet another day – we were/are in awe.
How do you top that show??? Hopefully Mother Nature will keep trying!
The clouds from the first part of our run gave way to blazing sunshine so as we wound our way past Solomon’s Island and up the Patuxent, we were all feeling pretty good! Our anchorage for Thursday night was in St. Leonard’s Creek (I don’t want anyone to think I’m getting religion on this trip, there’s just a lot of St. Somewhere’s down here…Friday night the plan is to be in St. Clement’s Creek in the Potomac River….) We are in a wonderfully protected nook of the creek which we fully intend to explore….
October 17th, 2008
We left Solomons Island on Saturday and headed up to an idyllic anchorage in the Magothy River – the passage was anything but idyllic yet it was breathtaking (literally)!!
Tammy by the way…
As we headed out of Solomons, the sun was just cresting the horizon – another early morning jaunt since we had a 7 hour trip up the Chesapeake ahead of us. The sunrise was again spectacular (who knew sunrises could be so great – they used to just signify the start of another work day!)
and fueled by coffee and tea, the crew of Gypsies was ready for anything. Good thing too because we got anything and everything!! No sooner had we left the Patuxent River and entered the shipping lanes in the Chesapeake Bay when Doug was faced with a couple large boats. When I say large, I’m not talking just big – I’m talking an 851 foot cargo ship. From 12 miles away it looked like a city – you can only imagine what it looked like up close!! or maybe you can’t, so we took pictures!!
Next up for Doug was a “measly” 531 foot cargo boat – not too bad if it passes a couple miles from you, but this one wanted to pass within 300 feet of us!! We gladly moved out of its way!!
Next up was John at the helm – he didn’t have to worry about too many commercial boats but we spent the next couple hours dodging hundreds of pleasure boats! and remarkably after zigging and zagging and dodging and weaving, we wound up close to our original track – how’s that for navigating!! I found myself at the helm for the last 2 1/2 hours of our trip and as luck (or not) would have it, I got to head up towards Annapolis and the Bay Bridge. Can I say that I have never in my entire life seen so many sailboats – let alone all sailing directly at us all at once!!! I had the distinct pleasure of having to wind my way through numerous regattas and hundreds of sailboats all intent on making my life a living hell! Is it really necessary to tack back and forth in front of me repeatedly??? I don’t think so!!
It only then dawned on us that not only was it a beautiful day, but it was the Saturday of a long weekend and Columbus Day weekend at that. Columbus Day is one of the last hurrahs in the Bay so every yahoo with a boat was intent on being out there! Guess I can’t blame them – we were out there too!
After the chaos of the Bay, we pulled into the Magothy River and found our anchorage for the evening. As the guidebook explained,’ “it is a quiet little anchorage with good holding ground that is not even named on the chart but which is called Eagle Cove by the locals.” When we pulled in, there were about 5 or 6 other boats already anchored but we found room and proceeded to drop the hook. Of course when you anchor, you need to understand that every eye in the whole cove will be on you since everyone on the surrounding boats stops what they are doing to see if you get it right – no pressure there!! Even with the audience, we got it right on the first try – WHEW! It was indeed an amazing little cove – surrounded on 3 sides by marsh and woods and across the river sat a plantation similar to Monticello complete with white pillars and horses grazing. Out came the beers to celebrate an arduous but well done passage and we settled in to enjoy the peace and solitude.
Such was not to be! Almost immediately a near constant parade of boats starting flowing into our “idyllic, peaceful anchorage.” Power boats, sailboats and even a cruise ship schooner, the Mystic Whaler, all headed to our cove to drop anchor for the night.
Guess they had all read the same guidebook as us – although many of them seemed to know each other so we guessed they were locals. Cruising hasn’t diminished our powers of observation! Just when we thought the cove couldn’t hold another boat, sailboats started rafting up to each other – the new boat would find a buddy boat already anchored and tie up to it. We thought they might just be there for the afternoon since it isn’t a real safe or sturdy way to hold for the evening but sure enough, they were all there to stay.
We sat and enjoyed yet another spectacular sunset and by the time we went to sleep, there were at least 35 boats in this tiny cove, some with 5 boats rafted up to one anchored boat!!!
And I have to admit, we did wholeheartedly participate in the spectator sport of watching people anchor (beers in hand) and even laughed as some yahoo came in after sunset and had to make 3 attempts before he finally got his anchor to hold!! All in all it was a great day and you can’t pay for that type of entertainment!!
The next morning we headed out relatively early although not at sunrise – the boat rooster did ensure that I saw the sunrise though and although I’d never tell her, it was well worth it!
Our cove, even with all the boats, had actually been a really great anchorage and we hope to head back there sometime, although preferably during the week when it is a little quieter!
The three hour run to Baltimore was largely uneventful, which after the day before we all relished! Pulling into Baltimore Harbor is quite a trip – it is very much a working, industrial port with very large, commercial ships everywhere. It is also a very historic town – you pass under the Francis Scott Key Bridge and pass a red, white and blue marker that supposedly signifies the location of the ship Francis Scott Key was on when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner (how do they really know that???)
As you approach the inner harbor, you also pass Fort McHenry where the British launched an attack during the War of 1812.
For more current history, the marina that we are staying at is located right next to the condos that Michael Phelps lives in!
Our first night in Baltimore found us chatting with Lois and Art on the boat next to us “FabuLois”- they actually live right in Fells Point a couple blocks from the marina and invited us to their house for a “great glass of wine” – how cool was that? And as tempting as that invitation was given the bag in the box wine we drink most days, the Pats were on TV and that was one of our main reasons for coming into B’more a day early. Trust me, we should have gone and had the glass of wine!!! It’s just not the same without Tom!!!
The next day had Colleen and John on a mission to explore the city for photos for Colleen’s next kiddie blog (check back soon!), while Doug and I hung out on the boat and met another great cruising couple, Lynn and Wayne on Skinwalker, a boat very similar to ours. What’s funny about cruising is you never really pay attention to last names, you just focus on first names and the boat name – so Doug and I are now just Doug and Tammy on Gypsies in the Palace – we can live with that!! As cruisers are wont to do, we swapped stories with Capts Wayne and Lynn and got great ideas about where to stay and things to do on our trip down the coast. They have been cruising the Great Loop for 5 years so had lots of good stuff to tell us and have recently spent the past summer in B’more where Wayne captains the tourist pirate ship several times a week!!!! They head south November 1 (after the last pirate ship cruise) and we hope to see them again on our travels! At a minimum we got a great idea for future employment opportunities!! Can’t you see Doug decked out in pirate regalia – it will match his ponytail, earring and tattoo!!!
Last night friends of ours that Doug used to work with in Baltimore, Ray and Denise Maskell and Scott and Denise Lancaster, drove in to meet us on board for drinks. After several drinks and another unbelievable sunset,
we all headed into Fells Point for drinks and more frivolity (minus John and Colleen since it was their last night together before John headed back to Manchester for 10 days)! Part of the fun of this cruising life is being able to reconnect with old friends as we travel down the coast!! The case of National Bohemian beer (or Natty Boh as it is “affectionately” known locally!) that Ray and Denise brought us was a humorous reminder for us of a great evening of fun with good friends!!!
Today John left early to catch a flight back to Manchester – he’ll be gone for about 10 days – and the current plan is for us to pick him back up in Norfolk (we’ll see!) I think he’s a little worried!! So Colleen, Doug and I have about 10 days to explore the southern Chesapeake. We may just stay one more day in Baltimore today and do some exploring (pub crawling) through Fells Point. Tomorrow we’ll figure out the rest….
October 14th, 2008
Because of a vast boat show and, presumably the Columbus Day holiday weekend, Annapolis was all booked up, so we called an audible and headed further south on the Chesapeake to Solomon’s Island on the Western Shore.
After securing a slip at the Spring Cove Marina — site of two earlier Gypsies visits — we were able to contact some Clayton family friends who make their home in Crofton, Maryland.
John here, incidentally.
Thus, we had our second official set of visitors in Tom and Diane Lombardo and their daughter Lizzie. They made a 90-minute drive to visit us, and if the Lombardo name rings a bell, that means you’ve been paying attention, since Tom’s brother Dan wrote and performed a song for us at our bon voyage party.
And the Lombardos came bearing gifts.
Having sheepishly warned Tom in advance that we actually had Keystone Light in the cooler, they put together a cruiser’s care package for us that included bags and bags of fresh fruit — to ward off scurvy, Tom explained — plus yogurt and granola bars, dry roasted peanuts, jelly beans (that was Lizzie’s idea) and best of all, a case of Corona. In cans, no less.
That earned the three of them a red carpet tour of the boat. Soon thereafter came drinks and chit-chat, after which we all piled into Tom’s BMW station wagon — Lizzie and Tammy were crammed into what we shall henceforth refer to as the aft cabin of the car — to have dinner at the Solomon’s Pier Restaurant.
It was a gorgeous evening with a red and pink sunset that silhouetted the graceful arch of the Governor Thomas Johnson Fixed Bridge that spans the Patuxent River. Once the sun had set, however, ordering our meals became something of an adventure. We were seated at an outdoor deck and the lighting was, well… there was no lighting. In fact, when our waitress came and asked if we’d like drinks, Tom whipped his head back and forth and whispered, “Who said that?” For Stevie Wonder, it would not have been an issue. The rest of us used small tea-light candles to read the menu, which was blissfully heavy on crab-related dishes.
We dined in splendor. There were nachos with pulled pork and guacamole, salads, crab cakes, crab cake sandwiches, fried oysters, shrimp scampi and fried seafood platters, plus the usual array of beverages, and when we couldn’t eat another bite, Tom beat us to the draw and insisted on picking up the tab for us all.
And, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Tom, but Doug and I both woke up with heartburn. Couldn’t have been the fried oysters. Must have been the salad.
Anyway, things were so cozy at Spring Cove that we decided to splurge and stay tied up for a second day. That gave us time for laundry and bookkeeping and work — for poor Doug, anyway — and for Colleen and me, lunch by the pool in the 80-degree sunshine. We also made a photo record of a major milestone, that being the first palm tree of our voyage!
That afternoon, we set out in search of happy hours, and we found two. One was at a waterfront bar called Catamarans, where we drank $1.55 drafts on a second-story deck overlooking that same graceful bridge, and the other was at the Harbor Island Tiki Bar. We hiked the mile or so back to the boat for dinner, then we watched the Red Sox win the first game of the ALCS over Tampa Bay. Which reminds me, Jen and Nic, have I mentioned yet how much we love Sling Box?
So when we left Spring Cove Marina at sun-up Saturday morning, we were socially, culinarily and emotionally fulfilled. There would be a seven-hour cruise from Solomon’s to the Magothy River which involved a hair-raising passage past Annapolis and the Bay Bridge in the midst of a thousand sailboats, but we weathered that storm and will soon drop anchor in Eagle Cove near Gibson Island.
Baltimore — three hours by boat — is in our future.
Tom, Diane and Lizzie are a treasured part of our past.
October 13th, 2008
Yes, we’re supposed to be weather-hardened New Englanders, but when we woke up to 50-degree temperatures on Long Haul Creek this morning, there was unanimous consensus that things were seriously nippy.
John here.
How nippy was it? Nippy enough that Colleen did her morning fishing in jeans, a sweatshirt and gloves. Yes, they were the gloves she uses for handling the lines on the boat, but more than a fashion statement, it was weather-motivated.
It’s hard to convey the beauty of this anchorage. The water is as still as a pond.
We’re anchored just 20 or 30 yards from some beautiful homes with lush landscaping and the creek itself — remember, it’s pronounced “crick” down here — is like a nature preserve. We’re serenaded all day by honking swans, ducks and geese, while hawks and great blue herons soar above us.
The only place that seems to be lacking in wildlife is the water. Other than tiny jumping fish and scores of jellyfish that are the approximate size of a man’s fist, we haven’t had any evidence of life underwater. Still, Colleen remains unwavering and undeterred, casting with her spinning rod to beat the band.
Once Doug and I finished our morning labors, we deployed the dinghy and set out to explore the village of St. Michael’s, known in these parts as “The town that fooled the British.”
Seems that on the morning of Aug. 10, 1813, the locals discovered that the British were planning an attack. In an effort to thwart that attack, the locals imposed a blackout on the homes at ground level. They then hoisted lanterns to the tops of trees and the tops of the masts of the ships in the harbor. Thus, when the Brits began their nighttime cannon fusillade, the cannon balls sailed harmlessly over the homes of the canny townsfolk. Only one home – now known as the “Cannonball House” – was struck, but the 12-pound ball penetrated the roof and simply rolled down the stairs.
The town itself is charming beyond belief. We explored the main drag — Talbot Street, for the record — and were soon parched. We hit the bar at a place called “Characters,” then had a drink and appetizers at another spot on the water called “The Crab and Steakhouse,” but the real fun began when we stumbled upon the St. Michael’s Winery.
We sampled some of their finest wares — mostly the flight of their red wines — and the undisputed winner was a sipping dessert wine called chocolate zinfandel, which was, as it sounds, a melding of red zinfandel wine and chocolate extract.
How good was it? Well, it was too expensive for us to purchase at $25 a bottle, but it was good enough to inspire innovation. As soon as we left the winery, Tammy went into a gourmet shop and bought a bottle of chocolate essence for seven bucks. Colleen has already added a healthy dose to some of our formerly-boxed-now-merely-bladdered red wine, which shall serve as a proper close to our dinner tonight.
Tomorrow, we set out for Annapolis, where we will hook up with Manchester friends, Tom and Diane Lombardo and soak up the sights in one of America’s great port towns.
October 7th, 2008
If there had ever been a moment when we questioned our decision to chuck our old life to go cruising (and at least for me there hasn’t been!!), yesterday would have erased all doubt. It was truly a very cool day!!!
Tammy posting here by the way…in fact the rest of the Gypsies crew is still sound asleep at 8:30 am, so that should tell you something right there…
Yesterday started with us pulling away from the docks at Haven Harbor Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland at sunrise. While I used to have a hard time getting up to go to work some days, I don’t seem to have that problem when I know we are going cruising, especially after being at a dock for about a week (we finally have a new water maker!!!). When we eased out of our slip, the sun was just cresting the horizon bathing our inlet in surreal pink, yellow and orange hues.
There was a misty fog that added to the beauty of the morning – the wind was calm, the seas were flat – it was going to be a banner day!! As we steamed out into the Bay, the sun was rising on the horizon fighting to burn off the fog – I thought we left fog back in New England!! Now believe me, this was not the same kind of pea soup, can’t see the bow of your boat (or the other boats coming at you) type of fog that we get in Maine – but it was enough to limit our visibility making the first couple hours of the steam a challenge (where the hell did that 703 foot cargo ship come from!) No worries for the Gypsies crew – John and I were just so glad we got to go under (and not over) the Bay Bridge, especially since the fog swallowed the other half of the bridge….
After passing the Bay Bridge and the associated tankers and cargo ships that seem to hang out there waiting to head up into Baltimore, we turned up into the Eastern Bay and the sun finally broke through the fog. It had turned into one of those glorious days on the water – bright sun, 5-10 knots of wind and almost no waves. Doug was at the helm by then and pretty much as soon as he headed into the Bay he was greeted by what looked like the Spanish armada – we’re not talking a couple sailboats here, we’re talking hundreds of them and they were all coming straight at us. We felt like salmon returning up river to spawn – the lone powerboat heading into a fleet of sailboats, all of whom had the right of way over us. Even on his best days Doug isn’t all that fond of snailbotters as he calls them – granted, he always does seem to run into one that tacks back and forth in front of him as if to get their kicks since we have to get out of their way each time. So with a few choice words, Doug maneuvered Gypsies up, down and around the oncoming flotilla – we hadn’t seen this much boat traffic since we hit the Cape Cod Canal on our trip bringing Gypsies up north in the Spring. Guess everyone agreed with us that it was a day meant to be spent on the water!
After 5 hours of cruising, we reached Kent Narrows and it was time to dock. Now docking is a challenge in perfect conditions – just to make our day, the winds had kicked up to 25 knots and the water was pretty shallow. The guy who ran the docks, George, had told us where our slip was – the only problem turned out to be that it had 5.2 feet of water and we have a draft of 5.5 feet. Yup, you guessed it, we ran aground trying to get in our slip! There’s a saying down here in the Chesapeake that if you haven’t run aground, you either haven’t left the dock or you are lying! Well we’ve gotten that one out of the way and it wasn’t too bad – we were going pretty slow at the time so Doug was able to fire the engines in reverse and unstick us!! We picked a different slip on the face dock and tied her up without further issue.
As if that wasn’t enough fun to convince us this cruising life is the bomb, we then geared up for the second half of our day and the real reason we had come to Grasonville, Maryland. Our friends from Key West, Scott Kirby and Dave Edmisten, were playing a gig at the Big Owl Tiki Bar and we were on a mission to surprise them by showing up.
Last time we saw Scott was over a month ago when he played at our bon voyage party in NH – how time flies when you’re having fun and drinking rum!!! For those few of you out there that don’t know Scott and didn’t get to the bon voyage party, he is an amazingly talented musician and songwriter. Dave regularly plays guitar with Scott and is incredibly talented in his own right. Scott’s music is getting a lot of airtime on Radio Margaritaville – check out his website to listen to his music, get his cds or see where he’s playing next (www.scottkirby.com)! Maybe you’ll even see us there…
We hit the Tiki Bar right about when Scott and Dave did so we got to act like roadies and help them carry the equipment. By the way, mission accomplished – unlike some people, when we say it we mean it – Scott and Dave were very surprised to see us!
Can I tell you how cool the afternoon turned out to be!!! The Big Owl Tiki Bar has a fantastic vibe – it is a funky orange shack with picnic tables and bars out on a pier that overlooks Kent Narrows, a very popular boating destination.
A steady stream of boats paraded by us and some even tied up to the pilings to take in a little of Scott’s music. The sun was blazing, the beers were ice cold, the music flowed, the Pats won, the people were incredibly friendly, the wings were spicy and the beers were ice cold (oh yeah I already mentioned that – but it probably needed to be mentioned twice given the quantity we imbibed over the course of the afternoon and evening)! 
Scott and Dave were scheduled to play only from 3-6, but as time wound down, Big Al, the owner of the Tiki Bar saw how much fun everyone was having so paid them to keep playing – how kewl was that!! So the party kept going long after the sun had set and Big Al had blown the conch shell – you had to see it to believe it!!
That was the end of the season blow-out for the Tiki Bar so it was only fitting that we closed the bar! The only downer of the day came in the 12th inning when the Angels wound up beating the Red Sox (but I didn’t find out about that until this morning…so it remained a perfect cruising day!)
Today once everyone wakes up and is able, we are off to St. Michaels, a quaint town just south of here in the Eastern Bay…
For additional pictures go to our Flickr site.
October 6th, 2008
