Chesapeake

Allen's great circle trip

Chesapeake
and
Delaware Bays

Elegant Living Indoors and Out.

Planned Trip route

Norfolk to Cape May

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Norfolk, VA was our next port.
Norfolk was quite a contrast compared to the peaceful cruise through the swamp as they were busy readying the marina and the adjacent park for their annual Harbor Fest.

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The marina was booked for the weekend and if a slip were available it would be a thousand dollars a night. Hearing this we arranged for an early start the next morning for fear a slip might come available and we might be tempted to stay.

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The Battleship Wisconsin is berthed in Norfolk and Allen on his never ending search on methods and ideas to improve the Professor & Mary Ann toured the ship. As anchor chain and windlass have presented us with problems Allen focused in on a solution. After reading the specs he decided that it might be over kill or at the very least sink the boat.

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Irvington Virginia was our next port where we were informed that they had experienced extensive damage from Isabel last year and lost a storage dock two weeks previously due to a tornado.

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Walking around the storage yard proved to be an adventure as we saw many vintage boats and a seaplane along with an aluminum foundry. Allen enjoyed walking through it and talking with the owner.

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Tangiers Island, Virginia, our next port, was truly an island where the main mode of transportation were golf carts as we only saw one auto parked next to a church.
We also crossed the 4000 mile marker and Allen decided to pull us across.

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Hilda Crockets Home Style Restaurant is noted for its crab cakes and family style meals. Of course we had to try them.

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At Annapolis we pulled into the city marina and hooked up to a mooring ball just like we knew what we were doing. We sat back complementing ourselves on a job well done when the harbormaster motored out to tell us that we were five feet too long for their mooring ball. After mumbling a few choice words we proceeded out to the anchorage area and dropped anchor. This meant a twenty minute dinghy ride to shore. Of course this upset Winston, who was eager to get to shore.
A four-piece bronze sculpture depicting Alex Haley-the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Roots-reading to children.
Winston later commented that Annapolis was a pretty city with many bricked sidewalks and very few grassy areas.

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Baltimore City Dock was our next port. It is located in Baltimore Harbor and surrounded by many trendy shops and restaurant. We laid over a few days in order to change oil and do routine maintenance on the engines. Joyce in the Baltimore City Visitor’s Bureau was extremely helpful in helping us locate an auto supply store and mapping out a bus route to the store. She also drove Lee to the local Wall Mart, after finishing work at the visitor’s center, so that he could finish our shopping.

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The next day Lee happened to meet Joyce and her friend Cherelle in a restaurant while having lunch. The three posed for a picture which they called an Oreo Cookie.

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Winston was stopped many times as we walked asking if he is the dog who made a cameo appearance on the Channel 13 Seven AM news.
Yes he is now a celebrity and he doesn’t let us forget it.

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While in Baltimore Allen had the opportunity to tour the sailing ship Constellation and study their method of retrieving an anchor. He was eager to share this new knowledge with Lee as anchoring is still the one area we hesitate to encounter. After much discussion we vowed to anchor the next day.

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True to our word we pulled into the anchorage area at Chesapeake City MD only to discover that the only anchorage available was in four feet of water. Adjacent to the anchorage area was a marina with an outside patio and a band playing fifty’s music. This was our kind of place and we were docked next to the bandstand. We were quite pleased thinking that we could eat on board and listen to the music that the people on the other side had paid big bucks to hear. This feeling of euphoria soon ended when a new band took the stage and turned up the volume so loud that the boat shook and we couldn’t even hear each other. A quick move back away from the bandstand was negotiated, however the boat still vibrated when they would hit a heavy base. At eleven PM the band played their last selection and we were able to take the pillows off our heads and get some sleep.

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