Baltimore Inner Harbor - Harbor View Marina

Thursday September 12, 2013
39 16.625 N
76 36.109 W

Uneventful day. We dropped the mooring at about 10 AM and headed towards Baltimore in mild conditions. Arrived in the Inner Harbor just after lunch and greeted by a thunder storm. Our luck held and the storm cell split in two and left us unscathed in the middle, with just a bit of rain and a few gusts of wind. We were assigned a spot on the outside "T Head"  where we will sit until our "permanent" slip becomes available on Sunday afternoon.

View from our back door

Once Tide Hiker was hooked up and settled in we wandered over to find friends. Dinner out with Bonnie and Jon was fun.

Friday September 13, 2013

Very easy day today, settling in. This is a very posh marina with great facilities. We are located right in the Baltimore "Inner Harbor" which is in the heart of the city. Baltimore was once a busy industrial and port city, and a rather "gritty" place. But most of the industry left as the USA de-industrialized "last century" and the harbor area was left a depressed and polluted place. I used to come here back in my working days to visit the Bethlehem steelworks at Sparrows Point.

Water scooper-duper

Over the last 25 years or so the whole inner harbor area has been revitalized and now the Inner harbor is quite a show place for urban renewal. The harbor water is quite clean, and they actually have specialized watercraft that scoop any debris off the surface of the water. There are several large marinas, lots of new commercial and residential buildings plus public facilities. It is quite impressive and I am looking forward to our stay.

However I fear the blog will become even more boring. I will not be starting a new page till we head out on October 12.

Saturday September 14, 2013

Breakfast out, then shopping and lunch out with Jon & Bonnie. Bought oil and new gas cans for the dinghy.


Sunday September 15, 2013

Not much, few jobs. Arranged flights for Kylie and Mason to visit us :) Waited for our new slip J 09 to become available. Deidre went grocery shopping. Sorted thru our mail and paid bills. Drinks and dinner on board with Jon, Bonnie, Bill & Laura

Monday September 16, 2013

Pump out and flush. Moved Tide Hiker to J 09. Started work on the maceration pump.

Tuesday September 17, 2013

Walked around the Federal Hill area.
Removed the ElectroScan and macerator motor, which I believe has failed. Head in the bilge most of the day. Ordered the parts to rebuild the pump.
Dinner out at a nice pub in the Federal Hill district

Wednesday September 18, 2013

Another perfect day. Rode the free buses around Baltimore. Purchased a replacement phone. Lunch in the Fell Point district. This is a nice city. Great fall weather.

Back to the boat. Installed spare macerator motor. Went in well. Will leave the ElectroScan out till I can test the macerator.
Finally repaired latches on the chimney locker. Worked great.
Deidre had her hair cut and coloured.
Deidre helped change the oil in main engines and transmission
Cleaned up.

Thursday September 19, 2013

I will get one of my people to call one of your people!

Lets park the bikes and have lunch?

Another perfect fall day. Rode our bikes around the bay and enjoyed another lunch at Fells Point. Drinks and dinner on Bon Voyage tonight. Re-installed the ElectroScan (just electrically) so we can have the tank monitor working.

Friday September 20, 2013

Visited a cool chart store this morning and purchased charts and anchoring guides for the Bahamas. Lunch back on their boat.

Deidre and I launched the dinghy and I cleaned the mustache with lemon juice while Deidre walked up to the Post office. Tide Hiker looks a lot better. Quiet evening at home.

Saturday September 21, 2013

Breakfast and The Times at the place near the marina. Then took Tide Hiker over for a pump-out and to test the "new macerator pump" (which performed perfectly).

Deidre and I have been appointed "Social Co-Chairpersons" for the upcoming MTOA Rendezvous. This means we are in charge of all the booze, (bit of a "fox in the hen house" situation if you ask me!) but accompanied by some planning and supervision responsibilities. I am concerned the stress will get to me!

Sunday September 22, 2013

Bit of exploring and a dry run for picking up Kylie. Took the free bus to Penn Station. Rode the 'light rail" to the BWI (the airport) and back to Camden Yards (the baseball field) and then walked back to the boat. Total fares for the day was about $5.00

At about 9 PM a fireworks unexpectedly display blasted off about 100 yards from Tide Hiker. It was amazing to be so close.

Monday September 23, 2013

Just as we were having breakfast one of the last few remaining Liberty Ships was tug-boated in and docked 100 yards fro us, right where the fireworks happened last night.

Tuesday September 24, 2013

Today was the big day and I am pleased to report that both Kylie and mason arrived safe and sound.

Wednesday September 25, 2013

Thursday September 26, 2013

The USS Constellation got us out of the boat in our pajamas this morning. We are not too sure why but she was moved into the mail harbor and fired a gun (which upset the ducks) and themn was backed into her slip down town.

The USS Constellation was the last all sail warship built by the US Navy in 1854

Today is day one of "Trawler Fest". There is a couple of dozen new and "near new" trawlers on display and a whole lot of tents with exhibitors selling their wares. Its all a bit "old hat" for us "live-aboards" but I enjoyed wandering around and toured a few of the boats that interested me. We did buy a couple of "Cruising Guides" for the Bahamas.

Friday September 27, 2013

Bath time

Ky and I fired up the dinghy and did a tour of the harbor for an hour or so. We stopped at Fells point and picked up a couple of coffees. Came back and gave Mason a bath.

Tonight was the big Sangria test so most of the day was devoted to picking up supplies and cutting fruit and mixing booze. We made three batches, using two recipes provided by the President and one of my own. The former two were very heavy with liquor, super sweet and alcoholic. My recipe was much more "responsible". We had about 10 people on board for the testing, and being Americans and mostly female, the two sweet recipes were chosen.

Saturday September 28, 2013

Now that I have the final recipes I visited the booze store and placed our order.

Driving the dink

Tonight we rode in Bon Voyage over to the "Music Bowl" on the other side of the harbor where we anchored and watched/listened to the "Pink Floyd" follower band. We purchased a whole lot of Thai food to fed the crew.










Sunday September 29, 2013

The John Brown left this morning. Ky leaves this afternoon.
There is a video below.

In an effort to get a better photo, my favorite daughter walked off the end of the boat deck and onto the canvas. She is only tiny but certainly weighs enough for the canvas to give way. Fortunately she was able to recover before falling of the back of the boat onto the swim platform and breaking her neck in the process. I am happy she was not hurt, but now I have an awkward canvas repair job.

Monday September 30, 2013

First day of the MTOA rendezvous and the weather continues to favor us. The marina had been steadily filling up with boats over the last few days. It was fun to wander around the marina greeting acquaintances from previous events. There was not much scheduled, just registering and getting organized.

Tuesday October 1, 2013

Meetings and seminars began in earnest today. We also had "lunch on board" with our "Mentees". I dismantled the aft deck canvas and took it over the harbor in the dinghy to a canvas place. Big dinner over at "Little Havana" after which Deidre and I mixed up several gallons of Sangria on the boat.

The attendees





Wednesday October 2, 2013

Took the truck over to the booze store and picked up two kegs of beer. Met our crew at 4:30 PM and set up the bar and served until about 9 PM. Seemed like a good party

Thursday October 3, 2013

The bartenders

I had a busy day on the boat, did not participate much at the MTOA. A friend came over and helped me to re-install the canvas. It was a difficult job and the canvas stitching ripped again in several places. But its up again. Another social hour, another 4 gallons of Sangria, followed by the banquet and awards ceremony. I do not think we will be doing any more rendezvous. "Same ol same ol".

Friday October 4, 2013

Another beautiful day, quite warm. Most of the morning spent with clean up and schlepping. Bill and Tonni arrived about 6 PM.







Saturday October 5, 2013

Crew

Another perfect day so we decided to take the boat for an overnight run to Magothy Bay. The original plan was to go to Annapolis, but the Annapolis Boat Show has basically taken over the port. So we took 4 hours to run down to Magothy and anchor behind Dobbins Island.

Sunday October 6, 2013
The weather was forecast to break later in the day so we headed "home" first thing in the AM. Back at the dock Bill and I tested out the bikes and went for a ride into town. Sunday night we dines at "Old Havana"

Monday October 7, 2013
Breakfast up on Federal Hill followed by bank and Post Office. Then a cab into town to see "Gravity" in 3D at the movies. Dinner in Little Italy. Good day!

Tuesday October 8, 2013

The diver visited Tide Hiker this morning. He said all was well, we needed to replace the bow thruster zinc, but that was all. Once he was done, Bill and I headed off on our bikes and Tonni and Deidre headed into town to do some window shopping. We all met for lunch at a corned beef deli place. Bill and I rode to Fells point for a coffee. That night we invited Louise and Sean (two slips over in "Vector") to join us at Porters.

After dinner we were invited to tour "Vector". It is a 52' single engine steel trawler that weighs 110,000 lbs (Tide Hiker comes in at a slim 65,000) Unfortunately Bill took a tumble and we have just heard (Friday) that he has a twisted ankle and a broken toe!

Wednesday October 9, 2013

Bill and I rode over to the "Museum of Industry", Tonni organized her packing. The cab picked them up at 2 PM and they were on their way home. I did a bit more work on the ElectroScan and discovered another pump not working. We then both retired to our pajamas and read books. It rained.

Thursday October 10, 2013

Heading out for breakfast

Rained all night. The weather is not looking good enough for departure Friday. We invited Bonnie to join us for breakfast at a local spot. We ate, drank coffee and read the paper for hours while it poured outside. Deidre made it to the supermarket later in the day between showers. I downloaded a book.

Friday October 11, 2013

Should I let her in?

If I ever said anything nice about Baltimore weather I am officially retracting it. It poured with rain all night and the rain has continued all day. We are determined to leave in the AM Saturday even though the forecast is not so good, but this place is too expensive to sit around in.

Deidre just returned from a visit to the marina office. Five minutes after she left the sky opened once again and she has just returned drenched to the skin. The purpose of her trip was to pick up our mail - but it has not arrived. We will ask Jon and Bonnie to pick it up.

We are starting to get stir crazy. We are determined to leave in the AM

Swan Creek Mooring, Rock Hall

Swan Creek Marina, Rock Hall
39 08.803 N
76 15.566 W

The anchor was up and we were underway at 8 AM. We would have about 2 hours of tide on our side, the rest of the day we would be fighting it. Fortunately we only had a short day, about 37 NM to Rock Hall where we had booked a mooring ball. The morning was misty and dead calm, so nice. Deidre made breakfast underway.

We arrived about 2 PM and went in for a pump out, then out to the ball. The anchorage is super protected and quiet. The reason we came here is to catch up with friends we met in Florida, who might pair up with us on our trip to the Bahamas next year.

We launched the dinghy and visited Dick & Deanna at their marina about a mile away. It was good to get the dinghy running again, it had been a while.

Bohemia River

Tuesday September 10, 2013
39 28.507 N
75 55.256 W

Big day today - 81 Statute Miles.

We needed to get water under the boat to get out of the slip. Low tide was about 4:30 AM so we needed to leave at either before 3 AM or after 7 AM when we would get an extra 15" of water. Needless to say we decided on 7 AM and after a bit of a nudge Tide Hiker backed out into the "deep water" well enough. We sure stirred up a lot of mud.

We then had the tide with us all the way up the Delaware to the C&D. The trudge up the Delaware is just that. Its featureless but not the ocean. It can get very unpleasant when the wind and tide appose each other. But all went well and we made good time, and we were into the canal by about 2 PM. There is a free dock in Chesapeake City that everyone cruiser knows about and coverts, and as usual it was already occupied when we arrived. So we continued another 10 or so miles into the upper Chesapeake and anchored in the Bohemia River.

Its a nice anchorage, but a bit "skinny". We were at almost high tide and only had a couple of feet under us when we anchored. There was a couple of boats there when we arrived and a couple arrived after us. The wind died to nothing by sunset. Not that i knew because I went to bed at 5 PM and slept until about 8, got up for dinner and an hour of TV and then went back to bed. I have not been feeling well for a few days - either a cold or a long spell of hay fever. Either way, my head and eyes were killing me.

The anchor alarm went off at 4 AM for no particular reason other than boredom. It was dead calm. The boat was probably sitting in the mud anyhow. We reset the alarm and went to bed.

Cape May

September 8, 2013
38 57.016 N
74 54.643 W

We needed to wait for the tide to put some water under us to get safely out of the anchorage, so we enjoyed a bit of a sleep in and extended breakfast. We got out OK and were in the Atlantic by 10 AM. We only had about 34 NM to get to our slip at Cape May so it would be an easy day. The weather was not perfect but the wind was forecast out of the West so we would be in the lee of the shore. It did not quite work out that way, but Tide Hiker handled the swells well and Deidre did not get seasick.

We saw some porpoises today - first for quite some time.

It was pretty much low tide when we arrived at our reserved slip. As I came alongside I called to the guy on the slip "Tell me where to stop". It was a waste of effort, because about then Tide Hiker screeched to a stop, hard aground in the slip, three feet from the dock! I shut down the engines as I did not want to fill them with mud. I used a boat hook to probe around the boat - at the bow near the dock it was less than two feet deep, into very soft mud. I was pretty mad about the situation. We tied on some lines but there seemed little point, the boat was not going anywhere until the tide returned.

Deidre and I walked into town. Cape May is the holiday town for the Philadelphia region. It is a fishing "mecca". There are plenty of marinas just loaded with sport fishing boats. Down town is very touristy and cute. there are hundreds of Victorian style bed & breakfast places. The whole place has a good feel. We must have walked three miles and Deidre's ankle was killing her when we returned.

Monday September 9

The whale spotting boat returns

We floated free during the night. This morning we walked to a breakfast place. I bought a New York Times on the way and we enjoyed a two hour lazy breakfast.

This "marina" is primarily a tourist sightseeing and fishing base. There are half a dozen steel boats around us coming and going between 8 AM and Midnight. They also hire out kayaks and paddle boards.

This afternoon we unloaded the bikes and heraded into town. Deidre bought herself a new helmet and now she looks like Lance Armstrong. (I hope she

Deidre "Lance" Armstrong

keeps of the steroids!)

We are going to a fancy place for fish dinner tonight.

Atlantic City

Saturday September 7, 2014
39 23.234 N
74 24.504 W

Big day today, 96 SM. We were a bit late getting up and were not underway till about 6:45 AM. The trip took all of 11 hours but we were anchored and settled in plenty of light by 6:30 PM. The weather started very calm as we headed out into the Atlantic but the wind picked up in the afternoon and the last couple of hours were pretty lumpy. We need another good day tomorrow to make it to Cape May, although it is a much shorter run. We are now back in the anchorage that we watched the 4th of July fireworks.

Only saw a few boats.

Sandy Hook Bay

Friday September 6, 2013
XX
XX

We rode the tide perfectly today, starting engines at 10:30 AM and arriving at the Atlantic Highlands fuel dock at 3PM - 38 NM in 4.5 hours is an average speed of 8.4 kts! We topped out at 11.7 kts alongside Roosevelt Island. Not bad for an old girl. We have now completed 4 round trips past Manhattan on the East River. I recon that I could just about do it without charts.

This bugger overtook us!

We filled up with fuel at the Atlantic Highlands marina. It is one of those places that always seems to have the best price - today $3.73 per gallon. We then headed back out into the bay and anchored for the night, within a couple of miles of the entrance to the Atlantic.

Its been a perfect day - sunny, calm but cool. The forecast for tomorrow is good for the coastal Atlantic. Summer is "officially over" in the USA and the general consensus is that cruisers like us need to get into the Chesapeake by September 15. Tomorrow will be a long day for us, 11+ hours, so we will be up early and moving at first

Cool fire tug

light.

We have reserved a slip in Baltimore for a month. It seems a bit late to be so far North in mid November, but the MTOA Rendezvous is in October and many of our friends will be there. So if we get cold, we will have company.

Port Washington for a few days

Wednesday September 4, 2013

Off to the big smoke

The water taxi has just picked up Lyn and Tony for a day in NYC.

I had a lot of EP work to do and got stuck into that. Took the taxi ashore later in the day to mail the resulting invoices and pick up banking data from B of A. Plus caught up with a few engine room jobs, an then basically took it easy.

When they arrived back on the train Lyn and Tony called us and we met ashore at the local Mexican joint for a "last supper".



Thursday September 5, 2013

Deidre cooked up a "last breakfast" of eggs and bacon, after which Lyn and Tony took the taxi ashore to take a walk and stretch their legs. The water taxi picked them up at 2:45 PM and the dirt taxi was waiting for them on the dock. They are now cooling their heels at JFK, looking forward to 3 flights and 23 hours in the air.

Reflections

Port Washington at dusk

Four weeks, two days, one hour and twenty-two minutes is a long time to have visitors on a 49' boat. But the visit was a great success and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute. We all got along amazingly well. Deidre and I loved having someone else to share our experiences on the boat. Lyn and Tony are both boat people and so understood "boat constraints" pretty much without explanation. We all shared the work. In particular Tony helped me with the nuts and bolts stuff, and made several upgrades and repairs that make Tide Hiker a better boat. They were also super generous with expenses - paid for all groceries, booze and eating out plus other bits and pieces. Everyone (except me, the captain has some privileges) contributed to the cooking and cleaning. And the weather helped too.

Today we sat around reminiscing about the highlights and the "experiences". (Like losing an anchor and 200' of chain for a day or so, and like hooking up a 2" thick electrical cable with the anchor.)  We all have some fun stories to tell.

It was really a great 4 weeks.




.

Port Washington - Our home away from home.

September 3, 2013


Timing today was important. The flood tide started in NY harbor at 3 PM, and we needed that in our favor to make it up the East River. I waned about 1 hour in NY Harbor to do the tourist thing for our guests. We were about 32 miles from NY harbor in our anchorage at Croten-on-Hudson. We would be riding the ebb tide down the river for most of the day so I assumed we could average 7 knots. the answer was to leave at 10 AM.

The trip south was uneventful. We ran a bit faster than plan and so virtually had the engines running at idle speed the last couple of hours. For most of the day the skies had been heavy and overcast, but as we reached the city the sun broke through and some blue sky appeared. We spent an hour or so in the harbor visiting the usual sights, and then headed up the East River just as the tide turned.

It was good to get back to familiar water. We were attached to a mooring ball and settled in (meaning the G&T's were made) by 6 PM. Barbecued hamburgers "with the lot" for dinner. the TV found over 100 stations so we enjoyed a bit of TV for the first time for a while.

Busted!

Monday September 2, 2013
Croton-On-Hudson
41 11.529 N
73 53.860 W

We filled the water tanks and were out of the marina by 9 AM. We had a fairly long day ahead of us (49 NM) to get to the anchorage that would put us withing striking distance of NYC on Tuesday. It had rained all night and the rain was still hanging around, but it was warm enough.

View of main street on the way out the creek

Today was Labour Day, last day of the long weekend and there seemed to be quite a bit of boat traffic as people made their way home. Also noticeable were the police boats. One such boat passed and re-passed us several times, we dutifully waved and smiled each time. The 5th time we were not so lucky, on went the blue lights and we were stopped and boarded by the Cost Guard for a "safety check". Local police cannot stop you without "probable cause" but the Coast Guard need no reason.

So we welcomed them on board and were "inspected". Deidre and I are very familiar with the rules and so I was able to walk them thru the boat and help check off all the items. They were really a pleasant couple of kids and it was a bit of fun to have them on board. We got a clean bill of health and were only delayed maybe 30 minutes.

For most of today the Hudson cut thru a branch of the Adirondack Mountains, so the river was contained by some quite high mountains and narrow gorges. We had caught up with the tide by about 2 PM and when the river was constricted  we really got a push from the current, reaching over 9 kts in a few places.

There are train tracks on both sides of the river. The amount of train traffic is quite amazing. Some of the trains must be over a mile long.

We reached the anchorage by about 4:30 PM and anchored in about 10' of water in a small bay on the east side of the river.

Lyn and Tony made dinner and we ate on the aft deck. The wind settled down as the sun set and it looks like it will be a calm night. There are a couple of yachts with us in the bay.

Tuesday AM

Series of small storm cells came thru the anchorage last night. Tony and I were on deck shortly after midnight and played out some more anchor chain "just in case". It seemed that we had dragged a 100' or so before the anchor reset itself. Because the wind came from just about every direction as the cells came and went, and because the change of tide moved the boat around too, it was hard to tell what was going on. But it was all very minor and we were back in bed soon. This morning the water is dead calm.

Kingston, NY

September 1, 2013

Very easy day today. There was no wind in the AM so getting off the dock was no problem. Our objective was Kingston, only 18 NM down the river. The marina did not want us to arrive before 1 PM so we really took it easy. Kingston is an old town, burned to the ground by the British in 1777.

The marina was about 2 miles up a creek (in Australia = river) but is a bit of a rough and ready place. I had picked the "best place in town" and for $2 a foot was quite disappointed. (compared to Hilton Head for $2 a foot, this place is a joke. makes me think I am back in Canada.) After settling in we caught a cab into town where there was an Irish themed festival in full swing.

Snorkers, good oh!

We are now back on the boat and making G&Ts and it is starting to rain.