Reedy Island (Anchorage)

Saturday
39 30.800 N 
75 34.300 W

Today was almost the opposite of yesterday. It was still a bit windy but the sun was shining and the we rode a favorable tidal current almost all the way to the C&D. We had planned to anchor just before the C&D at Bohemia Bay, but we were running ahead of plan and decided to continue the 22 NM thru the C&D and anchor in the Delaware river at Reedy Island.

FYI, the "Chesapeake & Delaware Canal" is a wide and deep canal that joins the north end of the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River. It is a "ship canal" so ships can travel from Philadelphia to Baltimore and Norfolk without venturing into the Atlantic.

The Reedy Island anchorage is not a particularly desirable anchorage - the current is strong and "turns" every 6 or so hours with the tide, which really tests an anchor. (Also, the most obvious part of the view is the nuclear power station immediately across the river.) We took two tries to get the anchor to set. We had deployed all 200' of anchor chain - my theory being that as the tide changes and the boat starts to drag the chain along the bottom in the opposite direction, there is a good chance the chain will snag on 'something" and take the load off the anchor.

Tide Hiker's main engines hours had built up to 200 hours since the last oil change, so after dinner Deidre and I headed to the engine room to change the oil and filters. We are getting quite efficient at the task and were done before 11 PM. I stayed up a bit longer to watch the tide change.

This ship came out of the C&D as we were entering

Coast Guard boat changing the channel buoys from winter to summer buoys

South Kent Island (Anchorage)

Friday May 22, 2015
38 51.090 N
76 20.985 S

Getting north to NYC seems to be a bit of a battle. The weather is just not cooperating. The forecast this AM included another SCA plus we had to cross the entrance (exit?) of the Potomac River into Chesapeake, where it is notoriously rough.

We were very tempted to stay put. The Mill Creek anchorage was so comfortable. But we need to get north, and also to deal with inclement weather because we will probably need to deal with a lot worse in the Canadian Maritimes. So with the understanding that we would probably get the snot beaten out of us as we crossed the Potomac, we upped anchor about 8 AM and headed out. At least the morning was sunny, not like the cloud/fog/rain we had yesterday.

Between the wind and current we were down to as low as 5 knots crossing the Potomac, and it was rough. We had everything pretty tide down but the crashing around found a few more week spots - including one of the bikes breaking loose on the upper deck with a crash.

It took a couple of hours but eventually we passed north of Point Lookout and the conditions settled down. In fact after a couple more hours conditions were almost "pleasant" although we pushed against the tide just about all the way. Nevertheless we used all the daylight and covered 72 NM.

The anchorage was an "easy-in and easy-out" and protected us from the forecast strong N and NW winds. We put out almost all our chain plus the snubber. The area was obviously very upscale with some very fancy house spaced wide apart around the bay. Deidre tells me the wind got up about 2 AM but I did not hear a thing.

The seemed to be a "large sailing boat" race coming south and this was the leader.

"Deidre, look out the galley window"

A couple of the "nice houses" at our anchorage. 

Mill Creek (Anchorage)

Thursday May 21, 2015
37 47.558 N
76 19 407 W

Started off the day as planned - up at 5 AM and underway in semi light at 5:30 AM with Cavara right behind us. I called them on the radio "Turn on your running lights" and they responded "They are on" followed in a few minutes by "Our lights are popping the breaker". But that was just the start. We got out and around the Thimble Light just before we heard radio chatter between a helicopter (taking photos) and a departing nuclear sub.

The entrance was pretty rough. The wind was still up and we were exposed to the Atlantic. Just about then we heard from Barb - "We have an overheating engine and we have shut it down". We throttled back but we both continued north - Cavara on one engine, at about 4 knots as Don changed the impeller on their starboard engine. An hour or so later we were back to cruising speed.

It was really an unpleasant day. Overcast, bleak, windy, the water and everything around was gray. Deidre cooked breakfast and we were cozy in the wheel house.  Deidre was feeling a bit green and did not eat much. The wind was on our stb beam and Tide Hiker was leaning over somewhat, but otherwise handling the weather OK. One of the bikes broke lose on the top deck and needed re-securing. It was going to be a long day.

We had a long day planned - 90 NM or about 13 hours - hence the early start. As the day progressed we were watching the weather, and the forecast seemed to get a bit worse each time we looked. By 2 PM we had covered 50 plus miles but the conditions were "not getting better". Deidre hates it when Tide Hiker rolls on a beam sea and she finds herself looking down on the water from her perch on the port side.

At about that time I called Don and asked "What do you think?". We were about to pass our last anchoring possibility and still had 5 hours of cruising ahead of us to reach the target. We quickly agreed to "bale out" and immediately turned for shelter in Ingram Bay. There are several anchorages in the bay, and a very sheltered anchorage in Mill Creek. Its pretty isolated - not one broadcast Tv channel. Last night we had 45!

Passing Wolf Trap light . 

Fishing boat

Willoughby Bay (Anchorage)

Wednesday May 20, 2015
N
W

Unfortunately the weather had deteriorated further during the night and conditions on the Chesapeake do not look good. So we met again and decided to just complete the Elizabeth River section of about 15 NM (?????) and anchor just out of the Chesapeake in Willoughby Bay. And here we are, a couple of hours later.

The interesting part is that we are anchored adjacent to the Navy Air Base and there is a lot of air activity around us. Lots of helicopters overhead - I think they are probably just running messages for the Admiral's wife.

We were scrutinized (Cavara in the background)

The "Ike"

View from our anchorage

All around us - the Marines doing their thing.

Top Rack Marina

Tuesday May 19, 2015
N
W

I found the Yard Manager when he was having his coffee at about 7:30 AM. Seemed like a nice guy. The upshot was that he would arrange a haul that morning.  I returned to Tide Hiker to eat breakfast and wait.

At Noon I tracked him down again. Usual stuff "busy morning etc" but he agreed to come for a ride to listen to the noise. He arrived when promised and we headed up the river. His immediate conclusion was "singing prop" - not doing any damage and the only solution would be to haul the boat and send the props out to be tuned. Bugger that.

We dropped him off, called Barb and Don, and caught the 2 PM opening of the Great Bridge bridge and lock. The weather was predicted to turn bad so we only went a few miles to Top Rack where we took an hour or so to load fuel and water and pump out. Top Rack have the best diesel price for a 100 miles in both directions.

Tonight we took advantage of their "eat your dockage fee" at their fancy restaurant. Nice bottle of wine, crab soup and mahi mahi, all for "free". Good deal. At dinner we discussed plans for the trip north up the Chesapeake. Its a new and interesting dynamic with four opinions and data points

We resume our northern trip in the AM.

Atlantic Yacht Basin

Monday March 18, 2015
36 43.207 N
76 14.096 W

Our target for today was a marina on the Elizabeth River called "Top Rack". This is a favorite for two reasons: 1) Cheapest fuel at $2.31 tax paid, and 2) The dockage is about $80 but you can spend it in the restaurant! Great deal.

We had the anchor up at 8 AM sharp. Nice day, sunny with maybe 15 mph west wind. Unfortunately the "prop whine" was getting worse and sounds more like "metal on metal" and I was starting to get concerned. I called several people and got some input. Consensus was that I should take a look.

So after we had crossed the Albemarle Sound we found a quiet spot and dropped anchor so I could dive over the side. I wore my "shortie" wet suit, and was frustrated by the way it seems to shrink between wears! The water was not that cold but very "stained" by the run off from the swamps. Under the boat I could hardly see, but satisfied myself that all the parts were where they should be.

So we fired up the engines and moved on, thinking about "Plan B". We are aware of a large yard close to our day's destination and I called them to see if we could get hauled tomorrow morning. We are sitting at their dock now as I type this. Maybe I will ask a mechanic to take a ride in the AM and listen to the noise.

Alligator River

Sunday May 17, 2015
35 46 632 N
76 02 313 W

The big adventure started today. We were both underway at 8 AM in perfect weather. The initial target was the Belhaven anchorage with a couple of "stretch targets". Conditions were so comfortable that we kept moving and did not anchor until the sun was setting at about 8 PM half way north on the Alligator River. Was an uneventful day, except that Tide Hiker seems to have developed a case of "singing props".

The wind got up a bit as the sun was setting and we found the movement a bit unusual after 2 weeks on the hard. We anchored among a bunch of crab pots which made things a bit awkward. The wind settled down overnight for good sleeping weather.

During the day we traversed the Pungo River - Alligator River canal - 22 miles of man made canal with just one 20 degree bend in the whole length. The canal runs its entire length thru swamp grass. On the North side where the construction spoil was dumped there is enough elevation for trees to grow in a narrow band, but behind the trees is endless swamp grass. There is nothing to do other than look for critters and try and get a photo - but no dice.

The trickiest part about anchoring was finding space between bloody crap pot floats. They are such a curse, because if you tangle one on a prop it can stall the engine. Monday morning the crab-man was buzzing around emptying his pots. He seemed such a nice guy I felt guilty about the things I had muttered the night before.

This was the pattern on the chart plotter when we woke this AM. Obviously the wind and current did not change much last night. Perfect anchorage. The little triangle is where we pulled the boat forward to attach the snubber.