5/31/18: We checked the tide/current tables and decided what time to leave to go up the river. Surprisingly, the ocean tides affect the river for well over 50 miles up river. Low tide would be at about 6:00am, and continue a flood current for a good 5 hours. We have about 50 miles to travel today. Our normal speed without current is about 8.5mph. We should be able to ride the current for the whole day. We decided to leave by 7:00 so that we’d be riding on the stronger side of the flood. (The things you learn when you are planning and navigating this kind of trip!). So, up and atum by 6:30, make coffee, and see who else is up and leaving this morning. Why? Because if you plan things right and have other looper boats with you when you go past the Statue of Liberty, you can take pictures of each other! SWEET! Yes – our Aussie friends on Someday, (that we met way back in Beaufort NC), and other friends that we met way back before NC on Xanadu are leaving by 7:00 too. YAY!
Month: May 2018
Day 79: A walk around Lower Manhattan
5/30/18: This morning was very foggy – the kind of fog that gets everything wet! I stepped outside and felt like I was standing in front of a mister like you would want on a 90 degree day while standing in line at Disneyland. But it was only 60 degrees, and quite wet. I guess we better wear jackets on our trip to the city. I hope we can see the tops of the buildings in Manhattan! Our wonderful harbor host John, gave us a ride to the Staten Island Train, and told us how it works. Ride it all the way to the end at St. George’s, and pay $2.75 each when we get off. Then ride the Staten Island Ferry over to Lower Manhattan. The ferry is a free ride. Beware of very official looking entrepreneurs who like to sell you “discount” tickets for $20. “God bless ‘em for makin a living” says John in his New York accent. It’s funny, but I really have had to listen intently to understand these New Yorkers, “yous guys”! When we’re ready to come back, the ferry is free, and to get on the train at that end is $2.75 per person. So we can buy a ticket for $2.75 x 4 = 11.00, and we’ll both be covered for the round trip. Or we can buy more $ worth which will work on buses, etc., and we can ride a bus back from the city. Huh? 😳 EEEK! Us little country kids don’t know how to do mass transit. Tell us the simplest version of what we need to know, and that’s what we’ll do. Don’t give us options and confuse us. I don’t want to end up on a bus going to Harlem or the Bronx or Queens … that would be a typical accidental Karen adventure.
Day 78: A long but much better day!
5/29/18: This was our earliest hop out yet! Alarm was set for 4:30, with a departure from the dock scheduled for 5:00am. Sheesh! The sun doesn’t even wake up all the way until 5:34 today here in Atlantic City NJ.
Day 77: A SWELL day on the Atlantic Ocean
5/28/18 Memorial Day: We have 45 miles to ride the ocean today. It will take us about 5 hours to go from Cape May to Atlantic City. Some other boats planned to leave really early. We looked at the weather, and after the wind, rain, and thunderstorms of last night, it looked like it was going to lay down a little bit after noon. So we planned to wait and leave around 11:00. It was windy this morning, so I’m glad this was our plan. Ron on Kara Mia saw one of the boats leave early, and the wind just about had that boat kissing both of our sterns as it idled out of the marina. 😳 Read more
Day 76: A humid day in Cape May
5/27/18 Sunday: Yay for a sleep-in day! Even though I woke up at 5:00, I did not get up. Roll over and snooze some more. We had a little bit of rain over night, but not much. The morning was nice – overcast and upper 60’s, but really humid. I thought about opening the doors and windows, but no – the air conditioner is more comfortable. Relax, have some coffee, and figure out what to do today. It is supposed to rain later. Hey – I know! Let’s get the bikes down and ride to town. DeeDee (Rejoice) said it was a good 45 minute walk to town, so our bikes sound like a better idea. Captain rolled upstairs, had some coffee, and perused the little cartoon map of the area.
Day 75: A quick trip down Delaware Bay
5/26/18: Holy sunshine, I need to quit waking up at 5:00 already! Ahh, its just as well today. We decided to get with it while the weather was good, and make the 62 mile trek down Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersey. It wasn’t looking like there would be a perfect time the have both the wind and the current be in our favor. So let’s just go. By the way, Island Girl’s engines are starting up just fine now. I think the mechanic got the air out of the fuel lines or something, because all seems to be functioning appropriately. That makes the crew down in the engine room happy. 😉 The sun was out and the wind wasn’t bad. Good bye Delaware City.
Day 74: Road trip to Philly!
5/25/18 Friday of Memorial Day Weekend: We had always planned to rent a car while in Delaware City, thinking we would go to Costco to buy oil for Island Girl. Hmmmm – she got her oil rejuvenated back in Solomons, so we don’t need to do that anymore. But – we could use more coffee, and nuts and other things that are less expensive at Costco than other places… including a restock of the liquor cabinet. We asked the Google if Costco sells liquor in Delaware, and – that is affirmative. We reserved a car with Enterprise, because they will pick you up and drop you off. That is, if they have the manpower. We reserved the car for 10:00. We’re leaving early tomorrow morning, so our 24 hour rental will actually end this evening after about 7 hours. They can’t come pick us up until 1:00. Really!? That makes our rental about 4 hours? There are some Ubers in the area, so that would get us started earlier. But – our most generous AGLCA Harbor Host, Foster, came and picked us up at 9:30. What a sweetheart! While on our 15 minute ride to the car rental store, we asked him what sights we should see. He highly recommended going to Philadelphia. It’s only a 45 minute drive or so. Cool! We had originally thrown around the idea of taking Island Girl up to Philly. But, the weather is looking like it might be favorable for an ocean adventure early next week, (more about that later), so we don’t want to take 3 days to cruise up the Delaware River and back. So lets drive up and see Philly. But uh-oh…. Navigator has not researched and made any sort of plan for going there. EEEK! It will be ‘Seat of pants adventure time’ – I’m not always very good at that!
Day 73: Happy Birthday in Delaware!
5/24/18: OH! I forgot to show you my souvenir from yesterday… it’s a new flag for Island Girl, from Pusser’s Pirate Society. Arrrr me matey- it must be Happy Arrrr!
Today is Captain’s birthday! And what was on the agenda? He got to drive his boat 75 miles. That’s a longer day than we usually do, but the weather was supposed to be great, so we figured we’d get some miles behind us. We hadn’t selected any “have to see” stops in the northern Chesapeake for this trip. If we had lots of time, it is beautiful and has lots of great anchorages. Maybe next summer.
Day 72: Annapolis is a great town!
5/23/18: This is the best we-almost-didn’t-come-here-town ever! I have really enjoyed Annapolis. It is much smaller than I expected. I thought it was a city. It really isn’t. It is a quaint, historical, patriotic, brick street, young adults, vibrant, sailing community. It is quite active this week, being commencement week at the Academy. There is a lot of activity and a lot of guests in town. And now it is Memorial Day weekend for families. I walked by the St Mary’s Catholic Church right about noon, and school was getting out for the weekend, and it’s only Wednesday! This St Mary’s church building was dedicated in 1860. It is not the Anglican Church in the church circle of town.
I took myself on a photo safari and walking tour. Mechanic Kenny was too perplexed 🤔 to come with me. It seems there may be air in the fuel lines or something that makes the port engine not want to start right up. So he stayed at the boat and poked around trying to solve the mystery. As I walked up the hill to toward the ‘church circle’, I saw some cute unusual little townhouses.
And garden alleys.
I found THE church in the church circle of town. It is the St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. This is the third building on this site, which was built in 1859. Of course, there must always be a church in the church circle of town, so it was never relocated.
Inside was not overly ornate, but very nice.
Of course, for each church and state house, there needs to be a tavern! This is the Reynolds Tavern. It was built between 1747 and 1755. Today it is a tea room, pub, and inn. It is right across the circle street from the church. After all that we learned back in Williamsburg, I bet there were significant government discussions back in colonial times that took place here in this tavern!
Also right there at the circle is the Maryland Inn. It was completed as a three story tavern and inn before the Revolution, and has remained an inn throughout its life. Being right at the circle, it has a unique wedge shape. You can see the State House peeking around on the left.
There are so many brick buildings in this town! Even the streets are brick, which I think just adds to the charm and history!
Back down around the wharf is the Middleton Tavern. Samuel Horacio Middleton operated a tavern here from 1754-1786. It is still a busy tavern today.
Nearby, I found a place for dinner – Mission BBQ. I know, I know…. we should have crab cakes somewhere! And we really wanted to try some creamy crab chowder. But it was in the 80’s today, and soup just seems too hot. It feels more like a BBQ day. And our friend Herb said that this is top notch BBQ, and so is their peach cobbler.
I found my way back over to the USNA- United States Naval Academy. I found this monument. It is the Tripoli Monument, the oldest military monument in the country. It honors the heros of the war against the Barbary Coast Pirates, which was the first war of the new republic. In 1804, President Jefferson ordered our tiny naval force to the Mediterranean to protect the expanding trade of the new United States against pirates who demanded ransom for safe passage of merchant ships. On the shores of Tripoli, young Americans took action against the pirates, including torching their own grounded ship, the USS Philadelphia, to prevent its capture and use by the pirates. This monument was carved in 1806 in Italy and was brought to the U.S. as ballast on the USS Constitution. It has stood at the USNA since 1860. I found it interesting that this was so related to how our U.S. Navy even began! After the Revolutionary war, and our independence from the British, we lost all protection that the British Royal Navy had provided. Our new country did not have the funds to pay off the pirates, so we needed our own navy to protect our seafaring interests!
I also went into the USNA Museum. It is a really well done museum, with the Navy’s history through the ages and wars since the 1700’s through space travel. On the second floor was a huge collection of antique model ships. These are all hand carved ships. Fascinating was a collection of ships that were carved by French prisoners. During the French Revolution (1793-1815) French sailors and soldiers were captured and taken to England. To while away their time, they carved and hand crafted all kinds of things, including ornate ships. They used wood, straw, bones from their meals, and animal hide, glue and tiny tacks. These were just a few of them. They are so intricate and tiny – unbelievable!
It was time to go watch the Blue Angels. I found a place above the field to stand in the shade with a couple hundred other folks. But this was a great spot, because the announcer told us who was flying, which direction they were coming, what the formation was, and so on.
So there was a primary group of 4 aircraft, and also two solo pilots who did stuff separately and offsetting each other – like come straight at each other, or they would come by and roll together in perfect synchronicity (a real word?). What an amazing show of skill and power! WOWZA! The announcer said that in this formation, there is 18 inches from wing tip to cockpit dome. 😳
And this was just a lucky great shot of all six together.
I really enjoyed the show. It didn’t last long – we actually saw more yesterday when they were practicing. All the maneuvers are used in normal Navy operations, combat and surveillance. Amazing precision and skill! As I was leaving the Academy, I saw the Navy mascot – a GOAT?! Why a goat? I had to look it up. This is Bill the Goat. Apparently, ships in the British and early American navies often carried goats, to eat the garbage and other undesirable food on board, and to return milk and butter (and maybe meat), and often were treated as pets. Goats are sure footed and can swim, too! Bill the Goat’s first appearance dates all the way back to 1893. Of course there are all kinds of stories that made me smile to read – the silly antics of young men, football, competition, team spirit and rivalries.
I went back to the boat to check on the mechanic, and get the Captain to go out for a drink. Some tweaks were made, including in his shoulder, but the entire mystery is not solved yet. OK – but lets go have a PAINKILLER at Pusser’s Caribbean Grill. Pusser’s rum, the official British Navy Rum, is used to make a drink called the painkiller – and I love them. The bar was hopping with lots of people. We had just one drink, (YUM it was good!) then went to find BBQ for dinner. Lots of young people in this town!
After dinner, back at the boat, I watched the congested craziness of the sailing club! They were having their Wednesday evening ‘race’, where they all pile out of the marina like bumble bees (I missed that part) – go race, then come sailing back into this tiny part of the harbor. Wow – crazy mayhem!
There were several sayings that were prominent at the USNA, besides “Beat Army”. One was “Don’t Give Up the Ship!” which is a favorite motto of the United States Navy. These were the dying words of Commander James Lawrence during a battle in the War of 1812. Another one is “Return with Honor”. This was on the gates as you leave the Academy grounds, and I saw it in other places too. Goods words. The way I see it, to return with honor, no matter when or how that ‘return’ happens, one must LIVE with honor. Good words indeed.
I’m really glad we stopped in Annapolis. It has been one of my favorites.
Day 71: Should we go to Annapolis?
5/22/18: Our plan was to go back west across the Chesapeake to Annapolis. (Yes – I have us zigzagging our way back and forth across the bay as we move north.) Way back when we were in Crisfield, we were told that Annapolis would be crazy with the United States Naval Academy commencement week. There would be the Blue Angels, and even President Trump was speaking, so there would be lots of extra security around. We even told other people that this might not be the week to go to Annapolis. What were we thinking? The day started out overcast and feeling very much like Seattle weather. Anchor Goddess Karen got up on the bow with the wiener dog hose to wash down the VERY muddy anchor chain, one foot at a time as it came up. That is a very long process, but so thankful for the washdown! Without it, our whole anchor cubby would be full of mud! And away we go! Because we had come to St. Michaels via the “backdoor”, we had to go south before we could go north. There was just a breeze from the south today, so it wasn’t an unpleasant ride.
