Thurs. May 22     0630/1300

51 miles        Solomons, MD to Annapolis, MD

Our day started out a little foggy but there was still a good 5 mile visibility and that burned off after an hour. The bay was very friendly again today with very light winds and flat water. After passing by 2 more lighthouses (if you haven’t guessed by know we love lighthouses) and seeing several large ships we pulled into Annapolis MD and tied to a mooring ball.

Cove Point Light.

 

 Thomas Point Light.

 

 Fuel/Oil off loading rig.

 

 Just outside Annapolis there was a giant parking lot for ships.

 

We took the dinghy to shore, took a ride on a touring trolley and walked around for awhile. About 4:00 pm it started to cloud over (so much for that 20% chance of rain from the weatherman), so we stopped at a bar for a drink to wait out the rain. We no sooner pulled up a seat and a tornado warning was issued till 5:15 pm. It got really dark and there was a good soaking of rain for the next hour, than the sun came back out. PHEW!!! No tornado.

Annapolis MD

 

 The mooring field we are in.

 

  Main Street looking down hill to the waterfront.

 

The Capital building.

 

Wed. May 21     0650/1150

39 miles        Little Wicomico River, VA to Solomons, MD

Not long after getting back into the Chesapeake Bay from our anchorage we passed the Potomac River. Now that is one wide river where it meets the Bay. It took us an hour to get past it. The winds were very light again today and we only had 1’ rollers pushing us from behind.

Point No Point Light

Passed near a Navy base and saw this Blimp.

 

Our anchorage for tonight is in Solomons MD. Solomons, once a fishing, crabbing, oystering, and boatbuilding center was discovered by the boating crowd in the late 1970’s. In a short span of years, what was once a rugged fisheries village had been turned into a modern yachting center. Even so, as you approach this once isolated town you still get the old days feeling because a lot of the small town look is intact.

Solomons MD

 Our anchorage.

 

 

Mon. May 19

0 miles        Mobjack Bay, VA

The winds stayed out of the north so we decided to stay put in this nice calm, quite anchorage. There was a park near by with a floating dock so we took the dinghy over. This park is used by the area school rowing teams to keep there boats to practice. We met a lady (Linda) that was in charge of the park and she said it was OK to tie up the dinghy and go for a walk. 2 ½ miles later we came into the town of Matthews, VA. A quaint little town with a historic Courthouse Square which included a court house, jail, and clerk’s office built in 1792 which was turned into a park. Right on Main Street was a family owned restaurant complete with an original soda fountain. While eating lunch we watched I Love Lucy on a big screen TV. After eating our lunch Randy realized he did not have a credit card or enough cash to pay for our meal. Very embarrassing! The owner was very gracious when we explained our predicament and let us leave Randy’s ID so we could walk back to the boat and come back later with money. Linda was still at the park when we got back there and she gave us a ride back to the restaurant so our bill could be paid.

 

Tues. May 20     0640/1340

58 miles     Mobjack Bay VA to Little Wicomico River VA

The winds slowed down and changed direction coming out of the west instead of the north. Since we are headed north it was a good time to move on leaving the land to block most of the wind. The water was much nicer to us today with the waves only 1-2 feet.

New Point Comfort light. Marking Mobjack Bay entrance.

10th oldest lighthouse in the US.

 

 Smithpoint light. In the Chesapeake Bay marking the mouth of the Potomac River.

 

 Entrance to Little Wicomico River.

 

 Our anchorage for the night.

 

 

 

Sun. May 18      0830/1300

 36 miles       Norfolk, VA to Mobjack Bay, VA

Last night the marina next to us had a party which we were invited to. Several pigs were slow roasted all day. All we needed to bring was a dish to pass. The festivities included “Colors” (raising of the American flag), the national anthem, a Virginian Senator spoke, music, and burning of socks. Yes that’s right burning of socks. This tradition began with Capt. Turner in Annapolis in 1980. He spent winters working on OPBs – “other peoples' boats".  At winter's end, he would end up with socks with a variety of debris and dried varnishes and fiberglass goop. One day, which happened to be the Spring equinox, he shed his socks, headed out onto the pier with a paint-roller tray, put the socks in, doused them with lighter fluid, and tossed in a match. To this day near the start of Spring, east coast boating groups honor this tradition.

This morning we left the marina with a forecasted 10 mph winds. Wrong!!!! A couple of hours into our cruise the wind picked up and the waves started building to 6-8 feet straight at us. The charts came out and we found another anchorage closer to us to get off the Chesapeake. We pulled into Mobjack Bay then up East River about a mile to anchor. The anchorage is well protected from the wind and very quite.

Anchorage in East River.

 

 

Fri. May 16 – Sat. May 17

0 miles       Cobbs Marina Norfolk, VA

All Thursday night through Friday morning the wind howled and the rain came down. A fellow Looper had a rain gauge which showed a little over 3”. It was a good time to be nice and snug tied to a dock. Friday afternoon the clouds cleared away and the sun came out so we could get out for walk. There isn’t much to see around this area. The marina is a working one so there are a lot of boats pulled out being worked on. (thank goodness ours isn’t one of them this time)

Saturday we stayed put waiting for the water in the Chesapeake to lay down more. The waves were up to 4-6 feet with a very short chop. It’s great not being on a time schedule so we don’t have to take the boat out and get her and us beat up in bigger waves. (retirement is wonderful) Tomorrow morning we will start making our way north in the Chesapeake and find some anchorages as we go.

Cobbs marina.

 

Thurs. May 15    0736/1530  

51 miles       Dismal Swamp Visitor Center, NC to Norfolk, VA

The morning started off slow and low key cruising through the rest of the Dismal Swamp Canal. The air was filled with the scent of honeysuckle which lined the banks along with a lot of other blooming flowers. Shortly before noon we came to the lock at the north end of the canal.
 

All 29 miles of the Dismal Swamp canal are this narrow. (thank goodness we

didn't meet any south bound traffic or we would have been touching the trees)

 

Honeysuckle.

 

Tulip Tree (I still got to see tulips in May).

 

Hand pulled ferry.

 

 Deep Creek Lock

 

 Once through the lock the water way got wider and busier. Just before coming into downtown Norfolk a small Navy boat called us on the radio to request that we stay on the far right of the waterway till 3 other Navy vessels passed us.

Aircraft carrier in dry dock.

 

 Norfolk VA

 

 Container ship heading out.

 

 Container ship being loaded.

 

 Navy ship yard.

Wed. May 14    0730/1240  

23 miles       Elizabeth City, NC to Dismal Swamp Visitor Center, NC

Sunny, 85 degrees, and light wind. We left Elizabeth City with 3 other boats all headed for the Great Dismal Swamp. (it’s neither dismal nor dreary) It’s only dismal because European settlers called swamps “dismals,” hence the name. George Washington helped form the Dismal Swamp Land Co., the first commercial enterprise in the swamp. In the 1760’s slaves dug the canals to drain the area for agriculture.  The canal, finished in 1805, makes it the oldest man-made waterway in the U.S. This canal runs for 29 miles and has a lock at both ends. Coming from the south we locked up 10 foot. Half way through is a Visitor Center/State Park with a free dock to tie up to. We will spend the night here.

The waterway had a lot of curves to get around and very narrow.

 

 Several tree snags along the way.

 

 One lock to get thru. (10 foot lift)

 

 Just after the lock the canal was residential.

 

 This bridge was 1/2 mile from the lock. The lock master was also the bridge tender.

 

 Long and straight, you can see for ever it seems.

Pedestrian bridge right before the visitor center docks.

 

 

 The State Park by the Visitor Center has hiking and boardwalk trails.

There are about 5 miles of bike trails.