Halloween

Halloween

Saturday October 31 2020

Like many holidays, Halloween seems to change with your age.  When I was a little kid Halloween was all about the candy.  When I was somewhat older the excitement was all about walking around in the dark and getting scared by other kids or creepy sounds or fake cobwebs hanging from the trees.  The other day, we were talking to my brother about guidelines for Halloween during the pandemic.  He was saying that candy had to be placed into individual bags and left out on a porch or deck (during daylight) so as to have no contact with the children.  The upshot was that Halloween was now a great pain in the neck. Even without the pandemic, at a certain age, it doesn’t seem to have the charm it once did.

Tonight is also the “blue moon”—second full moon in October.  As well, this is the last day of daylight savings time.  This transition back to standard time is not one that I welcome.  Already it seems that the evenings are drawing in very noticeably.  To think that tomorrow it will be dark an hour earlier isn’t appealing.  Also it’s another reminder that winter is on the way.  The temperature alone has been a sharp reminder of that.  Just two days ago, it was 84 degrees here in Norfolk when the remnants of Hurricane Zeta came through.  Tonight the temperature is predicted to hit 39 degrees.  Brr!  

Gloria

36 49.891 N, 76 17.764 W

The mighty USS Wisconsin, now permanently docked in Norfolk as a museum. I have spent time photographing this ship every time I've been in Norfolk - it's awesome!

Norfolk has many impressive glass buildings that provide great opportunity for abstract images. These are a selection of  photographs that I took this afternoon ...

As above ...

As above ...

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As above ...

Proper Propane Protocols Prevent Piss Poor Performance

Proper Propane Protocols Prevent Piss Poor Performance

Friday 30 October 2020

Today was propane day, postponed from yesterday due to high winds. The closest place to refill a propane tank is 5 miles from the marina. Uber won’t carry propane tanks so it was out with the bicycle. The tank fitted perfectly in my backpack and off I pedaled on one of our folding bikes. I knew they were strict about tank documentation but I was surprised by how rigorously they enforce this in Virginia. Tanks are good for 12 years before they need re-certification. Ours date back 20 years but are in good condition and were visually inspected in 2017 and re-certified for a further 5 years. I arrived at the UHaul location and asked for a propane refill. “No problem – are they regular tanks?” “They are aluminum marine tanks” I replied. “We can’t fill aluminum tanks” They responded. I pulled out our tank and showed it to them, changing tack to let them know it was made of corrosion resistant metal. “No problem”. They then proceeded to photograph my re-certification sticker before eventually filling the tank, which was a great relief. The cycle back to the boat felt good, even if my bag was 10 lb heavier. We carry three of these tanks and each one seems to last about a month. The one we are using now looks like it’s on it’s last legs so if we finish that in the next two days I might do a second bike trip.

This afternoon we finished up a few more jobs including laundering our warm clothes and foul weather gear. Gloria even found time to do a little sewing.

Whilst it is colder today with a northerly wind it’s nothing compared to New England. Rod sent pictures showing us the 4 inches of snow they got in Rhode Island. Time to go south!

Mike

36 49.891 N, 76 17.764 W

A Fresnel lens from the former light on Hog Island (outer banks of DelMarVa peninsula) now exhibited on the waterfront in Portsmouth. Photographed at night

The same Fresnel lens photographed whilst rotating the camera on a long (10s) exposure

Our dock at Ocean Yacht Marina

What comes after Zeta?

What comes after Zeta?

Thursday October 29th 2020

Now that we are deep into the Greek alphabet in terms of tropical storms/hurricanes, I realized that I had no idea what came after epsilon.  In a typical display of idleness, I did nothing until I started hearing about Hurricane Zeta.  Clearly there could be more storms to come and what would they be called?  After zeta come eta, theta and iota.  If we need more than that, I’ll look it up again.  From various math and science courses, most of these Greek letters are familiar.  As for the order, is that not the purpose of the interwebs?

The day started calmly enough with showers and laundry.  Then lunch outdoors at a Thai restaurant revealed that the weather was starting to change.  The signs at the doorway were trying to take flight.  We quickly walked back to the boat... A little cleaning and housekeeping occupied us while the wind became more fierce and the rain started.  Probably it is better to be busy than to be staring at the output from the wind instrument.  That’s typically how I spend any bad weather intervals.  It does seem mad even to me, but once that display is up, I’m mesmerized or is that paralyzed with fear...

Once the rain had ended, Mike decided to take a walk to the local liquor store.  Much to his dismay, it did NOT sell beer or wine!  Thus, he was forced to walk out to the Food Lion for the second time in two days.  (Mike prefers to call it the Lion King but I thought most people would find that pretty confusing).  There is usually no problem with walking to the grocery store, it’s the walk back that’s the killer.  Today was no exception.  I have a feeling there will be another trip or two to the ‘Food Lion King’ before we leave Portsmouth.  

Gloria

36 49.891 N, 76 17.764 W

Portsmouth Town Dock and ferry terminal

Reflections - An abstract crop of the photo above

Reflections - (telephoto shot)

Stainless steel fence along the Elizabeth River boardwalk, Portsmouth

The American flag and moon - a reminder that we sent off our ballots today and you should vote too ... unless you planned to vote for the incumbent malignant shit-funnel in which case don't bother!

Happy Birthday Gloria!

Happy Birthday Gloria!

Wednesday 28th October 2020

As many of you know, Gloria is fantastic. Today is her birthday and we planned to get to Norfolk / Portsmouth, VA so that she could have a fun day, working on her sewing projects. Of course it didn’t exactly turn out like that. I like to tell Gloria she’s the luckiest girl in the world (seriously, I have no idea why she puts up with me). How many people get the opportunity to filter diesel fuel straight after breakfast on their birthday? To her great credit I didn’t hear a single complaint. 

We were able to use our home-built fuel polishing kit to suck out some gunk from the main tank and return the clean filtered fuel. In all honesty, it didn’t look too bad and we still think we are winning in our battle to clean up our fuel system. Not all of the inside of the tanks are accessible from the inspection ports because of baffles designed to minimize sloshing. So in numerous past efforts to drain and clean the tanks we may not have gotten rid off all of the crud stuck to the walls. During our recent bumpy passages (e.g. New York – Delaware Bay) we probably shook loose some dirt, which then got shaken up and sucked into our fuel lines when we got bounced by the wake of the passing cargo ship. Our in-line filters (water separator and fuel filter) would easily remove it, but they don’t get the chance because these clots block the ¼ inch hose before ever getting to the filters, which in turn requires us to literally blow down the pipe to clear it. Anyway we did what we could with the tanks and then went into Ocean Yacht Marina, filled up with fresh diesel and moved onto a slip. Tomorrow we’ll make more effort to try and clean the hoses themselves. 

This afternoon we took a wander through Portsmouth to the local supermarket and picked up some much needed groceries. You might be shocked (as I was) to realize that we finished the last of our beer! We were also out of milk and vegetables, but they rank as lower priority. As you will have gathered Gloria never did get any time to work on her quilting. However, she did get an awesome birthday dinner. Popcorn (lots of it) followed by homemade lemon cake and cherry compote, whilst we watched “The Queens Gambit” on Netflix.

p.s. It turns out that it’s about 550 miles as the crow flies from Somes Sound, ME, our most northern point this year, to Norfolk, VA. A similar distance southwards would put us in Jacksonville, FL.

Mike

36 49.891 N, 76 17.764 W

Looking across the Elizabeth River from Ocean yacht Marina. There is an incredible Naval presence in this area. Naval dockyards and warships are everywhere.

The view across to Norfolk from our marina on the Portsmouth side of the river. 

Dark, Handsome Hitchhiker

Dark, Handsome Hitchhiker

Tuesday October 27, 2020

He picked us out and we decided to take him along.  It’s hard to refuse such a handsome guy.  At first he was pretty subdued, but after a while he inspected nearly every portion of the boat.  He ate quite a bit, drank a little.  Then he left us without even a thank-you (but not before Mike managed to get a photo).  That’s the way it goes some days.  

We had an early start, hoisting the anchor by 7:30 am (my usual wake-up time).  The morning was gloomy with –you guessed it—FOG. However, the weather forecast told us that the fog would be gone by 9 am, so no worries.  The wind was very light and mostly astern of us leading to an apparent wind of 0 knots most of the day.  Our objective was Norfolk, a pretty long way from Deltaville.  Out first leg of the journey was to the Thimble shoal that can be considered the end of the Chesapeake Bay.  From there you need to cross the shipping lanes and follow along the channel into Norfolk. Don’t forget to keep 500 ft. away from any Naval vessel!  

Everything was going smashingly until we got to the shipping channel.  A gigantic container ship (MSC Athens) was making 18 kts toward us and we weren’t certain that we could get across before it bore down on us.  So we stayed on the north side of the channel until it had passed our location.  Then we made haste to cross its wake and the channel before the next somewhat less gigantic container ship approached.  We made it to the south side of the channel to be greeted by a speeding powerboat—more wake.  Then came the wake of the second container ship.  After a few moments, the engine died.  Mike did his thing with switching the fuel separator—no restart. Then he tried replacing the engine fuel filter.  A restart lasted only a minute or two.  Then he was disconnected the fuel hose and attempted to blow gunk out of the line—not a fix. Then he tried a second aspiration of the fuel hose and a switch to the forward fuel tank. Finally the engine started and stayed running.  We began to motor along.  Our route now approached the Navy docks, where stopping is frowned upon to say the least and an aircraft carrier was leaving the dock! All the while we were sweating, thinking that the engine might conk out again.  Finally, we got to hospital point and threw down the hook.  Strange how a day that started out with so many peaceful hours became quite stressful in a hurry. 

We don’t know exactly what caused the engine problems but suspect a tar-like lump blocking the fuel lines. This was a common problem on our 2017-8 trip but we thought we had solved it by cleaning the  tanks and repeatedly “polishing” the fuel. We’ll investigate tomorrow and get back to you.

Gloria

36 50.660 N, 76 17.960 W

Our "dark, handsome hitchhiker" - a very tired red wing blackbird

He stayed with us for about two hours, gradually gaining more strength. Eventually he flew up to the mast, appeared to catch site of land through the mist and took off. He came back 10 minutes later but didn't stay long on his second visit

The MSC Athens, close to 1000 ft long and doing 18 knots on the channel into Norfolk. If you look at the photo carefully you will see a sailing yacht, a similar size to us, off the bow. maybe that gives you a sense of how humungous these ships are.

We crossed the channel behind MSC Athens and about 3 miles (10 minutes) ahead of a second similar sized ship. Note the foam from wake of MSC Athens and the hideous billowing smog on the downwind side. 

The Norfolk skyline from our anchorage off Hospital Point.

Simple Pleasures

Simple Pleasures

Monday 26th October 2020

Today we made a short 20-mile hop down the west side of Chesapeake Bay to a harbor called Deltaville up the Piankatank River. Our foul weather gear was still damp from yesterday’s rain and it was foggy when we got up, so we weren’t in that much of a hurry to get going. However, the rain had stopped, the winds and seas were lighter and we enjoyed our leisurely four-hour passage. On route we saw brown Pelicans and common loons and not much else in the mist. When we arrived at Deltaville the fog had mostly cleared, the sun was trying to break through and we were delighted to get out of our foul-weather gear and lay it out in the cockpit to dry. We opened every hatch in the boat to try and clear the dampness inside and we both took showers. I have to tell you it was only the garden pump-sprayer, but the water was hot and it felt marvelous. On route we had snacked on chips and hot sauce, but by mid afternoon we were starving. I cooked up some chicken tikka marsala, with green beans and white rice and we ate in the cockpit, watching other boats arrive. There were only a couple of boats here when we dropped anchor but now there are maybe a dozen, some of which we have seen previously during our trip down the Bay.

As I write this, the anchorage is peaceful and attractive (in a misty sort of way) and the water is totally flat. We’ll sleep well tonight, but have to be up early as we plan to go all the way to Norfolk.

Mike

37 32.216 N, 76 20.290 W

The sailing schooner "Brigantijne" on route to Deltaville

Drying foul-weather gear in the cockpit

Cozy down inside the Cabin in the evening. Photo shot from by the stove in the galley, the main cabin area is behind the "fruit sling", nav-station where the lights of the electrical panel are showing. It's not spacious below and it's hard to find a good angle for a clear shot!

Winds from the North East

Winds from the North East

Sunday October 25, 2020

As it turns out, winds from the north-east help us to get southward along Chesapeake Bay. In weather terms, northerly winds are usually part of a cold front.  That means cold temperatures, rain and strong winds.  That was today’s picture.  We left the protected anchorage at Solomon’s Island despite the small craft advisory.  The theory was that once we were into the bay proper, we would be on a broad reach and the forecasted winds (10-15 gusting 20) would be no problem.  There was the small issue of the transit to the “bay proper”.  Let’s say the first part was a bit gnarly...

We were moving along nicely for the first couple of hours and decided that we should try for the forty-mile destination rather than the anchorage at the northern side of the Potomac (only twenty miles). The wind was actually pretty steady at 15-20 knots, which is perfect for Cotinga on a “broad-reach” (wind 45o off the stern). Once the decision was made, it started to rain.  Showers, heavy at times, might be the terms the national weather service would use to describe it.  I might choose some more colorful language. At this point, Mike wrapped himself in the tarp that we use to store the dinghy when it’s not inflated.  Something tells me that his foul weather gear isn’t what it once was! 

In a similar way to the starting section, the portion of our trip between the “bay proper” and the new anchorage had its excitement.  Suddenly we were taking the wind and waves on the beam. The wind piped up to 23knots with lashing of rain to complete the picture.  After six hours we were anchored in the Wicomico River (I am not clever enough to make these names up).  The boat is festooned with wet gear but we are very happy to be here. 

Gloria

37 49.780 N, 76 18.050 W  

No photos today - just a short video of sailing in the rain. The wind was 15-20 knots and seas 3-4 feet but you really don't get much sense of the seas. We covered 40 nautical miles in six and a half hours.

The ongoing fuel saga

The ongoing fuel saga

Saturday 24th October 2020

This morning I did a routine check on the engine systems only to find the active water separator on the fuel line was full of water … again. We have two fuel tanks and used the main tank all the way from New York to Annapolis in very bumpy conditions with no issues – so we are confident the main tank is clean. But we switched to running off the forward tank on leaving Annapolis and after a few days of light non-bumpy use we have sucked up 50-100 ml of water into the separator. The conclusion is that water must be leaking into the forward tank. I replaced the gasket on the fill pipe cover when we were at anchor in the Delaware River, but this might have been a step too late as we took a lot of seawater over the foredeck on the previous passage. We filled our three jerry cans with diesel here in Soloman’s Island and added that to our main tank and our plan is to run on that until we reach Portsmouth, VA in a few days time. Then we’ll “polish” (filter) the fuel in the forward tank, once again, to remove residual water and re-double our efforts to make sure that it stays dry. Other than the fill cap it’s really hard to imagine where the water might be getting in, but until we solve that it will continue to be a problem. 

Whilst pouring the diesel into the main tank I leant against the lifeline and “ping”, the so-called “Gate Eye” attachment fell off and the line collapsed. Luckily I didn’t fall into the water, but of course the attachment did. It appears that it simply came unscrewed and it shows that we are not checking our rigging / lifelines carefully enough. This could have happened out at sea with disastrous consequences. We have rigged up a temporary line and will order a replacement part as soon as possible. 

It is never boring living on a boat.

Mike

38 19.709 N, 76 27.072 W

White Fence of the boardwalk on the Patuxent River, Solomon's Island, MD

Old corrugated iron barn - Solomon's Island, MD

Fog observations

Fog observations

Friday October 23, 2020

I’d like to share with you my fog-observations.  These are necessarily quite limited.  First, it’s annoying to have to keep wiping the condensation off your glasses. As an aside—how does the moisture get on the inner surface of the lens? Second, people chose to go out fishing in the fog.  That seems odd.  Third, it seems that no one gives fog signals as they should.  Do they not know the rules or not see the need?  Forth, motoring in the fog is not a lot of fun.

There were a few breaks in the fog for which we were grateful. There was nearly an hour of pretty good visibility before noon.  Then the fog closed back. Just as we approached Solomon’s Island the fog cleared again.  Once we were anchored, the sun came out!  That was lovely. 

We heard the Coast Guard repeatedly calling a vessel-”Summer Solstice” this afternoon.  It seemed somewhat unusual to us.  After a while a different vessel hailed the Coast Guard to report hearing a distress call from a vessel.  The Coast Guard replied that they had also heard that distress call (presumably that was “Summer Solstice”).  It’s unsettling to be out on the water and imagine others boaters in peril. Later we heard a Pan, Pan, Pan call but no location information was given.  This did prompt us to figure out how to get Channel 22A on our VHF *.  This is the Coast Guard’s preferred channel for informational broadcasts.  Previously we could never get this channel!

(* For those who are interested we needed to switch from the International to the USA pre-set channels)

Gloria

38 19.709 N, 76 27.072 W

Fisherman in the fog - Tred Avon River, Oxford, MD

Incredible mackerel sky sunset at Solomons island

Incredible mackerel sky sunset at Solomons island - telephoto

Oxford Rocks

Oxford Rocks

Thursday 22nd October

I should start by saying I’m a Cambridge man, so not necessarily predisposed to think that highly of a place called Oxford. But I have to say Oxford, MD is terrific! We have had a great time here, no doubt helped by the absence of any wind or clouds and the 75oF temperatures. It has simply been the most beautiful day. 

First let me tell you about Trace. Yesterday in the late afternoon we were in the main cabin of the boat when Gloria heard splashing outside. We went outside to find a gentleman swimming next to the boat. Please note that it is now the third week in October! Anyway, we got chatting to an interesting man called Trace and whilst we relaxed in the cockpit and he treaded water for ten minutes we exchanged stories. Trace is a Hebrew / Greek scholar who couldn’t find employment so turned to Latin (naturally) and then taught for many years at Georgetown Prep school. He then decided to learn Chinese and I think now runs a business using his Chinese language skills. Of more note, these skills lead him to a relationship with a lady originating from Taiwan who just got engaged to. It was just great talking to him.

Today we rowed the dinghy ashore and spent a couple of hours wandering around Oxford. As claimed it is a beautiful quaint village. It has along history that dates back to long before the American Revolution / war of Independence and to us it seems more reminiscent of New England than old England. The village is almost surrounded by water on all sides with the Tred Avon River on one side and a small creek on the other. As sea level rises over the coming years we wonder how much of the property could be vulnerable to flooding. There’s not much in the way of facilities – one grocery store, two restaurants, four churches and maybe fifty Biden/Harris posters. That should tell you all you really need to know!

This evening we rowed back to shore to have dinner on the veranda of  the Oxford Inn. This turned out to be an exceptional meal in beautiful surroundings. Gloria had a garden salad with goat cheese, cranberries, squash and pumpkin seeds followed by sautéed scallops on sweet potato mash with leeks and a bacon balsamic vinaigrette. I had avocado tempura with leafy greens and Crab cakes as my main course. One review in “Active Captain” said these were the best crab cakes in Maryland and whilst no expert, I wouldn’t disagree. I do consider myself a connoisseur of sticky toffee pudding and the dessert that Gloria and I shared was top notch. We finished off the evening rowing back to Cotinga on mirror glass seas with a beautiful sunset as a backdrop … and Gloria did the rowing! 

Mike

38 41.734 N, 76 10.315 W

The Tred Avon River - foggy morning off Oxford

Tred Avon River - water like glass - our neighbors in the anchorage off Oxford

One of the many delightful houses in Oxford

The veranda at the Oxford Inn - an excellent restaurant

Amazing Scallops (iPhone)

Outstanding crab cakes (iPhone)

Sailing in Fog

Sailing in Fog

Wednesday October 21, 2020

It was foggy when we got up this morning—more or less as expected.  Then it started to rain heavily—not as expected.  What’s with weather forecasting these days?

We set off with Oxford as our destination.  When we got into the deeper waters of the bay we could see the ghostly outlines of a large vessel.  As we got closer we could see that there were about 6 large vessels in the channel.  Most of these turned out to be anchored but it wasn’t always easy to tell.  Because there was wind we started to sail.  The direction of the wind was pretty unfavorable—directly out of the south.  Of course, that’s where we needed to go, so we were forced to tack back and forth down the bay.  It seemed to me that as the wind speed picked up, the boat went faster but the fog got thicker.  When the wind went light, the boat slowed down but the fog became less dense.  It’s possible that I was imagining all this.  Staring into the fog can do some weird things to your thinking... 

Eventually, the wind went so light that we weren’t making any reasonable progress.  So it was back to motor-sailing.  Each time the wind strengthened, we tried to sail but it never lasted long.  After six and a half hours of travel, we are anchored off Oxford in a river called the Tred Avon (a tributary of the Choptank River).

The most notable occurrence was that Mike noticed on the AIS system a vessel about a mile ahead of us called ‘Galileo’.  (It wasn’t actually visible in the fog). Based on its width, he reckoned that it was a catamaran.  Further, it seemed likely that this was the ‘Galileo’ that had been part of the 2017 Caribbean 1500 Rally.  We spoke to them on the radio and indeed it was the same boat.  However VHF communication wasn’t good enough to have much of a conversation with them – we aren’t sure why.  Another example of “bumping into” boaters you have met before (hopefully not in a literal sense).  

Gloria

38 41.734 N, 76 10.315 W

Dinner in the cockpit - red snapper, savory rice and broccoli. Anchored off Oxford, MD

"Moon and three clouds" - a triple overlay of three photos of a sunset lit cloud passing the moon

Meeting other sailors

Meeting other sailors

Tuesday 20th October 2020

Our interactions with other people have been very limited on this trip so far because of Covid-19. However, this morning we got talking to another boating couple as we all waited for our laundry to finish. Jack and Janet are true salty dogs and have been all round the world. They shared stories of their favorite places and some of the challenges they have faced as full-time live aboard cruisers. In particular they have had to deal with a number of medical issues and have hooked up with health care services all over the world to solve them. Jack broke his hip, maybe in the Caribbean (?), and was airlifted to Miami where it was pinned. This summer the pins broke and he had to have a hip replacement in Newport, RI. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, he dislocated the same hip whilst in Cape May and had to be taken off the boat by the coast guard. Both Janet and Jack have had knee replacements and I believe that Janet travelled to Singapore to get that done. Whilst in Darwin, Australia, Janet found out from some routine tests that she had cancer and they spent 18 months there whilst undergoing treatment. Despite these challenges they remain incredibly enthusiastic about the sailing life and with the exception of Covid limitations, seem to have no intention of slowing down. Their plans for this season are to get their boat “Anthem” down to Trindad so that they can haul out and do some repairs and re-paint the topsides. They seem like lovely people and we hope we bump into them again on our travels.

If Covid stops travels beyond the USA this winter, which seems quite likely, we have been wondering whether an option for us might be to sail down to Grenada in the late spring and leave the boat there over the hurricane season. Maybe Trinidad is a possibility. It’s just a thought at this stage

Tonight we went out for dinner for the first time in ages. We went to “Prussers Caribbean Grill” and sat outside on the dock overlooking the harbor. It is so nice to go out for a meal!

Mike

38 58.557 N, 76 28.932 W

Annapolis Harbor ~ 6.45 am on a misty Tuesday morning

The Annapolis Naval Academy in the early morning ... not sure why everything has to be lit up by flood lights!

This is a picture of a hibiscus flower that I took yesterday. It's created by merging multiple images as you move the focal point (focus stacking). In this case, partly because the wind was blowing the flower and partly because there are multiple crossing lines, it was difficult process (for the computer) to stack the images well and there were many errors. It took me several hours of work to edit this image but I'm happy with the result.

Hibiscus bud - again taken yesterday but requiring significant editing because I didn't take enough "slices" to complete the stacking process throughout the whole bud.

First shower in 11 weeks

First shower in 11 weeks

Monday October 19, 2020

A more accurate statement would be the first shower with running water in 11 weeks.  It was marvelous!

The morning was very still when we set off from the Magothy River.  We motored out of the anchorage and then out into the bay.  The Bay Bridge loomed as we made our way southward.  We saw two large vessels one coming up toward the bridge.  The much larger one seemed to be headed south. We eventually turned into the Severn River and met a Navy vessel emerging into the bay.  I decided it wasn’t a good idea to wave at them!  We turned into the harbor of Annapolis and picked up a town mooring.  When we were here in 2012 the mooring field had a size limit of 45 feet.  That was how we came to anchor in Weems creek further up the Severn.  Now, happily, the moorings can accommodate boats up to 55 feet.  Once we had eaten our lunch, we went to shore.

Annapolis is a great place. There are two dinghy docks. The mooring fee provides you access to showers—with hot running water.   In the shower room there are laundry facilities.  Now if there were a grocery store adjacent to the waterfront—the town would be perfect.  We wandered around all afternoon and stopped for a “cup of coffee” that turned into soup and salad.  The dining area was outside the restaurant, right next to the traffic coming up the street.  Still it was a treat to have a meal from a real restaurant

In the morning we will have to tackle the laundry.   

Gloria

38 58.557 N, 76 28.932 W

Chesapeake Bay bridge. If you look very carefully just to the left of the high span on the rear bridge you will see two very brave people working on the top wires. It must be 300 ft up ... thankfully no wind!

Chesapeake Bay bridge 

Lighthouse near Chesapeake Bay Bridge ... This is what UK real estate advertising would call "a perfect double fronted family home in need of minor decoration to suit personal taste", which translated means "a complete wreck with no garden".

"Blue Bicycle" ... we came across this scene in a backyard in Annapolis. We met the owner who said she found the bike abandoned and painted it herself - it looked great!

Pumpkins on a porch

Pretty but Private

Pretty but Private

Sunday 18th October 2020

After moving the past several days we decided to take a break, stay put and have a lazy day. We awoke to a foggy morning just as the sun was starting to break through. It felt cold so we lounged around in the cabin wrapped in our blankets, drinking coffee and reading our books. After a leisurely breakfast we re-inflated and launched the dinghy and took a tour around the area. It’s very pretty round here but essentially everywhere is privately owned so there’s nowhere to go ashore. We pulled up to a local yacht club and were immediately met by the dock-master who politely declined our request to tie up and come ashore for a brief walk around. He cited Covid-19 concerns as the reason but we had the distinct impression that they never let riff-raff like ourselves land at their private club. Nonetheless we enjoyed our dinghy trip and it felt good to be out. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the boat and it was warm enough to eat Sunday lunch out in the cockpit. This evening we watched the Patriots game against the Broncos on NFL Game Pass, which didn’t go so well. They really looked pretty lame. I know they have had a couple of tough weeks with players out with Covid-19 and games and practices cancelled, but if they can’t get their offense going in some way then it’s going to be a painful season. Tomorrow we are going to move on to Annapolis and try and get a mooring in the harbor.

Mike

39 04.836 N, 76 27.663 W

Dobbins Island Anchorage in the early morning - looking west

Dobbins Island Anchorage in the early morning - looking north

Dobbins Island Anchorage in the early morning - looking east

Sunrise over the Magothy River

Horse Hill Farm - Magothy narrows

Horse Hill Farm - Magothy narrows