Day 253: Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Port to Port: Bodkin Creek to Baltimore, Maryland

Underway: 7:50 am      Motor Off: 10:35 pm      Miles Traveled:  17/0     Stayed At: Free Dock

Mile 38 to Mile 38: Our anchorage last night was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. We didn’t want to leave but Baltimore – the Charm City – beckoned. So we raised the anchor and had an easy cruise up river to a free dock at Fells Point where we hope to stay for a few nights if it isn’t too noisy. We only had to dodge a couple of ocean-going ships, a few sprinkles and some lumpy swells. It was lucky we had the GPS coordinates because it was a little hard to find – most of the docks have signs saying “no docking” or “City Dock”. Except for an occasional water taxi stopping to pick up passengers, our free dock seems to be fairly quiet.

While Cindy hung out on the boat I walked a little over a mile to the main harbor and waterfront to check out the other docks and marinas along the way. Marinas are expensive here – someone said one company owns them all so they kind of have a monopoly. At the biggest one downtown it would be $72 a night for us with a 30’ minimum plus $8 a day for electric. You don’t even get free coffee, a nice bed or clean sheets for that. You can even stay right downtown along the seawall where all the action is for $1.50/ft with no amenties but there is no privacy and it is noisy. It might be kind of fun if you were drunk but not if you want to sleep.

We met a group of guys traveling the Chesapeake on a chartered 33’ sailboat. They noticed Aurora parked along the wall while waiting for the water taxi and they were curious about our story. They were very interested in the Great Loop so we traded a few adventures. They were headed over to Fort Henry across the river by water taxi. As they left, one of the guys yelled to Cindy from the taxi, “Hey Mike and Cindy, to infinity and beyond”. That made our day.

After resting a little we both walked back downtown to check out what this town has to offer. The area we are in has some nice old building with some interesting shops and restaurants. Downtown Baltimore looks mostly new with high rises, shopping malls and condos lining the waterfront. I guess 20 years ago this area was really rundown and crime ridden. Now it’s a tourist destination. I like our neighborhood a lot better – it has character and a lot less tourists.

Although we have already started a list of places to eat over the next few days, we had some hamburger we needed to cook so we had a quiet spaghetti dinner with salads on the boat to finish our day. We have no idea what tomorrow will bring but I’m sure it will be an adventure.

Day 252: Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Port to Port: Annapolis, Maryland to Bodkin Creek

Underway: 11:13 am      Motor Off: 3:20 pm      Miles Traveled: 20/16      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile 53 to Mile 38: After a thoroughly enjoyable visit to Annapolis, we reluctantly said goodbye and headed north towards Baltimore. We weren’t in a big rush, though, so we wandered around our little neighborhood one last time. While waiting for Cindy to get ready, I decided to stop at one of the many coffee shops in a three block radius (including a Starbucks). I doubt the one I randomly chose will be around a year from now. Tell me why I should pay a significant premium for a simple cup of coffee when all the clerk does is hand me a cup and points me towards the coffee pots on a table. And is surly. And the place doesn’t even have their own free internet but make you register on the local private Annapolis-wide internet for your free 90 minutes a month. It always surprising how low average can go. Tourist towns are not the place to find exceptional service.

After being here for several days, we finally hopped on the free trolley that allows residents and tourists to easily park their cars in a central ramp and get to the most popular places. It runs on 10 minute intervals which makes it practical and useful – a rare characteristic of public transportation. And the bus driver was really nice and cheery. And we could just wave them down anywhere along the block. What a deal (what took us so long to figure this one out?).

We took the bus from the post office to the end of the line and visited the Annapolis National Cemetery. It was small but immaculately kept with row after row of nearly identical grave markers lined up like soldiers at attention. Most were from the mid 1800’s. Thousands of stories waiting to be told.

We headed out late morning and, except for a few sailboats and a tourist boat or two, the Chesapeake was quiet. It was a sunny but chilly day and became a little choppy for the last hour or so before we turned into Bodkin Creek to find a suitable anchorage for the night. We were soon anchored and enjoying the welcome peace and quiet. We had a big lunch underway (Moe’s burritos from last night) so we just had cereal and yogurt for dinner – too lazy to make spaghetti – planned our short day tomorrow, read a little and called it a day.

Day 251: Monday, May 13, 2013

Port to Port: Annapolis, Maryland

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile 53 to Mile 53: Our tentative plan today was to hit 4 museums before we move on from Annapolis. We only accomplished 50% of our goal (and that was probably a good thing). We returned to the Naval Academy Museum but not before stopping at the Drydock restaurant on campus to try out their French toast and relax a little. This is the nicest place in town to just relax and eat a sandwich or have a snack. I was even able to charge a few devices because there was an outlet under some of the booths. We finished touring the museum – it is in the running for the best museum of the trip so far – an amazing amount of US history presented in interesting and interactive ways. We also toured the Chapel and saw John Paul Jones crypt up close (along with small bunches of local school kids). We will be back some day I hope.

We next headed for the Post Office to pick up a replacement GPS from Dual. They were very helpful and expedited the shipment so we would get it before we left on Tuesday. The new one works as expected.

We were going to go to the National Sailing Hall of Fame but it doesn’t seem to be open – they are supposedly going to build a nice new facility in the near future to house their collection but right now it looks closed.

We struck out again with the Annapolis Maritime Museum – luckily I checked online for information before walking 1.3 miles – they are only open Thursday through Sunday. We just missed it. We were successful in finding the Annapolis Museum through – it tells a little about the history of the town but mostly has displays on slaves who tried to escape slavery and their stories. Interesting but sad stories. It is amazing how human beings can treat other human beings so badly and feel justified in doing so.

We finished the day with another stop at our new favorite restaurant – Moes Southwest Grill. Unbeknownst to us, they have a Monday special – any burrito (with pop and chips) for $5.95. We got two – one for dinner and one for lunch tomorrow. I hope we find a Moe’s somewhere else along our trip.

Day 250: Sunday, May 12, 2013

Port to Port: Annapolis, Maryland

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time we had a car show right behind our boat. (We are definitely right in the middle of the action); First time we got stopped by a lift bridge while walking over it.

To whom it may concern: Happy Mother’s Day

Mile 53 to Mile 53: Did you know that Annapolis has more 18^th century building than anywhere else in the US? Well, it does. But try to find a decent grocery store or good, reasonably priced restaurant and you are out of luck. We spent almost three hours this morning visiting a small and expensive farmers market and trying to find a grocery store within walking distance. 17,000 steps later, we were restocked but unimpressed with our choices.

After returning to the boat, we stowed our groceries, snacked a little and I spent an hour online trying to find a restaurant that caught our fancy. I basically struck out. A lot of the places nearby are pricey and too touristy for our taste. We ended up at Buddy’s Crab and Ribs by default (mistake number one). It was busy with the Mom’s day crowd – they still had breakfast buffet stuff out at 3:30 pm (not a good sign) – and we had to wait awhile for a table. We got a nice window seat but that was pure luck. Why do we get so frustrated with restaurants – especially in tourist areas? They don’t have to worry about repeat customers as much as other places. Our waitress was slow and didn’t know the price of a margarita. We ordered a fried chicken sandwich and a hamburger and didn’t get our order until after two other couples who ordered after us. We got a bland, grilled, unimpressive chicken sandwich and a decent hamburger. We had no silverware. We didn’t want to wait for a re-grill order. The fries were nothing special. The margarita was okay but the bill said it was $9 not $7.50. The waitress did take the grilled sandwich off the bill but it was still a disappointing experience. The only good thing was we didn’t spend $70 for a bad experience. To top off our lunch excursion, a duck was sitting on my cheap sandals in the cockpit when we got back – how cute – and then pooped on the seat at he flew away. It was one of those days.

That’s pretty much it for today. We are heading north on Tuesday – probably to a nice quiet anchorage somewhere on the way to Baltimore. Tomorrow, we have to finish our tour of the Naval Academy and visit the Maritime Museum a couple blocks for the boat. Tomorrow is another day.

Day 249: Saturday, May 11, 2013

Port to Port: Annapolis, Maryland

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: We passed our Power Squadron boat safety check with flying colors (finally).

Mile 53 to Mile 53: Even though there was a chance of rain and thunderstorms today, we decided to ignore the weather report and start our tour of Annapolis. This is how our day went.

1.  Woke up early (starting to become habit forming)
2.  Headed to the highly recommended Chick and Ruth’s Delly (really spelled that way) – for breakfast (a great experience but Al’s Breakfast is still the best).
3.  Wandered to the Capital building on a nearby hilltop for an impromtu tour.
4.  Stopped at a 7-Eleven for morning coffee and bag of ice.
5.  Got info and maps at visitors center.
6.  Visited some of the neat shops along mainstreet.
7.  Wandered around the community information fair at the waterfront.
8.  Toured the privateer, the “Pride of Baltimore II”.
9.  Scheduled free safety inspection with Power Squadron (in 15 minutes).
10. Went to the boat and made sure we are ready for inspection.
11. Passed our safefy inspection and proudly affixed our nice new sticker on the port side.
12. Chatted with Squardron volunteer about our mutual boating adventures.
13. Wandered over to the Naval Academy campus 10 minutes from the marina. (We spent hours touring the nearly deserted campus – the students are on break before graduation – and enjoyed the peace and serenity).
14. Got information at Naval Academy Visitors Center and watched introductory movie.
15. Wandered by Farragut Field on the waterfront and toured Levy Center and the Jewish Chapel.
16. Stopped at Dahlgren Hall, grapped a slice of pizza at the Drydock Restaurant on campus and viewed a replica of the first navy airplane, built by the Wright Brothers, hanging from the ceiling.
17. Toured Bancroft Hall – the largest dormitory in the US and one of the most amazing places to live for a college student. How many students in the US have rifles in their dorm room closets? (It was nice to see that the top ranked student commander was a woman).
18. Peaked into the Crypt of John Paul Jones.
19. Toured the Naval Academy Museum in Preble Hall for almost two hours and barely scratched the surface (to be continued).
20. Spent a half hour trying to find the store we saw last night selling strawberry smoothies (we finally found it and added a little tequila for instant margaritas).
21. Ate chips and salsa for dinner (again)
22. Worked on blog

23. Did two loads of laundry while watching a nice thunderstorm and downpour scatter tourists in every direction.
24. Chatted with the chef on the Pride of Baltimore II
25. Worked on the blog some more.
26. Went to bed.

How was your day?

Day 248: Friday, May 10, 2013

Port to Port: Solomon’s to Annapolis, Maryland

Underway: 5:56 am      Motor Off: 4:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 53/45      Stayed At: Marina

Mile 97 to Mile 53: Time for some R&R – the last of our long days has gotten us safely to our interim destination – Annapolis, Maryland. Our last travel day was the best of the three – we awoke to calm seas, a beautiful sunrise and another boat parade this morning. Even at 6 am, an interesting mix of cruisers, sailboats and fishing boats all were leaving the harbor for their respective destinations. As usual, by midmorning, we were the last in a long line of boats heading north but we were happy to be out on the Chesapeake on such a beautiful day. Our only “problem” was it got pretty warm without a breeze and a few flies decided to rest on our boat.

Cindy had the honor of manning the tiller most of the day – I worked on other projects since it was so calm and quiet out. Our only excitement was when Boris revved up for a few seconds and quit. Oh-oh? Now what? Well, I had gotten gas when we arrived in the Solomon’s and hadn’t topped off the main tank right after we anchored. We probably only had 2+ gallons when we started out so, thankfully, an easy fill of gas solved that problem and we were off again. It’s always a good reminder of why we have a daily routine – we avoid a lot of potential problems that way. This time we just wallowed for a few minutes on a dead calm bay before we were up and cruising again.

After a long, productive day, we entered the harbor outside Annapolis. I don’t know if you ever get used to this but coming into a new port always has a surprise or two waiting. Reading a chart only gives you a tiny bit of information about what is around the next corner. It looks simple on the chart – just go up the channel, turn left for a little ways, turn right into the harbor and slide into the appropriate slip. What the chart doesn’t tell you is that there are lots of buildings and people along the shoreline; there are 20+ boats swinging at anchor just to your port side; a steady stream of boats of all shapes and sizes are heading out or coming up from behind; you can not see the slip number until you are right in front of it (if you are lucky); the wind is going to pick up just as you enter the trickiest part of the channel; the harbor is only wide enough for two boats to pass right next to each other; the current is working hard to keep you from turning into the slip; there are lots of people watching from the bordering restaurants waiting for you to screw up; and on and on and on….

But we made it safely into our slip, got tied up and were thankful to be done. We finished our normal boat tasks – signed in for a couple of days, filled up the gas tank, scrubbed the decks and cockpit, organized the cabin and took long awaited hot showers. Only after all our projects were done did we get to wander around the historic old downtown. We had amazing nachos and rice at Moe’s – a small Mexican restaurant – stopped in a few shops to look around and avoided buying ice cream, strawberry smoothies, fudge and many other treats we drooled over on our short walkabout. There were lots of people wandering around the waterfront – in fact, it took us almost an hour before we got to head downtown because we kept chatting with random people wandering by – some tourists and others on boats nearby. It looks like Annapolis is going to be a very interesting place to explore. We can’t wait.

Day 247: Thursday, May 9, 2013

Port to Port:  Prentice Creek to Solomons

Underway: 6:32 am      Motor Off: 4:30 pm      Miles Traveled: 52/47     Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time getting us to roosters crowing.

Mile 142 to Mile 97: After the crowing roosters woke us a little before 6 am, we got everything ready and were away by 6:30 am. It looked a little sketchy at first – there was fog inland and low gray clouds overhead. Luckily, the clouds thinned quickly and we were soon enjoying sunshine and white fluffy clouds floating slowly overhead.

Day 2 of our weather window turned out perfect. We motorsailed on a gentle beam reach all day. It was a beautiful day on the Chesapeake.  Like yesterday, a steady stream of powerboats and sailboats quickly or slowly passed us by – mostly way out in the bay. We are staying a little closer to shore than most boats to shorten our route as much as possible.  We crossed over the Potomac River and passed into Maryland at 9:21 am. Another nice milestone.

We found out in an email that our friends on Slow Churn cranked out 100 miles (to our 50) yesterday – they traveled from 6 am to 6:30 pm and were anchored in the Solomons in time to watch “The Voice” on their satellite TV. We hope to get to the Solomons today.

The Chesapeake is big water and we are trying to get north as far as possible before the northerly windows kick back in this weekend. We stopped at a marina in the Solomons to get gas and ice and anchored just a few hundred feet from the dock. We had a favorable current most of the day and a boost from the wind allowing us to relax a little and make a good dinner. We had some buttermilk so pancakes sounded like a good idea. They were amazing (or we could have been really hungry).  We even had some frozen strawberries and Ready Whip. What a nice treat after a long day.

A couple more sailboats anchored nearby and the sunset was beautiful. We relaxed, planned tomorrows route and crashed early again. One more day to Annapolis, Maryland.

Day 246: Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Port to Port: Salt Pond to Prentice Creek

Underway: 6:22 am      Motor Off: 3:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 50.4/47       Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: Saw our first first traps – decrepit looking structures consisting of a line of sticks (probably holding up a net) leading to a net pen which catches the fish. Not much skill in that I guess. They are usually unlit and unmarked on the chart so in bad conditions they could be a serious hazard to navigation; first time having problems with GPS device.

Mile 189 to Mile 142 (Chesapeake Waterway): After a short day yesterday, we started the first of several (we hope) long days to get north farther while our weather window holds.  We had a little wake up call this morning when we left our anchorage and turned on the GPS and it didn’t pick up any satellites right away. In fact, it took 15 minutes before we knew where we were on the chart. We have become complacent and dependent on things working like we expect them to and when they don’t it can get a little dicey. In this case we just followed the channel markers out and I was able to use the GPS on my phone to get our location which I manually plotted on the Ipad. Not ideal, but way better than dead reckoning or guessing. The GPS finally synced up and we were good for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we will turn it on early and see if we can avoid this problem.

Slow Churn passed us again for probably the last time. They are trying to make miles too while the weather is good. Speaking of weather – it’s perfect – sunny, warm (finally) and we even had a nice breeze for half the trip today. Perfect for sailing. We aren’t the only ones traveling – it was another boat parade with lots of boats heading north after waiting for good weather. We were alone again by early afternoon – everyone travels 2+ miles per hour faster than us. Some of the power boats travel at 20 mph or better on plane (and use more fuel in an hour than we use in a day). But the Chesapeake was kind to us today. We are grateful.

Lucky we have a reliable windlass (Cindy), since it took 4 tries to get the anchor to catch in our nice little cove. There are a few houses on the shore but it is completely protected and quiet – just the way we like it. We timed it perfectly since, a little while after getting settled, it started raining and thundering a little. We had sandwiches for dinner, read for a little while and were sleeping by 9 pm. Another long day tomorrow.

Total Miles Traveled: 3,241 miles

Day 245: Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Port to Port: Salt Pond Anchorage

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 18       Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time catching up to and passing a tug/tow; heard and saw our first bell buoy clanging away; met our first navy ship and container while underway (we are tiny in comparison); first time it took 5 tries to get the anchor to set in the right spot.

Mile 0 to Mile 0: The day dawned bright and warm with a moderate breeze from the east. The wind is starting to shift finally. Tomorrow it is expected to be from the south or southeast – perfect for sailing up the Chesapeake. It’s a go to head across the main channel towards Hampton.

  The cruise up the channel was exciting – the ships are big around here and faster than they seem. The channel wasn’t crazy busy – just enough going on to make the time fly by (and Cindy to just about strain her neck from looking all over for moving ships. The best part was passing by a major navy repair area with huge gray ships of all kinds – even aircraft carriers. We were hoping to see a submarine but we weren’t that lucky.

As soon as we poked our heads out into the main channel you could see and feel the long rollers coming in from the Atlantic mixed in with wind driven waves and old waves from the north. We were bobbing pretty good but never got any big spray over the front. We kept going north to a small anchorage in Salt Pond dodging hundreds of crab pots along the way. We tried 5 times before the anchor held but the cove is completely protected and there is a very nice marina only a 5 minute dinghy ride across the channel. Tomorrow, its Deltaville or beyond.

Day 244: Monday, May 6, 2013

Port to Port: Portsmouth, Virginia

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Free Dock

Mile 0 to Mile 0: We are ready to go whenever mother nature cooperates. We are gassed up, charged up, fully provisioned and our course is plotted. This is a beautiful old city and has been an amazing place to visit but we are ready for some new adventures.

After doing a couple of errands, I tried getting some work done at the library using their wifi but, of course, it wasn’t working yet. So I wrote a little, plotted our course and met Cindy, Roger and Dorothy at a Chinese buffet a block away. Wayne and Rhonda on “Help Me Rhonda” also joined us for lunch. They have traveled with Slow Churn many times in the past. It was fun to hear about their many adventures over the years. We ate too much but it was a nice treat before we move on from Portsmouth. I went back to the library to work some more but ended up at McDonalds again to use their free wifi – for the cost of a medium diet Coke.

Cindy had picked up another Redbox movie so we headed over to Slow Churn for a wonderful chicken and mashed potato dinner (we need to put on some more miles again) and one last movie before we say goodbye again. The weather looks great Wednesday through Friday. Tomorrow we plan to make a short 13 mile hop across the channel to Hampton and maybe up the Chesapeake about 5 miles to get started going north – finally. We can only hope.

Day 243: Sunday, May 5, 2013

Port to Port: Portsmouth, Virginia

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled:       Stayed At: Free Dock

Mile 0 to Mile 0: We’re still here. Not that we are complaining. We have everything we need – water, a bathroom nearby, friends to do things with, central heat (when we visit Slow Churn), lots of food and a secure place to tie up. What more could you ask for?

We didn’t visit any museums today. We didn’t take a nap. And we didn’t do any boat projects. We did walk down to McDonalds to have a two-for-one Egg McMuffin and use their internet. We did go to the Food Lion to wander around and get a few essentials and waste some time. We enjoyed visiting with Frank and Juanita from Seaquel (they are at a nearby marina). And, of course, we had a wonderful dinner of homemade chili and Bisquick bisqts with Roger and Dorothy on Slow Churn followed by a movie and dessert. Again, what more could you ask for?

We are getting excited to see Jess and Sarah (and Jake) in a month in New York City. They are flying in for a long weekend to visit us and see the sights. I don’t expect sleep will be high on the agenda. But they are young and have quicker recovery times than we do. One thing we wanted to do was visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island but, surprisingly, they are both closed for repairs after being damaged during Hurricane Sandy. Some of the areas we will be traveling through were heavily damaged during this storm so it will be an eye opening experience to see the power of mother nature first hand.

We are hoping to start moving north on Wednesday – a nice little weather window is hopefully opening up for us and the dozens of other boats looking to start heading up the Chesapeake. We can only wait and see.

Day 242: Saturday, May 4, 2013

Port to Port: Portsmouth, Virginia

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled:       Stayed At: Free Dock

First Things First: First time the dock has been underwater due to higher than usual tides.

Mile 0 to Mile 0: It was a cool, misty and windy morning but we couldn’t just lay around and read all day. It’s the First Saturday in Portsmouth so we wandered downtown with Roger and Dorothy to check out the farmers market and the flea market. We found some homemade dinner rolls and fresh beans to add to our meat loaf dinner tonight. The flea market had some neat old nautical antiques that I may have been tempted to buy in another life but we escaped with our wallets intact.

I have been having issues with my phone – when I try to use the hotspot feature to connect the computer it loses its data connection. That makes it kind of useless. After several phone calls  and a couple hours trying, I find out that somehow they dropped my hotspot service even though I have it on autopay and it took two long calls to get it restarted. We’ll see how long this lasts. I also stopped at the library to get the blog updated and after trying to connect several times find out that their wifi isn’t working either and no one there knows how to reset it. Strike two on technology.

Before dinner, I wandered around the Olde Towne section of Portsmouth to take a few more pictures and by the time I came back, the dock had 2” of water over it caused by a combination of high tides and wind driven water. Makes life interesting. Cindy brought meatloaf, fresh beans and red potatoes over to Slow Churn and Dorothy cooked everything for a wonderful dinner. We watched a Red Box movie – Flight – and said goodnight after another busy day. We are enjoying Portsmouth – especially with Slow Churn here with us – but everyone is getting antsy to move north. Wednesday is looking good so far so we need to just have patience and enjoy each day as it comes.

Day 241: Friday, May 3, 2013

Port to Port:  Portsmouth, Virginia

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Free Dock

First Things First: First time plugging into another boat for shore power to recharge our batteries (thanks Slow Churn).

Mile 0 to Mile 0: The wind is getting worse instead of better so we are stuck until further notice (along with a bunch of other boats). Time to get some errands done. We decided to take a leisurely walk with Roger and Dorothy up to the Food Lion grocery store a little over 2 miles away to restock a few things. We aren’t interested in buying any trinkets or souveniers so the grocery store tends to be our entertainment.

The Old Downtown part of Portsmouth looks pretty healthy and vibrant but as soon as you get to the edge, there are a lot of boarded up businesses and storefronts. This has been a very common problem in almost every city we have visited.

We were going to take naps when we got back to the boat but somehow or another we kept busy with some small projects and before we knew it, it was time to head over to Slow Churn for a spaghetti dinner – we are very grateful to be able to have them here to share special times with.

Click Here: Funky Jazz

We ended the day by joining Roger and Dorothy at the First Friday Concert featuring a band playing Modern Funky Jazz. The evening was cool but the music was hot – it was especially fun seeing how much fun the kids were having dancing to the music. It was a family affair. We timed our stop perfectly – tomorrow is First Saturday Farmers Market and Flea Market. We are probably going to be here until Tuesday or Wednesday waiting for better weather so we might as well enjoy the festivities.

Day 240: Thursday, May 2, 2013

Port to Port: Portsmouth, Virginia

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Free Dock

Mile 0 to Mile 0: After all our fun yesterday, we needed to get some projects done this morning. First on the list is laundry and showers. Luckily, there is a marina a couple blocks north of us so we paid their dinghy dock fee so we could use their showers and laundry room. It pays to get going early – we were there by 7:30 am and the washers were open so we started two loads of laundry and took showers right away. Three more people showed up to do piles of laundry just as our loads were getting done washing so we lucked out – it could have ended up an all day project waiting for an empty machine.

We met another Looper in the laundry room. He and his wife are one hop from being done with their Loop that they started in Norfolk, Virginia last year. They have had a blast. There should be a lot of Loopers in the area since early next week is the Looper Rendevous in Norfolk Virginia. We aren’t going but hopefully we’ll meet some other fellow travelers.

After laundry, I walked to the library to update the blog and do some research on the Chesapeake while Cindy stayed on the boat doing some organizing. The library is also a nice place to recharge some of our electronics, as needed. The less power we use on the boat, the longer we can avoid expensive marinas and stay anchored out.

Just a couple blocks from us is the Portsmouth Lightship and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum. The Lightship was built in 1915 and served for 48 years of the east coast of the US. I had never heard of lightships but these were special boats used to mark channels or important navigation hazards where it was too expensive or difficult to build a permanent lighthouse. They were typically manned by crews 0f 8-15 men 24 hours a day in all kinds of weather. The men worked onsite for 2 months and then had a month off. Most of the time it must have been incredibly boring (especially pre-internet and technology), while at others like in fog or storms, exciting or downright dangerous. The Lightship was closed for renovations but we toured the outside. The Shipyard Museum was one of the best museums we have toured so far. They pack a lot of information into a relatively small space. It explained in detail the maritime history of Portsmouth and Norfolk and how they became home to the oldest and largest naval shipyard.

When we returned to Aurora, we finally had neighbors – our friends on Slow Churn were parked right in front of us – again – and we had a nice reunion visit. We had planned to go to a movie at the Commodore Theatre downtown so we made a date for later. The Commodore is an ornate 1945 Art –Deco theatre set up like a dinner theatre. Everyone sits at a table and orders dinner and snacks using a phone on each table. The murals, decorations and fixtures are all original. I can’t believe this place has survived the modern world. They have modern technology too, with the latest THX Digital Sound and a huge digital movie screen – a perfect mix of old and new. We watched the movie “42” about Jackie Robinson – every kid in middle school should watch this movie and learn about the ugly reality of racism and how one man can change the world.

Coming out of the movie we met some other boaters walking along the sidewalk by the movie – you can just tell they were boaters – no one else walks more than one block to their car. We will have to visit with them more tomorrow. A post movie treat of ice cream (Slow Churn has a freezer) and home baked sugar cookies (Slow Churn has an oven, too) closed out another amazing day on the Great Loop.

Day 239: Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Port to Port: Portsmouth, Virginia

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled:       Stayed At: Free Dock

First Things First: First battleship tour.

Mile 0 to Mile 0: Even though it was rainy and windy this morning, we decided today was the day to take in the sights in Norfolk, Virginia. We hopped on the Elizabeth River Ferry just across the channel from us and less than 10 minutes later we were docking at the waterfront in Norfolk.

We wandered across town aiming for a McDonalds to get breakfast and use the internet for a little while. Norfolk is a very only city dating from the 1600’s. There is a nice mix of old building and new downtown. We passed through a cemetery at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with grave stones from the late 1700’s and 1800’s. There was even a cannonball lodged in the brick wall of the church from 1776 and the War of Independence. After drying off and warming up a little, we wandered through a large mall in the middle of town waiting for the Nauticus Museum to open. While there, I noticed a poster promoting a glassblowing demonstration at the Glass House – part of the Chrysler Museum – at noon. Change of plans. We decided to take in one of the historic houses in the area- the Moses Myers House nearby while waiting for the demonstration to begin. The Myers House has more than 70% of its original furnishings intact which helps give you a good idea of how life was lived in that era. It was especially interesting to see how active the family was in the community for decades and how many different businesses they were involved in at this time. Our business challenges today pale in comparison to then – massive fires (destroying whole towns), war, disease, more war, depressions, backruptcy, shipwrecks and normal competition were part of everyday life.  Mr. Myers outlived most of his 12 children. We have nothing to complain about today.

We got to the glass blowing demonstration early and Bob, a TV personality from WCEV in Norfolk, was filming a piece for his Joe’s Job’s segment on glassblowing. (We might be on TV next week since he filmed the audience in the background several times). The glass blowing demonstration was amazing. The artist started out with a glob of hot molten glass and 30 stressful minutes later he (with the help or several assistants) had produce a beautiful glass vase with decorative curved black handles. And the whole demonstration was free. I certainly didn’t know this morning that I would be watching a glass blowing demonstration this afternoon.

We saved the best for last. We wandered across town to the Nauticus Museum and the Battleship Wisconsin. We were tired but the rain had stopped and we were excited to learn more about the history of this area. These are both must see stops on the Great Loop. Norfolk has been a navy town since we first had a navy. This is the deepest and largest natural port in the world – the perfect place for the biggest navy in the world to call home. The history of this place is closely intertwined with the military and war. The Nauticus Museum is huge – next time I would set aside a lot more time to really absorb all the displays. I have a real appreciation for the sacrifices all those in the military have made to get this country where it is today.

The Wisconsin was an amazing sight docked right next to the building housing the Nauticus Museum. The scale of this ship is hard to capture in words or pictures. This was the largest and last battleship built in the US. It was launched in 1943 and served the country for almost 50 years even seeing action in the Persian Gulf War. I can’t imagine what it sounded like when the huge guns on this ship were firing away – the shells they used weighed more than a Volkswagon Beetle. (Can you imagine viewing these big guns just outside the window of your condo -

People always wonder about us doing the Loop on a boat we can’t stand up in. Well, surprisingly, I wouldn’t have made a good sailor on the USS Wisconsin – I couldn’t stand up straight in most of the areas on this massive ship either.

After our intensive tour of Norfolk we returned to our little home exhausted and overwhelmed. We were too tired to cook so we snacked a little, read and were sound asleep in minutes.