Aboard Lady

Cheseapeake in July

La Trappe Creek          38 37.95N 076 07.09W  July 27th, 2009

After the July 4th holiday weekend, Jenny went to Tulsa for a week, and had a great time at the club pool with with Olivia, IV and Anna Louise.  Also had a fun evening out with friends.

Meanwhile, Charlie and the technicians at Zahnisers Yachting Center worked on getting Lady's maintenance done.  The starter for the main engine that had failed again was repaired and overhauled.  The generator leaks were fixed, but the generator still overheats, so will need more work later.  The air-conditioning was serviced, the fridge was insulated.  The TV was removed and a cover built for the opening, ready for the installation of SSB (single side band) radio.

There was still more to be done after Jenny returned, but we were able to leave the dock, and move out to a mooring.    A hundred Screwpile 2009 racers came to town.We applied for radio licenses.  The SSB radio was installed, and finally after a couple of weeks in the same spot, Charlie was restless to leave.

Thurdsday July 23rd we left the mooring, and in light wind, motored up the Patuxent River, and entered Cuckold Creek, where we anchored for the night.  The next day, we went to Dick and Gail Juppenlatz's dock, where Dick (Cruising Services and Supplies) came on board and set up the PACTOR modem, and trained us on using SSB and SailMail.  This email system will enable us to send and receive text emails from the high seas.  As you might imagine, using high frequency radio for email is rather slow.

After another night at anchor on Cuckold Creek, we had a great sail on Saturday north on the Chesapeake, and up the Choptank River to Cambridge, MD.  The guide book indicated that this is the second largest commercial port in Maryland, after Baltimore.  There was very little commercial activity, and we felt sorry for the third largest commercial port.  The water was not deep enough at the town wharf for us to tie up, so we anchored in the tiny harbor, and were part of the scenery for the tour boat.

After a lovely walk ashore in the historic district on Sunday morning, we met Jim Culver, who will be coming with us when we cross the ocean to the Caribbean this fall, and then set off back down the Choptank, past the hydroplane speedboats competition, and anchored in La Trappe Creek, just before a big thunderstorm hit.

We will be cruising the area for another week, before leaving Lady on the hard, back at Zahnisers, while we return to Tulsa and visit the UK.  We will be off the boat for about six weeks, and when we return we will be ready to enjoy fall sailing, and do the final preparations for the Carib 1500.

Voyage from Roanoke to the Chesapeake

From Manteo, North Carolina to Solomons Island, Maryland    Various stops

Friday June 26th to July 5th

We departed Manteo at 0900, and soon were under sail crossing Albemarle Sound. heading for the ICW.  We got to Coinjock in the middle of the afternoon, fueled up and spent the night at the Midway Marina. 

Saturday we departed at 0810, and at 1100 we nervously went under the Pungo River Bridge, which showed only 64 feet on the boards that indicate the height above us.  Out VHF antenna raked the bottom of the bridge, but no damage, thank goodness.  We spent the afternoon with a convoy of boats going under/through the Great Bridge Lock and the various bridges leading to Mile 0 of the ICW in Norfolk.  It was amazing that people would be in little speed-boats with their kids tubing behind them on the river as commercial traffic, like barges and dredges are trying to get through the bridges. 

We spent a couple of nights at the Blue Water Marina in Hampton, waiting for the north wind to ease up,then left Hampton Roads and entered the lower Chesapeake on Monday June 29th.  The wind was still from the north, but it had eased somewhat.  After a couple of hours sailing, when tacking back to about where we started, we motored.  We made it as far as Fishing Bay, near Deltaville.  It was a delightful spot to anchor, and a large pod of dolphins came into the little harbor as we cooked dinner.

Tuesday June 30th we continued cruising up the western shore of the Chesapeake, and entered the lower reaches of the Potomoc River, anchoring at Saint Georges Creek off Saint Mary's River.

Wednesday July 1st brought us to the Patuxent River, and we went as far up the Saint Leonard's Creek as we could before anchoring.  The waterfront cabins reminded us of Grand Lake Oklahoma, except that here the docks are fixed, rather than floating.

Thursday July 2nd was an easy motor to Solomon's Island, where we docked at Zahniser's Yachting Center.  Mike McNamara arrived that evening for the holiday weekend.  It was great to see our son again.  We tried to leave Zahnisers the next morning, intending to cruise for the weekend, but the (new, expensive) starter on the engine malfunctioned AGAIN, and after Mike and Charlie put out the fire in the engine, we coasted back to the dock, where the super staff at Zahnisers scrambled around to find room for us on their over-booked holiday weekend.

Mike's friends Matt and Anna arrived Saturday and although we were unable to sail as planned, everyone had a great time, and the fireworks over the Patuxent river were excellent.  Sunday Mike, Matt, Anna and I took the dinghy to the Calvert Marine Museum, where we spent a wonderful couple of hours seeing the old lighthouse, lots of old boats, interesting marine exhibits, a lovely aquarium, and a frisky pair of otters.

It was a great weekend, fun to have younger people staying with us, and we hope that they will all be back to stay with us again later this summer.

Manteo, Roanoke Island

Manteo, Roanoke Island   35 54.567N 075 40.095W

Tuesday June 23rd to Friday June 26th, 2009

Charlie thought that although the wind was forecast from the north, it would not strengthen until later in the day.  It turned out that the weatherman was right this time, and we had a tough slog under power north from Ocracoke through the Roanoke Sound.  Although the carts and maps show deeper water to the west of Roanoke Island, that route was not an option as one of the bridges from the mainland of North Carolina is not high enough for us to get under.  We pulled in to the Manteo Waterfront Marina at 1800, where the dockmasters made us very welcome.

Manteo(the locals pronounce it "Manio") was the site of the first English settlement in the New World.  Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh were sponsors of the settlers, but the settlement did not last and all the settlers vanished.  Some other cruisers lent us bikes, and we rode up to the old settlement area and visited the Elizabethan Gardens.  It was quite warm that day, but the hydrangeas were beautiful.  It seemed as though roses do not do well in that climate.

We also rode over to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.  Don't know why after large displays at the Park Service building, we were surprised to see just a flag in some earthworks - all that has been found of the "Lost Colony".

Hungry and thirsty after a  morning on the bikes, we parked them, and went in to a local deli, Poor Richard's Sandwich shop, for a late lunch.  I could not believe it when I saw a familiar face wearing an OU shirt coming towards me: "Rob Sellers?" "Jenny McNamara!"  Yes it was indeed Rob, who I used to work with at ePartners, and his wife Kim, and father Cam.  Cam Sellers lives in Manteo and Rob and Kim were visiting them.  We had a lovely lunch together, showed them Lady, and then decided to go with them to see a place that I had known we were not able to visit, as it was too far to ride.

At the Wright Brothers National Memorial we were in time for a very interesting talk from one of the rangers.  We saw a reproduction of their plane and looked at a lot of the exhibits.  These men truly understood flight...they had done lots of gliding before they ever put an engine on the plane.  A remarkable achievement flying for the first time just over 100 years ago.

It was such fun to unexpectedly see old friends, and to be able to spend time doing something fun, interesting and totally unrelated to work.

Manteo has a number of other interesting thing to do and see.  The Elizabeth II, a reproduction of a ship that sailed from England in 1585, was docked just across from the town docks.

  Also, one of the few remaining weather towers is next to the harbor.  This tower even has lights as well as the flags.  The day we left, the weather forecast was "fair" (white flag).

Silver Lake, Ocracoke, North Carolina

Ocracoke, North Carolina         35 06.762N 075 59.031W

Saturday June 20th to Tuesday June 23rd, 2009

After traveling down the Neuse River, the river with the widest entrance in the USA, and traveling past the Big Foot Slough, we anchored in Silver Lake, Ocracoke at about 1620.  A busy place at the edge of the Outer Banks, with lots of people on vacation.

We spent three days here, docking the dinghy at the National Park Service dock, and exploring the town on foot.  We saw the lighthouse, and walked around the Springer's Point Nature Reserve, where a tiny graveyard contains the bones of the previous owner of the property and his horse. 

The Village Craftsmen Store had boards outside showing how high the water came during various storms.  Looks like Alex in 2004 was lapping at the boards!

We also visited the British Cemetery.   In May 1944, a German U-Boot torpedoed HMT Bedfordshire.  All the sailors were killed, and just four bodies were recovered, only two of whom were identified.  The cemetery and memorial is maintained by the US Coastguard, and periodically representatives of HM Government visit to check that this little place that is "forever England" being properly looked after.

We ended up staying at Ocracoke a day longer than originally intended, as there was a strong wind out of the north, so we were pleased when Night Flight, with Ann and Mike McDougal came in to the harbor, and they were able to come and have dinner with us.