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.
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