East Coast Trip Summer 2022

                                               DAY 38 -- CAPE MAY, NJ TO WARETOWN, NJ               Sue made Dave and I a nice traditional Philly breakfast of eggs and scrapple (look it up) and then we all walked down to the beach, which is just a couple blocks from their condo. The Atlantic looked very calm, so I was anxious to get going. Dave and Sue drove us to our marina in Cape May and waved goodbye as we pulled away from the dock just before noon.                 We passed the US Coast Guard training station on the way out of Cape May harbor, and then we were out on the open ocean, which felt great. There was a brisk 10-15 knot wind coming out of the SW on top of gentle swells coming from the east. There was just a light chop on top of the swell when we started, but by the time we finished the day going into Barnegat Inlet the light chop had turned into 2-3 footers. Our ride wasn't uncomfortable, however, as it was a following sea, and we made much better time than if we had

                                          DAY 37 -- HAVRE DE GRACE, MD TO CAPE MAY, NJ               We got underway at nine because we had a long day ahead of us, running 95 miles to a marina in Cape May. The weather was sunny and clear with a light wind out of the north, so it was a good day for boating. It was also a long day, as we pulled into the marina fuel dock at four. And it was an interesting day, as we experienced a variety of waters -- the far upper reaches of the Chesapeake, the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, the Delaware River and Bay, and the Cape May canal. Lots of pictures ensue...               Here is the lighthouse at Turkey Point. The big bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna is left of this point and the tail end of the Chesapeake is to the right.                   There were lots of beautiful big homes in the upper reaches of the Chesapeake, and also a really nice trailer park... The C&D canal had some handsome bridges... And some interesting work boats... Bu

                                     DAY 36 -- CHESTERTOWN, MD TO HAVRE DE GRACE, MD               We left the fuel dock just before 11 for a long run (67 miles) up to Havre de Grace at the mouth of the Susquehanna and hence, arguably, at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. It was overcast with rain in the forecast and a light wind out of the west. We got kind of a late start because Sue and Dave couldn't find a ride and had to walk the two miles to the boat from the Comfort Inn.               Before we left a guy stopped by and asked if we'd give him a ride to his boat, which was anchored a bit downstream from Chestertown. He had come to town to buy groceries, and while it was a mystery how he got to town in the first place, we said we'd help. The guy -- TJ from Waycross GA -- ended up riding up on top with me and I got the full story, which was crazy and sad. TJ's wife died about ten years ago and he's had a hard time since (although their son is studying chemistry at

                                               DAY 35 -- OXFORD, MD TO CHESTERTOWN, MD               We were underway just at 9:30 headed for lunch at Kent Narrows and then on to Chestertown for the night. It was sunny, but blowing pretty good out of the south, so we had light to moderate chop all day. We retraced our route from yesterday through the Knapp Narrows and then north through the pass between Poplar and Tilghman Islands, then on up Eastern Bay to Kent Narrows. This run was about 31 miles.                Knapp Narrows (the first one, not our lunch spot) had an interesting mix of working boats and modest pleasure boats. It reminded me in that way of some of the harbors that we see in Maine. We forgot to take pictures going through yesterday, so here are some from today's passage. The last boat with the big mechanical rig on the side is a clam dredger.                            Kent Narrows was more of a pleasure boat area. Lots of waterfront restaurants and marinas. We p

                                                            DAY 34 -- ANNAPOLIS TO OXFORD, MD               We met our friends Sue and Dave at the entrance to the Naval Academy at nine so we could see the inside of the chapel (which was closed when we took the tour yesterday due to a wedding rehearsal), and we went on to see the crypt for John Paul Jones below the chapel and the ship model museum across the street. The chapel was built in the early 1900s and has many lovely stained-glass windows. I like this one behind the altar because it is so nautical (as well as religious) and because of the inscription above, which are the first words from a great old Victorian hymn often used by both the US and the Royal Navies.                 We got underway at 1040 bound for Oxford, MD. It was a lovely sunny day with a light breeze out of the south. Two hours later we pulled into a quiet bay in the lee of Tilghman Island (Dun Bay just inside Harris Creek) for a light lunch sitting in the cockp

                                             DAY 33 -- ST. MICHAELS TO ANNAPOLIS                 We got up early and had breakfast on the outdoor deck at the Harbor Inn. Absolutely gorgeous sunny morning. Nice change after the last couple of days. The First Mate enjoyed the start of the day so much that she authorized this photo for the blog.                We were underway at 9:40 for a simple 21-mile run over to Annapolis, which took two hours dock-to-dock. The water was dead calm the whole way.  Interesting sights included the Bloody Point Bar Light, another caisson type, built in 1882, automated in 1961 and still in service:     and the Thomas Point Shoal Light, which is the only screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay in its original location. The others have been moved to museums (like we saw in Solomons and St. Michaels) or other spots. It was built in 1875, wasn't automated until 1986, and is still in service.                We saw a  bunch of ships anchored in the Bay

                                          DAY 32 -- SOLOMONS, MD TO ST. MICHAELS, MD               The rain finally ended at some point in the wee hour, and when we woke up it was overcast and cold enough that I put on long pants for the first time the whole trip. We got underway at ten for a 49-mile run to St. Michaels, which pretty much everyone seems to think is a must-see little town on the eastern shore. We had off-and-on rain showers all morning, and a light wind out of the east. There was just a small chop, but again with swells coming out of the south. It wasn't a very pretty day, but we were warm and dry in the cabin.                Interesting sights along the way included a big LNG dock at Cove Point. Wikipedia says it is an export facility operated by a Berkshire Hathaway Energy company. In the first photo you can also see the Cover Point lighthouse. The dock is almost a mile offshore to give the ships about 45' or more of water.    We also saw the Sharps Island lig

                                   DAY 31 -- ST. MARYS CITY, MD TO SOLOMONS, MD               We weighed anchor at 9:20 and headed for Solomons. This was a 40-mile run from a place just about ten miles up the Potomac to a town just inside the mouth of the Patuxent. There was light wind out of the west, so we didn't have any kind of chop (as we were running along the western shore of the Bay) but for some reason we had a 1-2' swell coming out of the south. Interesting sights along the way included a scull at sunrise on the St. Marys River (I was up unusually early this morning), the Freedom Star, two container ships, and the Point No Point Light (another great name).              The Freedom Star was formerly a NASA ship that was used to recover booster rockets from the Space Shuttle program. After that went away, it was loaned to a maritime training academy located on the Potomac. When we went past, she was sitting dead in the water with someone in a dinghy doing big donuts aro