| October 17, Saturday |
Finally
getting out of Rock Hall. Was a little slow to drop the dock lines,
getting off only about 10 AM. A broad reach at 4.5 - 5.5 knots down to
the narrow, shallow dogleg channel in to the Kent Narrows bridge. That
channel always makes me nervous, especially after the wind has been
from the north for several days, effectively emptying the bay. Just as
I was passing through the bridge a go-fast console boat scooted into my
way trying to get through the bridge before the big sport fish headed
north. Fortunately for all of us they were able to reverse quickly.
There was no way I could either stope or go to reverse. From the bridge
down to Tilghman Creek I sailed 5.5 - 7.5 knots on a beam and close
reach. Headed into the creek I touched bottom. In the evening I went in
and had dinner with Phil and Sarah Sayre. Phil's knee is not healing as
quickly as they had expected and they are talking about having the boat
trucked to Florida so that he can have the extra months to heal. |
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October 18,
Sunday
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A cold front has come through bringing with
it temperatures in the 40's. Spent the day huddled under a blanket
reading.
The fishing boats in Tilghman Creek off the Miles
River at Eastern Bay.
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| October
19, Monday |
Tilghman Creek to
Solomons. Wind from the northeast but too light to sail. Used genoa for
a little boost and also had the ebb tide in my favor. Caught a crab pot
off the Little Choptank and went for a swim. By the time I
got the boat stopped, undressed and in the water the crab trap had
floated free.
Slowly, oh so slowly making my way down the
Bay. Oyster tongers have a grueling job even with the mechanical
equipment. Sharps Island light is still leaning; any bets on how much
longer it will stay up? The sculpture on the waterfront honors Solomons
fishermen
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Sharp's Island Light, Chesapeake Bay's own version of
the leaning tower of Pisa. I wonder how much longer it will take for it
to topple over altogether. |
A street sculpture in honor of the fisherman of
Solomons. |
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The schooner Sultana, a replica of the 18th
century revenue cutter of the same name, out of Chestertown, MD, is
visiting here in Solomons |
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October 21,
Wednesday
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Solomons to Deltaville: The schooner Mystic
Whaler was headed north. Initially there was some wind to motorsail,
but then played the roll-up, roll-out game the rest of the day |
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Ocotber 23,
Friday
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Fishing Bay to Old Point Comfort |
Beam reach out of the Piankatank, broad
reach to Wolf Trap Light, downwind run from Wolf Trap to Thimble Shoal.
At the end of the day the engine took several tries to get it started.
Used the afternoon to clean up all of the ring connectors and surfaces
for the negative ground connections. In the process I must have
splashed a little of the cleaner on my polycarbonate glasses lenses,
which then cracked. Frtunately my old pair of glasses are similar in
prescription. |
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October 24,
Saturday
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Old Point Comfort to Portsmouth |
This is just a 10 mile trip. There were
about 20 warships at the docks on battleship row, with more scattered
throughout Norfolk and Portsmouth. After later research I learned that
nearly haof of the US aircraft carriers were in port here. There was
room at the south High Street basin for free dockage. |
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There are 11 aircraft carriers on active duty
in the US fleet, three of them are shown her.
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This aircraft was undergoing refurbishment
across the channel from the High Street Basin where I was docked.
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Portsmouth Cathedral
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The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum adjacent
to the High Street Basin.
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The Commodore Movie Theater is on the
register of Historic Landmarks. After being restored it was about the
first movie theater in the country to serve dinner to movie goers.
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| October
25, Sunday |
Portsmouth to the North Carolina Visitor's
Center |
The Gilmerton Bridge was opening on
schedule. The Belt Line Railroad Bridge was in the open position. Both
of these states were a departure from the previous two weeks when
scheduled restrictions resulted in enormous backups of boats headed
south. By the afternoon there were just 11 of us at the NCVC; a mcu
smaller number than in previous days. |
| October
26, Monday |
NCVC to Elizabeth City: A very picturesque
run down to Elizabeth City through the canal and Pasquotank River.
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| October
29, Thursday |
Elizabeth City to beginning of the Alligator
- Pungo River Canal |
Beam reach down the Pasquotank, close reach
across the Albemarle, close hauled dwon the Alligator River. I guess I
had not secured one of my fenders on deck after going through the South
Mills Lock a few days ago. It chose the middle of the Albemarle to go
for a swim. When I turned back to get it the engine wouldn't start.
After switching battereis a couple of times I gave the starter a whack
and it did its job. The wisdom is that either sometimes the solenoid
plunger gets stuck or there is a 'flat spot' on the starter commutator. |
| October
30, Friday |
Alligator-Pungo Canal to Belhaven |
Very uneventful trip down the canal, then a
nice beam and close reach for the last ten miles to Belhaven. Went to
dinner with Don and Lois (formerly of Que Sera Sera) and Harold and
Judy all now on Eos. We dined at Spoon River
Artworks and Market Restaurant; a surprisingly upscale place for the
down at her heels Bephaven.
On Saturday I went to the library to update various financial accounts
and this web site. Just as i was wrapping things up I saw that there
were some strange charges on one of my credit cards. For the
third time in five years my Chase Visa card has been compromised. |
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| October 31 |
Happy Halloween |
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