A "Taste" of Home and Away
We departed Chesapeake City free docks and headed over to Havre-de-Grace.
We ended, up the Susquehanna, between I-95 and a very active RR bridge with very long trains.
The Susquehanna, with its headwaters at Cooperstown, yes that Cooperstown flows near our home in the Pittston Junction where the Lackawanna joins it. It was a nice spot although anchoring in current can be challenging. I took the dingy the next day up river trying to make it to the dam. I did not succeed.
The river that day looked like north of Harrisburg with all the rock and boulders strewed about. We departed for the Sassafras River that is across the bay. We traveled seven miles up river to Georgetown Yacht Basin. Our stop here extended into Monday evening. We were hoping the mechanic would stop by to check our engine but it didn't happen. It was a good stop anyway.. The marina let us use their van. Our house batteries needed replacement. These are four deep cycle AGM 's, the size of car batteries. We have three more batteries, a starter battery for the engine and two for the the thrusters. We took a trip to Sam's Club in Dover,DE.Driving through the back roads made for an interesting ride. Rural MD and DE had its charm.
Our stay at Georgetown was also rewarded with a visit with the great-grand kids. It was a lot of fun with the young'ns.
They are all worn out which is a good thing.
The kids went home and we departed Monday evening after filling up with fuel and getting a pump out. Black water( sewage) is stored in a 40 gallon tank. A vacuum pump at the dock removes the waste water. Sink water, called Brown water, just flows overboard. Daylight was starting to become a factor. We left the river and entered the Bay. The only vessels we saw were patrol boats warning of restricted waters around Aberdeen Proving Grounds. They are only out when the range is active, although were heard no booms. They also have several lookout towers on the "Eastern Shore". Further down the bay, at the junction of the shipping channel to Baltimore, four Navy Vessels were anchored. The Naval Academy graduates Friday, and I assume they were the midshipmen. We entered Rock Hall in the dark. There are several marina's and restaurants protected by break walls. We anchored near the channel for the night, something not many would do, and departed early in the morning for the Wye River. The Wye has gorgeous homes on one side and a nature preserve/park, Wye Island, with 30 miles of shore line on the other.
Our next stop on Wednesday was St Michaels Marina for an AGLCA 'looper crawl'. This event was sponsored by AGLCA and Curtis Stokes brokerage. People planning for the looping trip and trying to decide on which boat would work for them got to tour several boats and talk with the owners. I was happy to show our boat. In turn, most of the marina fees were paid by Curtis Stokes for doing this. It was nice to meet the people and I'm sure our boat sparked some interest.
Our next stop was through the draw bridge at Knapp Narrows. Yes, there are workers on the bridge. When requesting the opening, the tender notified he had men working and we would have to hold. A few minutes later, the bridge opened and we went on our way into Harris Creek. Beechly Anchorage is a few miles up into the creek It was a very quiet spot for the night. The weather for the weekend is calling for poor conditions.
We crossed the Bay again. Our destination was the Rod & Reel Resort at Chesapeake Beach. They made some improvements since our last stay in 2019. It is still a resort with docks, not a marina, per say, but doable. They have plans to improve their offerings by 2022. It was our 39th anniversary. Nancy enjoys bingo but because of the Covid, they only have it open 3 days a week. They have slots which we made a small donation to. A nearby well stocked grocery/ liquor store was very convenient along with a CVS. We stayed until Monday because of the weather.
Our next stop w as Kent Narrows about 20 miles back to the eastern shore. We met up with an old friend from H.S., John and his wife Jane. We spent a relaxing day laying down crab pots, drifting for awhile, then retrieving the pots. Although we caught no crabs, the water a bit to cold, it was fun honing my boat skills to retrieve the pots. We ended docking at a waterfront restaurants for diner with our old friends.
We said our goodbyes and headed up the Chester River to Queenstown. Another great anchorage awaited us. The next morning started with a cannball jump off the flybridge into colder than comfortable waters. What a refreshing way to start the day.
We departed the Chester, destination Chesapeake City. The free docks that are visible were full, but our hidden dock was available. We met some other "loopers" who were leaving early the next morning. More boat cards were added to our collection.
This is an Army Corps of Engineers vessel removing debris from the canal. The small boat is lifted onto the platform with the crane after all the junk is removed.
A classic 1930 Ford and our boat makes a nice photo. The engine mechanic check the engine today, all systems go, so we left Chesapeake City.
So our vacation ended today, June 3 as we left the C&D Canal and turn south toward Cape May. We were greeted with choppy waves on the Bay as we got closer to our anchorage, the Cohansey River in NJ. Other boats were anchored close to the Bay. We go pass the marinas into calmer waters. The watermen leave before sun up and have no concern about their wake. We are safe upriver. The blog's vacation also ended. I will try to daily update our journey. Next stop, Cape May.
Off to a good start. I love the cannonball wake up in the Chester!
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