06/16/2008, Solomons, MD

June 15... Solomons, MD

I was in the dinghy early to finish waxing before the day got too warm. Kathy was working again on polishing stainless. By noon we were finished with both jobs and Sapphire looks noticeably better. In the afternoon we worked on waxing the cabin sides ant other flat surfaces but by then we had to take lots of breaks from the sun.

Later we took a dinghy ride and explored a little more of the area. We found the "Old Town" area but didn't have any money. We'll make that trip some time when I remember my billfold (and shoes).

Tomorrow I have to fix the toilet. If we leave the seacock open it fills up with outside water. It shouldn't be a problem. I think that we have the part in question on board. I also need to rebuild the shock cord sections of our lazy-jack system which basically catches the main sail when it is lowered.

After that we'll look for a weather window to go explore the Chesapeake.


June 14... Solomon's. Md

We were off early this morning to beat the heat and walked a little over a mile to the Boater's World store and then to the Food Lion. With full backpacks and bags we made our way back without much difficulty.

After lunch Kathy started on the stainless while I began the process of getting the brown stain off our waterline. I think that the stain is caused mostly by the tannins in the water on the northern ICW and Dismal Swamp. Motoring through soot covered water probably didn't help much either. This junk is just a fact of life for folks who choose to travel the ICW and hang out in the Chesapeake.

The problem with getting rid of the stain is that when you're finished the wax is gone as well. Waxing becomes the next job. I am ¼ done with that task and will finish tomorrow...weather permitting.

I watched thunder storms form on the computer all afternoon and they finally hit us about dinner time. Although at times we swung close to a shoal, the storms were reasonably mild here.

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Mike
06/13/2008, Solomons, MD

June 12... Mobjack Bay, VA to Solomons Island, MD

What a difference a day makes. Today the water in the Chesapeake was perfectly flat most of the time and slightly rippled the rest of the time. We occasionally put out our head sail but never gained much lift. Our goal was to be Reedville but at some point in the morning Kathy and I discussed the idea of continuing on to Solomons. It would make for a long day but our plans are to stay there for a few days so we would have lots of time to recover.

About 15 minutes later Jim radioed wondering if we might entertain the thought of pushing on to the Solomons....which would make their trip into their home port of North Herrington Harbor on Friday much shorter. By the time we got anchors settled we had been on the water for a little over 13 hours and had covered about 80 miles. (almost all of which was into a 2 knot current)

We had eaten on the way in so before dark we dinghied over to say our good-byes even though we'll be seeing them in a few days.


June 13... Solomons Island, MD

We both slept in this morning and it was 10 am by the time we were finished with breakfast. Our goal for the day was laundry and so we sorted everything and loaded up the dinghy for a ride to shore. The Holiday Inn here has an attached marina and allows folks at anchor to dock their dinghies for $2 a day. When we were here in the fall and there were so many boats that the dinghy dock was always crowded and no one ever tracked us down to pay. Today they caught up with us on the second docking.

The laundromat is located in a little strip mall about a block away (it's actually about ¼ mile) and very convenient. There is also a fish market, grocery, a bank and a few other businesses. We finished a little after noon and returned our clothes to the boat before another trip in to West Marine and lunch at a Chinese place. We made a few more stops and then returned to sit and read. (One of us made the bed with clean sheets and put laundry away before sitting and reading.)

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Mike
06/13/2008, Mobjack Bay, VA

June 11... Hospital Point, Norfolk, VA to Mobjack Bay, VA

We got away around 6:30 and motor sailed through the ship lanes of Norfolk before traffic got bad. I tied in a double reef in the main while still in the harbor and as we left we were sailing for the first time in quite a while.

Once in Chesapeake however, we found that the forecast of 10 to 15 was off by half and when we made our turn north had seas of 6 to 8 feet hard on the nose. It wasnt the wave height that was the problem but the frequency. For most of the day we found ourselves going over one wave and nose diving into the next with literally tons of water pouring over the boat. Luckily our friends on "Solitaire" shot some video of us rocking and rolling and made a DVD, so we can relive this nasty trip again and again.
Anyway, we plodded into them at making 3mph over ground for most of the day. Jim radioed to say that since our ETA in Deltaville was projected to be around midnight, we might consider an alternate anchorage. We followed "Solitaire" into Mobjack Bay and anchored off the East River.

After putting everything away and replacing the sail covers, I spent a few minutes repairing our davits. One of them had worked itself out of it's base and needed some attention. The torque on them is amazing when we are pounding into heavy seas . At some point this summer I need to add another cross member to strengthen the system.

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