SOLOMONS ISLAND

DAY 316:  TUES.  MAY 29, 2012

DEP. REEDVILLE 06:55  ARR. SOLOMONS I. 12:25

D. 52.9sm / 5178.5

WX: SUNNY, HOT HUMID WIND SW 15K

We left Reedville early so as to arrive in Solomon’s Island early and beat the afternoon threat of t-storms. It was a pretty uneventful trip with the wind at our backs.  When we got to Solomon’s we tied up on the end of the T at Zahniser’s Marina. After lunch and a bike ride to West Marine with Ev & Sid we cooled off in the pool.  It was a hot day, and the pool felt great.  Most of the boats in the marina are sailboats, and we were among the few power boat transients there.  Nonetheless, the staff was very friendly and helpful. Wednesday morning we woke to a downpour.  Pat’s 97 year old Mom and sister Barbara were coming up from Fredericksburg to spend the day with us. Fortunately the weather improved and we were able to have a nice visit and then go to lunch at the Solomon’s Pier, which by the way turned out to be an excellent choice.  Afterward, Barbara gave us a tour of the area and we had a wonderful afternoon catching up on all the news.  We topped off a lovely day by going to dinner at Boomerangs to celebrate Sid and Evelyn’s anniversary.

ENTERING SOLOMONS I.

A CRABBER ON THE WAY TO WORK

MUSEUM DISPLAY

THE DRUM POINT LIGHTHOUSE

POGIES, MENHAIDEN, BUNKER, OH MY!

DAY 315:  MON. MAY 28, 2012

DEP TANGIER I. 08:20  ARR. REEDVILLE, MD 10:35

D. 18.9sm / 5125.6

WX:  O/CAST, COOL, W-SOUTH 10K, WAVES 1’-2’

We left Tangier I., VA, the crab capital of the bay for Reedville, MD, the Menhaden capital of the bay. Reedville hosts a large fleet of menhaden fishing boats and a processing plant that turns the fish into fish meal for animal feed including cat and dog food, and fish oil which has many medical and industrial uses. I was surprised to learn that it is a key ingredient in Rustoleum paints. The town itself isn’t much, but like most other towns on the Bay it has an historical area with many old and beautiful homes. The Reedville Museum was excellent and detailed the history of the town with a great deal of detail about its fishing roots.

After we docked we decided to go out for lunch. Little did we know, but everything was closed for Memorial Day except the museum and an ice cream store. We stopped in the ice cream store and asked for directions to the nearest place for lunch. The young girl behind the counter told gave us directions to The Country Inn and told us it was about a 20 min. walk. An hour later we still hadn’t come to it and Pat flagged down a passing vehicle for directions. This becomes one of those times when we really see the good side of people. The lady that stopped was Kate O’Keefe, the wife of the local real estate agent. She not only took us to the restaurant, she picked us up after lunch and dropped us off at the museum. We’ve always said, the best thing about this trip is the people we meet.

REEDVILLE, VA

REEDVILLE HARBOR

THE REEDVILLE MUSEUM

THE MENHAIDEN FLEET

THE MEMORIAL SMOKE STACK
ON THE SITE OF THE FISH PROCESSING PLANT 

SOME OF THE USES FOR FISH OIL

OLD TRAWLER MODEL

AN ENORMOUS MODEL RR AT THE MUSEUM

PAT & JOE IN THE MUSEUM GARDEN

AN HISTORIC HOME

ANOTHER HISTORIC HOME

TANGIER ISLAND

DAY 315: SUN. MAY 27, 2012

DEP. DELTAVILLE 09:10 ARR. TANGIER I. 12:28

D. 26.5 sm / 5106.7

WX SUNNY, WEARM W SE 5K-10K

It took us a little over 3 hours to do the 26 miles to Tangier I., but it was worth the side trip. What an interesting Island. Tangier is the crab capital on the Chesapeake Bay. It is home to about 500 year round residents and is about 1 by 3 miles (www.tangierhistorymuseum.org). The prominent family names are Pruitt, Parks, and Crockett, and the residents have a unique accent thought to be directly descended from early Elizabethan-era settlers.   We arrived at Park’s Marina around 12:30 to be met at the dock by owner Milton Parks all dressed up in his Sunday best Church clothes. No kidding, it was hot out, but he had just come from church and there he was on the dock with a suit and tie and polished shoes. Milton is a character. He is 80 years young, and was a crabber for 60 years. He was the number  one crabber on the whole bay for a number of years and is very interesting to talk with. He was born on the island, lived there his whole life, and raised 3 sons and 2 daughters there. One daughter is the islands visiting physician, and the other has a PhD in psychiatry. We were fortunate to be there on Memorial Day as the Island held its Memorial Day service.   It was a moving ceremony attended by many of the island’s 500 residents. The main mode of transportation on the island is golf cart, and the town was jammed packed with them. The streets are very narrow, probably wide enough for one car, but cars are few and far between. We had lunch at the Fisherman’s Rest and it was excellent. I had a soft shell crab sandwich and Pat had the Crab Cake sandwich. It just so happened that the lady who makes all the crab cakes was sitting at the table next to us, it was her day off. It is just amazing how everything here revolves around crabs. After lunch we took a tour of the island in a golf cart, attended the Memorial Day service, and then went to thir museum.

TANGIER I. CRAB SHACK

LOW TIDE

A FEW OF THE MANY CRAB SHACKS

PAT & EVELYN/LUNCH AT FISHERMAN'S CORNER

THE SPECIAL, SOFT SHELL CRABS

ALL THE ISLAND TRASH CANS ARE LIKE THIS (CENTER)

MEMORIAL DAY ON TANGIER I.

THESE ARE BENCHES AT THE MUSEUM

PATRIOTIC CLAMS (QUAHOGS)

DELTAVILLE, VA

DAY 314; SAT MAY 26, 2012

SUNNY, WARM WIND ENE 5-10K.

DEP.  PORTSMOUTH (mm 0) 07:30    ARR.  DELTAVILLE  2:22

D. 61.4sm / 5080.2

We said goodbye to Jean & Brian Orr and left Portsmouth at 07:30. The cruise north up the Elizabeth River is through enormous ship yards on both banks. There are not only Navy ships, but many commercial shipping facilities as well. At 09:20 we are at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and turn north for the Rappahannock River, some 30 miles up the western shore. At 1:30 we are off Stingray point and make our turn into the Rappahannock and Dozier’s Marina. The bay was calm with waves less than 1’ and the trip was uneventful with not much to see. The marina was very nice with a pool, lounge and clean rest rooms. We had slips in the older section, but they were covered and made for a good break from the sun and heat. We borrowed the loaner car and it was déjà vu all over again. The car was exactly like the Buick Station wagon we used in Beaufort, NC. We went to West Marine and picked up the last set of charts we needed for the trip home, Maptech Region 3, and did some grocery shopping. We planned to leave early the next day but found out the marina does a Sun. morning southern breakfast buffet. Needless to say we had to have it.   

DOZIERS MARINA, DELTAVILLE

SPIRIT OF WHITBY LEAVING PORTSMOUTH

NAVAL SHIPYARD

MORE NAVAL SHIPYARD

A TOW WITH AN INTERESTING CARGO

SOMETHING SPECIAL AND THE MARINE POLICE

BEAUTIFUL OLD WOOD BOAT

PORTSMOUTH / NORFOLK

DAY 309-313, TUES, MAY 22,TO MAY 25, 2012

MILE MARKER ZERO, PORTSMOUTH/NORFOLK, VA

On DAY 224, on Feb. 24, 2012 I wrote that we had reached our southernmost point.  That was at mm1195 at Marathon in the FL Keys.  We departed Marathon on March 24 at 08:15, and are now here at mm0 after 1195 miles, 59 days, and countless adventures!  WHAT AN ADVENTURE!  Now we have to plan the next segment of our adventure, the 800+ miles to home. Our objective is to arrive home on June, 23.  That gives us 34 days before this adventure ends.  We are going to miss it, but the good news is we will be very happy to be with our family again.

Portsmouth is a definite must see stop. First, it is very boater friendly. The first night we spent at the Ocean Marina for $2/’ plus electric. The city has 2 free docks that hold about 6 boats each. The south dock is right at the foot of High St, the main street in the city. We moved there this morning with Something Special and stayed there until Sat. No sooner had we tied up than 2 local merchants came by with welcome packages. One was Bob, the owner of Marker 1 Marine Supply, the other was the lady who owns the Coffee Kiosk just a few yards away. The rules are you cannot stay overnight but they don’t seem to be enforced. In fact the local policeman, Officer Tom Jones, came by to check out our boats. He does this with all new arrivals as he loves trawlers and hopes to retire to one soon. He said we could stay as long as we liked and if anybody bothered us to call him. We have been in touch with Jean & Brian Orr on Spirit of Whitby, and decided to wait for their arrival on Thurs. In the mean time we toured the town with Evelyn & Sid. We took the ferry to Norfolk and went to the Nauticus Museum, a naval history museum. The best display was the battleship Wisconsin. We spent 2 hours checking out everything aboard her from stem to stern and thoroughly enjoyed it (http://www.nauticus.org/). The Orrs arrived on schedule and it was good to see them again after so long. We had a great reunion, and that night we all went to the Commodore theatre for dinner and a movie. The Commodore is a restored 40’s era theatre with seats and tables that serves light fare and drinks. We enjoyed the dinner and the theatre, but the movie, “The Avengers” was a little too much for our tastes. On Fri. we rented a minivan and all went to Colonial Williamsburg for the day.

SOMETHING SPECIAL, GLORY DAYS, & SPIRIT OF WHITBY
IN PORTSMOUTH "FREE DOCK"

JEAN & BRIAN ORR AT THE COMMODORE THEATRE

THE FULLY RESTORED COMMODORE THEATRE

BATTLESHIP WISCONSIN

ON DECK

IMPRESSIVE! AWESOME!

BRIAN & JEAN, PROUD TO BE FROM THE UK

LUNCH IN COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
L/R BRIAN, SID, EVELYN, PAT, JOE, JEAN

AMERICAN REVOLUTION RE ENACTMENTS

REVOLUTIONARY TROOPS

THE GOVENORS HOUSE

DISMAL SWAMP PART 2 / A DARING RESCUE AT SEA / MILE MARKER ZERO

DAY 309; MON. MAY 21, 2012

DEP. WELCOME CENTER (mm28) 08:08ARR. PORTSMOUTH, VA (mm 0) 1:15

D. 25.2 sm / 5018.8

The Dismal Swamp Canal, which connects the Elizabeth R. in VA and the Pasquotank R. in NC, is the oldest continually operating canal in the US. The surveyor of the canal was none other than George Washington, also one of the first investors, in 1764.  It was started in 1793 and completedin1804 and doesn’t appear to have changed any since then. (http://dismalswamp.net/).

We awoke to a foggy morning, but in this canal only 30’ visibility is necessary to see both banks.The southbound sailors departed at 07:00 as promised, and our group of 5 departed with S/V True Loev (the owner's last name, Loev) in the lead followed by S/V St. Louie Lady, then M/Vs Glory Days, Eos, and Something Special.  Between mm 28 and mm 21 we had to dodge a few deadheads, but nothing serious.  At 08:20 we crossed the border from NC into VA. Then, at 09:00, just north of mm 21 we saw the fallen tree. We could see the trunk on the eastern shore, and the upper branches with the leaves still on them on the western shore.True Loev was first to go and he got hung up, but was able to free himself and made it across.  St. Louie Lady was next and she got hung up and in an attempt to get free wound up against the western bank with her mast stuck high up in the tree branches.  Since Glory Days was next in line we had to either attempt to pull her off or spend the day waiting for help.  The decision was easy, and although the rescue wasn’t exactly daring, and not at sea, it does add a bit of excitement.  We pulled up at about a 45 degree angle to her stbd.  stern quarter, handed her a line from our bow, and backed up pulling her free from the tree, both on the bottom and on the top. The only damage she suffered was a broken anchor light.  When she became free she backed down and it was our turn to attempt the crossing.  We picked up enough speed to carry us across and shifted into neutral as the bow hit the branches.The momentum carried us over and the rest of the boats followed suit with no further problems.  AMEN! The rest of the trip was uneventful, except for one thing, at mm 18.8 we crossed the 5,000 mile mark on our journey. The sun came out and it was actually beautiful.  We made the Deep Creek Bridge and Lock in time for the 11:00 opening, and met the famous lockmaster Robert.  He is somewhat of a legend  on the Dismal Swamp.  He is very friendly, professional, and treats everyone like a long lost friend.  He has a huge collection of conch shells and uses them to landscape the area around his lock house.  As we departed he picked up a conch and blew us a farewell tune.  Some days are fun, but others are really fun.

The final event of the day occurred at 1:02PM.We crossed mm0.

07:20

AN EARLY MORNING START

NICE BOAT HOUSE

CANAL WATCH DOGS

TRUE LOEV STUCK ON THE TREE

BELIEVE IT OR NOT THE SIGN SAYS "SUPERINTENDANTS HOUSE"

THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

BOB, LOCKMASTER AT DEEP CREEK LOCK

CHECK OUT THE CONCH SHELLS