August 2024 - Journey back North

Sunday August 11th, JKL’s birthday

Motored much of the Elizabeth because of all the dredging work and working ships.

Got to see a cute bay we didn't notice in the deluge yesterday. Sailing school was out in force.

Comfort, the big Navy Hospital Ship was right next to another grey battleship.

Motored most of the way to Cape Charles as the wind was quite light. We sailed a short while, then gave up.

On the way we saw an anchorage of many big ships. Not sure why they hang out there or where they are going to or from.

Today's stowaway was this beautiful moth. Tied up at a T at the town docks around 4pm. Went for a walk into town .

Brown Dog Ice cream, they had butterscotch! I had it with chocolate. Yummy!

Walked out to the beach just north of the channel we came in.

The charts say it's only 1ft or less here. This heron was taking advantage of it to fish from his spot, far from the soccer players and others playing in the shallow waters.

Walked along the pier and enjoyed the view of the water and the stunning clouds. Lotta Love in Cape Charles.

On our walk back we saw this schooner going out for a sunset sail.

Osprey nest on one of the old pilings.

Our girl at her dock.

Headed to dinner at the Shanty, where you can cleat your purse at the bar.

Shrimp flatbread and crab cakes for Laz with New England clam chowder and a lobster roll for me. The owner came from Massachusetts, so I was hoping those would be good. I was not disappointed. The potato salad was just average. Took home a crab cake and 1/3 of the lobster roll.

Walking back from dinner we ran into some marine scientist students collecting algae. One of them is doing her master's thesis on the algae reproduction. There are two disparate types, and she was working out a hypothesis as to why they are so different, and if there is an advantage to one or the other. She had 3 undergrad students with her checking out the master's program.

Finished my Washington Post Keyword for the week with a perfect score, bonus word included!

A lovely evening in a lovely town. Plan to go up the Virginia Eastern Shore tomorrow to Pungoteague Creek.

Monday August 12th

Walked into town for breakfast. Heard a helicopter land while getting ready to go.

The helicopter landed in an old railroad bed. Enjoyed an asiago bagel with lox cream cheese at Mason Ave Bakery. Bought some lemon shortbread, a lemon curd tart, monkey bread and a morning bun. Their coffee was pretty good. Mailed the form allowing me to check Laz's insurance claims and info on IBX from a mailbox down the street from the bakery. As we walked back to baji-naji, the helicopter I had heard landing earlier in the morning took off (insert video here). Stowed the goodies and prepped for departure.

There was light wind then none. The Saga Fjord was headed north as well. We motored most of the way.

It is a wide open Bay in Pungoteague Creek that is shallow in many spots. With light winds expected overnight, we picked a spot to anchor at Klondike Point, and let out decent scope.

Great views from our anchorage.

Panera broccoli and cheddar soup with a cheddar stuffed baguette from Talula's for dinner. We tried to put the AC on to cool the cabin, but kept getting the HPF fault. Laz checked the system and found an air leak in the sea strainer (the cylinder is no longer round, likely cross threaded at some point) so he can't prime the air conditioner. We will be at a marina tomorrow so can check to see if they have a sea strainer.

Another gorgeous sunset.

Moonrise was beautiful as well. A half moon. My attempt at a panoramic view of both sunset and moonrise.

There is minimal light pollution on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with few homes. It is a clear night so you could see stars and the Milky Way. The beauty and peace balanced out my two hour conversation with Karen Berger about David's health and rehospitalization. Stood a while with Laz to watch the stars after I hung up.

As the moon moved through the sky it was blood red.Tomorrow we are headed to Crisfield.

Tuesday August 13th

Up and out first thing this am, Laz was at the helm while I made breakfast, some of the yummy monkey bread from Mason Avenue Bakery, the rest of my homemade banana bread, and my usual yogurt. We managed to go aground just near Green 5 where there was supposed to be 15' of water. Hmmm. We were a bit off the track we came in, so after bouncing along the shoal, we headed back into our previous course.

Cormorants have taken over what's left of this lighthouse.

Another stowaway. This pretty was tucked under the starboard steering wheel. baji-naji is well loved by the insect kingdom.

Another glorious day, Not much wind so we motored the whole way with the main up, hoping for a breeze. Along the way we adjusted the new speed sensor as it seemed to be giving us credit for being faster than we've been in the past.

Smoke over Crisfield. We never figured out what that was from. Nothing was on fire when we got there.

Somers Cove Crisfield We are just past the Albin 36, which made me think of Barb & Skip on Bounty Hunter.

Checked with the office and their mechanic to help troubleshoot the sea strainer and he thought it needed to be replaced. When we took it out, the clear part was not round anymore, possibly cross threaded at one point and then with heat over time stayed that way. Walked to Goldsborough Marine to look for a new gasket and the gentleman found an O ring that might work. By the time we got back, we decided to get a few provisions first, before wrangling the O ring.

Rented a golf cart for $15 to go 1.5 miles or so to Food Lion. We have walked there in the past, which is fine, it's coming home with all the groceries that is a bit more challenging. You can see us in the rear view mirror. This golf cart has round wheels! After putting away the provisions, we realized there was no fixing the sea strainer. Luckily, the temp will be in the high 60s at night for the next few nights so no air conditioning is needed. We decided to order a new sea strainer. Online search found a replacement of the same make, a Ron Vik 3/4 inch, 48 mesh, from Grainger for $49 which could be delivered by Thursday. I ordered it for delivery to Point Lookout Marina. I also ordered one from Amazon, just in case. It was $19, but not the same make. It can be an emergency spare.

Dinner at Chesapeake Bay BBQ, one of the few places open on a Tuesday. Next time we go to Crisfield, we need to remember things are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We started with riblets which were delicious. I had BBQ chicken, with corn on the cob which was not sweet at all and two greasy hush puppies that tasted and looked more like corn fritters. Laz had pulled pork quesadilla that was pretty good. Took home 1/2 of the chicken, some riblets, and some quesadilla. They will make nice leftover lunches and dinners.

Sunset as we walked back to baji-naji. Tomorrow we are heading to Horn Harbor off the Great Wicomico.

Wednesday August 14th

A windy day!

We even look fast in a still photo!

Smith Point Light in the distance and zoomed in. It was lovely to have great wind after the motoring day yesterday.

Heading into Ingram Bay. Nice to see other sailboats out on a Wednesday.

Reedville, with the fishing boats and menhaden processing. You can definitely smell fish processing in the air.

At our anchorage in Horn Harbor Creek. We hit a small bump as we came into the very narrow channel coming in, mostly unmarked unless you count the oyster stakes. It is a tranquil and beautiful spot.

Took the leftovers from The Shanty and made a crab and lobster salad (Laz made his yummy 1000 island dressing) over lettuce and grape tomatoes and heated up the shrimp flatbread. Shared the lemon curd tart from Mason Avenue Bakery. Yum.

Look closely in the docks and you can see a great blue heron scanning the water as he is hunting for dinner.

Didn't get a sunset picture, but did get the moonrise.

As the sun was setting, this pontoon boat came by flashing alternating bright colors like our disco happy light. They went up the creek then came back down. A few older couples aboard. Adorable. Tomorrow we are off to Smith Creek, Jutland Creek and Point Lookout Marina.

Thursday August 15th

Headed out of Horn Harbor Creek before 0930 with high tide at 0830. Tried to retrace our track in but I went too far to starboard and went aground. Got off by backing up and using the bow thruster, but as I tried to navigate the rest of the narrow channel we went hard aground. Nothing I did could budge us off the shoal, and the tide was just past high, but outgoing. Laz flagged down a local crabber who was initially leery to help as he was concerned about liability, but ultimately allowed us to throw him a line and helped us back off the shoal. He gave us local knowledge: when leaving, stay close to the shore to port after passing the visible sandy shoal on port. The starboard side is badly shoaled. He said it was 12 ft there. I only measured 8-9 ft when over there, but all we need is 6. It was kind of him, and we didn't have to call TowBoatUS.

I had a Wildgrain English muffin in the oven which got overcooked while we were aground. I think the scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese helped, as well as the triple berry jam.

We ate while motoring down the Great Wicomico, which is quite pretty. We were able to sail past the Smith Point lighthouse with wind from the SW using the code-0

The big CSL Spirit self loader passed us. I looked it up and it loads coal and ore.

Pretty spinnaker rigged as an asymm. The wind was shifting to NW, making it more of a challenge to get up the Potomac in a timely fashion. We put the engine on for a while and motor sailed.

Coming down the Potomac is a sailboat with the unlikely name of Pintail of Birdham. Took a photo meaning to search for her at a later date. Headed into Point Lookout Marina where we found a fleet cruise of power boats. Had some nice chats with one of the owners, who also races sailboats in the Caribbean and keeps the motorboat up the Occoquan. Paris and her person were still on the docks at 1630, partly because this large party of boats came in. There was one more expected. When Greenlights came into the space forward of us, there were no dockhands so we helped them with their lines.

Dinner at Salt Kitchen. Sat inside even though I sprayed with picardin, I ended up with a few bug bites anyway. The hush puppies and fried oysters are delicious!!! Some of the best hush puppies we've had, crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside with a nice honey butter. Entree was a seared snapper over a sweet corn broth. I didn't have the nicest filet , with some dark meat that was gamey but most of it was good. Laz had the brisket sandwich with caramelized onions.

Pretty sunset over Jutland and Smith Creek. Sat in the cockpit and had a nice catching call with Jacqui about her Paris Olympics trip. She has a wonderful time at the events, got food poisoning in Brussels and her travel companion was not the best, but overall a great trip. Afterwards I had a catch up call with Laura O'Gorman from NRS. Work seems a distant memory, but I could sympathize with her predicament. Tomorrow we will see if we can get the replacement sea strainer installed, as the magical Internet tells me the part is in the office.