Monday June 24 2019

Atlantic City to Atlantic Heights

This was a part of the trip I’ve not looked forward to.  It will be my 4^thblue water trip, but the first one single handing Hesperus. I do get a touch of the Mal de Mare at times, so I have been hoping for calm winds from a favorable direction and today looks like it will be good so off I went.

The anchor was out of the water at 5:17am and underway shortly after that.  The only extra work was stowing the anchor bridle as I did not want that out and exposed to any big waves I might encounter on the big blue sea. Getting out of the Brigantine channel was easy enough and never saw less than 5.9 feet under the keel.  The tide was going out so off I went.  I saw two sailboats ahead of me but not my much.  

After getting out of the inlet (quite choppy) the water settled down somewhat and had mostly rocking from side to side.  It wasn’t bad and I felt I could handle that pretty easily.  As I got going on a north-north-east track, I felt like I was getting my seal legs. I decided since I am running the boat by myself, I would run inside at the lower helm.  It makes sense as no one would be there to turn the boat around and rescue me if I fell overboard.  I do follow the rule, “One hand for the boat, one hand for you” so if I am out on deck, I am always holding on to something either the hand rails, deck box or boom depending on where I am on the boat.

Overall it was and uneventful trip.  I didn’t take many pictures as everything was so far away it would have been boring pics. 

See, Sandy Hook

After rounding Sandy Hook this vessel kind of snuck up on me.  It is a high-speed ferry, called SeaStreak.  It was moving at 42 MPH.  Yes, it was a streak.

Today’s destination is Atlantic Highlands.  There was a marina there close to town and I anchored behind the jetty with a few other cruisers.  I was the only trawler there and about 5 other sailboats.  I was extremely tired that evening so after some dinner, I laid down on the settee for a snooze. I just could not keep my eyes open.  I guess with some stress about the ocean trip and not sleeping the best it caught up with me.

The evening produced some rain but light winds, and I planned a lay day to rest up.  The next day’s weather did not look all that promising with rain and overcast skies.  I really want a sunny day to travel through NYC.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

The morning began with some rain, thunder and lightning.  Not a bad storm as the worst went north of me.  Later on, it cleared up with some sunshine and partly cloudy skies. This morning I felt like I was a real cruiser amongst cruisers.  I heard generators running on some boats, and I did also to make my coffee and could see folks on deck getting ready for their days.

Since I wasn’t planning on moving anywhere today, I decided to it would be a good day for laundry and grocery shopping.  Doing these tasks are different as you can’t just jump in your car and run to a laundromat or grocery store.  The marina had a dinghy dock to tie up to, and the walk to the laundromat was not too far. Once there, I asked how far the grocery store was.  The owner of the laundromat said about a mile, but he offered me a ride up there. Once the machine was fed and washing away, we took off.  It was not quite a mile there so I figured it would be an easy walk back.  I really did not need a lot of things, but thought since this is part of the cruiser life style, I need to experience it all.

I got my things there and walked back.  It is a nice old American town. Some shops looked like they had been there forever, including the laundromat, and a few had new construction going on inside, for some new businesses.

Back at the laundromat, I popped the clothes into the dryer, let them dry, folded up everything and headed back to the boat.

Once there I created a spreadsheet for the settings on my external regulator for the engine alternator. I’ve come to realize the ships batteries get undercharged while running the engine, which then causes me to run the generator and charge that way much sooner.  Once that was done, I went to the engine room to make the changes.

A Pretty Sunset (Atlantic Highlands)

June 5-6

I spent a couple quiet days in Oxford.  The winds were up quite a bit so it wasn’t conducive to going anywhere, so I tinkered on the boat after my work day was over.  It was sunny and comfortable.  I had thought of going into town but never got enthused enough to lower the dinghy in the water.  That’s one thing I’ve noticed about myself, and that is I am happy just to be on the boat. I really did not need anything ashore but did think about looking at the old boat yard which also has a small museum there.  Not much changes except the dust I suppose so I decided to save that for another time. The most exciting part was watching the crabber run his trotline.  It is interesting to watch and he moves his boat along the line picking the crabs with his crab net.

There are many old wooden sailing vessels in Oxford.  This one is leaving for a day sail.

June 7-8

After finishing up a few phone calls, I got underway towards St Micheals, also on the Eastern Shore. It was not a long journey, but I kept the RPMs down a bit to allow the batteries more time to charge.  I am still trying to figure out what is normal with the battery level of charge, but it always seems to discharge faster than I thought it should.  It was a beautiful afternoon to cruise with very light winds.  There were only two boats anchored there as it was the back side of town.  This creek (San Domingo Creek) was quite sheltered from the winds and offered a very comfortable anchorage.  Saturday, I did drop the dinghy in the water and made my way to the public dock and walked into town.  Here are a few pictures I took.

This is the free dock to get into St Micheals.  Quite a few fishermen use this dock too and was full when I returned from my walk about.

A cool old Jaguar

A Episcopal Church

The Ice cream Shop

I remember hearing about this trip back in 2007.  It was quite an adventure travelling in this old replica.  Now it is on display but virtually rotting apart.  It is not seaworthy anymore.

Everyone needs their own Weather Stone

This is the Crabber I watched for a few days.  He is actually retrieving his trotline.  He has an automatic system that reels in the line and winds it inside a barrel.  Quite ingenious.

June 9

St Micheals was nice but the creek was so quiet I was getting bored.  My only visitors were flies.  Hungry, mean biting flies.  I was not quite ready to head to Annapolis so I decided to return to Oxford.  The winds were forecasted to pick up late morning, early afternoon, so I decided to get an early start and move while the seas were calm.  I simply retraced my route from the other day.  I did notice a vast number of crabbers out on the water.  I figure at least some of them were weekend crabbers since I did not see that many crabbers on the water the other day.  It was almost a challenge to stay out of their way but did not have any issues running back.  Once in Oxford there was a Hans Christian anchored about where I was last time. Luckily the anchorage has lots of room, so I picked a spot that gave us plenty of clearance.  Down with the anchor and again, I made sure it set well as the winds were picking up.

June 10

Got underway for Annapolis. I was ready to move on although it was not the prettiest day to be underway.  With rain, but light winds Hesperus took me away from Oxford. Visibility was the challenge with rain and low clouds.  I decided to run the radar this trip.  I usually don’t have the radar on as I don’t really feel all that comfortable understanding the display.  Today however it was handy as I could see the crabbers on the radar display before I actually saw them.  It was quite handy with the reduced visibility.  Once out in the bay proper traffic was quite heavy.  Numerous sailboats and trawlers were heading north and south as well as a couple of freighters.  The app on my phone, Marine Traffic has shown itself to be quite useful. While I have AIS on the boat, the reception is not all that great.  I have noticed that I can pick up the freighters on Marine Traffic that are 20 miles away or more, so I can set myself up for crossing the channel safely and stay out of their way.  During this crossing there was only one freighter northbound and he was so far away, I had not any concerns.  About 4 hours later I arrived at Harness Creek in Annapolis.

Harness Creek Sunset

This is the second time I have been here.  It is quite peaceful and fairly sheltered from winds and it proved itself again.  I did get the dinghy in the water this day, along with my bicycle and peddled my way to the grocery store.  It was about 2 miles away on some very busy roads.  I managed to get there and back without incident and picked up a few groceries.  The food has been doing pretty well so far.  I did cook Swiss Chicken in the Instant Pot a few day ago and turned out delicious.  That was to meals.  I also found a black bean and rice recipe I also cooked in the InstantPot and that has offered me 5 meals so that has been an easy dish to prepare and enjoy.

June 12

Today along with work I even got the Kayak in the water for a nice paddle around the creek.  I was out for about an hour before I started feeling it in my shoulders.  It was a good workout and a nice way to enjoy being on the water.  I am looking forward to paddling in Spa Creek sometime before I continue on north.

I also was searching for AMPS today.  It seems like the batteries are not holding as well as I thought they might.  Since it has been an ongoing issue, I decided to measure amps from the batteries using my clamp on amp meter to see what was drawing what.  It is amazing how at home we don’t think about how much electricity we use and in what ways.  As I was investigating, I discovered my iPad uses about 1.7 amps to charge, iPhone about .7 amps, refrigerator about 5 amps, fans 1.5 amps and WIFI extender another amp or so.  While it does not seem like a lot, it all adds up when you are living off your battery bank.  To reduce consumption, I’ve been adjusting the thermostat on the frig a bit, changed from using the iPad to iPhone to monitor the anchor position and turn off the WIFI extender when I am not using it.  In the next few days I will see if that really helps me out or not.

June 13

Today was an easy day as I transited to Spa Creek.  I am expecting some PLC hardware to be delivered to me tomorrow which is the cause for slowing down my northern march.  Spa creek is a fun spot as there is interesting boat traffic that always seem to go by.  The nice thing is, it is such a busy and crowded location, all boats go slow and don’t throw up wakes.  Just before getting to the Spa Creek Bridge I saw this little vessel.

My oh my!!! (Not the sailboats either)

The calm after the storm. Kind of looks like a dome.  The sky is clearing up and it looks like the afternoon will be fabulous.

June 14

The hardware did finally show up.  Took a while for the delivery man to show up from the shipyard.  I decided to have lunch off the boat today and went to Pussers on Ego Alley.  They have an outdoor bar there and not many folks sitting yet.  What does one drink when at Pussers?  Pain Killers of course.  

I ordered one of those, regular strength waiting for Ken who was bringing the parts up.  I suggested he meet me there as it was a perfect day to sit outside and enjoy the view.  People walking by and boat traffic are always good viewing.  Ken was taking his time as he wanted lunch somewhere else, so a Caribbean Chicken Salad was ordered.  Figured I should have some green stuff every now and then.  It was delicious.  After ordering a second PK, Ken did show up so we got caught up on everything shipyard and just enjoyed the afternoon.  I notice four women walking by with red baseball hats on and Unicorn horn thingy on top.  Of course, I had to ask what the significance was.  It turns out that these four women have been doing an annual get together for the last 15 years and they were celebrating the youngest of the group fiftieth birthday.  Oh, such a baby.  Ken and I talked with them for about 2 hours before they were ready to head off for dinner and another bar.  Ken and I loaded the equipment he brought up and headed to Hesperus to do an equipment exchange.  After that was completed, we had some paperwork to complete but he left that at his hotel room.  Of to shore again I decided to wait at the end of Ego Alley as it was such a nice afternoon to sit outside and enjoy.  About an hour later he was back and we took care of the remaining business.  Then it was getting close to sunset, and since I did not have the running light for the dink I headed back to Hesperus.

June 15

I thought about kayaking around the harbor, but it was quite windy, with rough water and lots of boaters running around everywhere, so that plan was nixed.  It was entertaining to watch power boats, sailboats, brave kayakers and SUPs going around.  There was a fairly large group of kayaks just doing a float.  Perhaps 15 of them content to sit in the lea shore enjoying a fairly nice day.  Of, course no harbor viewing would be complete without a Dragon Boat or two going by.

They were not paddling super hard so it must have been a practice run

June 16

The weather kept me in the harbor for a couple days.  Winds were blowing strong from a northerly direction and it was not conducive to moving north.  I’ve discovered with Hesperus; flat waters are most enjoyable.  It sure is different from sailing, when one might want 10-15 MPH of wind.

A pretty sunset in Spa Creek

June 17

Finally, a calm day for travelling with a destination to Chesapeake City located in the C&D canal. It was a fairly nice day to be on the bay.  The water was a bit lumpy in the morning but as the day wore on, it calmed down nicely. The shorelines were quite far away so there were not any pictures worth taking or anything else of interest.

There quite a few vessels travelling along in the same direction.  A number of trawlers and sailboats.  They all wound up in Chesapeake City.  I was lucky and managed to get the last spot on the free dock.  Squeezed in was more like it as they have half of it reserved for a tour boat.  The bow hung over the no docking sign by a foot or two but no one even cared.  I was going to plug in as it was quite warm and humid, but the breaker kept tripping from Ground Fault.  My boat does not have the correct rotary switch to overcome the Ground Fault, so I wound up running the generator for some AC.  A thunderstorm went through, but mostly with rain and no winds.  It was a good night to be tied to a dock.  There were 8-10 other boats anchored in the basin.  After dinner, I did do a walk about in town.  Everything was closed up except the Tiki bar.  Since I had my victory drink already, I did not need another drink there.  It looks like tomorrow will be an early departure as the tides with shift in my favor at 6am.

June 18

With an early departure, no wind and light rain, Hesperus departed Chesapeake City.  The destination is Cape May.  I am pushing the distance a bit as the weather is predicted to be fairly calm for the next two days.  I’m hoping to get at least to Atlantic City before the winds kick in again. Travelling the rest of the C&D canal was nice.  No traffic to contend with and I eventually saw a couple sailboats behind me that had been in Chesapeake City.  With a strong current it was very advantageous to be travelling with the current.  Aqua Maps indicated at one point the current was 2 MPH.  With that help Hesperus was travelling alone at 11 MPH at times.  Wow!!

Once into the Delaware River, I continued to have a favorable current for a while. Eventually that had to end however and started losing speed.  Here is a nuclear power plant.  

Transiting down the river and into the bay, the land got further and further away and not good for photography.  Here is a lighthouse that looked interesting.

As the day wore on, the tide shifted again and Hesperus picked up some speed getting back to 9-10 MPH. Approaching the canal in Cape May, the current was running quite strong in a North to South direction.  I had to crab into the harbor and put on some speed to stay in the deep water.  The canal was quite pretty and I passed the ferry docks.

One ferry had just left Cape May

I did not have a chance to take any pictures here with the current running so strongly.  It was tricky to navigate past an old railroad bridge, but you could sure tell the current was fast.

The anchorage was just north of the Coast Guard base docks.  There were a couple boats already anchored there, but was sure to fill up by evening.  The strange part of this anchorage was the winds and current opposed each other and made for a difficult time.  As you can see in the pic below, Hesperus was doing these odd circles.  The image of the anchor was where the anchor really was.

A bad thunder storm went through about 10:30 pm.  I woke up as the winds and heavy rains picked up.  The anchor dragged a little bit and I am guessing the winds or tide changed and the anchor had to reset.  I know another few boats dragged anchor too, and a sailboat was completely on the other end of all the boats there. 

June 19

I did not have any idea which way the ocean currents would be running, and looking at the winds, an early departure looked like a good idea.  Figuring it would be about a 5-hour transit I would make some tracks.  The seas were 2-3 feet mostly from the stern quarter so the boat rolled from side to side for the most part.  Not extremely uncomfortable, but felt a bit queasy at times.

Here is my first look at Atlantic City

Getting into the harbor was not bad at all and just had to deal with waves and a bit of current but with a wide channel it was not difficult.  I motored around the inlet for an anchorage spot.  A sailboat was anchored there already but it looked fairly open so decided to go to the Brigantine Anchorage.  The entrance is tricky as it is so narrow and Active Captain is telling you to keep near the grass side vs the sandy side for deeper water. Starting in slowly, the water was showing 10 feet below the keel for the most part and one spot showed 6 feet under the keel.  Once through the narrows, the waters opened up quite nicely.  There was a basin all the way at the end that looked interesting so that is where I went.

The Green Anchor (furthest to the right) symbol is where I stopped

I thought this would be a great spot as it is quiet and also close to an ACME grocery store.  There was a grassy beach area quite close to where I anchored.  

While I thought the entrance to this anchorage was tight, but good for smaller vessels, I was wrong.

A tour boat came through and was quite large.

June 20

Active Captain indicated it was private property and the owner did not want people on her land. Sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.  I put the dinghy in the water and with my shopping list, cooler bag and Hesperus bags, hopped over to the grocery store.  With my list of goodies picked up I got back to the dink and aboard Hesperus without any issues or problems.  What a relief.

The biggest problem I had at this anchorage is the anchor biting in well enough to be secure.  I tried anchoring quite a few times, but when backing down, the anchor would not sink in for a firm hold.  

June 21

After numerous attempts at getting the anchor to set properly I gave up and moved to the bigger part of the anchorage.  Even then it took three tries before the anchor finally set properly.  This location is closer to the casinos and road noise.

June 22-23

An Atlantic City Sunrise (Much redder in person)

These are a couple of lay days as the winds are fairly strong.  Hoping Monday will present itself as a good travel day.

This is not a great weekend anchorage.  There are so many boat and jet skis zooming around.  I feel like I am in the middle of an expressway.

June 1, 2019 – Portsmouth, Hampton, Deltaville

Day 1. The start of my first bigger journey aboard Hesperus, a 2000 Monk 36

In some ways, my first day of cruising was typical for boating.  A cold front had gone through last night and wow, did it rain.  I was on the boat at Virginia Yacht and Boat, as that was my staging location after all the boat work on the haul out.  Anna helped me get the last few items loaded onboard and put the salon covers back on the cushions.  Unfortunately, I can be rough on things, so these covers are a necessity.

The morning was cool and of course everything was wet.  It was a kindness as it washed all the yard dirt off the deck and I avoided washing the decks this morning.  Maybe sometime tomorrow when I get to Pocomoke City.  

After looking at the weather, which was iffy, I decided to get underway.  The weather service was calling for severe thunderstorms, high winds and heavy rain.  Yes, I went anyway.  I thought I could escape the worst of it as the big red and yellow stuff was east of the Elizabeth River, no problem.  What I did not realize is how much this storm would bloom up. By the time I was approaching the Navy base, it was full blown.  25 MPH winds, waves sometimes at 4 feet and of course thunder and lightning. The works.  Reviewing the radar on the good old iPhone, I decided that common sense was the better part of valor and decided to route myself to Hampton. That would turn out to be a pretty poor showing for the first days trip and wondered it that was an omen. Luckily, I am familiar with the local waters, so heading to Hampton with severely reduced visibility would not be a big issue.  Also, I was hoping the storm would clear out to the east as I neared my destination.

The storm got much worst after taking this picture

As luck would have it, Sailors luck, the weather did moderate although the wind and waves were still high, I made it into Hampton River.  As expected, the water was flat as a pancake without even much of a breeze. I dropped anchor near the Custom’s House Marina with the company of 2 sailboats anchored nearby.  It was an easy anchor as it bit in right away and shut all systems down.  With some rain still dropping I thought I would make the most of it.

As it turns out, this weekend is Hampton’s Black Beard Festival.  Back in its day, it was one of two huge festivals Hampton put on.  The river was usually packed with rafted up sail and power boats.  This year, only the two cruisers and myself.  Dead, dead and dead.  I think the pirate camp was still there as they were firing off canons in Mill Point Park. I love to hear cannon fire.  I guess because it is close to fireworks. Bing, bang boom.

As the weather started clearing, I looked at radar and wind reports and decided to push on either to Chisman creek or Jackson Creek in Deltaville.  I thought I would see how the bay looked once I got out there.  It was fairly calm with some breeze and waves out of the north, but doable.  I was going against the tide all day today.  I guess it is the luck of the Irish. Fighting tides, so my speed was in the low to mid 7 mph most of the trip.  Not to worry though, as I was still going faster than any sailboat I’ve had.

About 2:30, the winds started dropping more and the water flattened out, so on to Deltaville.  The rest of the trip was easy and without issues. I arrived and dropped the hook right off of Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  It is a familiar anchorage as I have been here many times.  

I haven’t figured out what is for dinner.  I poured myself a victory drink one the anchor was set and am relaxing for the rest of the evening.  The first day of my big trip is a success.

June 2, 2019 – Deltaville to Solomons Island

Looking at weather, north winds have been predicted for the next two days, so Solomons was the selected destination.  Originally, I thought of going to Pocomoke City or Chrisfield, but ultimately decided to head to Solomons.  The trip itself was quite uneventful with some moderate chop on the water with SW winds nearing 15 mph, and eventually moderating.  The boat and autopilot handled everything nicely and the ride was bouncy but not unbearable.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was watching the ship traffic jam near Smith Point Light. A tug with a barge on a string, came around the light house and had a south bound freighter attempting to pass him while a north bound freighter was also approaching.  I was running along the inside the main channel but as I saw all this traffic heading my way, I veered out of the channel and out of the way. 

Tugboat with Barge on a String and Freighter passing

As you can seem I am a good way off and not at risk of a collision.

The rest of the trip to Solomons was uneventful and it was enjoyable to see quite a few sailboats out on the water enjoying a Sunday of good sailing.

Once arriving at the anchorage in Solomons, after I determined a good spot to drop the hook, low and behold I see my favorite old sailboat, Soodletime, now Morning Light. I have not seen that sailboat in quite a few years.  She looks great and the owners have done many nice improvements.  Such as Stackpack, new dodger and bimini and solar panels to name a few.

Dickerson 37 (My old boat)

I managed to catch up to them later on in the day and they invited me aboard to talk of boating adventures.  They still love the boat but are hinting at trawlers.  They are both in their 70’s.

After meeting with them for a nice talk, I headed over to Imagine, Mike and Karen’s boat.  They are once again at Washburns getting teak work done. It is warranty work from last year, so it looks like they may be here for a week or two.  As it turned out, it was Mike’s birthday so we went out to dinner at Boomerangs.  It was a nice local restaurant that had about anything one could want.  I was tempted to have a crab cake, but chose their creamy she-crab soup and a burger.  It was all delicious.  A chocolate Sunday was provided and the whole restaurant sang happy birthday.  That’s what small town folk do.

Once dinner was over, we could see a storm approaching, so off we went back to the marina. It was a good thing too.  The winds started howling just as I was running the dinghy back to the boat and saw the anchor was dragging.  As quickly as I could, I got the dinghy in the davits and started the motor and GPS. Luckily, I was being blown towards the channel and not on another vessel.   It took a bit of effort to grind up the anchor as the wind was blowing the bow down faster than the stern, but eventually it was out of the water and underway to re-anchor.  

That done, and I thought the excitement was over for the night, but that was not to be.  About 10:30pm another storm rolled through.  A very loud crack of lightening woke me up and I leapt out of bed to check my spot and of course, I was dragging anchor again. This time getting close to a New Zealander boat.  Luckily the anchor bit in and stopped the boat before we bumped in the night.  This time, I could take a bit of time to decide what I needed to do, so after gathering up my wits, started the engine, pulled the anchor up and moved quite a bit forward.  I dropped anchor right in the middle of the creek.  I figured no one would be out on boats this time of night and I’d be alright.,

The rest of the evening was peaceful and I eventually fell back asleep until 5:30. The morning temps were a cool 62 degrees which was refreshing after the 90+ temps we have had so far.  I thought about re-anchoring off to the side, but no one has given me an evil eye and the anchor has been holding, so for now here I am and here I will be.  

A Deadrise departing Solomons Island

June 3, 2019 – Lay day in Solomons

The wind was forecasted to blow 15-20 mph from the north east with 2-4-foot seas.  Not my kind of weather and the harbor was as calm as can be, so here I stayed.  Mike and Karen wound up having their boat hauled for some rub rail repairs.  It was unexpected so their departure is delayed for a few days.  I also spoke with Ken, the owner of the Dickerson.  It was nice catching up to him more.  They had planned on departing today, but wanted to buy some more first aid stuff for his leg and wound up staying the day.  He and Maggie eventually came over for a tour of Hesperus. They are just beginning to toy with the idea of going to the dark side.  Maybe in a few more years.

Other than that, it was a quiet day.  I did not even get off the boat.  It was my first day working remotely and that went well.  A couple emails and a phone conversation were about it as far as work interactions.  The rest of the work day was reviewing test procedures.  So exciting.

It was breezy in the harbor, but with flat water very comfortable.  The forecast was for the winds to drop along with the temperatures. 52 degree low?  Hard to believe it was in the upper 90s a week ago.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was the entertainment last night and then bed time.

June 4, 2019

With a forecast of light winds from the NE, I decided to move on to Oxford, MD.  Oxford is a quaint little town and also has a very sheltered harbor.  I got underway a little after 10, once I finished up my work stuff and got underway. The bay was quite calm so it was an enjoyable day to be on the water.  The anchorage in the town harbor was empty, so no problem fitting in.  A few boats cruise by now and then, but it should be a quiet night.  No pictures today as everything was always far away.  The water way was quite busy with sailboats travelling north and south so no sleeping at the helm today.

Hesperus is ready for launch

This years work is complete.  Time to play and go cruising.

Monks are a bit bow heavy. You can see that with the boot stripe. It gets narrow at the bow. More noticeable when out of the water, but should look fine when launched. I’m glad this seasons work is done.

Progress is being made

Bottom painting is completed.  Now for a bright red boot stripe and launch. Departure still June 2019.

Working on the bottom. Shaft is reinstalled and prop should be back tomorrow and reinstalled. Redoing a previous blister repair on the water line. Lots of work prior to my trip north.

Hesperus Cruise in 2019

Hesperus will start her 2019 cruise soon.  The east coast triangle is the big trip this year.