Chesapeake Bay and into Maryland

We ended up spending four nights in Hampton, VA; two anchored off the downtown and two at the city docks plugged in to use the air conditioning during the heat wave. We talked to a sailor also at anchor who sailed up from Miami – five days on the ocean and they didn’t even go into the marina to “re-charge”. I was amazed – what troopers.

We were able to meet up with Paul’s brother Jim again. He drove over from Richmond with a mail package Eric forwarded to him. Jim was nice enough to haul us around town to do errands, shopping and laundry – thanks again, Jim!

When the winds switched to the south, it got really hazy and we could smell the smoke from the fire in the Dismal Swamp started from logging equipment. I guess we got through there just in time; I last heard on the news that nearly 1,000 acres had burned. There’s also a wildfire burning further south in N.C. that’s causing the smoky conditions.

After rounding Point Comfort near Hampton, we were on the famed Chesapeake Bay. It was named by John Smith for the Indian tribe of the same name. The shoreline and water reminded us very much of sailing back on Green Bay but this bay is WAY bigger. It has a surface area of 4,300 square miles and 7,000 miles of tidal shoreline including all the many river and creeks flowing into it. Here are a few of the sights:

This could be Green Bay (except for the jellyfish!) The biting flies feel just the same.

We're not used to seeing lighthouses out in the water. This one had an unusual name: "Point No Point Light".

Paul is smiling - we're actually sailing on Chesapeake Bay! It felt like a milestone.

We anchored two nights so far, near Fishing Bay which is off the Piankatank River near Deltaville and at Sandy Point off the Great Wicomico River near Reedville. Both were great anchorages, except for the odor at Reedville. Menhaden fish are processed there and made into fishmeal which is used in poultry and livestock feeds, oils used in various products and as an ingredient in margerine in Europe. There are planes that spot the schools of Menhaden and direct the fishing boats to them. Here’s the sunset at Fishing Bay:

We passed the mouth of the Potomoc River where you would turn off for a long side trip to Washington, D.C. Since we'd visited there numerous times we didn't make the trip but I'm sure it would be amazing to see the city from the water.

We’re currently in the Solomons Island, Maryland area off the Patuxent River. It’s a really neat area with 11 marinas in a relatively small area – boats, boats everywhere – mostly sail. This is our second night at Calvert’s Marina which is $1/ft – best price we’ve seen in a long time. They have a Mercedes for their courtesy car (not that kind of Mercedes). Not sure how old it is but it has over 218,000 miles on it and made a lot of strange noises. It served the purpose and got us to the Food Lion and back. Here's the view across Back Creek from our marina at dusk.

The weather’s been great since the dandy thunderstorm Saturday night. This is us at the floating dock just before the storm. We made it to the little restaurant at the marina and back without getting wet but then it really let loose.

Lastly, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY (belatedly) to all the Dads. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our oldest, Eric, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday in New York City. This is 18-mos. old Eric and the 1977 version of the three of us.

Here's a more current Eric with his love, Diana.

Paul did some addition and found that as of June 11, we had traveled 3,710 statute miles on this journey of a lifetime. Thank the Good Lord for safe travel thus far!