Annapolis "Ego Alley"

Traveled from Solomoms Island to Annapolis (5-27-14).

The Chesapeake was friendly and welcoming today. The Coast Guard was watching out for us. 

We docked in Ego Alley in downtown Annapolis in pouring down rain. The Captain had to work his way around a fleet of Naval Cadets in training on individual small sailboats. 

The crew (Sara) took a selfie. She looked so hot and tired and flushed that she refused to post the selfie. 

Sites to see on "Ego Alley" (A small, narrow waterway that leads to the heart of the city. It got it's name from the endless parade of boats and yachts that traverse this dead end canal, usually only to see and be seen. 

Cruisers of a different kind. 

The Captain enjoying the view. 

Deltaville to Solomon VA

On Wednesday May 21st we are finally back on the water. WOO HOO!!! It was a calm day on the Chesapeake. As we left Deltaville Marina and passed the Red 4 Marker, I took this picture of an Osprey nest with chicks. Yesterday, when we pasted this same nest, the mother Osprey was in the nest. We were very close to R4 Marker and she and I were eyeball to eyeball. I would have loved to have captured that picture.  But, I was too slow with the camera. Some great pictures are lost because many moments are wonderful but fleeting. I can't wait for camera glasses. What joy it will be when a timely blink will trigger the taking of a great photo.

We docked at Calvert Marina in Solomons, VA. A great place to stay ($1.00 per foot per night.) Best bargain yet. Just across the dock from our boat is one of the top ten restaurants we have experienced "The Back Creek Bistro".  Fabulous food and a generous bar tender.

Our hope was to leave Solomon's  today (5-23-14) and travel to Oxford MD and then St. Michaels MD.  Bad weather and marina availability on a holiday weekend keeps us here until Tuesday.

This gives us a day to see more Solomon Island sites. Calvert Marine Museum was a treat. It offered a good history of local boating and had many old wood boats on display.

This is an example of the Native American log canoe that the early settlers saw in use when they came to this new land. Always looking to improve and simplify a good idea, they developed and built their version of the log canoe and called it the Colonial Dugout or "Punt". The punt was lighter, faster and was not nearly as labor intensive as having to scoop out the inside of the log after resting hot coals on the wood that needed to be removed, scooping the charred wood out, then repeating the process.

The Drum Point lighthouse, pictured below, was taken out of the water and moved to the Calvert Museum. 

Drum Point Lighthouse dominates the museum's waterfront.  This screwpile, cottage-type light is only one of three remaining from forty-five that once served the Chesapeake Bay at the beginning of the twentieth century.  Decommissioned in 1962, the lighthouse fell victim to vandals until moved to its present site in 1975.  Beautifully restored, complete with furnishings of the early twentieth century, it has become the waterfront's main attraction and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Tours are guided, and the schedule varies seasonally. "Per Wikipedia"

Since we could not move the boat, we decided the best use of our time was to rent a car to see Oxford MD and St. Michaels MD. We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Toured Oxford and then took a short ride to St. Michaels on the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry. 

In Oxford we saw a grand collection of old wood boats at Cutts & Case, Inc.

One of the boats sitting in the Cutts & Case yard was the Cape Dory Typhoon sailboat. This was my first and only boat before Ithaka and will always have a fond place in my memory for the eleven years I owned and sailed it on the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. My first experience on the 19' Cape Dory, which I named "Invictus", was when I purchased it and a friend and I sailed it from a marina north of Baltimore, down the Chesapeake and up the Potomac to Quantico, Va in late November. But that is a story for another time and place.

Oxford MD is a place I could live. A lovely little town with 2 five star restaurants. We had brunch at The Robert Morris Inn. Jack had sausage and eggs. I had...

After brunch, we sat for a while at the Oxford Town Park and watched children play in the water and enjoyed the view of the Chesapeake.

Oxford has a quiet charm, and beautiful architecture that provides a haven like atmosphere. 

Long Stay In Deltaville

We left Waterside Marina in downtown Norfolk headed for Deltaville, VA on the Southern edge of the Western Shore of Chesapeake Bay on May 11. Our purpose for stopping at Deltaville was to pull into Zimmerman Boatyard, located at the Norview Marina and have some minor repairs done and have the hull and running gear checked for any damage that could have occurred when we touched bottom a couple of times coming into Fernandina, FL, some 700 miles ago. We did not suspect any damage because all preliminary checks verified that all systems were running normally. By having the boat "short hauled" and visually inspected, it would confirm our beliefs and give more peace of mind for the remaining 5000 miles of our journey.

After a long seven hour day running on a relatively calm Chesapeake Bay we pulled into the Zimmerman Boatyard and tied up for the night. Bright and early the next morning, Adam Sadag, the manager of Zimmerman Marine, and his Chief Mechanic Bruce arrived to get the process started.

A "short haul" is when the boat is lifted out of the water and left in the lifting slings just long enough for whatever needs to be worked on or inspected. Then, the boat is immediately placed back in the water.

The great news, when Ithaka was lifted out of the water, was that there was no evidence of any damage to any of the hull, propellers, rudders or supports. In fact, touching bottom had not even removed any of the bottom paint from the hull.

The not so great news was that while inspecting all the running gear, it was discovered that the four cutlass bearings on the drive shafts were showing enough signs of wear that it was Zimmerman's opinion that they be replaced. Since our goal is to keep the boat in tip top shape and correct minor problems before they become major problems, we decided to go ahead and have all four cutlass bearings replaced while several smaller minor repair tasks and upgrades were completed at the same time.

Bruce and Mike - Hard at work. 

Since Ithaka was now going to be placed "on the hard", meaning she would be out of the water and blocked up by support stands while all the work was being done, Sara and I decided to rent a car and relocate to the Hampton Inn in Gloucester, VA., about 40 minutes away. This would allow the work to proceed uninterrupted by us not staying on board (without A/C) and also give us an opportunity to see some of the sights we had intended to see anyway on our trip.

During the nine days Ithatka was on the hard, we had the opportunity to visit the world famous Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA., where the first ironclad ship in the U.S. Navy, the U.S.S. Monitor is being conserved after being discovered and brought up from the bottom of the ocean in 2002.

Having fought to a draw in the first "battle of the ironclads" at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862 the U.S.S. Monitor and the Confederate ship CSS Virginia (Northerners refer to her as the Merrimack) changed the course of naval warfare for all time. They proved in their four hour duel that the age of the wooden warship was a thing of the past.

Though the CSS Virginia would be scuttled by her own crew to prevent falling into Union hands, the USS Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, NC during a storm in December of 1862, with 16 crew on board. It was not until 140 years later that she was discovered and the innovative 120 ton wrought iron  turret was brought to the surface, where it is currently undergoing conservation and restoration at the Mariner's Museum. 

One of the fascinating things about this trip is the amount of history we are traveling over and through as we journey North. From the early explorations of Florida, through the beginnings of the original thirteen colonies as we traveled through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia and on into the Civil War period. 

Leaving Norfolk and navigating through the now busy Hampton Roads area, it does not take much imagination to recount the battle of the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia in this very place or to see John Smith sailing up the James River to found Jamestown.

Another attraction at the Mariner's Museum is the collection of wood ship models created by the master craftsman August Crabtree. Currently numbering over 2000 pieces, the collection contains models documenting nearly every type of vessel ever constructed. Working alone and sometimes as long as two years to create one model, Mr. Crabtree painstakingly carved, bent, painted and rigged each ship model.

Another side trip we took was to Tangier Island, VA. This island sits in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay approximately 15 miles from the Western Shore of the bay and 18 miles from the Eastern Shore.

Ferry to Tangier Island

Though the island has a small airport, the only other access is by water and the ferry that runs once a day from Reedville, VA. on the west side of the Chesapeake and Crisfield,  MD on the east side of the Chesapeake. For almost 400 years this small community of approximately 500 people has existed as exclusively watermen. Harvesting the blue crabs and oysters from the local waters and selling their catches to the mainland. Because of their isolation, many of the islanders still speak with the Elizabethan accent of the earliest English settlers. Sadly, this unique way of life is rapidly coming to a close with the increased government regulations on crabbing and oystering. Tangier Island Watermen are finding it difficult to make a living. Combined with this fact is that the younger generation is choosing to leave the island and pursue careers in other fields. For the first time ever, no person graduating from high school on Tangier Island in 2013 decided to follow in his father's footsteps of becoming Waterman.

Meanwhile, back at the Zimmerman Boat Yard, the removal of the four cutlass bearings and replacement with new ones has taken place. The engines have been realigned to match the new cutlass bearing. Both stuffing boxes have bee repacked and the bottom has been pressure washed. All the running gear, to include the shafts, rudders and propellers have been repainted with bottom paint, all new zincs were placed on the running gear, a gauge for determining the fullness of the holding tank has been installed and numerous small maintenance items were completed. 

While all of this was being accomplished and the boat was on the hard, it gave me a chance to clean and polish the hull all the way to the waterline. One never realizes how large a 42' boat is until it is out of the water and a clean and wax job is done by hand!!!

After a short sea trial with Bruce, the Chief Mechanic, on board to check all the previous nine days work, we were finally ready to continue our journey. We would depart for Solomon, VA on the new day.