ONANCOCK, VA to SOLOMON'S ISLAND, MD / Friday, May 13 to Sunday, May 15 (Days 113 - 115)

Admiral's Log:   7:17 am, Fri. 5/13/16
                         Temp:   62
                         Winds:   7 mph
                         Speed:   7.0

We pulled and rinsed off the anchor at 7am. Another overcast day! Grrr, so tired of this weather! But making the best of it. Guess you could say "a crappy day on the Loop is better than a good day at work." But it is getting old. The waves were hitting us on the beam so it was rockier than normal, but non un-safe. 

This was the anchorage as we left, cloudy but no fog.

At 9:30 the fog rolled in. Good thing we have radar. We could not see a quarter mile around us and crab pots were everywhere!

Fog from the bow

Fog on the stern

We are the blue dot crossing the state line from Virginia to Maryland

We docked at Zahnheiser's Marina at 1:35. We had cocktails with Sweet T, who happened to be there, which was fun catching up with them. Then our nephew David, drove over from DC and had dinner with us at the Dry Dock restaurant connected to the marina. He is staying a couple of days with us on the boat.

Saturday, luckily David has his car, a bit small but it worked. We had to find a couple of Lighthouses for my quest. We went to a cute lighthouse not in use anymore called Piney Point Lighthouse. We also toured a small Waterman Museum with reproductions of boats used in the oyster trade. As you can see, Maryland and Virginia are very proud of their waterman heritage. Every small town has a Waterman or Maritime Museum. It is kind of neat to learn the history of this area.

There is also an original River Dory Boat on display, one of only a handful being restored to preserve this dying oyster industry. 

This little museum was full of all kinds of cool information. Right behind the lighthouse is a sunken WWII German Submarine, the "Black Panther; so named because it was covered with a black synthetic rubber skin, making it invisible to sonar. All the technology has been taken off but the skeleton still remains at the bottom of the Bay.

We had lunch at Angler's; Mike had a rock fish sandwich. Rock Fish are a kind of stripped bass, but get huge; they have to be thrown back at 48 inches. We then went to the Calvert Marine Museum, where the Drum Point Lighthouse had been moved to. It is one of just 3 screwpile lighthouses of then original 45 on the Bay.

                                       

We took advantage of David's car and hit the grocery. For dinner I roasted beets and new potatoes and sautéed scallops and Mike cooked stone crab we had frozen from home. Not bad for boat food don't you think?

Sunday, we had brunch at the Angler again then drove to Ann Marie Sculpture Gardens. Not exactly what we expected. I thought it was going to be some kind of topiary garden. It was a nice garden, but the sculptures were actual sculptures. It's a cute place for kids, with a lot of interaction type things to do. There were many small fairy houses sponsored by different families.

One of the many Fairy Gardens

Our Sculpture

Waterman Statue using "tongs" to scoop oysters

David left at 2, and we discovered three more Loopers had arrived. So we arranged to meet for Happy Hour with Phase II, India Jayne and Chica. We ate pot roast we had put on earlier in the day and watched hockey, again.


                         

DELTAVILLE to ONANCOCK ANCHORAGE / Thursday, May 12 (Day 112)

Admiral's Log:     7:17am, Fri. 5/13/16
                         Temp:   60
                         Winds:   7 mph
                         Speed:   7.0 knots

It was a little foggy leaving Deltaville, but not  a long trip to Tangier Island. Very interesting place. Don't think I need to do again, definitely different. It is strictly a waterman's village, crabbing is all they do. Crab shacks line the entrance to the one and only Marina; if you can call it that. We called on the radio and cell phone and no one answered, so we tied up and and saw a sign that said "Brief Stay 5$". Right up our alley. We asked someone who we pay, and knocked on the door of the dock masters home, paid him and walked down Main Street. We had been told by another Looper to not expect too much. We had also read where the people talk in an English brogue and they bury their relatives in their front yard! 

Advertising?

Funny Story

The island is slowly sinking, we heard by 2050 it will be totally underwater. 
We did see some graves in front yards, kind of creepy. Some took better care than others. There may be a little in-breeding there as well. Saw a lot of the same names on headstones and history markers. It took us all of 30 minutes to walk from one end of the island to the other. We had lunch at Hilda Crockett's Family Style Restaurant. They had a total of 5 tables and one already set up with food. We got there at 11:30, and the first to arrive. Actually no one came before we left. The ladies that served us did have some sort of accent, but sounded more like an Irish brogue. Hard to catch some of what they said. But the food was good, kinda heavy for lunch. We had Virginia Ham, crab cakes, clam fritters, corn pudding, green beans, potato salad, apple sauce, cole slaw, delicious yeast rolls and butter cake. 

Hilda Crockett's Family Style Restaurant

Nice grave maintenance

Not so much...

We walked back to the marina, untied and headed to Onancock. We really had to watch for crab pots! We thought the Florida coast was bad, there are tons here too. We decided to anchor in a nice quiet cove and took the dinghy to town. What a cute little town. About the same as most little towns. The yards and homes were very well maintained.  Everyone was extremely friendly.

  We had a drink at Mallard's Restaurant, formally a general store with lots of character. We walked through town and bought some note cards of crabs from a local artist and bottle of wine. We needed a bag of ice. A man saw me trying to buy some from the restaurant and offered to sell me some from the dock master's stash. Then he gave it to me for free in exchange for a favor; he wanted us to use our dingy to help him place a warning flag near a boat slip. We also met a Gold Looper couple, Midas Touch.

You can't see the signs, but this seems to be the city center. Police is on the left. Council Chambers in the middle and Town Office is on the far right. 

Our anchorage was just gorgeous. Quiet, peaceful and finally a sunny day! Since lunch was so heavy, we had cereal for dinner and watched the hockey playoffs. 

YORKTOWN to DELTAVILLE / Tuesday and Wednesday, May 10-11 (Days 110-111)

Admiral's Log:     8:30 am, Tues. 5/10/16
                         Temp:   60
                         Winds:   6mph
                         Speed:  7.1

The Chesapeake Bay was a little rougher than we expected and rainy, but nothing our boat can't handle. We passed a cool lighthouse, the Wolf Trap floating light at the mouth of the Rappahannock River. 

We arrived at Dozier's Regatta Point Marina in Deltaville at 12:35.  It's a very nice marina. Quiet and clean. The owner is part of the family that produces the Waterway Guides. One of our bibles on this trip. Very informative publications with information on marina's, anchorages and things to see when going ashore. 

We saw a couple of Looper's from the Rendezvous. We rented another car for the day to take Carson back home. Three hours up and three hours back. And got caught in DC traffic! So it was more like four hours up. But not a big deal, we had the time and it was nice to see Carson. We also found a liquor store. Liquor in Virginia is pretty high so thought we would try our luck in Maryland. It is cheaper but still not as cheap as in Florida. We ate at a little Mexican place by the liquor store and started the three hours back to the boat. We got back around 10:30 and watched Pittsburgh eliminate the Capitals from the Hockey Playoffs.

Tuesday, was a maintenance day. Mike rinsed off the boat and filled us with water, while I did laundry cleaned the inside. We went to the grocery, a hardware store and Tiffany's. Mike returned the rental car while I caught up on the Blog. We cooked Chinese food for dinner and watch more hockey playoffs.

NORFOLK to YORKTOWN / Friday, May 6 to Monday, May 9 (Days 106-109)

Admiral's Log:    7:30 am, Fri. 5/6/16
                         Winds:  calm
                         Speed:  6.6 mph

It was a rainy and chilly departure today. But Mike was getting itchy to get on the water again. We got a text at 4 am from Mel that the Bay was pretty calm compared to yesterday when they left under small craft warnings!  

Norfolk is the largest Naval Station on the east coast, so we saw a lot of navy ships as we were leaving the harbor. 

Hospital Ship- Comfort

We passed the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse which is still operational. As you can see by the GPS photo, it was originally part of Fort Monroe. 

See the moat around the old fort?

We got the Wormly Creek Marina at 11:40. We rented a car and went to the grocery. We ate left over beef stew and watched the Lightning.

We are driving to pick up Carson tomorrow and plan to tour the "Historical Triangle"; Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, for the next several days.
Plenty of photos to come I'm sure. We hear the weather is suppose to cooperate!

Saturday, we rented a car and drove to Rockville to pick up Carson.  We had dinner at the Yorktown Pub where we watched the Kentucky Derby and saw Lone Star (Kevin and Steve) and Phase II (Dave and Lori). 

Sunday, we started out at Jamestown Settlement then went to Historical Jamestown. We watched a film about the first settlement then walked around the reproduction English ships and Powhatan Indian Village.  We had shrimp and stuffed crab for dinner and watched the Lightning eliminate the NY Islanders and move on the the next round in the Playoffs. Go Bolts!

Entrance to Jamestown Visitor Center

Reproductions of the Discovery and Godspeed Ships

Carson's Leonardo DiCaprio impression on the Titanic.

Pocahontas

After Jamestown, we drove to the Yorktown recreation site where you can experience life in that period of a farm and army encampment. Some excavating is still going on. The re-inactor guy was pretty funny. He got the crowd involved in marching and turning in unison. 

There really isn't anything at the Yorktown Battlefield but Earthwork Mounds which are deep ditches dug to protect the troops. There were also Colony and French flags showing where there encampments were during the battle which won our independence from Britain. 

The fellas with George Washington at Yorktown Visitor Center

Another impression...LOL

                                         

US and French flags showing their encampments

Hard to see, but trying to show the ditches and mounds.

Monday, we went to Williamsburg. I had been there probably 30 years ago. But it was not as I remembered. Either it has changed or I have a bad memory (which I do admit, is pretty bad). But it was kind of boring and pretty hokey. The tour of the Governor's Mansion was informative and interesting. But that was it. It may have been off season, but there were not any other tours or talks about the area. You just walk around these old houses and stores. There are a few demonstrations which were educational, but still seems something was lacking. We returned the rental car and had spaghetti for dinner.

In trouble again...

Terraced Vegetable Garden

Using grape vines as stakes

Cute scarecrow, but don't think too scary!

Beautiful Peonies, wish we could grow in Florida.

I love poppies!

AGLCA SPRING RENDEZVOUS NORFOLK VA / Monday May 2 to Thursday May 5 (Days 102-105)

We had a great time at the spring AGLCA Rendezvous. We learned a lot about the the northern legs of our trip. Met up with old friends and made new ones. Mike and I are getting more excited about the rest of the trip. We have always been ocean boaters, so lakes and rivers are going to be different, challenging and peaceful.

Just a few pictures of the cruise to Norfolk and pictures from the Rendezvous. 

Then I will get back to blogging about our daily adventures.

Just a few of the boats attending the Rendezvous

Laughed till we cried! Sweet T and Lone Star at "Still" Restaurant in Portsmouth

Rowe Boat was quite popular on the Looper Crawl!

Most of the 260 attendees.  Can you find us?

ATLANTIC YACHT BASIN to SHERATON WATERSIDE MARINA / Friday, April 29 to Sunday, May 1 (Days 99-101)

We're baaack....we had a successful 10 days at home. Doctor's, dentist, haircuts, check. Had a nice visit with my parents, lunch and dinners with friends.

The "Spring" Divas

We flew back to Norfolk Friday the 29th. Got back to the boat at 11:30, to find all work was finished. But as we suspected, the props were quite dinged up and bent due to traversing the Dismal Swamp. You don't even want to know the cost of repairs. But remember...it's a boat! We fueled up and headed to the Sheraton Waterside arriving at 4:45. Not a bad day's work.

Not suppose to be curled on the end, haha

The "Great Bridge" Bridge

"Great Bridge" Lock

Norfolk has a large Navy presence. We will be here for 7 days, so planning to tour the  decommissioned USS Wisconsin Battleship. 

Old house on my morning walk.

There are around 50 Looper Boats docked at this marina for the Bi-Annual Rendezvous; a Looper convention if you will. With a total of 250 attendees. There are three groups of people at these Rendezvous'. Those in the planning stages, like we were at the October Rendezvous, those in Progress; like us, and Gold Loopers; those that have completed the Loop. There are two Rendezvous'; spring, in Norfolk and fall at Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, AL. There are seminars for Planners about how to buy a boat, the best boat for you, galley tips, medical tips and so on.  For those in Progress; talks about the northern route; side trips and things you need to know going north. We have lunch everyday and dinner a couple of nights. 

There is a lot of camaraderie of course. We had a huge "Docktail" Party last night on the dock of the marina. We caught up with some old friends and made several new friends. Hoping to see Sweet T and Blue Haven tomorrow and catch up on their adventures.