Hampton, Virginia

We left the anchorage in Reedville before sunrise on Monday, October 27 th.  This provided me with the most beautiful picture of another sailboat in the anchorage.  The seas were calm with winds about 5 knots and 1 foot waves.  Thank goodness Chuck fixed the engine as we were not able to sail today.  The Chesapeake Bay is a very busy shipping channel and we were often passed by many freighters.  There is a lighthouse to the entrance for Hampton Roads.  We arrived in Hampton after motoring 10  1/2 hours and travelling over 57 nautical miles, the tides and currents drastically affect boat speed.  We will be staying here in Hampton, VA in Hampton City Docks Marina where the rest of the Sail Rally participants will be gathering as we prepare to leave together down the ICW on Saturday, November 1 st.

Reedville, Virginia

We tried to leave Solomons Island, but our engine wasn’t going to cooperate.  We went back to the anchorage and Chuck worked on a few things.  We tried a second time and the engine seemed better until we were out about two hours, then it started to get worse.  Winds were calm, but we put up the sails so Chuck could work on the engine again.  This didn’t help much, but there was no place to go for protection except Reedville, VA which was 42 miles from Solomons Island.  Since we left so late and with the engine problems, our trip took almost 8 hours and we arrived at 7:30 pm.  We are glad that twilight lasts as long as it does as we arrived at the anchorage in the dark in 3-4 foot waves with 10-15 knot winds.  Thank goodness for electronic charts and the I-Pad.  

We stayed anchored another day in Reedville until Chuck resolved the engine problem – a bad fuel pump!  It was good that we stayed because the winds today are 10-15 knots with gusts up to 30 knots with 3 foot waves.  The anchorage here is beautiful and Yes, the leaves are turning colors!  We put our time to good use and worked on some Boat To Do’s.

  

Solomons Island, Virginia

We sailed out into the Chesapeake in winds 15-25 mph and 3 foot waves with the current behind us.  Our destination is Solomons Island, VA, 45 miles south. We sailed the entire way and this is a first!  It’s a good thing because we are having engine problems, the RPMS’s keep fluctuating and the engine dies.  We tucked in on Friday in a very protected anchorage in Solomons Island.  This is the first time we are using our new Mantus anchor we purchased at the Annapolis Sailboat Show and we love it.

  

Leaving Annapolis

We left Annapolis on Friday, October 24^th after spending almost a month at the Horn Point Harbor Marina.  This is a small marina with about 40 slips located on Back Creek with a view of the Chesapeake Bay, about a 7 block walk to downtown Annapolis.  We saw many sunrises over the Chesapeake right from inside our boat.  Our boat neighbor and Catalina owner, Skip, became a good friend to us and helped us get around town.  We love Annapolis and the people.

Annapolis Weekend

Our sailing friends from Michigan, Steve and Becky, were able to spend a day with us during a visit with their family in the Annapolis area.  Our first stop was Davis’s Pub for their famous Crab Pretzel and Crab Cake Sandwich – oh so good!  Next on the agenda included walking in downtown Annapolis with many stores, shops, and old architecture and of course a Painkiller at Pusser’s Caribbean Grille.  This was the weekend of the Annapolis Powerboat Show and there were several places with free drinks!  We did Grand Marnier shots on a water ski – all four of us at the same time!  Our stay in Annapolis would not be complete without Maryland Blue Crabs at Jimmy Cantler’s.  We had more than we could eat!  A fun day with good friends.

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Annapolis Sailboat Show Day Four and Five

On day four, we attended an all-day seminar on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway).  We will be travelling down the ICW with 16 other sailboats from November 1 – December 15.  No sailboat show today.  On the final day of the show, we visited our new friends and exhibitors – Mantus Anchors.  We first looked at this new design anchor several years ago at the Miami Boat Show – we were very impressed then and now we own one.  We will soon be facing some different anchorages and some will be challenging.  This Anchor with the Chain Hook and Bridle will work in all anchoring conditions.  We are proud to announce that CLR Marine is now a dealer for Mantus Anchors.  Now we can sleep at night!

Annapolis Sailboat Show Day Three

Today was a rainy, cool day so we decided to tour historic Annapolis.  The Annapolis Naval Academy is within a few blocks of downtown Annapolis.  This weekend was not only the boat show, but also parents’ weekend and a Navy football game.  The Chapel is beautiful with blue stained glass windows that cannot be recreated.  In the basement of The Chapel is the Crypt of John Paul Jones.  There is also a very impressive U.S. Naval Academy Museum.  We finished our tour at the Maryland State House.  This was the first capital of the United States for 10 months in 1783-1784.  This is the oldest state house in America still in continuous legislative use.  We had to check out Davis’s Pub (visited by Food Network’s Diners, Drive Ins and Dives) for dinner.  They have the best bar food and the crab pretzel is awesome.

    

  

Annapolis Sailboat Show Day Two

Friday, October 10th was the second day of the five day show.  Our dear sailing friends from Michigan, Paul and Barb and Doug and Jean drove in for the show and to visit us!  There are hundreds of exhibitors and more boats in one place than we have ever seen.  But, based on our events, you would think we were on a pub crawl instead of a boat show.  We went to the wine tasting, rum tasting and finally the gin tasting.  The Hendricks Gin tasting tent was the best!  We had cocktails on our boat joined by our boat neighbor, Skip and ended the evening with dinner at The Boatyard.

Annapolis Sailboat Show Day One

October 9, 2014 was the first day of the 45th Annapolis Sailboat Show, the largest and oldest in-water sailboat show in the world.  We were looking forward to seeing some of our very dear friends who are also exhibitors at the show.  We have known John and Louise at Zarcor for many years and first met at the Chicago Strictly Sail show.  For those of you who have seen our boat, we have many of Zarcor’s products that we love.  Madalyn at Tufted Topper is our long-time friend and fellow sailor from Hammond Marina when we lived in Illinois.  We first bought our Tufted Topper over 13 years ago and still love it.   Francine, Dave and Robyn are also long-time sailing friends from Hammond where we spent many good times.  Of course, no one can come to the show without having a Painkiller.