Casting the lines off, we departed our dock and headed for the entrance to Horn Harbor. Following the bread crumb trail on the GPS was easy enough but the gremlins that have plagued me on this trip were still present. I bumped on the way out and it felt like we were stuck. Depth sounder at 4.9′, not good. I gave it some throttle and the depth sounder showed deeper water but I wasn’t moving! Now what??? A little more throttle and still no movement. Hmmmm … wait! Let’s try putting it back in gear! Dumb ass moment number whatever, who keeps track anymore. Off we went.

The trip up to Solomons was a motor ride, dead calm. After a quick stop at Spring Cove Marina for a pump out, water and fuel, we were anchored in our usual spot way back in Mill Creek. We will stop and see cousin Cheryl and then begin our search for a slip and car for the summer. That episode will be chronicled in a later post.

Sweet Lady (Max and Ellie’s Oday 40) didn’t make the trip, but two days later Cathy and Tom on Perseverance 2 joined us at the anchorage. We all had a chance to tour Solomons on foot and then cap it off with a steamed shrimp dinner on the boat. Life is good!

Solomons is a destination for many cruisers and we began to recognize folks and their boats right away. At West Marine, Mike from Marathon (drove the Smorgasboat) was behind the counter and he told me that Billy on Kittiwake was here also. Billy is also a fellow Marathoner and coconspirator in senior softball injuries. We have seen Moonlight Serenade (from Georgetown) at the marina but no sign of Bill and Sarah yet.

Bill and Patty Coxe were also here for a short time. They are heading for the 2009 Oday rOnDAYvous in New York.

We have found a marina off the Potomac but near Leonardtown, Maryland. It’s about 15 miles to Cheryl’s by car (6 hours by boat). Now that we have a car I guess it’s time to get down to boat projects.

Most of the trip from Old Point Comfort up to the Great Wicomico was dead calm and we motored all the way. Very few crab pots and very few boats left us with a very uneventful day.

Our plans were to visit with Tom and Cathy from Perseverance 2, Oday 39, whom we had last seen in the Bahamas and Max and Ellie from Sweet Lady, Oday 40 that lived several houses away. We picked Tom up at the marina at Reedsville and he took us through the entrance to Horn Harbor where we would borrow a dock from a neighbor right next door to Sweet Lady. The harbor entrance is guarded by two shoals that appear to touch but just allow us to pass with 6″ of water to spare. Let’s see if I can get out on my own, especially with my track record.

After a great visit and several days of relaxation we decided to leave on Wednesday with all three boats heading to Solomons, but plans have changed. Ellie cut her foot pretty bad on some barnacles (retrieving the new furler that went overboard during installation) so Perseverance and Sweet Lady will catch up in a couple of days and we will leave in the morning.

One last hurdle and we should be home free! Leaving the marina was a snap and soon we were on our way. I had checked the hand drawn chart at the cruiser’s lounge and was prepared to exit the Alligator River and cross the Albemarle Sound. I made the turn from mid channel and damned if I wasn’t aground once more. OK, I’ll search around a bit, there’s gotta be some deep water. Nope, aground again, and again and again! Let’s regroup and try again. A quick call for local knowledge and the reply comes back that the sand bar has shifted. Head for the shoal marked on the chart and you should be fine. RIGHT! Sure enough we saw nothing less than 12′ where it was supposed to be less than 5′. Oh well, that’s what the ditch is all about. One adventure after another.

The Albemarle soon turned really ugly. The wind started to pick up and soon the 3′ to 4′ very choppy waves were rolling us from the aft quarter. Very uncomfortable. We hurried as best we could considering we’re in a sailboat and soon enough we were inside the protection of land heading for Coinjock. This would be the days destination for most cruisers but not us. We were headed for Great Bridge, another four or so hours further. As we hit the Currituck Sound we had some wind so out came the headsail and then there was nothing, dead calm. Oh well, roll it back up and on we go. As we headed for the shelter of land again, the water started to change appearance. Oh good, some wind, we can sail again. Wrong! The wind came at a steady 20 knots with some significant gusts. Almost on the nose so no sails and no progress. We slogged on and after an agonizing period we were back in shelter of land masses. We were all alone for this last stretch and it can be quite nice aside from the bridge schedules and an occasional barge. We’ve seen lots of Ospreys and their babies along the way and soon we started to spot Bald Eagles.

It was getting late so we checked out the free dock in Great Bridge but all spaces were taken. Bummer, we slipped into Atlantic Yacht Basin and order a delivery pizza that arrived just as the rained poured down.

Around ten the next morning we headed off to Portsmouth and docked at the northern free town dock. It was still lousy weather but at least we could go do some sight seeing.

We took in the Portsmouth Maritime Museum and then took the water taxi over to Norfolk for the USS Wisconsin and the Norfolk Maritime Museum.

Check out the big guns on that gal! (The Wisconsin that is!)

These are the 15″ shells for those big guns.

It was a slow tour day since the weather was bad so we hooked up with our own personal tour guide. He was an ex submariner and once he found out I was a submarine fan we got the royal treatment. It was quite fun.

I always enjoy the museum and this time was no different. I have become quite interested in the naval history that we encounter all along the coast, especially the Civil War stuff. The battle of the USS Monitor and CSS Merrimack (Virginia) was held right here at Hampton Roads. It’s amazing how these little ships revolutionized naval warfare so long ago.

We managed to get back almost to the dock before the skies opened up. We borrowed some trash bags to wear but got pretty well soaked anyway. Soon after arriving at the boat the docks were under water.

The next day we moved twelve miles up river to Old Point Comfort to anchor and set the stage for our trip up the Chesapeake.

Today was planned out to the minute detail. Timed bridge openings and tidal ranges choreographed for easy passage. It looked so simple. I ran aground in the first fifteen minutes. Motts Channel leading out of Wrightsville Beach is always shoaled and I forgot which side was shallow. My bad! I was off in time to make the first bridge opening.

Sometimes I worry too much. We saw only occasional shallow spots, hit all the bridges on time and had a pretty much uneventful day. We thought we might get stopped at Camp LeJuene by Marine maneuvers but it didn’t materialize. As we were motoring along we noticed swimmers crossing the ICW. They were Marines in training with full packs and weapons. Then we noticed more in the bushes and at the waters edge. Their weapons were drawn and one was aimed at us. We surrendered peacefully and continued on our way.

We stayed the night at Dudley’s Marina in Swansboro. Not fancy but pretty nice for $30! They even drove us to town. What a deal and real nice folks too.

The next morning dawned and we were off. We passed Beaufort by noon and soon we were heading out into the Nuese River and Pamlico Sound. We anchored in Campbell Creek just before joining the Pungo River the next day.

The highlight of this day was the Pungo River / Alligator River Canal. This canal is about 27 miles long and is straight as an arrow for the first 17 miles. This shot is from just before the turn looking back.

This stretch is notorious for its floating debris and “dead heads” or large logs floating just below the surface with maybe an end sticking up. We passed several of these dead center in the channel. These deadheads are gathered up occasionally. Here’s a pile collected awhile back.

Tomorrow, if the weather lets up, we’ll be off to Portsmouth or Great Bridge. Otherwise we may stay put for a couple of days.