Sea Isle City, Larsen's Marina and at Mary's House

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 59 - May 29, 2017

We had arranged to visit a teacher colleague of Patty's from the Camden School District whom we had not seen in 42 years but had kept in touch with via Christmas cards and letters over the years, so we started looking for a marina in Sea Isle City.

The Sea Isle City Municipal Marina returned our first phone call on Friday but I missed it. Then Saturday, Sunday and Monday phone calls just went to voice mail, no return calls.  So we started calling all the other marinas in Sea Isle City. Minmar was full, Pier 88 was full, and so on. Finally, we called the last one, Larsen's Marina. They said they could accommodate us but they wanted us to know they mostly had small fishing boats in their slips, there was no electricity, and they did not permit sleeping overnight on boats in their marina! Normally, that would be a deal killer, but not for us. All we needed was a parking spot for a few days, and the price was right!

Daydream tied up at Larsen's Marina in Sea Isle City

We made the short cruise from Schooner Island Marina in Wildwood to Larsen's Marina in Sea Isle City, got tied up, and called our friend Mary, who came down and picked us up within 20 minutes or so. Larsen's was not kidding about what kind of marina it is, either!  It is right on the NJICW, which is quite narrow through Sea Isle City. Very short slips, narrow floating docks that have so much movement they would challenge a tightrope walker, and a very strong current. There was barely enough width to get fenders down on both sides, It was a challenge getting Daydream in the slip, and the stern is hanging out a couple of feet into the NJICW, but so are the sterns of a couple of other boats.

We had a great time catching up with Mary last night, a wonderful dinner, and a night in a real bed! We are going to do some sightseeing apparently, re-provisioning and a little shopping. So the blog will probably be dark for the next two days, and June 1, we will be on our way for our next destination, Atlantic City!

Delaware Bay, Cape May and Schooner Island Marina

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

Day 58 - May 28, 2017

No photos today, sorry! Today we cruised from the Cohansey River to Wildwood, New Jersey. Tonight we are at Schooner Island Marina, where we are sitting in the cockpit of Daydream under our camperback with the electric heater blasting because it is cold and raining like crazy!

Everything the Delaware River was yesterday the river and bay were NOT today! We understand that 10-15 knot winds and 1-2 foot waves is a good day on the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, but if this was a good day, we are sure glad we will not have to cruise here on a bad day, because these "good" conditions were downright uncomfortable. Enough said about that, and we are now SUPER grateful for the conditions we had yesterday!

Cape May was a nightmare. Coming in the Cape May Canal, which is not all that wide, we learned that N.J. boaters like to take their half out of the middle, and run their big boats crazy fast, throwing off huge wakes. The harbor was like a washing machine, probably half wind and half wakes from New Jersey boaters. The harbor police were very busy, since the entire harbor is a no wake zone, which evidently nobody from New Jersey knew.  The best anchorages, which are in front of the Coast Guard Station were unavailable because they were filled up with dredging barges. So we pushed on.

We looked at a potentially promising anchorage at Sunset Lake in Wildwood, but then we read on Active Captain that Sunset Lake is subject to an anchoring ban. Fortunately, right past Sunset Lake there are a few marinas right on the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. We called Schooner Island, and they were able to accommodate us for the night. A good thing, too, because as soon as I came back from the office to register, it started raining and it hasn't stopped. It would have been miserable anchoring and having to kayak Baxter to shore and back.

Like Russ Portner texted, "Some nights the cocktails taste better, or maybe they are just more necessary!" Tonight is one of those nights!

Cohansey Cove on Delaware River

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 57 - May 27,2017

When we left Lloyd Creek this morning, we had only about 5 miles to the Elk River, where we were officially OFF the Chesapeake Bay! The weather forecast was for flat water and winds under 5 mph, which was the best cruising conditions we have had since we started. Since we were about to transit the C&D Canal and enter the Delaware River, which has a bad reputation for nasty condtions, we were especially grateful for the coincidence of weather and geography! 

What is important is what you DON'T see - waves!
Easy cruising on the Delaware River

We transited the C&D Canal at the blazing speed (for us) of 8-9 mph, getting he push of a full flood.. There was no commercial traffic on the Canal, but lots of big yachts went roaring by us sending out their usual huge wakes. But all in all, this was a very pleasant 17 mile cruise across the canal, and we soon found ourselves entering the Delaware River, where we continued to enjoy the highly favorable cruising conditions!

Our original plan was to anchor behind Reedy Island, near a boat ramp, but we quickly realized that with the favorable conditions, we would get there far too early in the day. So we went back to Active Captain looking for another spot farther downriver where the reviews addressed getting a pet to shore. 

We found our spot at the Cohansey River. The Cohansey River reviews were mostly by people who had ducked in there to escape horrible conditions on the Delaware. One reviewer was there during a 60 knot blow with five foot waves on the nose, and most others were there simply seeking some shelter from high wind and waves for which the Delaware is famous. All reviews mentioned the river was deep and the current was strong. But they also mentioned an island near the entrance with a sandy beach where you could land pets, so this is where we headed. 

The Cohansey River is in New Jersey, a short distance downriver from Greenwich, N.J., so we have now cruised in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. We have covered more than 1,500 miles and are approximately one-quarter of the way around Daydream's Great Loop!

When we got there, the weather was still great, the water was deep (about 40 feet) and the current was strong, probably 2+ knots, more than I wanted as a test of my paddling ability! Both the Blue Chart Mobile and Navionics apps have pretty good tide and current information built in, so we knew that in a few hours the current would be approaching slack. We had drinks and dinner, and Baxter sighed and sat under a chair until conditions were suitable to take him in! He did his business, and then enjoyed a nice long romp in the sand! 

We had a very peaceful night at Cohansey Cove. Going to Cohansey Cove also left us a much shorter run on the Delaware River to the Delaware Bay and the Delaware Bay to Cape May. Our plan is to spend one night in Cape May anchored off the Coast Guard Station, where there is supposed to be a nice beach for pets, and then the following day cruise up the New Jersey Intracoastal to Sea Isle City and spend two days and three nights there visiting a teacher colleague of Patty's from the Camden School District from our "domestic exile" between 1970 and 1975. We have not seen her since then, but have kept in touch with Christmas cards and letters, so we will probably pick up more or less where we left off 42 years ago!

Two More Weather Days - Lloyd Creek

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

Days 55 - 56 - May 25 and May 26, 2017

Our night at Betterton was, to put it mildly, a bit uncomfortable. With two more days of Small Craft Advisories with winds 10-15 with gusts to 25 and waves to 2 feet facing us, we decided we needed a nice sheltered spot to wait out the weather. We found it!  Betterton is at the mouth of the Sassafras River and totally exposed to the north and east, Two miles further up the river is a spot called Lloyd Creek, which is really a pond sheltered from the river by a little island. Lloyd Creek however, is notorious for a difficult narrow entry with a sandbar extending out from the right side and fairly shallow waters inside. We followed the advice on the Active Captain reviews, which were to hug the left side of the shore on entry and trust the spot soundings to find a spot to anchor. This worked very well for us. We anchored at high tide in about 7 feet.

Lloyd Creek before Tthundershower Thursday afternoon

Thurdsay morning and afternoon Lloyd Creek was flat as a pancake. The little island has nice sandy spots to land a kayak, and Baxter enjoyed a couple of pretty good romps!  It was nice until through the later afternoon. The forecast for the evening, though, was for thunderstorms and rain. In the early evening, we heard distant thunder. Then it kept getting closer and closer! And finally, the mother of all electrical storms was directly overhead, and the sky opened up with a torrential rain storm. At least it washed the salt off Daydream! The wind accompanying the thunderstorm whipped Lloyd Creek into a frenzy with large waves breaking all around us. We were in the cockpit with our nifty florescent 12 volt lamp overhead snug as a bug in a rug and enjoyed the show. When the storm was past, the winds were still blowing hard but it finally calmed down and we enjoyed a peaceful night!

Pat and Baxter on shore pondering our return to the boat

Friday the wind blew hard and we were spinning on the hook all day. I had to take Baxter to shore as usual. In the morning it was a little bit difficult paddling back but not so much I was worried about it. Baxter was whining again about 2:00 p.m., so back we went. The wind and current were both favorable for the trip to shore...but when he was done with his business and I turned around to see what I would be facing paddling back, it did not look good. There were again significant waves (they look higher from a kayak than they do from a C-Dory 25!), so I dragged the kayak along the island to where I was directly opposite the boat with the shortest distance to go. I paddled like crazy and was able to make headway, but it was the most difficult paddle I have had so far! When I got alongside, the wind kept pushing me off, but finally Patty grabbed the blade of the paddle and we were able to get Baxter and me safely off the boat and get it tied up! But again it calmed down in the evening and we had another good night's sleep.

The forecast is completely different for the next three days. Saturday is supposed to be winds of less than 10 and flat water. Sunday will be a bit breezier but with waves less than 1 foot. So whatever weather fronts NOAA saw to post the Small Craft Advisories for the past two days have moved on, and so will we!  

Betterton and Some Reflections

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

Day 54 - May 24, 2017

No offense to residents, but Betterton, MD, is not a destination. It is a stopping off place between Annapolis and the  C&D Canal. There is a free Town Dock here, but the approach is difficult and the depths are questionable. There are no boats on the dock. We are anchored just to the east of the private pier next to the Town Dock. So no photos, and no commentary.

This does give me the opportunity to reflect, 1500 miles into our 6,000 mile journey, about what works and what perhaps does not.

Navigation

All that is really necessary to do the Great Loop is a depth sounder and an iPad with both Garmin Blue Chart Mobile and Navionics, backed up with the same apps on our iPhones. In the Pacific Northwest, depth is hardly ever a concern. Here on the East Coast it is the number one concern - there is so much shoaling that running aground is a constant concern. Depths of two feet are commonplace in marked channels. We have polished our skeg in marked channels, do you go left, go right or down the center? Who knows? One eye is always on the depth sounder! Where you are or need to go, on the other hand, is completely handled adequately by the iPad with BOTH Navionics and Blue Chart Mobile. Navionics has far superior cartography and better presentation of tides and currents. Blue Chart Mobile has Active Captain, which is indispensable for finding marinas and anchorages, information on locks and bridges and a lot more. We use them both.

Coastal Explorer on the PC is great with the detailed NOAA charts and the AIS receiver, but for us it is marginalized because we do not have a daylight viewable monitor. A suitable daylight viewable monitor would cost at least $1,500, as far as I can tell. So we run Coastal Explorer with our regular USB computer monitor, but it is not our primary navigation device like we thought it would be - the iPad is primary. I do like the AIS receiver, and I wish I had purchased a transponder so other vessels could identify us. Next year I will rewire the AIS to the Raymarine C-80 Classic, since we have all the CF card for California to Alaska. Coastal Explorer will probably be retired for use for desk planning.

Autopilot

We love it! We use the Raymarine S1000 every day for long boring straight runs, and it takes a lot of the stress of trying to keep the boat on course manually. We do not use it to follow routes, only to keep us going straight, since we do not have routes on the Raymarine C-80.  

Battery Management

Everything depends on 12 volt power, so knowing where things stand and being able to do something about it when power gets low is critical. It is not a problem when we are running every day, but it can be a problem if we stay several days in one place without shore power. In the "things right" column are, first, the Victron Battery Monitor, which tells us in the morning the voltage, percent of charge, and number of amp hours used during the night, and second, the Honda 1000i generator and West Marine 30 amp fast charger that can put things back where they need to be fast in the event the solar panels don't get us there during the day. So far, we have had to use the generator and charger twice when the days have been dark and stormy, not bad over 1,500 miles. We have never had to run the generator more than an hour and half to get back to 100% state of charge.

iPad - iPhone Charging Technology

Since the iPad is our primary navigation device and the iPhones are our backups, we need to be sure they are fully charged all the time. We had cheap USB charging adapters and off-brand lightening cords for our iPad and iPhones when we started out. We quickly found that that the iPad battery would run down to nothing even while it was plugged in. We ordered two Anker Quick Charge 3.0 39W Dual USB Car Chargers and three Anker PowerLine+ Lightning Cable (6ft) Durable and Fast Charging Cables from Amazon, and everything quickly comes back to and stays at 100% charge. These are worth the cost for sure. Probably not necessary, but good for extra insurance, we ordered the Anker PowerCore 26800 Portable Charger 26800mAh External Battery with Double-Speed Recharging, We take this in the backpack with the lightening cords when we are going to be on shore for extended periods and need to recharge our iPhones.

ARB Freezer - Pelican Cooler

These work great in tandem. We have two one gallon water jugs, which are switched out daily between the freezer and the cooler. The frozen jug keeps the cooler nice and cold, and the freezer has our drink ice, frozen foods, and a little area that is not frozen but nice and cold for cheeses and charcuterie.  The cooler has everything that, well, needs to be kept in a cooler. No melted ice, no stuff sitting in water in the bottom of the cooler. This system is about as good as it gets.

Internet - Communications

Our T-Mobile phones, so good where we live, are awful just about everywhere else except some of the big cities. We bought a Verizon Jetpack in Savannah, and recently upgraded our data plan to Unlimited. It is expensive, but we cannot afford to be without internet access, mainly for weather information, which is so critical in making go / no-go decisions. A big plus to Verizon here. It may seem nuts, but sometimes we have made internet assisted phone calls on our T-Mobile phones through our Verizon Jetpack. It works great for Facetime on the iPad with the grandchildren too.

Airhead Composting Toilet

Maybe in the TMI department, but this has exceeded all prior experience and expectations. We changed the composting medium from peat moss to cocoa coir, and seeded it with an enzyme recommended by Airhead, which is actually a drain cleaner! We now have complete confidence in the Airhead to get us around the Loop with daily use. It is great to not have to worry about pumpouts like people with normal marine heads do.

I will probably think of other things, but that is enough for tonight!

At the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 53 - May 23, 2017

After dog duty and breakfast, we paddled over to the Truxtun Park Dock, and with some trepidation about whether it would be there on our return, tied the kayak up to the dock, walked up to the road and fired up the Uber app. Within minutes, we had our Uber driver to take us to the U.S. Naval Academy Visitor Center, for about a third of the cost of the water taxi!  Unless you are a taxi driver, you just have to love Uber for convenient low-cost transportation!

Our tour guide, Chip Seymour,
former Director of Admissions at
US Naval Academy

Our tour guide was Chip Seymour, the former Director of Admissions at the Naval Academy. He was a classmate of Roger Staubach, Class of 1965.  There were maybe only 10 people in our tour group. The guided walking tour cost $10 each, and I cannot imagine going to the Naval Academy without taking the guided tour.  Chip's explanations of everything were both informative and funny. He had to pause periodically, however, since the Blue Angels were practicing for tomorrow's big show. Those jets flying low are thunderous!

This is "Commissioning Week," where the graduating seniors will receive their commissions as either Ensigns in the Navy or Second Lieutenants in the Marine Corps. 

We toured most of the major buildings, and got a great explanation of the lives midshipmen live at the Naval Academy.  The chapel and the museum were both very impressive. Chip said if we were ever on Jeopardy, knowing about the the "Ring Dance" in Dahlgren Hall could be valuable! Most impressive, though, was the daily ritual of the midshipmen in front of Bancroft Hall before lunch. We got a nice video so you can get an idea of this!

We had lunch at The Alley, the restaurant at the Naval Academy Club, and went to Storm Brothers Ice Cream Factory for dessert!

Some more pictures:

Crypt of John Paul Jones

Interior of Dahlgren Hall

Midshipmen at Attention

Band playing Anchors Aweigh and The Marines' Hymn

Blue Angels!

Chapel window - a Tiffany

Finally, this great video!

Arrival in Annapolis

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 52 -May 22, 2017

It was raining like crazy at the TOC Marina on Tilghman Island this morning, and the Bay was pretty well socked in with either fog or clouds that go down to the water (is there a difference?), so we were on the fence about leaving. We took the morning to take our showers, do the laundry, dispose of the trash and top off our water tank. The fog lifted about 11:30 a.m. and we headed out for the short 24 mile cruise to Annapolis! The Chesapeake, which had been riled up with three and four foot waves only a few days ago, was now flat as glass, and it was a smooth three hour cruise to Annapolis.

Blue Chart Screenshot
of Truxton Anchorage

Truxtun Park mooring balls.
Park dock in background

Patty had done her research on Annapolis, and we decided on the Spa Creek anchorage. We entered Spa Creek and passed easily under the bridge over the creek. Active Captain says the closed height is 14 feet, but I put our antennas down as an extra precaution. This anchorage is right in front of Truxtun Park and just past the Truxtun Park Mooring Field. They charge $30 a night for the mooring balls, while anchoring is free. There was nobody on the mooring balls (surprise, surprise) and four sailboats anchored when we arrived. It took a few tries to find just the right spot, not in the channel nor too close to the other boats, but we got anchored!

Daydream anchored in Spa Creek

Admiral Baxter leading
amphibious assault on
Truxtun Park!

The first order of business after anchoring is always shore duty for Baxter. I got the kayak down and paddled over to Truxtun Park, where there is a little bit of sandy beach in addition to the boat ramp. Baxter is quite daring in the kayak. We have ordered him a doggie life jacket that is being sent to the home of our friend in Cape May, N.J., since a good wake might just dislodge him from his favorite spot!  He sometimes has all four paws up on the bow skirt, and that seems too precarious to me. I don't want him to fall in, because I sure don't want to have to try to retrieve him from the water!









A few more pix:

Colorful rental kayaks at Truxtun Park

Goose family out for a swim

Harbor Tour Boats go by us fairly regularly

Just a modest little shanty, on Spa Creek but they call it home.
We are anchored directly off their front yard.

Tilghman Island

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 51 - May 21, 2017

According to our Marine Weather app, the weather on the Chesapeake was finally going to be settled enough for us to head out, but it was only going to be calm in the morning and then there would be a Small Craft Advisory in the afternoon. So instead of going to Annapolis, we headed to Tilghman Island and the Tilghman-on-Chesapeake (TOC) Marina, which was only about 20 miles from Cambridge, and we are really glad we did, Tilghman Island is another wonderful place. Our friend Ray in the Pearson sailboat was already gone, having left at first light. We got away around 9:00 a.m. and arrived at Tilghman Island around noon, just in time for our margaritas and lunch of crab cocktail and deviled eggs!

Tilghman-on-Chesapeake causeway
and Yacht Club / Marina Office

Daydream at TOC Marina's wonderful
FLOATING DOCK!

Tilghman Island is literally the "end of the road" - Maryland Rt. 33 goes over a bridge onto Tilghman Island from St. Michaels about 15 miles away, and ends at the other end of Tilghman Island. The TOC marina is actually on a separate man-made island accessed by a causeway. The causeway used to be the location of a long pier with a freighter dock at the end. Then an oyster processing plant was built about halfway along the pier, and Avon Island arose from tons and tons of oyster shells discarded over the years! 

The TOC Marina has floating docks like we are used to back in Washington, where you side tie to cleats. Most Chesapeake marinas have fixed piers and pilings, which are virtually impossible to use with a small boat as low to the water as Daydream. Interestingly, many of the boats at TOC Marina had absolutely unnecessary lines looped around the pilings on the side away from the dock, since bow, stern and sping lines are all that is necessary to hold a boat in place on floating docks. I guess old habits die hard!

Tilghman Island Country Store - Grocery, Deli,
Liquor Store and Post Office!

After getting tied up to the dock, registering, and having our drink and lunch, we walked into Tilghman. Our goal was to see the Watermen's Museum, but the first thing we encountered was the Tilghman Island Country Store. This is a combination grocery store, deli, liquor store and post office, all rolled into one! After such a long walk (not really), we decided we had better treat ourselves to ice cream!  While the lady dished up our two-scoop black cherry ice cream cups, she told us how to find the Watermen's Museum. It would not have been too difficult anyway, since Tilghman appears only to have the main street.

Watermen's Museum

The Watermen's Museum was three or four blocks past the Country Store. The Museum is in a very nice Victorian building that was formerly a private home. It is fortunate we were there on a Sunday, since according to the sign, the Museum is only open on weekends! We were greeted by a volunteer docent, who gave us a private tour through all of the exhibits. There were many paintings, models of all the types of boats used by watermen, old documents and other artifacts relating to watermen and fishing, crabbing and oystering on the Chesapeake Bay.

At the Museum, we learned of the Harrison brothers, who built ships and ran packing plants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We got an explanation of the various types of boats, including skipjacks, bugeyes, and log canoes. These were all powered by sail, and very few remain.

Chesapeake Bay Deadrises at Dogwood Harbor

The most interesting was probably the log canoe, which was made from up to nine huge logs joined together side to side and then hollowed out. Amazingly, log canoes look almost exactly the same as the plank built boats, but were much more durable. Today, most watermen use long, narrow, diesel powered boats called the Chesapeake Bay Deadrise. I got a shot of a few Chesapeake Bay Deadrises at Dogwood Harbor on Tilghman Island. We have seen these workboats everywhere we have been on the Chesapeake.

By the time we got back to the boat, it was time for our G&Ts and toasted open face crab sandwiches for supper! We have just enough of the last pound of J.M. Clayton's "Gourmet Lump" for another round of whiskey crab soup tomorrow!

"Weather Day" in Cambridge!

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 50 - May 20, 2017

We stayed on "The Wall" in Cambridge an extra day due to continued high wind and waves on the Chesapeake. Tomorrow still looks good to leave for Annapolis!

Better Shot of J.M. Clayton Seafoods!

Patty stayed on the boat and read her Kindle! I went back over to J.M. Clayton's to see if was open on Saturday, and it was, so I bought another pound of "Gourmet Lump" shelled fresh crab meat. Then I went on a long walk with my camera, from the far end of the historic district on Race Street down to the City Marina at the far end of HIgh Street in the opposite direction. So today's blog will just be some photos! 

We also used a bit of the afternoon to top off the hydraulic steering fluid. Slowly but slowly I am getting a little bit more savvy on required maintenance on a long cruise! 

James Wallace Law Office, 1852, later Union Army recruiting office in Civil War

Christ Church Episcopal Church - stained glass Window is a Tiiffany

Cambridge City Hall

1854 Dorchester County Circuit Court - H. Rap Brown was tried here in the 1960s

Sign in restaurant window - who knew "Pat's Pale Ale" was famous in Cambridge?

One of several Landmark houses on HIgh Street - 1700s

Typical Chesapeake fixed pier and piling slips at City Marina - difficult or impossible for us to use!

Our Day in Cambridge

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 49 - May 19, 2017

Today was our day to tour Cambridge! We went to the Dorchester County Building right above "The Wall" looking for tourist information, and we were directed to the County Council Office. We started asking the receptionist about tourist information, and the Council President came out and gave us a handful of brochures! The most useful brochure was "A Walking Tour of Cambridge," which identifies most of the historic structures.

Folding bikes AKA "Clown bikes"!

We finally took the folding bikes down and rode them downtown instead of walking. The bikes are a little disappointing. Patty calls them "Clown bikes" because the seat post on one of them always slides down to its lowest position, and I look silly riding it even with the seat post up! We need to figure out how to keep the seat post up. When I tried to tighten the lever, I bent it, and now I suspect it will break off if I try to bend it back. I am thinking as a temporary fix, a big hose clamp around the seat tube would keep it from going down into the down tube!

Window sign, sorry for reflections!

We went first to the Harriet Tubman Museum and Education Center. Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary person, who escaped from slavery to the North, and then went back to the Eastern Shore in Maryland many times as a "conductor" on the "Underground Railroad."  She brought more than 300 slaves to freedom, and she never lost a "passenger." We read all the wall display panels and watched a video on her life and accomplishments. Maryland was a slave state, and although it never joined the Confederacy, the Chesapeake Bay ports did a large business in tobacco from the South. Sentiments in the Chesapeake area tended to side with the Confederacy, so it was extremely hazardous for Tubman to return to the Eastern Shore. There were reward posters in the Museum with a $40,000 reward for her capture. 

RAR Brewpub

After the Museum, we went to the RAR brewpub (my keyboard does not have a backward "R") across the street. We thought we might eat there, but the menu did not have anything Patty would like, so I had a beer and we went back across the street to the Wine Bar, where we had a prosciutto and cheese platter and we both had wine! The platter was really very good! Then we rode about a mile each way to a hardware store to buy a bike lock!  I should have bought a big hose clamp to put around the seat tube, but this potential solution had not yet occurred to me!

Josiah Bayly Law Office Built in 1800

Christ Church Cemetery

Cambridge was founded in 1684, and there are many buildings that date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Per Russ Portner, I do not need to photograph any of them, since "Toni has them all"! That plus there were way too many! I did get some photos today though. One looks like a little cottage, but actually was the first law office in Cambridge built in 1800. Lawyers were prevented from practicing from their homes, and so Josiah Bayly built this structure, which is right next door to Christ Church Episcopal Church and cemetery. It is right across the street from the Dorchester County Circuit Courthouse.

J.M. Clayton Seafood Company

J.M. Clayton Seafood Company is right around the corner from "The Wall," and it is the oldest continuously operating crab processing plant on the Eastern Shore, established in 1890.  This is a large crab processing plant, but they sell fresh shelled crab meat at retail. It is still owned by the Clayton family. We bought a pound of "Gourmet lump" which is mixed small and large pieces, half for a Crab Louie for tonight, and the other half for open face toasted crab and cheese sandwiches tomorrow! There is no store pe se, you just go into the office, pay for what you want, get a receipt, and take it into the warehouse where an employee brings your crab out to you in a plastic container.

I got in a kayak paddle to the far end of Cambridge Creek as well in the afternoon. We also enjoyed seeing a stern wheeler coming into Cambridge Creek. We probably saw this a couple of times during the day!

The last thing we did was to check the Marine Weather app, which confirmed we are going to be hunkered down here for tomorrow as well, so it still looks like Sunday will be the day for our departure from Cambridge.

Arrival in Cambridge

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAYS 48 -  May 18, 2017

We arrived in Cambridge in the afternoon on Thursday, May 18th. There is a channel into Cambridge Creek from the Choptank River that opens to a substantial basin. From Active Captain, we learned that there is a concrete wall with cleats just below the Dorchester County Building where visiting boats can tie up for free. There is a (theoretical) 2 day limit, but nobody apparently checks, and today, the wall is only occupied by us and our new friends Ray Schmidt and his grandson Shawn. Ray is a retired marine mechanic from New Jersey and has a 1968 Pearson sailboat. 

 

Daydream Tied to Wall

This afternoon shortly after we arrived, Ray showed us the ropes (literally) of tying up to a wall. The wall has cleats on top and vertical timbers below the cleats, so your boat does not bang against the concrete - concrete versus fiberglass, concrete always wins! We first got tied up with our bow and stern lines. Charlie Vinroot had given us two fenders much larger than our own fenders, and per Ray's direction, we deployed these horizontally opposite the timbers. Then he had us deploy spring lines fore and aft. We rarely needed spring lines in the Pacific Northwest, but we needed them here!  Spring lines are lines that go from a central point on the boat forward and aft to cleats on a dock or wall. They prevent the boat from moving - the forward spring line prevents the boat from moving back and the aft spring line prevents the boat from moving forward. Or mostly they prevent the boat from moving - the tide rises and falls here, so all the lines tighten and slack as the boat goes up and down with the tide, but the spring lines have kept our fenders pretty well aligned with the timbers!

Daydream from Top of Wall

Getting on and off the boat  here is a bit of a challenge! We get on and off from the bow. We both manage fine at high tide. At low tide I can usually step up, grab a cleat and pull myself up, but Patty needs a hand! At low tide, you can see just the roof line of the boat! Getting Baxter on and off is fun too!  It is a good thing he only weighs 15 pounds!

Cambridge Creek Drawbridge

There is a drawbridge a few hundred yards up Cambridge Creek, and its closed height is 9 feet, so virtually every boat passing through requires an opening. The horn blows, the bells clang, and the bridge opens for the boats to pass! Entertaining to watch, and they shut down bridge openings in the evenings, so not a problem at bedtime!

We had a late lunch at Snappers, the restaurant just around the corner from the Wall.  I threw caution to the winds at Snappers and had big BYOB (Build Your Own Burger), which starts out as a half pound cheese burger with lettuce and tomato on a Kaiser Roll, and then two additional toppings. I chose bacon (what else?) and grilled onions! So messy I ended up eating it with a knife and fork! I washed it down with a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, and felt no guilt at all!

We are now using both the Weatherbug and Marine Weather apps on the iPad, and high winds and waves are forecast through Sunday, so we will be here at least a couple of more days. Tomorrow is our day to explore downtown Cambridge!