Low Cheese: Slaughter and Solomans

09/20/2012 =>Slaughter Creek/Taylor’s Island, MD

We were originally gong to check out Oxford and Cambridge, but while many suggested these were great places to stop…and the guide made it out to be fabulous, we figured they would end up being much like St Michaels…and decided to skip them, head back across the bay to Solomans’ Island.  We like to keep the travel under 40 miles a day (est. 5kn ph, and that is 8 hours a day of travel).  Slaughter Creek is a little stop, only one marina, in between Solomon’s and Wye.  The entrance to the creek is a bit tricky and can shoal…a lot.  We called the marina (this is a perfect example of what a marina should do, Bohemia) for a reservation;  the dock master asked us the depth, then told us EXACTLY how to get into the creek!  We gassed up a bit at the dock, and headed for our slip for the night…and I have to admit (knock on wood) Mike and I are getting pretty good at docking!  Even when we back in..and there is very little mobility when she is backing up!

Again, the guides said there was a little store somewhere in the vicinity of this marina, which also had a restaurant Palm Tree Willies in the parking lot.  Mike and I left Salty to go talk to the dockmaster (just an older gentleman holding down the fort there, really).  He looked at us funny when we mentioned the things the guide said were here (grocery store and bike trails).  Normally, he keeps a loaner car for transients to use, but it just went into the shop this morning.  Oddly enough, when he asked us where in Jersey we were from (most pple just go, oh..jersey…and move onto next topic) he knew exactly where we were!  He used to drive produce trucks to the ShopRite depot off the NJTP! Haha.  And would make runs for mushrooms out to the eastern end of LI, when it was mostly still working farms!  Small world!

We did decide to eat at Palm Tree Willies that night, mostly especially because they allowed dogs! We got the recommended Maryland Seafood Chowder (really freaking awesome), mike got a burger, and I splurged on the calories and ordered their special sandwich:  Ponchos’ Club, and multi layered club of crab cakes and shrimp, Canadian bacon, cheese, LT and evil mayo…but it was freaking insanely good!  They also served their sweet potato fries with light dusting of brown sugar and syrup!  Was pretty interesting!

09/21/2012 =>Solomon’s Island, MD

We didn’t have along run today, only about 20 miles, so I was able to take Salty for a nice long run in the morning (needed to work off some of that Sammie from last night).  We waited until 0930 for high tide to ensure our save leaving of the creek, and arrived in Solomon’s by 1430.  Orginally, we were only going to stay here for a day as the cheapest dockage was 2.50 ft/night, but upon closer inspection (thank you good maps) I discovered one club had moorings!  When I called, she was like I have 4 open now, so when you get in pick on, its 30.00 a night!   Sweet!  We grabbed one closer to the dinghy dock, and headed inland.  The marina was spread out to resemble a little village, with many different bldgs (bathhouses, laundry, service, restaurants, private clubs) centered around a large pool…with a pool bar, woot woo!  It is a family owned place, as was evident when we entered the main store and were greeted by a dad, and what is obviously his son!  We got our little map of the island, and they also mentioned either driving us to the Food Lion tomorrow (about 2 miles away) or driving us to the Calvert Cliff State Park (which they said was too far away to bike), and they could lend us their bikes, as ours a bit tricky to take onto the dinghy!  SWEET!  Afterwards, we went to explore the riverfront in Solomon’s, noticing lots of dog friendly restaurants and shops! 

Along the river walk, we ran into another cruising couple (they offered to take a picture for us, and then we just go to talking).  They are on there way south as well, but in a large cruiser (motor). They once were sailors, but as they got older, it just wasn’t feasible…completely understand that!  Since we ate dinner out the night before, we cleaned out what was left in the ice chest, with hopes of hitting up the Food Lion in the morning!

09/22/2012 =>Solomon’s Island, MD

The dreaded Laundry day!  Up early and hitting the washer’s!  The facility for the laundry is situated in a really nice bldg, with corridors for private bathrooms on either end so really no hardship..plus got WiFi and power outlets!  All our clothes were ready to go around 1100, which we dropped back off on the boat (Salty too!), and headed to pick up our loaner bikes from the marina…they were super comfy old fashion looking bikes! The ride to the food lion wasn’t that bad, and we were able to pick up lots of steak, which I have been uber craving lately!!!

When we got back to the marina, and put our food away, we were able to get a ride from the very, very nice owner’s son to the Calvert Cliffs State Park.  I was not sure what to expect from this park, as I did see the cliffs coming into the harbor, but Mike was very excited!  It seems that you can get fossils of sea life along the beach of the cliffs at almost any time.  We were dropped off at the beginning of a forest, with several trails leading into a very lovely shaded area.  The trail markers est. 1.75 miles to the beach, so off Mike, me and Salty went (yup, dogs are allowed through state parks here!)  the trails were fun, and very beautiful, however not all that hard to traverse! Half the fun of going to this fossil beach is the walk there. 

When we arrived at the beach, the park ranger was telling everyone to stay away from the cliffs themselves, as they have been deteriorating to the point that large rocks and trees falling make the area  a safety hazard…well BOO to that!  That is where all the good stuff is!  A lot of people were relaxing/fossil searching on this narrow stretch of sand, but Mike was diligent and managed to get a little piece of fossilized what looks like some sort of scallop shell!  Salty and I just threw a ball and forth, ha.

The marina was to pick up us at 1630 back at the main entrance, so we hauled tush to get back for them (this was not a typical thing they did).  This time the other younger son was waiting for us; he was a trip!  Maybe about 17, he had nothing good to say about Solomon’s, in a very teenage angst way, and was telling us about his family trips aboard their hunter 34…and how much he wanted to just jump ship about 2 days in!  We were tired from the days excursions, but happy!  Salty even fell asleep in the car ride. 

We had read the weather for the next day would be clear, but winds of 10-15 knots, with guest up to 30…so while we were going to keep checking, we were almost sure we would be staying another day. 

09/23/2012: Solomon’s Island (still)

I checked the weather around 0630, and all my sources still called for high wind gusts and this time, high seas!  So stay in Solomon’s, we would!  Salty and I went running in the town; they built this great river run area!  Then Mike, as the good Cinkewicz in this relationship, went to church.  Mike came and got us around 11, with the promise of going to this little café called Key Lime we had seen earlier yesterday, for coffee at least.  This place was adorable, and basically a house with a slightly altered to have an ordering/take out in the patio front, with iron wrought table and chairs outside under big cypress-like trees.  The morning was a little chilly, but really sunny for Salty and I grabbed table, while mike went inside.  Since the service was a bit slow, I was able to ease drop into the people’s conversation next to us.  They were talking about this watermen’s festival that was going on at the point of Solomon’s…so of course, I had to google this!  Technically, it’s a watermen’s rodeo with games, contests, etc…so when mike came out, I told him and we got very excited to 1-find something to do and 2-go to a very local, very different festival!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Tdok3xbpY&feature=related

The main, and really only attraction, is the Watermen’s Rodeo:  trawler/fishing/crabbing boats, and their captains compete to see who can dock the best/fastest, and in different weight classes/categories.  Seems pretty easy/boring, right?  I will admit, docking is tough, but on those boats, its kind of easy…until I saw the whole set up!  A boat would start off stern in between 4 piles.  At the sound of a little cap shot, they would fly as fast as they could out of the 4 piles, and try to reverse back into another set of piles about 30 ft down from where they started.  As the boat was flying backwards, the captain would have to get 4 lines across the 4 piles successfully to officially “dock” the boat and call time…it was pretty wild!  Fastest time ended up being 19 seconds, but last year was a 17 sec time!  Some boats hit the piles, some just miss altogether, but either way the crowd in the stands and all around, AND the extremely southern and hysterical announcer would make their input known! 

 

We left the festival and headed for the boat mid afternoon.  We were a little beat from the day before, and from standing in the sun all day.  We made our dinner rather early, and went to bed!  Oddly enough, we are usually exhausted by 2200 every night!  We go to sleep earlier now than we ever did when working; get up the same time too!

 

 



 

 

Wye, oh Wye, St Michaels...

Monday:  09/17/2012 => Wye River

Lower Cheese!!!  The Wye River is a wide river with a bunch of tributaries across the main land of Baltimore and Annapolis.  We decided to anchor in a little bay, called Shaw just off this river, as further (south) into it is St. Michael's,  a well reputed town of cruiser’s and guides alike. We kept track of the weather (thank you Sprint and Poppa McF) very closely, as there was some severe weather headed our way…exspecially the area we are in/wanting to go to.  Accuweather predicted the storms (rain is just a part of life, however when cruising with a 45’ metal rod sticking up in the middle of a bay with nothing around, we get a little nervous about “storms”), we were a little apprehensive.  We rowed to a little shore right after we anchored and let salty run as much as possible:  aka she went crazy puppy time and ran from one end of the beach (only about 100 feet) to the other without provocation. 

 

09/17-18 => St Michael's, MD

St Michael's is a little town, just up the Wye River;  we had heard from numerous sources that this was a DEF place to stop while going south.  Mike originally looked up the marina’s/dockage there, and only found 3.00 a ft/night…which was extremely unacceptable to me…We paid that in CT and Block Island, southern states should be a different economy altogether!  So, once again I am awesome, and found the “mom and pop” marina just inside town, right across for its famous restaurant and museum!!! (yes, I am awesome) for only 1.00 a ft/night!  We knew there was a possibility of having to wait our storms for 2 days, so the cheaper the better..and this marina I found had an Acme at the end of its road, right in the center of “town”…again, tooting my own horn I am an awesome first mate!  (jk)  I would love to say the storms never reached us, as in previous blogs, but alas, that is not so; we docked in rain, took salty for a walk in rain, and went to sleep assuming we would be here for the next day…which we were.  We woke up to some more awesome reports of high seas, horrendous storms, and massive rain…and called it a day.

(if at any point this whole blog deal sounds a little tooo…”fun and chipper” its cause I write them on Word about 2-3 days post them happening, so can take a look back, and see what really ….wasnt that bad…if that makes sense!  But as I am far from rational in most “moments” I will gladly insert when I go slightly “insane” and all is not happy aboard “You and I”)

As we were stuck in port (the Marina was actually kind of nice, without all the thrills), we made a day of it, and tried to explore St Michael's as best as we could!  We went to the Crab Claw (recommended by many) for lunch-  salty was allowed to join on their pier dock dinning as well!  Mike tried their Clam Chowder and Soft Crab Sammie..which looked really good! We explored the little town (really not impressed at ALL,just a small main street, with makes Woodbridge Main Street, NJ look like a shopping tourist Mecca) and I went into the Acme to pick up essentials:  wheat bread, skim milk, eggs, (normally a protein like steak, chicken, etc…but their prices were SUPER high).  We settled on the boat around 2000, expecting some crazy rain and storms.

Well, we didn’t get the expected storms (once again, could see the lighting going nuts just NE of us) but did get some crazy W winds!! (FYI wind is measured in the direction its ORIGINATING FROM..so a West wind means its blowing towards the EAST)  Around 2100, I heard the rain come to a stop and decided to take Salt for her walk…as I walked to the end of the dock towards land, I noticed the whole end of the dock, as well as the land was dark…like water dark…Salty and I sloshed through slowly and sure enough, the wind had blown enough, combined with the amounts of rain, and a high tide to raise the water level about 4+ feet above highest tide!  Salty and I were sloshing through water that reached my mid calf…and if it wasn’t for the crushed clam shell parking lot of the marina, I don’t think I would have tried to even walk through, otherwise it was very hard to tell where the docks ended.  About 2200, the owner’s wife came out onto the docks with galoshes, a rain coat and as she said “her husband’s boxers” to check on the 3 boats she has as transients for the night…making sure we were okay, and that we shouldn’t rise higher than what was already…they have rarely seen thing minus major Tropical Storms/Hurricanes! 

09/19/2012=>   Wye River, further East of Shaw Bay

We attempted to leave St Michael’s early, however the Bay was pretty rough, so we decided to head back up into the Wye River and find anchorage for the day.  We ended up a little further east than we were 2 days ago at Shaw bay, but were able to row to an actual shore.  The tide was out, so much of the mud was exposed and the water only about 1’-0 for some span.  Salty had a blast running around, and we made a nice little afternoon of just being outside and exploring this random little spot.  We had another boat anchor a little off our port side, which was nice to have some company at night!  The sunset here was beautiful! We could see the moon just starting to shine as the last rays of sun were dying down!  Overall, this was a quiet, relaxing stop;  much better than our previous stay in Shaw Bay.

 

 

 

Dobby, Apples, and Salt

09/12/2012 => Gibson, Dobbins, & Little Island
We headed to Gibosn Island area as we planned:  mid morning...
Since we didnt want to make the tear in the main, worse we relied on the motor...dear lawd is our litte Atomic 4 Diesal SLOW!!!!!!! haha.  Felt like we were getting nowhere fast!  We arrived in the Sillay Bay around 1436, and after reading the guidebooks, decided with the N winds, anchoring off of a little cliff of island, called Dobbins (henceforth Dobby's Island for us HP fans)would suit our purposes best.  The island was loocated across from Gibson, with a little private island seperating them...the private island calle Little, is very tiny.  Only contained one house...so...can someone please buy it?  would be fun to come and crash!!!

Little Island (and its house) from atop Dobby's

Dobby's Island is at sea level at one end (with a nice beach area) and rises swiftly to a cliff overing looking the bays entrance...so of course we had to explore!  Broke out the dinghy (and mike made me row this time...awesome arm muscles, sweet!!!) and rowed into shore to explore! 

Atop Dobby's Island

We got back to the boat around sunset, and set out some (fragrant) chicken on string to hopefully catch some crabs!!! We made a our seperate dinner anyways, not holding out on our luck!!!  Although we did end up catching 2 good sized ones...and the second one, a ver fiesty little critter, hoped out of his bucket and started to try to attack me in the cockpit...needless to say, he was very tasty!  In the morning we are off to Annapolis (makes me think of An-Apple-Please) and SAILORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

09/13-16/2012 =>   Annapolis, MD  (sailors :))
Off anchor and under way by 0900!!  Annapolis is the boating capitol of the Atlantic Coast, so to say we were exicted is alittle underwhelming!  Not to mention the return of our Salty dog!!!!!  Mom and Dad Cinkewicz were to join us for the weekend in the city, so we wanted to get to a mooring plenty early!  The city has a certain amount of moorings right next to the town center, and they are first come first serve, so grabbing a good one is key! The day was gorgeous and sunny; not too chilly and with strong winds!  Because of the tear in the sail, we could only put up the jibb, but that was enough to help move us along!  We passed under the Chesapeak Bay Bridges, both of riduculous long spans..so much that even my panaoramic camera feature couldnt get them in one shot! 

We arrived at 1200, and were able to grab a pretty nice mooring spot...right across from the Naval Academy!! whoot who!  Again, if you know me, then you know my love of Fleet Week in NYC and all things sailors (and marines too!)...and not for any other reason than the uniforms...haha!  Again, there is no tender to and from moorings, and you either use your own dinghy (with tons of dinghy docks at every street end) or call the Water Taxi.  So to save on money, we hauled out the dinghy, and rowed (while everyone else motored) ourselves down "Ego Alley".  Ego Alley is located right in the heart of the town; a wide and deep canal, with open patio resturants on one side, and an open walkway/docking area on the other, ending in very crowded dinghy dock!  Its called Ego Alley due to the fact that large, and I mean LARGE sailboat/powerboats go cruising down this canal, jsut to show off their "toy", turn around and head back out to moorings or docks...so for us to come along in our awesome dinghy, with Mike rowing was awesome!  Got many looks (and come hecklers) but it was all in good fun :).  We had decided to "treat" ourselves to a Thurs Happy Hour, as there seemed to be on end to all the bars and resturants!  We ended up at this very Irish place, just off the main square..were Oyster Shooters were 1.00, mixed drinks 4.00, and martini's 5.00!  (domestic taps 2.00) and select appet's only 5.00.  We made friends with the bartender (Tom) and another couple next to us (they were oddly enough travelling too, except by motorhome).  Drank a lot, ate some really great food, and were able to converse with other people!  This made the beginning of our night a success!! So much so (damn you vodka) we went onto another bar...for even more food and drink (had the best "crab fries" ever...with real crab and cheese...eat your heart our Chickies and Pete's!)...we had a very interesting row back to say the least :)  We continued on deck to drink and be merry, playing card games well past our now usual bedtime of 2200.

Friday, 0530:  I am woken to a very strange sound...first the sound of a gun shot, followed by many, many very cheery men Who-Rahing...for a really loonnngggg time...dear lord, if you told me in college that I would 1-be getting up before dawn to go running 2-be super happy about it, I would have laughed in your face..but apparently this is the norm for US Naval Academy!  Go Navy, you run at the butt crack of dawn...just dont be so jouval!! ha.
Mike wanted to get to this major sailing depot called Bacon's about 2 miles inland, so we called the taxi and embarked with our bikes and shower stuff! To say I was not feeling the bike ride, or even the excercise is an understatement! I think about 5 minutes into the ride, through the main and very adorable center of Annap, I was not a happy camper! Just didnt feel good at all~hello sinus attack! we made it to Bacon's...barely...I was almost run down about 3 times by cars...my balance goes way off the more stuffy I get, so ...Anyways, Bacon's was the answer to our sail tear prayers, as predicted! It would mean Mike sitting there taping and then sewing by hand the tear, but we will take it gladly over having to buy a new main sail:). We treaked it back to the town center, with a couple stops along the way to view the sights: State Capitol being one, and just the very "new england" meets Ireland feel of the town itself! Despite being a getting sick grump puss, I was falling in love with this little town! We took the bikes back to the boat, rested for bit, then rowed into prepare for our Salty, and went along some of main streets cute little shops.  I stumbled upon a Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar place and just had to go in!  All the EVOO and Balsamic's were in little steel casks, available for taskings!  We settled on a Dark Chocolate Balsamic, which is soooooo freaking good!

Mom and Dad arrived around 1700...and as they pulled into the city parking, I could see my big, fluffy headed dog in the window!!!  She jumped out of the window straight into my arms, with Mike right beside us!  I have missed her so much, but pretty sure she will annoy me in the next couple of days, ha!  Mom and Dad went to go get some dinner while we bonded along the walkway of Ego Alley...and noticed a very familiar boat docked there!  Mark and Lou, and Chester, were in Annapolis too! (friends from Cape may/Delaware City).  Chester and Salty bonded (mostly chester molested my poor dog) but was great to see them again!  We met back up with Mom and Dad C, and got what is becoming the requirement among all cruisers at every port:  Ice Cream!  ha.


Saturday, again I was NOT feeling all that great, and after breakfast, opted out on the Naval Academy tour (you know I was not kidding about being ill) and chilled (passed out after taking sinus "happy" pills). 
Mike came to get me for a cruise boat that was very dog friendly, so we were excited to take salty with us.  She behaved really well throughout!  The boat brought us around the point of the Naval Academy proper to the creek on the northern side of the city, with informational dialogue over the loud speaker.  There was a bar on board, in which the captain recommended the bartenders own recipe of a mohito…so of course me, mike, and mom had to partake!  Dad is a staunch vodka person and ordered a black Russian.  The little tour only lasted a little more than an hour, but was enough (and I guess relaxing enough) for us to unwind…particularly Dad…

Prior to our cruise, mom had bought a surprise for Salty!!!  See  below for what it is!  We decided, upon the recommendation of a Denny’s waitress to the C’s, to try a couple places for dinner well outside the city limits (don’t ask why we would leave a city known for food and seafood).  After a bit of a to-do, we ended up at this creek side place, known for their crabs.  Mike and Mom partook of the fest, while I had a really good salmon burger!  This will be Mike’s 2^nd week in a row of Cheaspeak Crab feast!  I think he is getting spoiled!!

Sunday morning was again bright, and perfect weather!  Mike and I had a number of things to accomplish this day, and while we wanted to be back on the water travelling, decided to not stress ourselves (and Mom and dad) out and just leave on Monday morning.  We rowed back in, scouted a dog friendly place for breakfast and chilled along Ego Alley waiting for Mom/Dad to arrive;  Salty showed off her new present from “grandma” as well; like mother like daughter, as they say:

 We found a little crepe place called Sophies, right off the waterfront…soooooooo freaking good!!! Salty behaved wonderfully throughout the meal too!  Next up on our agenda was some grocery shopping, then loading the stuff we requested from Mom/Dad (most def not a little list at all!:  (2) deep cycle batteries for the house part of the boat, (gooooogle) Water crates, Paper towels, Scary chemical Bug Spray (black flies suck), AA/AAA batteries, Salty’s bike carrier, salty’s toys, crab traps…) We loaded this all on (still via the dinghy in multi trips) while Mom was able to peruse the shops up and down main street some more! (salty was hoping for more presents). we were finished around 1:30, we were a little hungry…so where else to go back to but the crepe place, this time for the “sweet” ones!  I obstained, but Mom/Dad both got PB and chocolate chip, while mike rocked this (for the philly peeps its Italian wit evryting sweet) ham, cappicola, provolone, peppers, onion, seasoning…I think I really love this town…seriously. 

Part of this trip was to discover other cities:  mainly a place where Mike’s superclose suburban upbringing can mesh with my notreallycountry,butstillclosetoamajorcity locale.  I think Annapolis has it.  Its only 20 miles from Baltimore (a good commute if you don’t live in the NYC metro area, otherwise that’s about 2 hours) where the Arch industry is fairing better than in Annap, keeps up with my idea of buying a house, and it having a yard bigger than a postage stamp, town still has that small town feel without the horrendous traffic,, AND we are on the best place on the Atlantic coast to sail or fihs/crab…yup, I think we are in love!...and we found a Target!!!  But alas, my affair with NYC is still calling me back as of now:)  We said our goodbye’s to Mom and Dad around 3pm, wishing them a safe ride home, and soo grateful they could join us (and bring the salty!) in Annapolis!!! 

In case you are wondering, the C’s also have our George; trust me that he is extremely happy there!  No crazy dog jumping on him to make him actually move, and constant food as there is no mean mom saying “no George, you already had enough to make Salty full!”.  I am sure he misses mike though…and I find myself missing his “fluffy” arse! 

The 16^th of September is always a hard day for me, it was nice to be able to take my mind off of some not great thoughts, and concentrate on more mundane things; but alas, I would be remise (and a horrible daughter) to not take the time to give thanks for the woman who is one of my inspirations.  September 16 will always cause me to be a little sad, but I will endeavor to not regret what little time I had, and instead be extremely grateful for my 19 yrs and 8 days;  Mom, I love you and miss you…and dear LORD, I don’t want to know how much you would be yelling/calling/making sure Mike and I wore our lifevests 24/7…not to mention the possible death threats you would be giving Mike if he didn’t bring me home safely!  And probably calling Mom C to see if she heard from us about every 2 hours!  “I would give everything I own” to have her be that annoying again.  Its been 10 years, but I can still hear her calling me “Wha-Ka-Chease”, and no that is is English, its “Cherie”, the birthplace of the language known as “Patrice-ian”, its where words pronounced oddly came from…like ruin becoming rah-on and (as my NYC office likes to poke fun at) radiator pronounced raad-ee-ah-tor…

 

 

 





 

Upper Cheese: Baltimore!!!

09/10-12/2012  =>  Baltimore, MD   Inner Harbor!!!
Both of us were super excited to get to Baltimore!  We left Worton Creek pretty early (that no sleep thing helps when you have to get up before sunrise) to clear and windy skies!  I was so chilled that I broke out the sweatpants, sweatshirt, and ear muff!  Really couldn't complain though, as it was beautiful weather for sailing!  Unfortunately, we noticed a tear in the sail (along the boon, from about 3' in to the back end) and down went the sails...thankfully, we were already in the Patapascpo River, so wasn't too bad of a motor!

Captain Mike enjoying the "fall" weather

We have been to "Charm City" briefly (my Evans' family is from around here) but never to actually stay and enjoy the city!  We heard there was cheap and awesome dockage from the City right inside the Inner Harbor, but it was first come, first serve...and a bit exposed to all the passer-bys on the waterfront walkway...we decided to chance it anyways, and whoa!  Did we get an awesome spot!!!

We pulled into the dock a little after 12:30, had lunch, contacted my cousin Brian (who lives there) and were off!  We didn't go very far before seeing a huge crowd at the main entry to the Inner Harbor off of Pratt Street...apparently the city was celebrating its Olympic reps...including Michael Phelps...we got to see him fairly upclose (seriously, the TV doesnt add any looks to him...but his body...sigh...Mike get back into swimming please :))
Our view, and really where we are docked, is unbeatable!  We kept thinking the dockmaster would come over and make us move!!!  but he didnt (took our 1.25 a foot with a smile actually).  AND I found the Starbucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  this is much needed, as we ran out of instant (yuck!) coffee 3 days ago, and I need my caffeine!!!!!!!!!!!  and Free WiFi ...and power outlets..ha! As we never got to have my birthday drink out, we headed to Phillips Seafood on the Inner Harbor, and finally I got my celebratory Bloody Mary...complete with Bay Seasoning Rim, Shrimp, cheese, olives, and pepperoni as a topper!  Super Yummy!..though my mouth was on FIRE afterwards :)

09/11/2012:  Exploring Charm City
Our only plans for this day were to:   run the inner harbor walkway (me only, of course), explore Baltimore (via Charm City Circulator (free bus system!!)) and meet up with my cousin Brian and his fiance Kristen for dinner...
Baltimore is an interesting city...on the small side (compared to NYC) but really nice!  I am sure since we didn't feel like going the way of the Wire, there are areas of ill repute, but alas we didn't run into any!  We took the Charm City Ciruclator up to the Mount Vernon Area of the City, and walked back to the dock from there.  Was really nice to get out and stretch our legs, get into any city again!  we had lunch back on the boat (cheap that we are!).  I went to window shop while Mike explored the US Coastguard active duty ship...ha.
We met up with my cousin Brian and Kristen...who came to see our new place too!  They took us to a local outdoor crab place...and man, was it freaking awesome!!!  Crabs were super tasty, but so was this crabby pretzel with (with cheese!!) and steamed shrimp with potatoes/onions (more seasoning!)
Both of us really enjoyed spending time with my cousins!!! Thanks so much guys!!!

We are set to leave mid morning tomorrow for Gibbons Island (between Baltimore and Annapolis), as we have time to kill before meeting the Cinkewicz's in Annapolis...and if Gibbons Island sounds familiar, its where Wedding Crashers was set..

Upper Cheese_A-Peak: SassaFras and Worton

09/05-06/2012:  Bohemia River to Sassafras River
-We were up at 0545.  Low tide was set for 0906, so we figured to be able to catch the tide as it was coming back in (about 1000) to give up enough depth to leave…we got so close to finally leaving, but the depth was running to 4’0…and technically we were still moving, but didn’t want to chance getting stuck! Back to our anchor location from the night before we went, to wait for high tide at 1400 (figured we could do it at 1200).  Still really pissed at the marina, as a business practice if a boater states a 5’ draft, you tell them not to even try! Totally going to blast them on ActiveCaptain.com!!!
At 1230, we were able to make it out, with lowest sounding at 5’4 (just scraping by!)  Felt good to be out of the river and back into the Bay!!!  We only had about a 4 hour sail to the Sassafras River (Georgetown, MD).  The weather was clear and sunny (radar showed massive storms around Baltimore , but couldn’t tell from here!)  we ran out of batteries (another thing Mike forgot to tell me) for my speaker system, so thankfully have this crank radio!  2 minutes of cranking, and the thing is good for 40 minutes or so (spare the jokes please J). 
At 1630, we pulled into the mooring at Sail Associates Inc, on the Sassafras!  I keep calling it Sexy Fries River, so it shall be dubbed henceforth!  The marina is located among other marinas, pretty far into the river:  about 1 hour west of the mouth.  The area out there is quiet and just really…peaceful!  Was a nice ride in, and had plenty of depth, so no more continuous beeping!!! Ha. When we called to make our reservation earlier that morning, the marina said their tender stops at 1630, so once we were settled, out came our new dinghy!!!  I am calling him Charlie!!  It’s a 8’9 inflatable…but we never got around (or wanted to spend the money) on a motor, so alas his method of movement is Mike’s Arms! Ha.  We never had him in the water before, so was kind of fun for his first launch!!!

When we got to the dock, the owner of SAI was still there…and looked at us funny for rowing all the way in!  He welcomed us, and said in the morning to call the office…they would send the tender out to get us, sweet!  After showers (holy smokes, does the well water in northern MD smell!!! Pretty sure we don’t have to worry about iron intake!)

09/07/2012  Sexy Fries River

We called for the tender at 1000…figured we should pack all our stuff for the entire day:  bikes, backpacks, shower stuff, swimming stuff, etc.  This way we didn’t have to keep bothering the tendor guy.  When we got to the dock, and unloaded everything, the owner again found us: offered us a place at the dock for the same price as the mooring (wooohhh!).  Obviously, we took the deal, but wanted to just get on with our morning…so would move it that afternoon.  Our plan was to explore the town of Georgetown, and the nearby town of Galena…according to the Cruising guide, Georgetown was a little more interesting than it actually turned out to be…which was just a historaical house and some marinas! Ha.  So we skipped most of it and biked to Galena.  Galena is also small, but did contain a little grocery, liquor store, Post Office, and some antique shops.  As my birthday is tomorrow, we joked about me finding a gift in one of these shops.  If you know me, then you probably know of my obsession with Jane Austen; particularly Pride & Prejudice.  Since I was 13, I have wanted a leather-bound set of her books, with Mecca being an old copy of P&P.   Whenever we are in old shops/bookstores, I am on the hunt!  (yes, I could buy it from Amazon, but where is the fun in that!)  Mike has resolutely refused to buy me ANY of the books…just cause  (meanie) Anyways, as we are looking around the first shop, he joked “You know babe, since you came along on his trip, IF you find your book, I will buy it for you”…Pretty sure he was feeling very confident that I wouldn’t find it, but alas I am stubborn and give me a task you say I cant do…ha, I will do it!  Not 5 minutes later, sitting inside a glass shelf, was an original 1937 pocket-sized, leather bound and hand painted Pride and Prejudice! Hahahahaa!  Mike’s face dropped at seeing it!  She was soo pretty and over 150.00!  While he was contemplating how to get out of this, I decided she would not be mine!  We cant spend that kind of money on something like this, but was nice to know they are really out there for me to findJ!   When we got back to the marina, we were able to relax in the pool and just while away the rest of the day (at a dock space too!).  The weather reports for the next day (my bday) were horrible storms in the afternoon...and since our next destination was to be at anchor, we already decided not to chance it by that night and stay in Sexy Fries for my bday!

09/08/2012 Sexy Fries River (and my bday!!!)

Well Happy 29th Birthday to me!!!  My morning started super early (yea, waking with the sun!).  I got up wanting to go for a run...so I did...dear lawd, I hate hills!  Only a short run of 2 miles, but still..as I came sweaty and gross back to the dock, I ran into Mike talking with some locals...they were talking about how far it was to Walmart (in DE)...only 10 miles.  I agreed that was fine and charted the route on my phone (was actually 15 miles).  Doesnt sound like much, but was further than we thought!  we knew we had a finite time before the storms came in as well!  We ran through Walmart getting as little as possible (sarcasm!!!).  l;we packed up our bikes, and attempted the ride home...the wind had shifted and was blowing us the whole way...every pettle push became painful, all bags acted like sails and pushed us back!   Mike was riding ahead of me, and would occasionally wait on the side of the road for me to catch up...during one of these catch points, he stated exactly what was going through m\yh mind as well..."all i keep hearing is Jillian (Michael's) telling me 'get comfortable with being uncomfortable' and 'just when you think you want to quit, keep pushing cause this is where is counts the most'...hysterical that BOTH of us were hearing her in our heads...guess I should chill with making us work out to her! haha.  We made it back to SAI with many, many stops along the way! Mike ran immediatly back into the pool, where I joined him after putting all that we bought away!

About 30 minutes after we were in the pool, the sky began to become dark...like getting dark as night!  The storm came in super fast and strong!  We watched as a parade of boats, not even caring about the "no wake" zone fell into the river from the Bay...was amusing!We battened down our "hatches" and prepared for the storm with candles, books, and cards!

storm rolling into Sassafras River

 



09/09/2012  =>Worton CreekWe originally intended to head for Fairlee Creek, a local watering hole for the night, but upon hearing some horror stories from locals about shallow depths (the entry is so shallow that you have tohug the land side so much, you can litterally high-five the spectators on shore...which also sit there and wait for boats to run aground, and clap when they do) we decided to go to Worton Creek...and less popular destination, but good for its anchoring....The creek was only about 3 hours away, so we left around 1100 (after pumping out...and to quote one of the greatest movies ever "shitter's full!")

Worton seemed nice.  we anchored near a motor boat, and brought out Charley (the dinghy, or Mike calls him "Soully") to go explore the shoreline.  It wasnt until after dinner that the wind and seas pciked up, causing a good chop to the water....to say I slept for 2 hours is pushing it.  Between the wind hitting the mast (causing the innard sheets to rattle) and the constant creaking of an old boat from the waves, I gave up sleep around 100 and just started to read.  By 0530, the wind was calm...and Mike got up..we were off to Baltimore super early, but that is okay...we planned on having a dock space, so sleep would come at the Inner Harbor!!

beach at Worton Creek

 

 

Delaware City/ C&D Canal

9/03-04/12 = Delaware City, DE

We woke up early (as usual) and were underway to the Cape May Canal by 0700, en route to Delaware City, DE just outside the C&D Canal.  Weather reports were for cloudy with a chance of showers in the afternoon, but otherwise our crossing of the Delaware Bay should be okay.  Around 1012, we had a stowaway join us for a bit!  A small bird landed on our port side stern railing...and seemed to just want to stay!  I guess the high(er) winds were too much for him to cross the Bay in, and our boat looked nice :) He was very comfy, even hopped off the railing and went for  stroll on deck...seemed to love the port holes!! 


our little friend hanging in the porthole!
 

We arrived at the Delaware City Marina at 1532, just as the skies were opening up and the thunder came!  At the dock waiting for us, were our friends from Cape May!  They helped us (again) tie off and were full of information about their crossing and the weather for the next day!  One of the cruisers, Mark and Lou, backed into a piling at the cape may marina, and destroyed the davits and railings off the entire stern of their boat!  Felt bad, but since we felt like idiots from the anchor incident in AC, figured ...well, he is a seasoned cruiser and this stuff still happens!!! Weather for tomorrow is to be horrible, so we will be staying here for tomorrow!
9/04:  Since I have the time (at dock for the day) will give you some info on our fellow cruisers:  The boat that had the "incident" is a 45' gorgeous boat (i am horrible at boat names/types...if it has a mast, its a sailboat).  The man and wife, Mark and lou, are originally from Michigan, retired, and came down here by way of the Erie Canal.  They also have an adorable yellow lab named Chester! He is sooo chill, can only hope Salty will be as well (not going to happen!!)
...and then the other cruiser...his name is Bob..he is alone..yet his wife is still in LI..didnt want to leave the grand kids, apparently...he seems soo lonely!!! ...and a little off...but I guess if you were doing this yourself, you would have to be!! As much as Mike and I will argue about things on this trip, neither of us would do it without the other!!!
But overall, they are super nice and helpful about a ton of things!  Its nice to have "friends" out here!

Anyways, we looked forward to a rain out type day.  Feels like we have been running for the past month to get this whole trip going!  The morning was overcast and wet...so into the laundry room we went (hence the previous blog)...but by 1300, the sun was shining, the weather was nice!!!  We took our bikes out for a ride into Fort DuPont to get some much needed exercise.  Fort DuPont is the child of Sandy Hook, NJ and Central Islip, NY! ha.  I think any place with old brick buildings, with just a hint (or more) of creepy will forever be compared to NYIT's Central Islip Campus!  ...and I fell...hard...ha!  Wasn't even on the bike at the time too!  figures, would fall when walking!  ha.  The rest of the day kind of pissed us off, as it was so clear!  But the weather reports from all over were horrendous, so I guess it was a good decision after all!


9/5/12  C & D Canal =>  Bohemia River, in the Chesapeake!!!!
0545:  oh, to sleep in would be wonderful!  Checked the weather (Bob even got up to watch it for us) and decided, that yes, we want to make a run!  The tide at the canal should have been in our favor, as it would have taken only 2.75 hours to cross....We entered the canal at 0630 and immediately felt the wind at our bow.  There is no sailing in the canal, as its a huge commercial channel, so the engine was pushing with all its might!  This created a very slow moving boat!  We were not making the progress we intended, and hit the beginning of the high tide (tide flows out to the Delaware) and our progress pretty much stopped.  We pulled into a marina (North Summit) for fuel (not much) and to wait out the tide.  At 1200 we started again: the tides were better, and the wind had shifter!  We were on out way!
I took over at the helm from Mike for a bit, blared my Preston and Steve Podcast and enjoyed an easy sail...until I heard the LOUD crack of thunder!!!  Glance to my right and HUGE DARK clouds!!! with lovely lighting streaks!!  At this point, there is not marina or stopping, we just had to go...and pray for it to pass!  Thankfully, the storm itself stayed off, but we did get some rain!  Could see ahead of us the sheets we were to go into!  The rain showers were kind of fun to go through...and a little bit refreshing! 

1400:  Cross into the Chesapeake!!! This has been our goal for soo long!!! and while it was an adventure to go through NJ and some of DE, this is where we start!!!  So excited!!!!!

We headed to the Bohemia River, not too far from the canal entrance.  All of our charts read depths were fine for us, so we had made reservations at a marina for a mooring the day before.  As we get into the river (a very wide, almost bay like area) the depth finder starts to go insane!  We call the marine to make sure we will be okay with depth...the marina lady says "sure"...and hangs up.  So we trudge on, watching the depth go from 6'6, to 5'4 (we draw 5'0)...and this is at high tide..hmmm...but okay.  Pull up to the mooring.  I am awesome at grabbing these things, and so I try...and notice the ball is super tiny, the lines attached are thinner than the sheets for the main sail, and we are sitting in 5'2 of water...umm, there is no way this will hold a 2 ton boat!! specially if the weather gets as bad as it was predicted!  So we call again...again she is like, well i guess it should hold up...and yea, you will be sitting on bottom all but highest point of tide...WTF!!!  seriously pissed off at this marina for NOT notifying us of their conditions!! Anyways, we take a chance and head off for what the charts say is deeper area and anchor for the night...and watch as a huge storm just barely misses us!  (wooo!)
We hope to get out of here early tomorrow, as this river has left a bad impression on me!!!



Leaving NJ_ Day 3-4

September 01, 2012 NJ Leg 3:  Mannasquan Inlet => Atlantic City

• 06:30 left the marina for Atlantic City!  We passed by Mike's family beach of Seaside park, and were able to see Beth and Mom waving at us :) 
• DOLPHINS!!!!!  we knew that there have been many sightings off of Seaside in the past week, but we were so surprised to have a couple of pods follow us for a bit!  Even jump out of the water!!  I was not fast enough to catch them with the camera, but it was amazong!!!
• The sail was going really well...until we hit the end of Island Beach State Park...and were swamped by evil, bitting black flies!!! By swamped, I mean over taken...seriously.  No amoount of OFF or Skin So Soft would even make them move  (discovered 409 will stun them though..)  I even went to stern of boat to check on something, and saw a black sheet covering the boats name...so gross!  about 3 hours of this, and I personally snapped!   Had a breakdown and began lookingup homemade remedies for them...Oil, Vinegar, Garlic, and water...applied liberally and often (only works if wet) keeps them away...problem was I stunk horribly!!!!!
• When we finally got into Atlantic City, I was soo ready to get off the boat!  The docking there is interesting...and we may have had an accident...but in our defense, we were both exhausted and cranky...and that guys anchor came out of nowhere!  ha.  no damage to him though (thank lawd) but our guard on the starboard side is bent severely!  will do though, until Annaplois (sailing capitol)
• AC is always a good time!! We stayed at the Golden Nugget (used to be Trump Marina) and were able to walk to the boardwalk and get dinner (well deserved in our opinion)

SeaSide Heights

Barnagat Lighthouse

September 02, 2012 NJ Leg 4:  AC => Cape May

• Set to be another long day (10 hours), we left the dock at 06:30 for Cape May!!  The damn song was stuck in my head ALL freaking day, so I shall pass onto you!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsfeEvZcTjM
• Funny story:  We encountered some rougher seas (really just small 3-4 swells).  Everytime we would rock a little hard, the GPS would shut off!! very frustrating!!!  After the millionth time of restarting it, I decided to sit and watch the switch at the main panel shut off...to discover the key to the Fuel tank/water tank would swing...and hit the switch!  I think both mike and I felt a little dumb...and relieved to find out the solution to this potential problem was soo simple! ha.
• The day began to become cloudy, but we made excellent time!  Was soo fun to pass all the beaches (Sea Isle City, where I learned to walk:  Ocean City Boardwalk, Wildwood Boardwalk, Avalon w. my sisters) that hold soo many memories for me!!  My dad was able to see us from Sea Isle!!!!  was so happy!  And The Freney's even backtracked to Stone Harbor Inlet to see us sail by!!
• We made reservations at Utsch's Marina right outside the Cape May canal.  They were super friendly, and cheap!!! Private showers!!! and a free bottle of wine...as a welcome!!! Love them!!  As we pulled into our slip, we were greeted by other cruising couples (its like if they see a sailboat coming in, must meet sailors!) who are going to the C&D canal as well!  We made friends, and spoke about meeting up the next day in Delaware City Marina (just outside the Canal)
• My Dad came over for dinner that night!! (getting spoiled with all these meals out)  He has never seen/been on our boat before, so was really fun showing him my "floating" airstream!!!
• Weather reports were predicting a nasty storm coming through, so we had to leave Cape May early the next day, or not go for another 3...

 

September 03, 2012 NJ Leg 5:  Cape May => Delaware City, DE
just outside the C&D canal entrance

• need to get the hell off computer!! Will update today!!!

Leaving New Jersey DAY 1-2

August 30, 2012  NJ Leg 1:  RYC => AHYC 
Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club, Atlantic Highlands, NJ

•  Unfortunately, we got a late start on the packing of the boat, and were not done until about 2pm...We left on the tender to our boat for the final time (saying goodbye to my Salty, who I must add was staring out of the back of the car window like, wait!!  I go sailing too!...made me cry!!!)  With a quick little sacrifice of a 24oz of Miller to both Poseidon and Zeus, we set off for Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club at 15:32.  This was only to be a 2.5 hour sail, and really just meant to take a few hours off of the next's day's marathon.  The view on the way there was gorgeous!  We were moored was straight out from the Verrizono along a sea wall, so lots of great sunset/sunrise photos!
• We ate dinner on the boat, and cracked open a very expensive (got it for free!) bottle of Champagne we had saved for our sail.  Again, we gave some to Poseidon, and threw a little on deck for Zeus to evaporate up, all in hopes for good winds and seas the next day!  

Loading up at RYC



Crossing Lower Hudson Bay


 
August 31, 2012 NJ Leg 2:  AHYC => Breille/Manasquan Inlet, NJ  

• This journey down to Manasquan Inlet would be our first long open Ocean sail.  The weather during sunrise was perfect, but we still estimated only 5 Knots per hour, in which this would take us about 8 hours to do.  We motored until Sandy Hook, and felt the wind start to blow in our favor (unheard of until this point, so obviously the expensive drink helped:)) and up went both the main and the jibb, off the motor!!  Felt like we were flying along (which we were actually, going up to 8 Knots).  We did so well, we arrived 2 hours ahead of schedule to Arnold's Brielle Yacht Club/Marina...Sounds lovely, however, the marina was not happy...and put us at the Fuel dock for 2 hours...I was okay with this, cause we were early (Tried explaining to the fuel guy who was grumping that this is a SAILboat, and we pretty much are at mercy of the wind...)  However, they decided that we should just stay at the fuel dock, instead of making the person who came in that morning (without a reservation) move off ours...yea, I went a little ....mean, ha!  But seriously, we were paying a lot of money for a space, and made a reservation 2 days ago!  I told mike to get our money back, we would try to make it to Barnaget for the night...within seconds, the dock master has cleared our space and we were told to go dock up...I will say overall, the Marina's people were nasty (even without me getting nasty) and not at all helpful...would NEVER stay at this place again!! and advise others to not as well.
• Once all was settled, we took to our bikes and rode into the town of Manasquan!  (said hello to the Sandberg House as we rode by) Was interesting to ride around, went out to the breakers, grabbed some water ice...even though we have/had been to Manasquan a dozen times, the town felt different having come from the water and rode our bikes through!  A good different too!  OH and I found the dog beach over there!  Cant wait to bring Salty next summer! 
• We were lucky, and had Mom and Dad Cinkewicz, as well as Aunt Bobby, Nan and a very sleepy Nola, join us for dinner at night!!  Thanks for seeing us :)