We planned our arrival into NYC for Monday, about 1pm in the afternoon & in calm winds, to hopefully avoid a circus of boats around Liberty Island.
The plan worked great, during the initial entrance onto the Hudson River. But as we got closer the Statue, the congestion of vessels in the small area of Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and Manhattan increased a lot.
Liberty Tour Boats coming 2 at a time every half hour, Pleasure Boats, Coast Guard Boats, Statin Island Ferry Boats & Tow Boats pushing Barges. I can’t imagine what the marine traffic would have been like, late on Friday or Saturday afternoon.
On our way up the Hudson River, we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The bridge connects Statin Island to Brooklyn.
We arrived at Lady Liberty about 1:30pm, and due to the Marine traffic, spent over a hour taking photos. We have a lot of photos & videos, here are some of our favorite shots.
Here is a screen dump showing our anchorage location. In the screen dump – The Mahi Mahi is shown in the blue dot and you can also see our location relative to; Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, and the south tip of Manhattan.
For you history buffs, here is a really cool video, it starts out silly but becomes very interesting (thank you Deena)
Back to the photos. Another reason it took an hour for photos is because we made a deal with another Looper Boat on the VHF Radio – that they would take a photo of the Mahi in front of the statue & we would reciprocate with a photo of their boat.
Here is the photo that I took of their boat.
Here is the BEST PHOTO they sent of the Mahi in front of the statue. Not a fair trade I would say. 😞
We were thinking of asking them to redo our photo, but the boat traffic was increasing by the minute, and one of the tour boats really wanted us out of his way.
About 5pm, Jerry & I called our friend John Nelson for a quick chat. Then we had a 3-way call from the Mahi Mahi to Jonell, and then linked in my niece Julia for the annual birthday phone call singing. It’s a Murphree Tradition. Jerry & Deena joined me & Jonell in the Singin’ this year.
Some night photos, to say farewell to New York City, for now !
We will be back to NYC later this week by train, to see the 911 Memorial & Museum. Coming back down 35 miles to NYC by train, will be a lot cheaper than paying NYC marina prices.
A very short post for today, and somewhat boring 🥱
We traveled 60 miles from Atlantic City to Manasquan NJ.
Today I was reminded of how Wind/Waves can be defeated by OnShore protection, if the wind is coming from the proper direction.
If you looked at the wind charts for today, they showed 15mph wind with 20mph gusts, not necessarily a good day to go out on the ocean.
But the wind was purely out of the West & we were able to hug the east shore of New Jersey very close. We were only 0.5-1.0 miles offshore, but we were in 50ft of water & and the ride was WONDERFUL, in spite of the high winds.
This great fortune of wind direction allowed us to again avoid the dreaded New Jersey ICW. From previous posts you may remember that we were very nervous about having to try to pass thru the NJ-ICW.
While in NJ, we have had Two Atlantic Ocean voyages on this trip & Zero New Jersey – ICW rides, we win 🏆
Manasquan was the perfect place between Atlantic City & New York City, to bed down for the night, before heading up to NYC and the Hudson River tomorrow.
Manasquan is known for their miles of beautiful sandy white beaches. From the water, the beaches were indeed VERY LONG and did look pretty darn nice.
From our little slip in the marina, it seems that Manasquan is famous for; Shrimp Boats, Fishing Charter Boats, and Bars with loud music. There was a lot of boat traffic until about 7pm. Commercial Boats, Pleasure Boats, Kayakers, and even a large Coast Guard Boat.
Our marina is a peach. It is really a gas station with 2 transient slips. No Power, No Showers, but it saved us from going 5 miles out of our way to the closest anchorage. And our slip was very cheap 💰
That’s about it for today.
Deena’s Kitchen – Meatloaf & Baked Potatoes for dinner tonight.
We stayed 3 days in Atlantic City for a couple reasons; waiting for calmer winds before we head up to New York City & because we really have nothing to hurry for with the Erie Canal Locks 16/17 not opening until June 11 at the earliest.
So we have been spending time restocking the boat with groceries & booze, cleaning the boat, and doing some actual tourist stuff.
On Friday the 30th, we took an Uber ride to the Atlantic City Aquarium. It was a very small place, but the ticket price was only $4.50, and it did have several cool marine creatures for its small size.
After the aquarium, we went for a quick refresher at the Back Bay Ale House.
About 3pm, we headed back to the boat to chill out for a couple hours before some special guests arrived.
At 5pm, we were joined by local New Jersey residents Frank & Kathleen Colonna. Frank & I became Tequila Buddies about 3 years ago, down in Estero Florida. Our mutual pal Jim Cardona hosts an annual auto enthusiast party every March called the Classic Estates Garage Crawl. At Jim’s party this past March, I knew that I would be passing thru Atlantic City with Jerry & Deena, and had promised Frank that I would try to hook up when we got near Atlantic City.
Frank and his lovely wife Kathleen arrived at the marina about 5pm, they had made 6pm dinner reservations for us at the local restaurant at our marina – The Chart House.
They arrived with a special treat for Mikie – a bottle of Senor Artesano Extra Anejo Tequila (yum yum).
We planned an hour for pre-dinner drinks on the Mahi Mahi getting to know each other. Frank & I knew each other, but it was the first introductions for Kathleen, Deena, and Jerry . The introductions went so well, that we spent 90 minutes gettin’ to know each other. Kathleen delayed our reservation from 6:00pm to 6:30pm. Jerry & Deena took Frank & Kathleen on a short tour of the Mahi.
The meal at The Chart House was very good. We had Lamb Chops, Lobster Bisque, Clams, & Chocolate Lava Cake 🎂. The setting was beautiful, overlooking the marina (thank you Kath).
We said our goodbyes, and headed home to the Mahi to end our Friday night. I picked out my next vessel. Captain Luck helped me capture my next purchase.
On Saturday May 31st, we continued our tourist expeditions, and visited the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Then it was time for some action, the big one, the Atlantic City Ferris Wheel – woo hoo.
sorry for the sideways video.
If that wasn’t enough for you, Jerry & Deena decided to do the “Sling Shot Ride”.
Ok, so it wasn’t really Deena & Jerry, it was another young couple !!!
It started to softly sprinkle about 3pm, and after a short rest from walking the boardwalk, we called an Uber about 3:30pm. Within 10 minutes of our ride back to the Mahi, while we were in the Uber car, the clouds opened up & the rain came down cats & dogs (how lucky). The Uber driver dropped us off below the canopy at The Golden Nugget. We went into the casino for some Bills Burgers & Beer.
We’re leaving tomorrow, so I ended up cashing in my big winnings from Thursday night gambling. After my long storied career of getting my butt kicked by the casino, I finally won. Yep, Five Big Ones !
When we left the Golden Nugget, the rain had stopped, but the skies still looked ominous. Then it continued to rain off/on all night long.
It was a shame that it was cool & rainy, because the Chart House had a pretty cool band playing on the back deck, overlooking the marina. There was coverage from the rain, but it was still a bit chilly.
Well that’s all from Atlantic City. It was a good visit.
Tomorrow will be boring, with a one-night stop in Manasquan NJ, then off to The Big Apple, NYC !
Ok Folks, I’m sure you missed us yesterday with no blog post for the day, but there was nothing to report.
It rained ALL DAY !!!
We left the very nice South Jersey Marina after 2 nights of $248 per night (nice, but not that nice).
Ok, back to our semi-stressful challenge from our last post = risk of Grounding on the New Jersey ICW vs Large Waves in the Atlantic Ocean.
So yesterday during the rain day, we studied ICW Grounding Risk vs Atlantic Ocean Wave Risk.
We chose the Atlantic Ocean Waves. We had large 6-8ft rollers, but they were on our Starboard Quarter Stern & pushing us most of the ride. It was like riding a 42ft surf board into the marina. Good job Captain Jerry !
We are currently at the Farley State Marina in Atlantic City. It is a big marina with 630 floating slips. It has some really big vessels. It is also directly connected to the Golden Nugget Casino.
For dinner, we just wanted a burger after a long day on the water. We wondered thru the Casino/Hotel & one of the workers told us to go up to the rooftop pool bar, so we did !!!
At the pool bar, we met the very young but accomplished 30 year old Captain Briss Bliss & Assistant Captain Matt. Briss is currently the Captain of a 80ft Marlow Yacht. He is 24/7 on this vessel, reporting directly to the owner. He flies his wife in every other week on the owners dime. The guy has done more Big Boating than me & Captain Luck combined, at age 30.
We talked Boating and stories about all the waterways from Michigan to Key West. He was such fun to talk to and I was amazed how much the young guy knew at such a young age.
We left the roof top bar looking for a burger joint, and some how ended up in an unlocked penthouse suite 😃
We finally did find the burger joint, but the burgers were $25, so we came back to the Mahi for Deena warm ups & free drinks.
But on the way back to the boat, we had to walk thru a party at the Bar/Hotel connected to the marina.
It was a charity fund raiser. We were tempted to have a free dinner at the fund raiser, but decided to behave like adults and have dinner on the Mahi.
Ok, so today there was not a lot going on. We moved from the Chesapeake City anchorage to South Jersey Marina in Cape May New Jersey.
It was going to be a long 79 mile ride, that I was not looking forward to, typically a 9 hour ride at 8mph. But we had a strong tidal current push thru the C&D Canal & in Delaware Bay. We reached speeds of 12.8mph @ 1700rpm. Typically the Mahi does about 9mph @ 1700 rpm. So we reached South Jersey Marina about 3pm (vs our anticipated arrival at 5pm).
But, back to the Anxiety Post ! It’s not really Anxiety, it’s more like – Proactive Planning – Cautious Guidance – Inherent Overthinking
So before we began the trip, there were 2 issues that I was concerned about – 1. There were 2 locks on the Erie Canal that were not yet open. 2. There was a section of the New Jersey ICW Waterway, that Jonell & I got soft grounded on in 2018.
Last Friday at the Solomon’s Island Looper Party, one of the Loopers brought up the issue with Locks #16 & #17 on the Erie Canal. The 2 Locks are both still closed with no definitive date to re-open.
If these Locks do not open by the time we get there (about June 5th), we will have to – 1A. Wait until they open (date unknown). 1B. Leave the boat, drive home until the Locks open, then come back and finish the trip. 1C. Take the Triangle Route – Hudson River to Montreal & back down to Lake Ontario. Triangle Route Info = Click Link
1A = Maybe ? 1B = Yuk, no way ! 1C = Maybe, but an extra 500 miles, 10 Days, & more money for Fuel, Dockage, Meals.
Issue #1 – Erie Canal Locks #16 & #17 not yet open. Today after some more research & a few calls to the Lock operators, there is a soft commitment date to re-open Locks #16 & #17 between June 14th-21st. So we have the choice to Slow Down & hope the Locks open by June 14th or decide to do the Triangle Loop with the added time, expense, etc. The Triangle Route is also not a lay-up! The Triangle Route also has Locks, Low Bridges, and shallow water, that we have to research. Link to the Triangle Route = Triangle Route Info The decision on choices 1A or 1C, for issue #1 – is still being moderated.
Issue #2 – Section of the New Jersey ICW that Jonell & I got soft grounded on. In 2018 when Jonell & I did the Loop, I had heard several horror stories about the New Jersey ICW not being accurate to the charts. I called 3 Gold Loopers to get info on a certain section of the ICW that I was worried about. They all assurred me that I would be Ok, but at Red Marker #132, while between the red/green markers on the chart plotter & on the water – we found 2-3 feet of water and were soft grounded at 5mph. Tow Boat Us arrived within 30 minutes and got us free within 15 minutes. But the path they took us to get to deeper water – WAS OVER ONLY 1FT OF WATER ON THE CHARTS & OUTSIDE OF THE MARKERS ON THE WATER. The charts & markers did not match the water conditions. This occurred only in New Jersey, on the rest of The Loop the charts & markers were very accurate to actual water conditions.
So naturally, I am very nervous about the New Jersey ICW. Our original plan for this trip was to avoid the New Jersey ICW, and go on the ocean. But the Winds/Waves are not wanting to cooperate.
So today I was reading from my old Looping blog in 2018, and determined that the problem Grounding area was Red Marker #132 near Manasquan New Jersey. Then I went to our current Navionics map and found out that the charts have been changed dramatically since I was last here.
Red Marker #132 no longer exists. It has been replaced with Red Markers # 130, 130A, 130B, 130C
Here is a shot of Red Marker #132 in 2018CY (lower left corner) – The 2 green dots show our boat when we got grounded (left green dot), and after we were towed to true deep water (right green dot). Tow Boat US pulled us thru an area outside of the markers, that the charts said had only 1 ft of water (brown dots). BTW the water is very murky, it’s hard to see the bottom.
Here are some photos of the current Navionics Chart – Red Marker #132 has been replaced with Red Markers – 130, 130A, 130B, 130C. There is no longer a marker #132.
So I now have a lot more faith that this area of the NJ-ICW is now correct to the charts, but we will still seek local knowledge from the harbormaster, who is reported to be very knowledgeable on the subject, If we have to stay inside on the ICW.
Today we left the beautiful city of Annapolis, for an anchorage 59 miles away in Chesapeake City Maryland.
Just outside of Annapolis, we traveled under the longest bridge that I have ever seen. We’ll OK, there is a pretty long one down in the Florida Keys also 😃
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a 4.3-mile dual-span suspension bridge connecting Sandy Point, Maryland, with Stevensville, Maryland. It opened in 1952 and was expanded in 1973. The bridge is a key transportation route, connecting the Eastern Shore with the Baltimore, Annapolis, and the Washington metropolitan areas.
Tonight, we are located in a place called the C&D Canal in Chesapeake City Maryland.
The Canal connects the top of Chesapeake Bay to the top of Deleware Bay, for transit back down to Cape May NJ on the Atlantic Seaboard.
Remember that we took this LONGER route because of the east wind & high waves in the Atlantic Ocean. It was a much longer route to Cape May, but also gave us some great tourism stops in Annapolis & Solomon’s Island.
The graphic below shows our route; up Chesapeake Bay, into the C&D Canal at the top, then back down to Cape May, New Jersey. The red arrow is our current location.
We will cross over from Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay tomorrow, using a body of water called the C&D Canal.
The C&D Canal, is crucial 14-mile waterway, that connects the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay, significantly reducing travel time between Philadelphia and Baltimore. The canal was first envisioned in the 1600s, and it was officially opened for business in 1829. The canal was a major transportation route, especially during the early 19th century, and was expanded and improved over time to accommodate larger vessels. The canal is now owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
We arrived at our anchorage in the C&D Canal about 4pm, had a nice spaghetti dinner on board, & met some Loopers who rode their dinghy over to the Mahi Mahi to visit with us.
Some shots from tonight’s anchorage.
We hope that you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend 👋
Today we visited the United States Naval Academy. It was about a 10 minute walk from the Annapolis Yacht Basin to the Naval Academy. I followed behind the Luv-Birds.
One of the most significant places in Annapolis – The Annapolis Naval Academy. was established in October 1845 (before the civil war in 1861) , under the Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft. George Bancroft wanted a repeatable way of training his future officers that would be a “process” – so every student would get the same training, message, philosophy, fitness level, etc. Prior training was all done on ships & was highly variable depending on the Captain of the ship. Fort Severn, which is now the Academy, was originally owned by the Army, but given to the Navy due to its perfect location between the waterways of Annapolis, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
The Academy is the second oldest of the United States’ five service academies.The oldest is West Pointe, which we also hope to visit on the Hudson River, in upstate New York . The Naval Academy educates officers for commissioning primarily into the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The entire campus (known to insiders as “the Yard”) is a National Historic Landmark and home to many historic sites, buildings, and monuments. Candidates for admission generally must apply directly to both the Academy and receive a nomination, usually from a Member of Congress. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as midshipmen. Tuition for midshipmen is fully funded by the Navy in exchange for a 5 year active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,200 “plebes” (an abbreviation of the Ancient Roman word plebeian or “commoner”) enter the Academy each summer for the rigorous Plebe Summer. About 1,000 midshipmen graduate. Graduates are usually commissioned as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps, but there are 6 career path opportunities for all graduates – 1) Navy, 2) Marines, 3) Naval Aviator, 4) Submarine, 5) Cyber, and 6) the prestigous Navy Seals. Note – only 1% of the graduates become Seals. But the key point, especially for young men with no money, is that they can earn an Engineering BS degree, with a guaranteed Job and No Debt.
The Naval Academy is located right on the Annapolis waterfront, where the Severn River meets Chesapeake Bay.
We started our visit by signing up for a guided tour.
Prior to the tour we watched a 10 minute movie & strolled thru the museum lobby.
The short 10 minute movie followed the life of the plebes/midshipmen thru a grueling basic training, prior to fully being accepted into the academy for their 4 year program. Note – The Plebes have to turn in their cell phones prior to their summer long basic training. The movie then discussed their engineering education, fitness tests, and on-going regimen of courage, valor, and honor. The best part of the movie was the summary just before graduation day. We just missed their graduation ceremony, which had occurred last Friday, May 23rd. Wait for the Hat-Throwing !!!
While we were waiting for the tour to start, we strolled thru the museum. There were many displays of famous Naval Academy Grads, and a lot of focus of graduates who went on to become astronauts. The Naval Academy has graduated 54 astronauts. There was a dedication to Alan Shepherd, the first American to travel into space, and in 1971 walked on the Moon.
There was another exhibit for the infamous Space Shuttles Challenger & Columbia.
There were many many famous grads from the Naval Academy, here is a list of some ; Jimmy Carter, John McCain, Roger Staubach, Alan Shepherd, David Robinson. The Academy has graduated ; 1 President of the United States, 3 Cabinet Members, 19 Ambassadors, 24 Members of Congress, 5 State Governors, 5 Secretaries of the Navy, 5 Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 9 Commandants of the Marine Corps, 2 Nobel Prize Winners, 73 Medal of Honor Recipients, 54 Astronauts, 49 Rhodes Scholars. I admit that it is a slightly better school than Wayne State University !
Our tour began at 12:00 Noon, we were greeted by tour guide Lorin Turnblocker, who gave us a lot more history about the school and then took us on a 90 minute walking tour.
The tour prelude included facts like ; * After the Academy, all graduates must serve 5 years minimum in the Navy or Marines, to pay off their FREE 4 year education. After their junior year, if they drop out, they must pay a very high education bill. * Even pro athletes like Roger Staubach & David Robinson had to serve their 5 years, after graduation & Veggie their sports careers. The Cowboys drafted Staubach, knowing that they would have to wait 5 years for him to play. * There are 4500 students & 600 faculty, for an impressive 8:1 student/teacher ratio. * The Academy is also very big on sports & fitness, there are 33 sports available, 2nd in the country to only Ohio State (Go Blue). * The Academy is very selective, accepting only about 1200 students of 17,000 applicants yearly.
They are heavily influenced by Fitness. During the end of training, they must be able to swim 14 laps in an Olympic size pool, in under 30 minutes, IN FULL GEAR!
They also receive significant Wrestling Martial Arts, and Self Defense training.
Dahlgren Hall – initially used for armory training, now used as an activities & sports training center
We walked past a post with many flags, Lorin commented that “each flag on the post represented a victory over Army during last years sporting season”.
The next stop was The Farragat House – It is the home of the Academy’s superintendent (top dog at the Naval Academy, appointed by the Sec of the Navy). Lorin said that “the 1st floor is used only for entertainment, and that The Farragat House is 2nd to only the White House for number of entertainment events per year”.
We strolled past some torpedoes – Loren said that “there are only 5 of this type left in the world, it is similar to what was used by the Japanese on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor”. The torpedoes were State of the art at the time, being the only ones with propellers & fins, for increased accuracy and range.
The next stop was at the Naval Academy Chapel – Built in 1904, The Naval Academy Chapel is a focal point of the Academy and the city of Annapolis. It is a non-denominational church.
Next Stop – The Crypt of John Paul Jones. John Paul Jones has been lauded since 1775 as the Father of the US Navy. His influence and leadership were foundational in the establishment of the Navy and in many ways the success of our War of Independence. Loren said that “John Paul Jones never lost a battle during his entire career”. After the revolutionary war, John Paul Jones relocated to France for other “military opportunities”. Originally buried in France where he died in 1792, the remains of John Paul Jones were relocated into the crypt beneath the Naval Academy in 1906, in a ceremony presided over by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Our next stop was Bancroft Hall – The largest single dormitory in the world, housing the entire brigade of over 4000 midshipmen. Everyone stays in Bancroft Hall, there are no fraternities or sororities allowed. Note – there was no AC in Bancroft Hall until 2005, and it gets very hot and humid during the Annapolis summers. Photo taken from a photo that Loren showed us of Noon Formation. Central to the Bancroft Hall is the Rotunda, with a large domed roof & a wing on both sides.
Finally, to end this long post – Have you ever heard the words – Don’t give up the Ship ?
Loren did not discuss this subject, but I did see the words at several locations in the lobby. Then Deena saw this flag on the way home. So I decided to look it up.
The words on the flag originally came from Captain James Lawrence, a friend and colleague of Admiral Oliver Perry. Captain Lawrence was mortally wounded as he commanded the frigate USS Chesapeake in early June 1813. The flag and words came to prominence during the War of 1812 on September 10, 1813, in LAKE ERIE when Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry raised the hand-sewn flag in honor of his comrade Captain Lawrence to the loud cheers of the crew, and then executed a stunning defeat of the Royal Navy.
It essentially means to refuse to surrender or give up in the face of adversity, and is a symbol of tenacity, courage, and commitment.
Today, “Don’t Give Up the Ship” is a symbol of American ideals, not just in the military, but in various aspects of life, representing the spirit of never giving up when facing challenges.
A good motto for all of us to live by.
We had a nice wonderful lunch/dinner at a very active corner pub in Annapolis. The people watching was endless. Deena had a very large Bloody Mary, and now wants to go to early nite-nite 😃.
It was an early 6:30 am rise & 7:00 am departure today. We were moving from our one night stay with the wonderful harbor hosts on Solomons Island, 57 miles north to Annapolis Maryland.
We left early because we did not want to arrive in the busy port of Annapolis at 4-5pm, the boat traffic would have been a zoo.
The early departure worked great, we arrived in Annapolis about 1:45pm. Got fueled up & in our slip by 2:15pm.
Today’s ride was very bumpy, but not terrible. We started the route following our GPS Plotter course, but then went off course to once again hug the western shore of Chesapeake Bay for reduced waves.
After arrival, we spent about an hour washing the darn salt off of the poor Mahi Mahi. We have been in some big seas, with water coming over the bow and sometimes even over the flybridge. This was the first wash the Mahi has had so far on the trip. The magic “Salt-Away” product comes to the rescue again.
After pre-dinner showers at 5pm, we went for a walk into the bustling city center square.
We visited – several shops, the State Capital of Maryland, and a narrow transient boat canal called Ego Alley – where folks come by boat to the restaurants and bars. It was Deena & Jerry’s first time in Annapolis, so they were very excited. The streets were jammed and the town was lively.
Our dinner tonight was another one of them “hard to believe” stories. Jerry wanted a Guinness, so we stopped into your average Irish bar. There are several Irish bars in Annapolis. The name of this place was Castlebay Irish Bar.
When we arrived the place was fairly empty. When we left it was packed.
We started with a couple Guinness and then Jerry told me that I had to drink a Jameson Irish Whiskey with the Guinness. After an initial “No Thanks”, Jerry talked me into sharing one.
Just kidding, we did not use straws to share the Jameson !!!
It wasn’t half bad, and did pair well with the Guinness, and we did let Deena in on the fun.
Well, we were starting to feel good after the long day, and decided to stay for dinner & have the highly recommended Corned Beef.
Then the fun began. Jerry starts a conversation with the guy on the bar stool next to him. Jerry talked about his old music store business, his love of music, and his past life playing the accordion. The old guy next to him turns out to be the owner of the bar Vince Quinlan. Vince is a music lover himself, showed us a photo of his 8-10 vintage guitars, and then pulls out from behind the stage, an old italian accordion that had not been played in years.
Jerry has not played in 2-3 months because of carpletunnel in his right hand, but gave it a go.
The owner Vince, who is 78 years old, was so happy to hear the accordion being played again, that he offered to give it to Jerry. We did not take the accordion, but did stay for another hour as Vince started to open up about his life. The conversation made me think the we were listening to Forrest Gump.
Vince came over to the United States as a young 20 year old man from Dublin Ireland. He initially lived in Manhatton and worked a lower level job on Wall Street. Then went on to become a very successful Lead Guitar & Singer Musician, playing Irish music. He claims that his band played in the National Mall in front of Jimmy Carter. He showed us a framed photo, from above the bar, showing 4 dudes playing in front of thousands of people on the National Mall.
While he was talking to Jerry & Deena, I did a quick Google search, and found this.
Enlarge the photo and read the members of the band. It appears that ole Vince was definitely in a band. I’m still not sure about the National Mall photo & Jimmy Carter.
After leaving the Pub, we walked thru the residential area of Annapolis. Lots of narrow/multi-unit buildings, many B&B’s, and one really cool private residence that actually looked like an old church ?
In the photo above, look at the sign on the front lawn – Private Residence !!!
When we got back to the boat, we were treated to get another, end of the night surprise. There was a man on a loud speaker system from the Annapolis Yacht Club right behind our boat, announcing some type of nautical musical tribute. I’m not sure if this was only a Memorial Weekend event, or a more frequent event at the Yacht Club. The event occurred at exactly 8:20pm, to coincide with today’s sunset time in Annapolis.
That’s all for tonight. Tomorrow we will visit the United States Naval Academy.
So, an interesting post for tonight. Yesterday when we were discussing our next stop at Solomons Island Maryland, we were discussing 3 potential marinas.
Within 5 minutes of our discussion, Deena got a ping on her phone thru her Nebo App, that AGLCA host Doug Smith from Solomons Island Yacht Club had seen us out in Chesapeake Bay & had invited us to stay for the night at Solomons Island YACHT CLUB.
We texted AGLCA member Doug Smith, who connected us to Solomons Island Yacht Club host Jim Kiley, who connected us with harbor master Don Kilpatrick. The next thing we know, we had a reservation at the Solomons Island Yacht Club.
Solomons Island Yacht Club, is very similar to our Detroit Yacht Club. Here is some history –
The Solomons Island Yacht Club (SIYC) was founded in 1937 with 41 charter members. The club’s headquarters, designed by Maryland’s first female registered architect Katherine Cutler, is a colonial revival-style brick building according to a Facebook post by the Calvert Marine Museum. The club is known for its large burgee collection, aiming for a Guinness World Record. The club’s Commodore oversees the burgee collection, and a club member is responsible for exchanging burgees. The Club currently has 509 Burgees.
I did not ask what the Guinness Record was, and could not really find the record on Google.
When we arrived, we were greeted by harbor master Don & Commodore Gary.
Right after we had the boat tied up, they took us on a nice tour of the yacht club.
There was a lot of burgees from all over the world, but after a bit of searching, we did find our local Detroit Yacht Club Burgee, where I currently have my Detroit Power Squadron meetings.
After the walk-thru of the Yacht Club, we went on a quick tour of the city & the boardwalk.
Sign for The Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar located in Solomons Island, Maryland, surrounded by colorful flowers and greenery.do you see the outboard motor ?
Nellie, Dave, Debbie, – do you remember this place, it was closed when we went thru it with Bud & Sue (zombee apocalypse) ?
Here is some history of the 10,000 person Memorial Day Events at the Infamous Solomons Island Tiki Bar.
After the Tiki Bar, we went to 2 other places for a pre-dinner drinks.
At about 5pm, we went back to the SIYC (Solomons Island Yacht Club) to meet the guy who made it all happen. We met AGLCA harbor host Doug Smith and his wife Susan. They introduced us to a lot of other Loopers. We talked Great Loop stories all night.
Ok, so Deena & Jerry left the Looper table about 9pm, Mike left about 10pm. We have a 7am departure for Annapolis Maryland tomorrow morning, so I better get to sleep.
Thursday May 22nd – the day began with a 6:30am walk from Salt Ponds Marina across the narrow Hampton peninsula over to the Chesapeake Bay.
Do you remember from the last post, what the Chesapeake Bay was doing yesterday ?
Well, getting up at 6:30am was worth it. The wind was, as forecasted out of the west, and the blockage from the land was incredible. Providing us the the low waves that we needed. Compare the 2 videos below. Video #1 was Wednesday night vs Video #2 was 6:30 am Thursday morning.
The water was calm. Fire up them Engines, let’s go !
Video 1 – Wed night, wind 20-25 East
Video 2 – Thu morning, wind 15-20 West
We left the Salt Ponds Marina in Hampton Virginia, heading to an Anchorage about 40 miles away. We knew that we had planned well by riding the west shore of Chesapeake Bay with a westerly wind. But even if the waves look low on shore, they are always higher a couple miles off shore. The waves were 2-3 ft at the beginning of the cruise and a somewhat bumpy ride, but after about 2 hours of a 7 hour trip, the seas magically went from 2-3 ft waves to under 1 ft.
The ride was then effortless !!!.
During our ride, we had some interesting VHF Radio chatter. We heard a Coast Guard boat down in the Norfolk area calling a pleasure boater. The conversation went like this – Symphony of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, this is Coast Guard Vessel #XXYZ. You are entering an area that the Navy will be doing exercises. We ask that you adjust your course to 050 degrees for 65 miles, for the safety of your Boat & Crew. Poor Symphony of the Seas, wrong place at the wrong time. 65 miles off your planned course may not be so nice.
The waters for the Mahi Mahi had calmed down so much that we ended up passing our original 40 mile destination of Jackson Creek Virginia, to a new anchorage a total of 65 miles away, to an anchorage called Ellyson Cove, just inside the Maryland border.
The anchorage was again beautiful, surrounded by nice houses. It felt like we were on an inland lake up in Michigan.
We had read on our Navionics App, that there were a lot of crab pots at this Anchorage, but holy smokes – there were hundreds. It actually was difficult to get to the anchorage driving thru all the crab pots every 50 ft. For those of you who do not know about crab pots. There is a floating device that the crab folks use to identify where their crab traps were left. Each crab pot owner has his own color. The float is attached to a line, that is also attached to the crab trap on the seabed floor. The worry for boaters is that you might get the line caught up in your propellers.
Here is a close up photo of the float & a photo showing several crab pot floats across the water.
Since the crab pots caused us so much grief, I felt it necessary to investigate.
Some small clams in the center sleeve & 1 small crab in the cage. Seems like a hard way to make a living. Note – we did not mess with the catch, that is probably illegal and definitely immoral, I was just curious😀 .
We had a very slight rain just after dinner, but then we’re treated to a very nice rainbow.
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