Today was a long run for Cally. She really is a trooper and handling each day and whatever we throw at her well, so far. Today was a long run for us, too. FLYS. I have never had so many flies hang out on a boat as it cruised up the Chesapeake Bay. I think they were so tried by the time they found us they just hung out. It was awful, with them biting us and really annoying Miss Cally.
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| Lighthouse |
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| This is how I like the Chesapeake Bay to be when crossing the mouth to the Potomac That area can get quite snotty. Been there, done that. |
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| See the purple box on the chart? That is the designated area large ships navigate to in order to pick up the Pilots off the Pilot boats |
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| Bay Pilot Boat ... taking a pilot out to a large ship to bring her up the Bay and probably to Baltimore for off loading |
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| Our view for two days |
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| This is the office for the Marina. That 560 SEL Mercedes you see... is the COURTESY CAR we can use to go to town for supplies! I kept trying to come up with something I needed to go get just to use it, but couldn't. |
Day 10 Saturday, April 29, 2017 - - 0 miles, 0 hours traveled ... Calvert Marina, Solomons, MD
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| Lab Partners at the floating pier for transients ... that's what we are called when you only stay a short time at a marina |
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| R/V Bay Hydro II a research vessel across the pier from us. Big power cat. |
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| I'm pretty sure I would like MARY ELIZABETH how nice of them to name her after me |
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| Through the covered slips, across the creek and above the tree line you can see the bridge coming into Solomons the from south |
Day 11 Sunday,
May 2, 2017 - 47.1 miles traveled, 5 Hours, 15 min travel time ... Calvert Marina, Solomons, MD to anchored on
the Rhode River
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| Calvert Cliffs area ... can you see the house by the cliff edge? Further north, there were homes that had to be razed once the cliff erosion compromised the foundations/structures |
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| A Liquid Petroleum (LP) off loading facility on the Chesapeake Bay |
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| On shore tanks to store the off loaded LNG |
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| Cove Point Lighthouse |
Day 12 Monday,
May 1, 2017 - 0 miles traveled ... anchored on the Rhode River
Today was a restful day; No Pics. Cally got to go swimming on one
of her potty trips to shore. We are anchored off an island with beach for her
to do business, play and swim. We have been here in many times and in many different boats. Rip read a book all day. Finally a day without
any work for him. I caught up on a few things and started a new book. Love
having books on the Kindle app. It was a breezy day, all day and into the
night. One big gust got Rip up during the night to check our hold by the
anchor. All was set firm and as we left it when we went to bed, so back to bed
for him. All in all, a quiet day enjoyed by all.
We secured a slip for the next week at Hartge Yacht
Center on the West River, south of Annapolis. Time to visit family, friends,
catch up on laundry, clean the boat and pick up a few supplies we found we need.
A trip to Target or such is on the list. We have gone 13 days without hitting a
grocery store. Not bad for a small boat! We can make it another 4-5 days, but
will provision in Edgewater soon and again when we get ready to leave. We have
not run the small counter top ice maker, yet. We did buy one small bag of ice
in Deltaville. Cally gets 2 ice cubes before bed each night. Can't skip that routine.
This next week will be boring for the blog ... Cally
swimming, us going to stores, Rip getting a much needed hair cut and us
visiting friends and family. Things will get more interesting once we leave Annapolis. I
promise!
Day 13 Tuesday,
May 2, 2017 - 0 miles traveled ... anchored on the Rhode River
Still breezy, but not as bad as yesterday. Well, said
that too early. Rip had to stop cleaning the boat hull because of the breeze.
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| The view tonight on the Rhode River |
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| Another view tonight; I have clients and friends on the far shore Each has looked out to see us |
Cally needs to wait until closer to 3pm, low tide at
5:30-ish, to go to shore so she has a lot of beach to play and swim.
We have not meet any other Loopers, yet. Those doing The
Great Loop call themselves Loopers. We are apart of the Class of 2017, but ahead
of most of the pack. Since boats travel in the same direction, same basic path
and with the weather; many times we will have other boats traveling with us, at
marinas or at anchor by us. Just none yet. While we stay put for the week,
some may catch up to us.
There is a t-shirt for the Class of 2017; with a list of
all the boats on the back who are on The Great Loop
this year. Well, those who bought the t-shirt, anyway. Can you find our name? Now, if we can only find our t-shirts. They
were sent by post office mail to us before we left, but didn't arrive before we
departed. They were forwarded by the post office, after a nine day wait, to the
mail agent handling our mail. Once they receive them they will ask where to
forward. We are hoping they arrive at the agent in time to be sent to Ham, Rip's brother,
while we are here in Annapolis.
Otherwise, we have to have them sent to a marina we plan
to stop at along the way and ask them to hold it for us to arrive. OR, there
are Harbor Hosts at almost each stop, be it anchorage or marina. Harbor Hosts
are folks who belong to the Americas Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA)
and offer to help Loopers traveling through their home port. They may help by explaining how to cruise a certain local passage or inlet that is narrow, notoriously shallow or not marked well, suggest favorite places to eat, where to get boat supplies, receive packages
for you or transport you and or your pet to places. Many have completed the
Loop and have other vast knowledge to share, too.
