Back on Land

We have been home for a week and a half now.  Vicki and Norm visited with us while they had their boat hauled out for regular maintenance.  It was a very fun visit as we all got used to being on land, shopping, doing lots of laundry, going to movies, exercising, cooking  and just hanging out.  We enjoyed reconnecting with our good friends who we had not seen for over a year.

Following are some pictures that we wanted to post.  The first few are from the Norfolk and Portsmouth area.  Then it is through the ICW to Morehead City.

This aircraft carrier came in from the ocean as we were coming in from the Lower Chesapeake.  We figured that we should just stay out of its way.  Notice all the tugs helping to get her into place in her slip.

                                         These appear to be missile carrying ships

These look like aircraft carriers                                  Supply Ships Rafted up

      Another interesting war platform                              Some kind of utility craft

We had a nice evening in a marina in Portsmouth, VA.  The dock staff were really great and we were able to get both milk and wine at the dock store.  How cool is that?

Going down the ICW leaving the Norfolk area is always tricky.  There are several bridges for which we have to time our arrival to meet their opening schedule.  There are also several RR bridges which are almost always open, except in our case when it was down and a train was going across it!  There is also a small lock so everything has to be timed and we either go slow, our normal operating procedure, or go really, really slow so as not to get to a bridge and have to hang out for 15 minutes or so.

                      Going south on the ICW.  Finally, the leaves are starting to change

                      Not just one but 2 standard poodles and the driver on this jet ski

Just as we entered the Pungo River there was another engine noise, growing in intensity.  Just as I turned my head to the left, a small single-engine aircraft passed Rickshaw (on the port side) at about eye level … probably 15 feet off the water … and waved to Rick on the helm.  He continued low, and buzzed the boat in front of us before climbing in altitude.

Lynnie captured these pictures of the low flying aircraft as it went by

The last night out on this trip was in River Dunes Marina in NC.  Our friends Brenda and Todd, aboard Lifes2Short, joined us for dinner and laughs.  We had another great evening with you.  They are going on south and we’ll take a right turn and cruise into our home marina!  Have a ball Lifes2Short.

It was our anniversary this week and Rick surprised Lynnie with a beautiful bouquet at the restaurant.  Awwwwww.  Thank you, Rick

What a GRAND trip we had.  Thanks for watching our blog and giving us such fun feedback.  We look forward to seeing you ALL soon.  L&R

Home Again, Home Again

Click here to see our progress map.  Our current location is at the top of the list.  The pink stick pin indicates that we have turned around and are now heading south.

Rickshaw arrived home on Monday, October 11th.  We washed her down and started to pack things up.  Our friends, Phil and Barb, drove down on Tuesday morning, helped us pack all of our things into their van and drive us back to Cary.  They are most amazing!!  Thanks, Phil and Barb, that was so very nice of you.

Our buddy boat friends Vicki and Norm had their boat hauled out in Morehead City so they are staying with us for a few days while the work gets done.  We haven’t seen them for a year so it is nice to catch up.

We will update the blog shortly with the last of our pictures on this trip

Catching up from Solomons Island, MD

Click here to see our progress map.  Our current location is at the top of the list.  The pink stick pin indicates that we have turned around and are now heading south.

We stayed in the marina, Summit North, in the C&D Canal for 3 nights, again waiting for weather to pass.  We had a great time as we met up with some boating friends from Florida and met some new friends. 

We met Ruth and Bill at the Palm Beach Yacht Center, in Florida 4 years ago when Rickshaw was in for some major repairs.  We hadn’t seen them in several years.  When we anchored in Oyster Bay in Long Island Sound they gave us a call on the phone and said ‘We’re looking at you’!  Then when we were anchored in Sandy Hook, NJ they pulled into the anchorage in the afternoon.  So, Summit North was the first time we were both there at the dock and could visit face to face.   We also met some new friends Lisa and Roger who are friends of our buddy boaters, Vicki and Norm.  We all met at the marina restaurant and had a great time visiting.

Here are some pictures that Ruth (who is a great photographer) took of us on Rickshaw in the anchorage at Sandy Hook, NJ.

                                                     Rick and Lynnie relaxing on the aft deck  

Rick getting the anchor up as the sun comes up     Making our way out of the anchorage                       On our way out to the Atlantic Ocean for the 10 1/2 hour ride to Atlantic City

       This is on the Chesapeake after leaving the C&D Canal.  What a gorgeous day!!

Going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  This guy was bigger than we are so he got the center span

           Like we said…it was a gorgeous day and a Sunday so lots of boaters were out

There were also half a dozen big ships waiting, we presume, to get into Baltimore harbor

Since we knew another weather system was going to come in, we took refuge up the South River which is south of Annapolis, MD.  We anchored in a beautiful, well protected creek (behind this little bungalow)

We were in the South River for 3 nights.  We got there on Friday afternoon and it started raining on Saturday and stopped Sunday night.  We didn’t feel the winds because the banks were fairly high.

Today, Tuesday 10/5, we left for Solomons Island, MD, about a 5 1/2 hour run.  Tomorrow we are going to the southern Chesapeake to a place called Mobjack Bay…a 10 hour day.  Boy, can you tell we are ready to get back to NC???

We arrived in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Safe and Sound!

Click here to see our progress map.  Our current location is at the top of the list.  The pink stick pin indicates that we have turned around and are now heading south.

We were in Atlantic City for 3 nights due to the weather.  We check the weather websites for hours each day, it seems, and things were looking worse and worse.  Wednesday (yesterday 9/29) looked like our only possibility to leave for about a week. 

We took a deep breath and decided to give it a try.  If it was awful we could always turn back.  We got up at 5:15 and left the dock in the dark at 6:00.  There was enough ambient light to get off the dock and the buoys were mainly lighted so we had no trouble getting out into the channel.  But the tide was coming in so we did a lot of pitching (where the pointy end of the boat goes into the waves…up and down…up and down….we hate pitching). 

When we got to the end of the channel we turned south and headed down the NJ shoreline, staying about 2 – 3 miles offshore.  It was much better than we feared!  The waves were probably 3-4 feet but they were just rollers with long periods in between and no whitecaps.  So Rickshaw gently went up one side and down the other and it was OK.  Then the waves changed to 1-2 feet which was even better.  And to top it off, there was practically no wind.  Phew!

We got to Cape May in 4 hours because we were going with the current.  We went through the Cape May Canal and got into the Delaware Bay and started to fly!  We were with the current all the way and saw Rickshaw go as fast as 10.8 knots…a record we think.  Anyway, we were able to make the entire 95 nautical mile trip in 11 hours.  It took us 12.5 hours on the way north.

We are tucked into a marina on the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal and will be here until at least Saturday while we wait for the winds, seas and rain to die down.  The C&D Canal connects the northern ends of the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.  Tornado warning in effect through 1:00 pm and gale warning in effect until 6:00 pm today.

We don’t have any new pictures to post at this point.  Being near the end of September, it was interesting to see the beaches along the NJ coast nearly deserted, with all the amusement parks shut down.  Hardly anyone around.

We are hoping that all our boating friends are also tucked into safe harbors to ride this out.  We are also hoping that all our non-boating friends on the east coast are staying warm and dry!!

We plan to continue south into the Chesapeake Bay on Saturday.  More later …

Hudson River Trip

Click here to see our progress map.  Our current location is at the top of the list.  The pink stick pin indicates that we have turned around and are now heading south.

We left Liberty Landing Marina in New York Harbor to go up the Hudson River on Tuesday, 9/21.  Our plan was to see the changing leaves along the Hudson and take two days going north to Kingston, NY and then 2 days back to Sandy Hook, NJ to wait for good weather for our trek along the coast of NJ.

Unfortunately, mother nature wasn’t cooperating in the leaf changing department!  But it was a beautiful cruise nonetheless and we were very glad we made it.

Lots of cool bridges to go under, the first was the George Washington Bridge

                                                       The Palisades on the western shore

Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, NY.  We heard this is where the term ‘going up the river’ (up the Hudson) came from

                                              Bear Mountain and Bear Mountain Bridge

The Hudson is very wide in parts and we felt like we had the whole river to ourselves.  On both shorelines, the trains run to and from NYC and beyond.  It is interesting to see the commuter trains as when they are going northbound, the engine pulls the train but when they are going southbound, the engine pushes the train!  It is sort of strange to see this arrangement.

                                                                      Notice the train tunnel

Here was the one tree that was actually following the calendar!  It must be breathtaking to see all of them in their fall colors

We only encountered 2 barges on the river in two days

 

Just a few of the many homes along the hills.  The people who own some of these large mansions are credited with helping to clean up the Hudson.  They didn’t want their views spoiled!

Seeing West Point was exciting.  We really had no idea what to expect.  The Coast Guard vessel was “on guard” and moved out into the river as we approached just to show presence.

It is made up of an imposing number of historical buildings the first of which was built in 1802

                                                                        And, of course, rivalries!

We stayed one night in a marina in the town of Newburg, NY, just beyond these hills in the distance.  It was the most rolly place we had been in yet

This is Pollepel Island where a Scottish immigrant built a medieval fortress in the early 1900’s, now in ruins

A backwards look, just beautiful          Lynnie taking in the Palisades on the return

We stopped in a marina at Sandy Hook, NJ to get fuel.  The photographer relaxing and snapping pictures of work boats working on a bridge down the river

Yesterday, Sunday 9/26, we left Sandy Hook for the 10 hour ride in the Atlantic down the Jersey shore to Atlantic City.  We knew the weather wasn’t going to be the greatest because of the low pressure system coming up from the southeast.  Needless to say, it was a very long day in very lumpy seas and we were glad to get to Atlantic City just as it started to rain in earnest.  Now we just have to wait for the weather to clear up a bit to leave for Cape May and the Delaware Bay.  It is looking like Thursday is our day.   We’ll report on that later.