August 18, 2006 Washington, DC (Part 1 of 2)

It is now Friday evening. We arrived in Washington, DC on Wednesday. We’ve been looking forward to this for some time as we are both from this area and it was great to come into DC from the water.

It was a long but beautiful trip up the Potomac River, our longest yet, a little over 8 hours. We had to check in with the Dahlgren Naval Surface Weapons Test Range as we left Colonial Beach to see if the river was ‘hot’, and it was. We were directed to hug the Maryland side and ran without any problems.

We don't have a lot of narrative but thought you'd enjoy some of the views as we went up the river. Here is a restored Chesapeake Bay 'Buy' boat which is an old wooden boat that used to buy seafood from the boats on the bay and take it back to shore.

The south part of the river had lots of little communities with lovely views. We enjoyed watching them as we cruised by them.

That changed quickly, however as we got closer to Mt. Vernon, on both the Virginia and Maryland sides. This is a small but quaint home on the Maryland side of the river, and the picture below is the first of the amazing homes we captured.

(Part 2 continues with more pictures)

August 18, 2006 Washington, DC (Part 2 of 2)

This was the biggest we saw. It reminded us of a European chateau! It sits about 1/2 mile south of Mount Vernon.

Mt. Vernon, George Washington's plantation, is a beautiful site. We could have taken Rickshaw in to their dock to tour the home but we were tired! Maybe on the way back.




This is Fort Washington. It was the only fort defending Washington for many decades (we read the book!)

The most exciting part of the trip was getting ready to go under the new Woodrow Wilson bridge which connects VA to MD via Route 95 over the river. This is a huge project that has been going on for several years and we were a tad nervous about it. We did our homework and read the updates on the web but were still confused as to which span to go under.

We thought we had it figured out when a red tug turned parallel to the bridge where we thought we were supposed to be!

Turns out we just had to wait for the tug to move the crane and then we had room to pass. We had a high five after that one. Following are a few pictures of the new bridge. The one with the orange pillings is a form where the new bridge will be poured. It was amazing to see it from this angle as the massiveness of it is so apparent.

This is the Alexandria waterfront. Below is a cool picture as I've never seen sailboats 'in front' of the Washington Monument.

Just thought this was a cool picture of the Navy Research Lab.

As we approached DC, National Airport was on the left and planes were coming in over our bow. It was an interesting sight.

We are close to home now!
This is a shot of us coming into the Gangplank Marina in downtown DC where we will be for the next week. Can't wait for tomorrow as we will have 10 family members over to see the boat and go to lunch. Then we will spend the weekend with our good friends. Nice to be home to visit.

August 15, 2006 Colonial Beach, VA

We left beautiful St. Mary’s River this morning. It was overcast and breezy with 15 knot winds as we entered the Potomac on our way up the river to DC. We had planned a stop in Colonial Beach, VA since it is a 2 day trip to DC from here (in our go slow boat!).

The cruising guides notified us that we would be traveling through a restricted zone. (Vicki and Norm, we LOVE the cruising guide!) That is because we would be going right through Dahlgren Naval Surface Weapons test range! We were told to radio ahead to see if it was a ‘cold’ or ‘hot’ day. On hot days there are live test firings on the range. The range patrol advised us that it was ‘hot’ today and that we had to stay south of the range. It was really something to hear the booming in the distance of the testing. The restricted zone we had entered before we got to this zone was for strafing and bombing. We were glad it was ‘cold’!!

We weren't sure what this tug was towing but it looked like pieces of a bridge. Very strange to see going down the waterway.

Rick is carefully watching where this tanker is going since they always have the right of way, whether they are right or not! We are so small in comparison.

It was a nice but uneventful 5 hour trip to Colonial Beach. We had hoped to anchor out but the water was too shallow so we ended up in a marina. Just as we were docking, a huge rainstorm broke out, so all our books and charts were getting soaked, at the same time we heard a new alarm in the boat going off that we hadn’t heard before, we couldn’t get power to the boat and we started dripping diesel fuel from the aft tank vent. Just another day on the water. We hitched a ride into town with the marina staff to a great Chinese restaurant and walked 2+ miles back to the marina. On the way passed a small ice cream kiosk and just had to sample their old fashioned A&W Root Beer Float! We leave in the morning for the 65 mile (8+ hours) to DC.

August 14, 2006 St. Mary's River, MD

The last two days have been two of the most beautiful days yet. Below is the Smith Point Lighthouse where yesterday we started our turn westward into the Potomac River.

We stayed at a small marina because we needed to fuel up (don't ask!). The sunset was wonderful. We also included a picture of the marina; absolutely no frills, but they had a reasonable diesel fuel price.

We left Smith Creek around noon today, after two hours of fueling with slow pumps, to go back into the Potomac River then up the St. Mary's River.

St. Mary's Ciy, along the river, is where the first capital of Maryland was established. We can understand why they picked it. The shoreline is astonishing with high banks and large homes and farms overlooking the river. St. Mary’s College, a small college, is right on the water.

We didn't stop but continued up the river and anchored near Tippity Wichity (really) island. It is very quiet and simply beautiful here.

We have been so lucky with the weather, well, except that one day where everything went downhill. We’ve had light winds to keep the bugs away and sunny days. Hope it lasts! After an exhausting day, Rick had to sit back and close his eyes for a few minutes...the stress you know ... !

August 12, 2006 - Urbanna, Virginia

Hi everyone. This is Rick on the blog. Lynnie indicated in her last posting that we’d had an exciting day on the water. Well, that about sums it up. You know, some things are learned easily, and others require a trial by fire.

We spent the night of August 9th at anchor in the East River off Mobjack Bay, VA. We awoke to a very overcast sky, and it began to drizzle. NOAA weather indicated it wouldn’t amount to much, and the seas would be calm, so we headed out, bound for Gwynn Island about 25 miles north with mild precipitation showing on the radar.

We’d just rounded New Point Comfort lighthouse and started heading north with a slow rain, in 25 – 30 feet of water. About 3 miles offshore, the port engine began to lose RPM, and everything seemed to point to a clogged primary fuel filter. So … Rick decided we had better switch over to the backup primary filter, and headed into the engine room to execute this “simple” procedure.

To make a long story short … in a matter of a few minutes our ‘first’ worst nightmare unfolded. The fuel filter swap process wasn’t at all what I’d learned in diesel school. I got it all undone, and the new one installed, but for some reason, could not fill the filter housing with fuel from the normal supply line. Bottom line … in very short order both engines got an air lock and shut down cold … we were adrift, now in heavy rain with reduced visibility! We’d been dodging crab pots all the way out into open water, and began to drift back toward Mobjack.

We were in no immediate danger and could always drop anchor and call TowBoatUS to come get us. So, I took a deep breath, and began to try to figure it all out. Luckily we had cell phone coverage, and a quick call to my good friend and mechanic, Roger Brake, helped to ease the fear factor. He gave me a few simple things to diagnose, and in about an hour I was able to restart the port engine by bleeding the air out of the injector fuel line. The starboard engine also cranked up with a few coughs, and we again had normal RPM.

We breathed a very big sigh of relief, high-fived, opened a beer, and headed north once again. We decided to bypass Gwynn Island and go on into Urbanna, VA on the Rappahannock River, about a 44 mile day. That turned out to be a good decision, as it is a really neat place. It is an historic port town and the ‘downtown’ area is wonderful. Today we wandered through the farmers market and stopped in at the Urbanna Republic store and bought some new clothes.

Yesterday, we spent doing chores. Lynnie did laundry, washed the boat, and Rick spent most of the day doing a 100 hour engine service. We’ve met some fun people, had some good meals in town, and tomorrow will head up to Smith Creek, just inside the mouth of the Potomac River.
So, our first encounter with fear turned out to be a very good teacher, and we’ve both learned a lot about ourselves, the boat, and dealing with the unknown. And I will never make that same mistake again! So far we have logged 380 nautical miles since leaving Morehead City, NC.

Scenes from the back of the boat in Urbanna.

August 11, 2006 Urbanna, VA

We have had an exciting few days on the water and Rick will be updating the blog about that. In the meantime, we have been asked what the boat looks like. It is such a great boat and we are really comfortable.

We spend most of our time on the upper helm when we are under way. To the right of the captain's chair you see a PC display. It is connected to Rick's PC in the lower helm station and runs our navigation software. There is a freezer on the left side, OK port side for you mariners, which holds a ton of food!

Here is Captain Rick at the lower helm station. We don't usually run the boat from here unless the weather is really bad or if we are in Georgia and the black flies are attacking!

This is the salon with the galley in the background. The sofa is a fold-out double bed so plenty of room for guests. The yellow placemats are on top of the cold plate refrigerator which also holds lots of food. The ice maker is below the lamp.

The master stateroom has a full size queen bed. Lots of hanging space and drawers. We were surprised that we could fit all of our 'stuff' into it. The head includes a nice shower. There is also a combo washer/dryer.

The aft deck is where we hang out when we finally get somewhere. This is where we say 'This is what it is all about' as evidenced by the next picture, taken at anchor just off the Jamestown Settlement on the James River in Virginia.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We are on our way to the Potomac River tomorrow.

August 9. 2006 Mobjack Bay, VA

OK, OK, OK, so we have been derelict in our blogging duties! We just want to make sure you know that we haven’t sunk the boat and neither of us has fallen over the side. We’ll try to catch up. Above you see a very happy camper on the boat in the Norfolk, VA. Waterside Marina, which is in downtown Norfolk. It was a nice place but HOT. Here is someone who is having a grand time. The picture below is of Rickshaw in the harbor marina.

While we were in Norfolk we took a harbor cruise around the Navy Shipyard. It was so cool. We were told that the Nimitz class air craft carrier is the size of the Statue of Liberty but can pass us going at 60 MPH!
We left Norfolk to go up the James River, home of many historic sites. We anchored for two nights in the Pagan River opposite Smithfield, VA, famous for Smithfield Hams. We are learning lots about anchoring, like how to make sure the anchor is actually holding on the bottom (...which it wasn’t on the Pagan...). Small things!

On our way up the James River, we saw what is called the ‘Reserve Fleet’. It is a collection of old ships that, we assume, would be used in the case of an emergency. It was so eerie. There were probably 75 or so old, rusting ships tethered together. We just saw the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie and it gave us both the willies!

We spent two rolly nights in an anchorage just north of the ferry terminal next to the Jamestown settlement. Before it got too hot we put the dingy in the water and journeyed about 2.5 miles back east thru a really neat creek, and tied up to a floating dilapidated dock at the “Jamestown Yacht Basin” … not exactly, but it worked. We walked up to the Jamestown visitors’ center, and spent the morning going thru the movie, and then the outside exhibits. We couldn’t help but be a bit whelmed (slightly over that is) when we cruised up the James. I bet it hasn’t changed much since 1607 when the first settlers landed, and it was really cool to arrive by boat just as they had done ... wonder how they avoided the shoals. Anyway, we visited the settlement, and got lots of pictures … one of which is attached for your enjoyment. The guy in the picture below must be about 435 years old, as he spoke with a heavy English accent and kept referring to Lynnie as “a most amazingly beautiful woman.” What a hoot … we later saw him in the air conditioned cafeteria.

We had a real exciting day leaving Jamestown for Hampton, VA. Our cruising software had a hiccup and we couldn’t use it as we approached the James River bridge. After the bridge it becomes pretty congested with BIG ships. Being trained by IBM we are, of course, ultra prepared. So we weren’t too very concerned as we have a backup Global Positioning System (GPS) and another copy of the navigation software on a different PC, which we had tested the day before. But, it is a boat, and Murphy lives on it with us, so of course the backup didn’t work. We both know how to use paper charts but have gotten lazy. Needless to say, as we were about to go under a part of the bridge that we weren’t supposed to be going under, we realized our mistake and quickly turned around and found the right entrance. (We can hear Lenny Beck laughing!) So much for our relaxing cruise!

Anyway, we made it to the Hampton Downtown Public Piers ... a marina ... and spent three nights there (...for the price of two as an incentive ...). It was pretty hot, and we ambled about the boat doing chores and laundry. Rick spent the best part of one morning gathering the piece parts to do a needed engine (...all four of them ...) oil change, and convinced NAPA Hampton to deliver 12 gallons of oil and a few oil filters to the boat. We wandered the waterfront by foot until we could sweat no more and then headed back to the AC on board. Had a great crab cake dinner aboard on Tuesday evening, crashing early.

This morning we left Hampton to start going north. It was a beautiful morning at 80 degrees, 69% humidity, so we turned off the genset and AC, opened the doors and ran the boat on the inverter. Finally got into the Chesapeake Bay heading north. We are now at anchor in a lovely spot on the East River off Mobjack Bay, on the eastern shore of VA, arriving about 2:00PM. On average, we've been travelling at the lightening pace of about 25 - 40 miles/day. Some friends have been asking what the boat looks like so those pictures will follow. Cheers...

August 1, 2006

Hi from Virginia! We reached Norfolk, VA Sunday afternoon on our fourth day out. We thought we had a freezer problem so we hurried up here thinking we would have better luck getting a technician in ‘the big city’ but Rick discovered it was an easy fix and took care of it. He has been doing a great job taking care of all the systems on the boat.

We enjoyed the trip up from North Carolina. There are some very remote but beautiful areas. We are always learning…like the value of prior proper planning (or lack thereof) when it comes to the timing of bridge and lock openings (grrrr), but that’s what it is all about. We went through our first lock which was exciting, but thankfully, an easy one to traverse. Here are a couple of pictures taken on the way up. We have seen hundreds of Ospreys hanging out on the waterway marks and we included a picture of one of them checking us out.

This sunset picture was taken across the Intercoastal in the tiny town of Coinjock, NC, famous for their 32 oz prime rib dinners (we had fish).

As you probably know, it is sweltering here now so we haven’t done as much sightseeing in Norfolk as we had hoped. We took a 2-hour boat tour of the Navy Boat Yard this afternoon which was really interesting. My dad is a retired Navy officer and spent much of his career going in and out of Norfolk so he is excited for us being here. We leave tomorrow to go up the James River, anchoring in Smithfield, home of Smithfield hams (how cool is that??), then the first settlement of Jamestown for a few days.

I’m so glad I have such smart friends and family who know that while I said you can’t use the comments field, you actually can. I guess what I turned off was anonymous comments. At any rate, Rick and I have both enjoyed reading them and your email and will make sure that we do as you say and keep the wine cooler full! Best to all.

Rickshaw has left the dock! Our departure was a few weeks later than we had hoped but, hey, we are both retired, what else do we have to do? We have learned that living on a boat means that things just break. What worked in the morning doesn't necessarily mean it works in the afternoon. We are told that at any one time there are at least five problems and, hopefully, one knows about two of them! Needless to say, we have been working on some things and updating others!

But all systems are now in working order. We don't have cell phone coverage at the anchorage where we currently are but we DO have wireless thanks to the Verizon air card (amazing what technology brings).

We left Morehead, NC this morning at 9:00 and traveled north 65 nautical miles along the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW), and are now anchored in the Pungo Creek, just SW of Belhaven, NC. The wine is chilled and we just set up the grill and will be having flank steak and potatoes for our first night out. We plan to spend the next 3 months cruising up the Chesapeake and following the leaves back south in October/November.

We will update this site with info from time to time so that you don't think that we have run aground or dropped off the end of the earth. While this is a blog it was suggested that we don't allow conversations on the site as we would soon be overwhelmed with spam. You have our emails and we hope that you keep in touch. The adventure begins!