Mother’s Day & NH is at Glebe Creek

Boy did it feel good to spend some time with Bill , Linda and family at their new vacation home in Kilmarnock VA. We had some great family meals, wonderful dinner at their local restaurant, lunch at a beautiful winery, beached Patrick’s motor boat ( with two dogs, three adults and three children ), visited the farmers market and had cocktails with their wonderful neighbors. Not to mention that Nana got to finally take a ride on a Jet Ski. Life is good. The picture below is the gang having a picnic on the beach.

Sunday May 9th Anchor at The Glebe

After a great week back in Franklin reconnecting with family and friends Nana and Nandad are back on NH heading towards Washington DC. Perfect timing with Boston Carraige, JetBlue, and Lyft meant that the tide was just about right for leaving Kilmarnock. By 3.30 pm NH had dropped her anchor ready for a quite evening. The approach channel to the Coan River - Mile 3 ( South Shore ) starts in the Potomac River. The Glebe is a quite Anchorage spot with lots of crab pots and oyster stakes but a well marked channel into Kingscote Creek leads to the perfect sheltered spot. 

There is only one other boat sharing our space so I think we will have the perfect evening with maybe a great sky to watch later.

Tomorrow Nana and Nandad hope to make it to Mount Vernon. We will see. 

Indian Creek Kilmarnock

Tuesday April 27th. This particular blog is dedicated to Aedan’s brother Declan who fell off his scooter and is currently suffering from a concussion,

facial bruising, and possible fracture of his jaw and arm. Declan we admire your spirit and glad you are home and recovering. 

Another Layday at Tidewater Marina as Nandad prepares to get his second COVID shot. Nana participated in a zoom yoga class while Nandad took an Uber to CVS - after our bike ride yesterday he decided to skip the bike. Laundry needed to be done , boat needs a good wash down, windows need a good cleaning , trash  and recycling need to be disposed. So a busy afternoon lay ahead in preparation for an early start tomorrow, so we can catch the tide heading up the creek to Bill & Linda’s house in Kilmarnock. 

Wednesday 28th April heading up The Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Bay is 219 miles long from Norfolk VA mile zero to Chesapeake City MD and the C&D canal, however it has 11,600 miles of shoreline. So a lot to cruise and explore. According to the Loopers Companion Guide it has over 150 rivers and streams. It’s width varies from 4 miles at the Bay Bridge to 30 miles at the Potomac. Although you can’t see Kilmarnock on the map it is very close to Irvington. When cruising the Bay it is important to check the weather as it can be very choppy and unforgiving. Nandad had to work hard at the helm but we were safely docked after a five hour cruise. Thank you to Bill & Patrick for having the dock all prepped for our arrival. What a treat! 

 

The picture below if from NEBO so you can see NH’s actual route. 

NH tucked into the dock up Indian Creek at Kilmarnock 

Lots of toys here with Sailboat, jet skies, motor boat, kayaks etc So excited to have some fun with Bill, Linda and family. It is such a peaceful spot. Nana and Nandad will spend three days here and then drive back to Franklin MA to connect once again with family and hopefully friends. It has been 10 weeks since Nandad has been home! We plan to celebrate Mother’s Day before we leave to return on Sunday 10th May. When we return we will cruise up the Potomac to Washington DC and stay at the Capital Yacht Club. 

No more blog until then. Happy Mothers Day to all and a speedy recovery to Declan.

Monday April 26th Portsmouth VA

Nana and Nandad had a wonderful dinner at Fish and Slip which is right at the dock. Nana had delicious crab balls but was a little disappointed they were not locally caught!  Nandad had a huge portion of meatloaf- the perfect comfort food. We captured the almost full moon shining over the navy dry dock just before sunset. 

Monday morning Nandad wanted to take the bikes to the local supermarket. As we rode down the historic downtown it was almost like a ghost  town. After successfully doing our grocery shopping, filling our two backpacks , Nandad decided we should take a different ride back !!! Oh boy did we go round in circles! No worries we finally returned to NH , put the groceries away and had a great lunch onboard.

After lunch Nana and Nandad decided to take the River boat across to Norfolk and walk around the Nauticus & The Battleship Wisconsin. Nothing is open today but we had a wonderful time strolling the area known as Cannonball Trail. We also discovered the Pagoda & Oriental Gardens which are so colorful and very peaceful. 

This is a picture of the bow of the USS Wisconsin - a little intimidating! 

Maybe this is the reason it’s called the Cannonball trail ! 

The perfect spot for a little meditation. 

Nandad looking out over the bay after a wonderful dinner onboard. The bagpipes were playing in the background for sunset. The perfect end to a perfect day. Tonite we look forward to watching the Pink Moon. 

ICW mile Zero Portsmouth VA

April 25th Sunday . Nana and Nandad finally arrived at Portsmouth VA officially the beginning of the ICW. NH had cruised through FL, GA, SC, NC, and VA. We have travelled all 1095 miles of the ICW from Miami to Norfolk and 375 miles from Port Charlotte to Miami so our total approximate miles is 1470. Congratulations to all aboard. 

Today we cruised the Coinjock Bay into the North Landing River up the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal into the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River to dock at Tidewater Yacht Marina which is right beside the Navy Hospital on Crawford Bay. The journey took us through six bridges, a very large lock and a seven-mile-long congested stretch with a six-mph speed limit. Large Navel vessels are everywhere here and Norfolk is the home of The Norfolk Naval Station - the largest naval installation in the world! We will stay here for three nights as Nandad will get his second shot on Tuesday and we will head to Kilmarnock on Wednesday. Lots of time to explore this very historic area. 

These are the two boats in front of us in the lock - I can’t imagine a full lock !

The picture below is some kind of structure that Nana is very curious about. They were scattered all along the route from Little Alligator River up to just after Coinjock. She is on a mission to find out from the locals what they are for! 

NH Anchorage & docked at Coinjock Marina

April 23rd Nana and Nandad decided to anchor just past the Alligator River Bridge at ICW mile 81.5. Cruising the wide Alligator River was very pleasant and Nandad had calculated the weather nicely. However our Anchorage , while excellent holding , the boat rocked and rolled all night long - even louder than when we were docked at Belhaven. This meant for an early start in the morning so that we could make Coinjock Marina before the winds picked up once again. Another great opportunity for a sunrise picture ! 

April 24th Saturday. Cruising up the Albermarle Sound with lots of other boats heading North was very comforting. Everybody seemed to arrive within the same timeframe at the Marina so dockhands were really busy. They are well prepared here with expert help. A great stop in the middle of nowhere with one of the best local restaurants. Very large power boats here mixed with sailboats and lots of loopers. Many fishing craft pass by after a day searching for bass. 

A very pretty boat cruising  past while we were docked at Coinjock. We later saw it again docked at Great Bridge on the way to Portsmouth Virginia. 

Belhaven NC

April 21st and 22nd. 

Now you all know that expression the early bird catches the worm. Well in this case it was certainly true and lots of boats were doing the same today. The Neuse River, Pamlico River and the Pungo River are very wide sections of the ICW so most boaters wanted to be at their marina before the high winds which were forecast for early afternoon. We arrived into Belhaven Marina in perfect time and are ready for a Layday. Belhaven is a very tiny sleepy town with lovely homes, a few selective boutiques, one or two antique shops but most importantly the best farm-to-fork style restaurant called Spoon River Artworks and Market. 

Loved these two wooden artworks on this front porch.

Also this lovely welcoming frontage. Nana’s right there on the rocking chair on the porch.

Oriental NC Anchorage

Tuesday April 20th Nana and Nandad, after a long day cruising along Bogue Sound, Newport River, and Adam’s Creek we eventually anchored right outside the break wall at Oriental Hbr. There were several Anchorage spots before the Harbor  however many were overfilled with crab pots so after two attempts Nandad decided heading into Oriental was the best choice. It was very choppy but settled down once the sun set. 

Now boating is always full of surprises some good some not so good. As we were planning our trip to the Outer Banks we checked the weather conditions for the next few days. Very high winds with high seas were forecast so unfortunately there would be no side trip this time. Better be disappointed than miserable! Also Nandad is getting his second vaccine on Tuesday in Norfolk VA so we have learned from our travels never head to a destination when you have to be somewhere at a particular time - it seldom works in you favor. 

Due to the weather NH would leave the Anchorage by sunrise to be into Belhaven before the weather window. 

At sunrise we are ready to leave and if you look closely you will notice the infestation of flies! We were to discover that these are called Fuzzy Bills which are male mosquitos that don’t bite and only live 24 hours - not sure how reliable this source is! The anchor light was their main attraction and thank goodness they were mostly outside.

Nana is ready for the flies! Somehow Nandads knee is so painful he simply is not able to do the anchor!!!