16-31 May 2005

York River VA to Tom's River NJ

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Date	Destination	Log and Pictures
From 15 to 31 May we traveled from York River VA to Tom's River NJ, 456 statute miles with 59 hours of underway time. During this 16 day period we were underway part of the time on 12 days and remained in port 4 days. Of the 16 evenings we paid for a marina slip on two days and enjoyed anchorages or free docks along the way on the other 14 days. We averaged about 38 miles per day and 8 miles per underway hour.
5/16	Mathews, VA	Underway after fueling we headed into the Chesapeake Bay and 4 foot seas. Not to our liking so we pulled into Mobjack Bay, and steamed up the East River and Put-In-Creek to Mathews VA. A great little town where we dinghied to a local resident's dock, got permission to tie up and received a ride from the next door neighbor into Town in his 1965 Ford Mustang. Returning later in the day we enjoyed watching several crew teams practice on the East River.


5/17	Irvington, VA	Underway at 8 AM headed for Bay ... to see if the prediction of 2 foot seas and 10 knots of wind was valid. It was not! Seas at 4 feet. It was a sloppy day on the Bay. We stopped at Irvington, enjoying the hospitality of the Rappahannock River Yacht Club and were invited to dinner at friends Tom and Lucy York's home. A great meal with good friends.

5/18	Solomon's Island	Up at 8 and underway by 9. Finally the Chesapeake was kind to us, seas were flat and we had a pleasant trip, 71 miles, to Solomon's Island. Barny was cleaning up from the beating we took the last two days on the Bay as we passed Smith Point Light. After anchoring in Back Creek off Spring Cove Springs Marina, I took Barny out to dinner to celebrate his birthday. He said he hoped the next 61 years would be as great as the first time around. Sitting in the harbor eating a fine Italian meal we watch a dozen sail boats return to port with spinnakers flying after their weekly race.

5/19 20	Solomon's Island	Barny's friends Stoney and Carol hosted us for the next two days in Solomons; fine food and drink, great conversation, and a slip near their house (we had the empty slip in the middle picture below). A great time. Terry White, another friend of Barny's was there also. I drove to Colonial Beach for a day of business and to visit friends. We were fascinated by what looked like a home made modified boat a couple were using to travel the area. Barny bought a kayak and after one sinking mastered its use.

5/21	Galesville, MD	Easy day to Galesville, MD. We tied up at the Town Docks ... free dockage during the day. The Town is beautiful and restaurants were great. West River Market on Main Street serves great breakfasts and lunches with homemade pies. David and Rose visited on Saturday and stayed the night at anchor with us in the harbor.

5/22		We raised the anchor and moved back to the Town Dock Sunday morning, deciding to stay another day to take Lauren and Cynthia to dinner Sunday evening to celebrate Lauren's birthday. Dave and Rose stayed for lunch on Saturday. Jim and Joan Eyer and a friend of Barny and Ginger also joined us for lunch. Jim was the XO on my first commissioned tour in the Navy, where Barny also served. A real nostalgic lunch discussing old Navy sea stories. Later in the day we saw Richard and Charlotte, owners of Hermione ... a 1929 Elco ... berthed in Town. The guests departed and Lauren and Cynthia showed up about 5 pm. Barny and I took them out to dinner. A busy but nice day.
5/23	Rockhall, MD	Early underway got us moving past Annapolis, MD where we passed a DDG that we guessed was part of the homeland defense plan for Baltimore. Arriving in Rockhall we discovered the cleanest Town yet on the trip and a great church sponsored sign that shows Wal-Mart is not alone in it's "saving" theme. Later this day we were joined by Dave and Dottie Richardson as they were coming back from their trip to Lake Champlain.

5/24	Cheas- apeake City	Dave and Dottie, on Sea Dancer II, invited us for breakfast before we left, heading north. Dottie was the bloody mary mixer and Dave cooked the breakfast. Our original destination was modified to Chesapeake City on the C&D canal as the weather was poor and forecasted to get worse. We moved through pretty country but the camera would only show the fog and rain through the window. At 3pm we anchored in Engineer Harbor for the evening, and Barny fixed some of his great food. Durango sleep by the table.

5/25	Cheas- apeake City	Weather forecast today was bad, so we moved early morning to the free Town Dock and stayed the day. The historic Town is pretty and geared for the tourist. Most fascinating was watching the large commercial traffic pass the boat on the C&D canal. We were even treated to the Naval Academy YPs as four passed along the canal in almost perfect formation.

5/26	Salem NJ	Underway at 9 ish for Salem, NJ, an easy 25 mile run. Delaware Bay, with 25 kt winds today was not to our liking. We anchored by 2 pm and dinghied into Town for lunch and a walking tour of the Town. A small industrial town that was pleasant to visit with neat unique historic homes; however it is a long walk from the dinghy dock to the middle of town.
5/27	Avalon, NJ	The day started great, leaving Salem and enjoying a very calm Delaware Bay. Entering Cape May proved frustrating as anchorages were not good. We decided to move on. At marker 384 the props touched bottom (Phil driving) and it took Sea Tow to get us off. Before calling them we tried to use the dinghy, but it did not have the power to move Apolonia. I cussed the air as the chart plotter showed us in the channel and so did the buoys. We had violated our rule though that we would not move on the NJ ICW unless we were within 3 hours of high tide, as the water was very shallow through the waterway. It cost us! So far no vibrations, but we've yet to get on plane so not sure if the props must be repaired. We moored at Avalon Point Marina. Scotch tastes better after a day like today. The ICW is worth the effort, we still think. It's pretty and very different from the southern ICW, including the Cape May ferry dock and beautiful homes alone the waterway.

5/28	Ocean City NJ	Underway at 10 am, three hours prior high tide. Careful travel up to Ocean City where we anchored. Investigated a noise and determined the trim tab control rod pin had broken off from the trim tab, probably when Sea Tow pulled us off our "mudding" yesterday. Using Sea Tow, found Waterfront Marine who had the facilities to pull Apolonia. Underway to their facility by 2:30 pm, on the lift by 3 pm, fixed in an hour and back in the water. Everything else under water ok on the boat. We're now moored at a dock at the marina, waiting for Sunday's high tide to move further north. During the day's trip enjoyed the sights of the NJ waterway. They really can pack a bunch of people in a little space when they want to.

5/29	Ventnor, NJ	Underway at high tide (2 pm) to get safely out of Waterfront Marine made a 3 hour run to Ventnor City, just south of Atlantic City. Friendly folks on the water where we anchored invited us for dessert at their neighborhood party and let us use their dock for our dinghy. We also walked to the Ocean and enjoyed walking the town seeing different types of architecture along the streets.

5/30	Beach Haven NJ	Glad we are moving at near high tide as the water is thin in this area. However, we enjoyed the waterway views, made a safe trip to Mordecai Island just off Beach Haven, and anchored just in time for a small rain shower. We walked the town enjoying the shops and some very friendly people.

5/31	Tom's River, NJ	Underway at 2 pm to ensure we traveled on a rising tide through our next section of shallow water. We fueled just after getting underway as we found fuel for $1.88/gallon. Even with this low price we decided it was nice we don't have to fuel too often as the tanks took 285 gallons. We made an uneventful run to Island Heights on Tom's River in New Jersey. The Town provides a free dock for transient boaters which we enjoyed for the evening, as we grilled fresh Salmon on the deck.
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Great Loop Planning ] [ April 2005 ] [ 1-15 May 2005 ] [ 16-31 May 2005 ] [ 1-15 June 2005 ] [ 16-30 June 2005 ] [ 1-15 July 2005 ] [ 16-31 July 2005 ] [ 1-15 August 2005 ] [ 16-31 August 2005 ] [ 1-15 September 2005 ] [ 16-30 September 2005 ] [ 1-15 October 2005 ] [ 15-31 October 2005 ] [ 1-7 November 2005 ]