Feast or Famine (winds wise at least)

What a beautiful morning it was as we left Cambridge to continue heading south to the hidey-hole for the upcoming blow. There was enough breeze to get the headsail out and do some motorsailing back down the river to the Chesapeake. Now that there were two boats, we looked like a mamma duck with a baby duck in tow. I was glad the weather was going to be nice for my first day solo but that would all soon change very shortly.

The weather forecast models that we follow were all showing that a tropical storm or even a hurricane was going to be coming through the area within a couple of days. Jeff and Kim knew of a very good place to anchor that was well protected from any major winds that were forecasted so we beat feet to the Solomon Island area and motored way up St John’s Creek to hide out until things quieted down. With the winds being predicted to be 50+ knots, I was very much appreciative of being with cruisers that knew about these things. The worst I’d ever seen was 60 knot winds but that was tied up to our slip at SYC. We dropped our anchors and backed down on them to set them deep into the mud. Things were pretty calm and serene about this point so we enjoyed the sights.

The next morning, we dinghied into town to go to the Calvert Marine Museum that is dedicated to the Solomon Island area of the Chesapeake Bay. We got there just as it opened and enjoyed a couple of hours looking at the exhibits. The otters were kinda shy though so I didn’t get a chance to see them. We then walked to the local shopping area to get supplies for the boats as we knew we’d be stuck on them for a few days. After getting everything we needed, we walked back to the dinghy and left to head back to the boats. About this time, the wind had started to pick up a bit so it was a sporty ride for the 2 or so mile ride back. We even tried to tuck in behind a sailboat that was making it’s way up the creek but they soon turned off into a slip along the shore.

We got back, albeit a little wetter than when we started, and got settled in on our boats for what was coming. By now, the wind had really picked up and the trees around us were showing it!! The best part though was that the water around us was showing just ripples while further down the creek was all white caps…yikes!!

All we could do now was to settle in for the duration and occasionally check up on each other over the VHF radio. The boats were start to move around pretty good and a good gust would lean them over a few degrees now and then. I gotta say that there’s nothing like the wind howling through your boats rigging to put the icing on the Tropical Storm Ophelia cake but it did for about the next 36 hours and I was very happy when it ended.

TS Ophelia finally decided to move along and we slowly came out of our burrows no worse for wear thanks to the experience of the Pegu Club crew and our Rocna anchors!! A new morning dawned as we weighed anchors and headed back down the creek and out into the Chesapeake Bay. As we motored along, the radio discussion was about the upcoming winds and gale warnings that were forecasted over the week. Kim presented the idea of heading up the Potomac River to Washington DC to get away from it for awhile and see some sights there. At first, I wasn’t really buying into the idea of motoring 100 miles up a river, hanging out in DC for a few days, then motoring back down but she convinced me when she said that it was either that or sitting in the boat for 7+ days, at anchor, waiting for things to settle down…🤔🤔🤔…DC, here we come!!

We made the turn to head up the Potomac River and ran into a strong wind on our nose that made for a rough ride. We made it about 4 miles up the river before we headed to a quiet anchorage that got us out of the wind. Once things had quieted down overnight, we continued up the river with a perfect wind to sail with. Motors off, sails out, we’re sailing!!

We got to our next anchorage just before sunset, dropped anchor, and settled in to the night. The next morning, the sun was out and the wind was gone so we started our final leg to DC under motor. The day was spent dodging a lot of floating debris and crab pot buoys in the river. So much fun ..🙄. As we got closer to DC, we passed Mt Vernon and the remains of a fort that I should know the name of but don’t…🤷. It was only a few more miles and there was Washington DC!! I’ve never been there before and I was quite excited to get there (I’m still not sure if I was more excited to see the city or to get off the boat…🤣). We were going to be there for 5 nights so we picked up mooring balls at Wharf Marina that also included laundry, a dinghy dock, and unlimited hot water showers!! Oh, there were some monuments and museums there plus all the ninnies that run the country….🥰.

Over the next 5 days, I got to go to the Museums of American History, Natural History, the National Archives, the Eastern Market, ride a subway for the first time, listen to a guy play bongos at 5:30 in the morning behind the boat, and a gun battle about a mile away late one night. Gotta love that big city life…😁. Overall though, I had a great time and I’m so happy that we made the trip up there!! Oh, the channel where we stayed was also the one that all the helicopters flew down to go around the airport so that was pretty cool as just the rotor vibrations of the bigger helicopters shook the boat. Here’s some more pics of DC…

Soon it was time to head back down the river and keep moving south. We found a couple of nice anchorages and rode the current most of the way so it went quick. Just before we left the Potomac we stopped for fuel and water as we knew we’d need them to get to Norfolk and the start of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). We left full and happy and continued along the coast to our next anchorage that would get us close enough to Norfolk that we’d be there the next day!! After a good night’s sleep, we left at dawn and continued south towards Norfolk. Getting to Norfolk is a huge milestone for this trip and I was really excited when I saw the cranes in the Navy shipyards coming into view!! As we approached the entrance, the ship traffic started to increase and you really had to pay attention so you wouldn’t get run over.

So I’d been running the boat the entire day with the front hatch open to circulate air through the boat. The seas had been pretty calm so I wasn’t too worried about any water splashing in even though I’d been warned about it quite recently. In Norfolk, there’s a very large naval presence as everyone knows, but there’s also a lot of commercial shipping that goes on there too. This means a lot of container ships and freighters go in and out all the time.

So as you can see in the picture, a Costco ship was making it’s way out of Norfolk as we were coming in. Big ship = Big wake. You can also see the hatches open on the deck of Infinity. See what’s coming? So the ship went by and we turned towards the ships wake to go thru it. The wake was a lot bigger than expected and at one point, one of the waves broke over the bow and all that water went down the front hatch and into the berth that I sleep in. 😖😖😖🤬🤬🤬. The mattress, the mattress topper, my pillow, and all of the floorboards to the back of the boat got soaked with lovely salt water. There was nothing I could do at that point so I ran up front, closed the hatches, and kept on motoring until we got to the anchorage for the night. I did spend the next few days drying things out, trying to get as much salt out as possible, and reprimanding myself over and over for being so dumb. We anchored that night at Hospital Point and a couple hundred yards away was milemarker 0.0 so I was officially on the ICW!!

Next up… The Dismal Canal!!

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