It has been over a month since my last post. I will only take one post to review the highs and lows of our time in Maryland and Virginia before arriving at Hampton.
Highs:
- We were finally able to replace our anchor chain!! Yippee, no more chunks of rust on the deck.
- Hartge marina came through for us on a last minute request for a mooring in mid October when a really strong storm barreled down on Chesapeake bay for multiple days. With 30+ mph winds, boats were dragging on anchor in our previously loved Harness creek location.
- We met other Salty Dawg rally participants from S/V L’Equip and S/V Brenna (S/V= Sailing Vessel).
- Jenna got to participate in pumpkin carving at the Deltaville boatyard, swing on their giant rope swing with other kids and we all enjoyed the fall festival at the local Deltaville Maritime museum.
- I love our electric foldable bikes. The range that we could travel for supplies or groceries has been a game changer. The bikes can be pedaled but they can also travel upto 17 mph with the electric assist.
- We stopped in Yorktown, Virginia to visit the American Revolution Museum as a historical field trip. It was a very nice facility but could not match the expectations I had for a week on a dock in downtown DC. Looking on the bright side of our decision to cancel our DC reservations, we avoided some awful sailing conditions and we met a few more Salty dawg rally members, on S/V Good Part (their kids were not on board yet).
Lows:
- Due to the deteriorating weather conditions, it was necessary to skip the KIDS4SAIL Annapolis meetup which we were really looking forward to, especially our daughter. She had met so many kids close to her age at last year’s event and this year she hoped to share our future plans with new friends.
- In October, the Chesapeake bay became inundated with thousands of white jellyfish/nettles. They would stick to everything and they were the stinging type. This prevented us from enjoying a daily swim. We were also disappointed to find that most marina pools closed as of mid-September.
- High bike speed requires more focus. Even though I tried to warn her, Jenna, unfortunately, hit a large patch of loose sand and gravel at the end of a farm driveway in Deltaville and she tumbled from her bike. We were lucky that there were not any cars behind her. Many good Samaritans stopped to check on us. She had a very skinned, bloody knee and it was clear she would not want to pedal back to the boat. A kind man who was visiting in town offered to take us back to the marina. We were so grateful for his help. It will be sometime before she works up the courage to ride that fast again.
- Our biggest disappointment was the US government shut down. This wasn’t about politics but that fact that the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC decided to close their doors on October 11th until the government would reopen. It was pretty clear that no progress was being made on that front. Our reservations at the Capital Yacht club marina in downtown DC were for October 15th -21st. It would have been an incredible location but, without a guarantee that the museums would be reopening, we could not take the chance to motor up the Potomac river for 2+ days only to find locked doors on arrival. Sadly, we decided to cancel our reservations but we may try again on our trip north in the late spring/early summer.
Looking forward to reaching Hampton Virginia and having space at a dock. We actually asked to come in a day early.