Soloman's Island

This is the famous Thomas Point Light,

you know you're on Chesapeake Bay when you go by this.

You can probably see the whitecaps in the background, 

winds from the south fifteen to seventeen.

Can of snotty, but the boat did good,

 thank you C. Raymond Hunt and ass. who designed it!

Pulling in the Patuxant River, 

we are going to Solomon's Island

 but to get there you pass the Naval Air Station across the river.

 Lots of Jets, pretty darn cool.

We only think we have a monopoly on Ospreys in Florida, 

they are certainly not an endangered species,

 but they are special and very beautiful.

As you arrive into Solomon's harbor you are greeted by this wonderful statue

 that commemorates the fallen soldiers that have defended our country. 

Right after Memorial day it was fitting to be greeted such.

Okay, full disclosure, Ginny was greeted that way. 

While she was getting these cool shots 

I was down at the boat holding the nozzle while I fueled up. 

Remember when you could just click the holder? 

No more, three hundred gallons and I held it for every one!

See what that did to me? 

Of course the demon rum had nothing to do with it, nothing at all. 

Sure feels good to relax!

Our view from the dock of the harbor.

 Lovely spot, rained and cooled off and freshened things up.

Our next stop is Onancock, Virginia. 

We farmed in that area and still own properties,

 going to some wonderful friends daughter's wedding. Should be fun.

Crossing the bay to the eastern shore,

 the weather is calm and cooler should be a great day.

Annapolis

We begin again.
We are back aboard the boat in Annapolis, Md. at a wonderful marina.
Port Annapolis Marina is more like a resort than a working boat yard.

Located on Back Creek on the East side of the village of Eastport,
 but within walking distance of downtown Annapolis,
the marina has a swimming pool, deli shop, park like grounds, all very nice.

We arrived on Sunday before Memorial Day
 and were fortunate enough to be in town for the Memorial Day parade.
 It was pretty cool to see the Midshipmen marching.
Annapolis is quite a town.

We had to get a picture of this beautiful schooner on the hard.
I particularly liked the paint job on this yacht,
 exactly the same as our Luzier and Avenger.
Fifty six feet long designed and built by the Cheribini family,
makes you think about the south seas.

As you can see we have all the essentials,
comfy chairs on the bow to have a sundowner and watch the sun set.
Not all bad. 

We are settling in for the long trip home,
 Sport is become very acclimated to life aboard.
If anything maybe a little to comfortable.
I can't wait to get further south to warmer water in case I have to go in after him!

This is our view from the bow of the boat.
Today we head south to Solomon's Island on the Patuxtant River,
 half way to Onancock Creek where we meet up with Rachel and her family
 as well as John and Roberta and Millard and Holly.
Kelly Gayle, Lynn and Linda Gayle's daughter are getting married
and we will arrive by boat for the nuptials!
The Blog is back!

Cape May to Annapolis

Saying goodbye to another stop on the way south,
 Cape May, New Jersey.
Nice place to be now, no crowds!
This early departure headed south really makes a difference
in the marinas and towns.

As we transited the Cape May Canal headed west
into Delaware Bay we came upon a pair of bald eagles.
 This one is definitely giving us a message.
Only in New Jersey would you get mooned by an eagle!

The Cape May to Lewes, Delaware ferry terminal
 on the western end of the canal.

Heading up Delaware Bay.

We saw more commercial traffic on Delaware Bay

 than new York Harbor, one after another. 

This is a roro ship, roll on, roll off. 

Big doors on the port side and transom 

allow the ship to loaded quickly and easily.

Chesapeake Bay! The Bay Bridge just aside Annapolis.
 We are getting close to the end of this leg of our journey.
 The boat will stay in Annapolis
 while Ginny and I fly home for ten days or so.
 Then we plan to drive back up with everything we need for the boat.
 The trip home will be through the month of June.
This blog will be dormant for a while,
back up on May the twenty seventh.

This is a fitting welcome to Annapolis Harbor,
a beautiful staysail schooner.

We passed four of these "baby destroyers"
coming out from the naval academy.
Training vessels for the midshipmen,
missiles in their somewhere?

Annapolis City Docks.
We are tied up right downtown in the middle of everything.
It is so, so cool!

As our Useppa "Marine Mooch March" continues
today we met up with fellow Useppan expats Craig and Colleen Ligibel.
The "Lig's live here in Annapolis now and are wonderful hosts!

What a wonderful picture Ginny got of a beautiful lady
 in her wonderful gardens.
As we head south spring becomes more and more alive and vibrant!

We will be back!!

New York to Cape May

                 Spring is in the air in Manhattan! 

It's not just concrete and asphalt around here.

                                                 The parks and homes were beautiful!                                       

This was our view of the city as we left the Marina.

We got away bright and early headed on our only offshore run of the trip.

What a sight to remember our time here and with the new Freedom Tower in

the World Trade center we remember so much more.

Tough place to have to berth,,,
What a dramatic, wonderful sight!

The new Freedom Tower.
1776 feet tall.
A message to the world.

The arrivals building at Liberty Landing.

Millions of immigrants to this country first felt freedom 

and hope as they walked through these

doors cleared through Ellis Island and now meeting friends and relatives,

 or even walking out alone, to start a new life.

Ellis Island.
What a touching sight to see this from our own boat, going past
in the tracks of so many millions that had left all they know
for a chance of a better life for them and their families.

Need I say anything?

There she goes as we sail off headed for Cape May.

You can probably tell we might be entering a little fog,,,

More fog to come,,, much more,,,

The Verranzano Narrows Bridge.
We passed beneath it and never saw it.
From here to off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey
all we saw was fog.
Thick, sticky fog.
Gary and I had our hands full navigating and keeping watch
but we made it, we might be exhausted, but we made it.

This view from our slip in Cape May is not near as dramatic
but still beautiful.

Jim and Carol Doherty, good friends from Useppa
came down to Cape May to join us for supper!

As you can tell we are really roughing it!
Today we leave Cape May, transit Delaware Bay, the C&D Canal and into
The upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay.
Headed to Annapolis.

Norwalk Ct. to New York Harbor

There are some cool lighthouses in Long Island Sound
This is the entrance to Norwalk Harbor. We are passing it on our way to the Big Apple
First time for all of us to go through New York Harbor!
These pictures of Norwalk were taken a day ahead today wouldn't have worked because
we are socked in with fog.

Norwalk Cove Marina.
Great stopover, dinner and shopping in nearby Greenwich.
Glad that by the time we got there most of the shops had closed.
Saved me immeasurable amounts of money, but we did have a great meal.

Here is the boat, at the fuel dock, ready to head to New York.

This is the lighthouse off Kings Point.
Kings Point is the national Merchant Marine Academy.
Quite a structure!

Heading south [west?] into the city,
this is our first indication of what's to come.

As we enter the Throgs Neck bridge area there are remnants
 of an old fort guarding the entrance to the East River and New York Harbor.

Not far to an adventure!

When you see an iconic structure like the
Chrysler Building from your own boat in the East River
 you have to stop and realize just how lucky you really are.

The views all along this part of the run are spectacular !

The Empire State Building.

The metal work on this bridge was amazing. Millions of rivets.

The Brooklyn Bridge.
When we got here and actually passed beneath this iconic and
 wonderful symbol of American know how and ingenuity we were speechless.

We have truly arrived, as tens of millions of other Americans can say after seeing the Statue of Liberty!
Cruising by this lady will bring a tear to the most cynical.
This lady is really the mother of all the immigrants that built this country and it's pretty cool to sit here aboard and see her on mother's Day!

So much to see, we will have a second post out today sometime.
We have reservations in Manhattan for Mother's Day Sunday Brunch and theater tickets for a matinee this afternoon!