We were here two years ago:
https://shellerina.com/2022/04/25/bowleys-middle-river-md/
Addendum
At 5:02 pm ET we heard a very large explosion. We think it might be part of the demolition project at the FS Key Bridge in Baltimore MD.
We are right in the thick of things this time!
FYI:
There is a difference between the “Annapolis City Docks” (black piling covers) as shown above. Then there are the Annapolis Town Docks” (white piling covers). Both are great, and right in the downtown “village”.
Both also had umbrellas in-hand for today’s topsy-turvy weather.
So, get good directions when making your reservations, so you don’t have to move your boat after you’ve secured (and have had a cocktail or two).
(Rates are identical as of this writing.)
It is common to see cadets from the US Naval Academy in full dress uniform walking around Annapolis village. None were seen today… perhaps they are all visiting their moms for Mother’s Day!
A N D: Washington DC is only 10 minutes away!!! But, UBER & LYFT appear to be gouging customers for over $50 each way. SO, we will have to ask an AGLCA Harbor Host for some advice!!! (Next visit).
We weigh anchor soon for Annapolis MD. We have a dock space right downtown in the thick of things!
There really is only room for one in this anchorage marked on both Navionics and Aquamap.
There was 8+ feet of water all the way in, (mid tide coming.)
The channel is well marked with both day markers and illuminated beacons.
It was SOOooo good!
We highly recommend CD Cafe in Solomons for your dining in this part of the Chesapeake. Our choices:
Our server was “Holly”. The CD Cafe name was named after the founders’ initials of this local establishment. Today, the new owner and executive chef is Claarissa Meinhardt, who was the chef working for the founders who first opened this restaurant in 1996.
Shelly and I are confident you will totally enjoy your meal.
We had no problem getting in on a Thursday night in May. Reservations may be a good idea during peak season, or weekends.
$116 before taxes and tip including a bottle of the house red wine. Total under $150. Not out of line for a special night of fine dining, once in a while. Buy your diesel fuel at AYB so you can treat yourselves to this special place. <wink>
Most moderately sized cruisers use the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays (and the C&D Canal that joins them to the north because there are not many good ports and anchorages on the outside route. Larger, faster cruisers will often opt for the more direct outside route.
The island is famous for a unique dialect spoken by the locals, and the island’s geology is causing it to gradually sink. Some parts of the island are no longer inhabitable. Sea level rise isn’t helping matters.
Took on fuel, water, and ice at Chesapeake Boat Basin near this favorite anchorage of ours on the west side of the Chesapeake. Ray *almost* went for a swim as the seawater was close to 70°F and it was muggy. The afternoon rain predicted never materialized, and the WX Radar is clear at this hour, as seen below.
This morning *leaving* Horn Harbor was a lot more relaxing, as our chart plotter had its own bathymetry from yesterday, plus we had an extra 12” of water beneath us, having timed the exit at high tide.
The sea state on the Chesapeake was flat dead calm today! A bit of fog/haze, but nothing alarming. Cloud cover varied for the whole passage from thin to full overcast and back to thin again. Temps were comfortable all day. Perhaps too muggy once secured in the anchorage. Blue skies came thru for 50% of the sky late in the afternoon.
We tried out two new places this week, north of Norfolk. The mission was to fit in some ‘short hops between rain drops!‘
Mill Creek is a handy stop to get out of the busy port of Norfolk, setting one up for a clean exit to the north when the time is right. We will stay there again… there several other cruisers who selected that anchorage with us last night. Even with the marked cable areas in this anchorage there is room for a dozen or more. The large marina there looked like their docks were aging. But there is a breakwater to reduce the roll. We found it to be 100% acceptable out in the anchorage. We saw two couples dinghy-ing into town, but didn’t try that out.
Mobjack Bay is on the SE end of Chesapeake Bay. Horn Harbor is just north of that.
This lesser-known (or lesser heralded) stop called “Horn Harbor” is a convenient 31 sm from Mill Creek. And it is right on our way north! NOT a long side trip from the ICW, which we like.
We arrived with about half tide going out (0.9 to 1 ft above MLLW). “Can’t be scared!” … was our thinking.
We read all the mixed reviews and decided we had to evaluate this one first hand.
The shallowest depth that Shelly read off to me was 5.6 ft. Most of the entrance was 6-7 feet. The channel was well marked, and the popular e-charts gave an accurate picture of what we signed up for to make this harbor.
We dropped the hook between R 18 and G 19 not too far from the marina. We were glad to see a variety of boats in that marina that probably had a similar draft to us, or even more, as there were a few “rag hangers” in there.
Horn Harbor Marina & Boatyard 804-725-3223
Port Haywood VA
I have not dinghy-ed in to make myself known to the marina yet. But I may. It’s only 2:00pm as I write this.
All in all, Horn Harbor absolutely makes our “will return” list because it is right on the way and well protected. We’ll probably choose an arrival and departure closer to high tide though “just because!”
https://waterwayguide.com/marina/horn-harbor-marina-and-boatyard
Bonus:
WWG reports their diesel price is $3.399 !!!
I am SOooo glad we got a little adventurous to check this place out.
Also, there are also many northbound pleasure craft like us.
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First we saw Kenny and Rhonda of Nine Lives at Atlantic Yacht Basin (AYB) in Great Bridge VA. ($3.50 gallon diesel!)
We were all out of film. So no pics of Nine Lives crew, sorry to say. Their boat in on the hard for a few months as they RV north to Montana etc! I suspect they’ll be back before the snow flies…
I chin-wagged with Brian Shultz of Tiger Paw for 30 minutes or so. He is attending his first AGLCA Rendezvous this week at Waterside in Norfolk. Those are great Looper networking events. We have a busy summer float plan, so we will not be attending the AGLCA festivities.
Tiger Paw’s home marina is Wacca Wache, hailing port Awendaw SC. His boat (another MS390 like ours) is impeccable! Very well cared for.
Last but not least, Ray got to see Mimi and Mike of Islena at Tidewater. This blog post details how they came to our rescue a couple years ago. https://shellerina.com/2021/09/12/log-a-diles/
The night before the log-anchor incident we accepted their hospitality aboard Islena with Mac & Deb of Janthina.
https://shellerina.com/2021/09/12/uber-dinghy-by-islena/
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I also got to exchange “Looper Cards” with a new friend, Tamara of WH-T-T who was tied up beside us on Tidewater’s F-Dock.
No less than 6 ft of water at center entrance. 2-4 feet more once we were in.
We decided to keep going to Coinjock ICW mm 50.0.
It was a 55.5 mile day for us.
This marina is known for the restaurant on-site and its prime rib. However, other cuts are also expertly prepared, such as the filet mignon, as shown below.
Kathe and Bonnie
FB: Loose Moose on the Loop
We anchored with these folks on April 9, 2024!
Three Mainship 390-s (+ Galene + Shellerina)
Nice Navy Blue hull! I like!
Well, we finally got to meet them up close.
Ellen & John
In Belhaven NC
The fee here is $1 per foot + $5 for a 30amp shore power connection per night. Fixed dock / on pilings.
The shore power is a bit unreliable, (some of the outlets do not work at all.)
The Belhaven Marina folks (next door) take the dockage fees and might offer some assistance. The town may dispatch an on-call employee to help (Ryan was very nice). But we were able to get our shore power outlet working by taking things into our own hands. There is no “dockmaster” per se. It is a first-come first-serve dock that is not staffed. (No reservations). Pay by going next store at the privately owned and operated Belhaven Marina.
Belhaven Marina does take reservations, and they offer laundry, showers, etc. Grand Manor Marina is another excellent marina in this port. Both have golf carts which one can use to re-provision.
Tonight we are trying out a new anchorage for us, Eastham Creek NC
We made R-4 then took a right in behind the second “point of land” (hard marsh), out of the marked channel.
Pros: The wind kept the horseflies under control (kinda). There was no wake from the ICW, and no fetch. There were NO local boats waking us. All the ATONs kinda made me think there might be a lot of local boat traffic. THERE HAS BEEN NONE! The depth was great for anchoring +/- 8 ft. No tide.
Cons: Crab pots, if you don’t like them, might be a negative here. We are from Maine, so, crab pots are not a problem!
This anchorage is a great spot to stop if you want to split the distance between Oriental NC and Belhaven or the Alligator River.
We may scoot in a bit deeper in this cove next time.
The two “ON” buttons that one presses to turn on the bow thruster had gotten “soft”. Sometimes we had to hit them 3 or 4 times before the LED indicator light came on.
Because the thruster is a critical tool for maneuvering and dock landings, we could not afford to have this switch continue to progress to failure.
The new replacement cost about $350 plus tax & ship. These are in-stock at Imtra in MA, and our local dealer had them drop ship to friends near our transient location.
Sleipner – Model # 8960 G (2-year warranty for pleasure boats / 1-year commercial)
So the mounting part of this job was going to require some creativity.
I went to the Inland Waterway Provision Company here in Oriental NC (walking distance from the docks) to see if they had some hardware for me to “McIver” a solution.
Two plastic mixing paddles (for fiberglass resin) and some longer wood screws, the correct diameter (#6), were acquired for under $4.
Cutting the paddles in half made them the perfect length to be backing “nuts” after pre-drilling holes to accept the screws from above that hold the new joystick in place.
I had a choice to simply fill the old mounting holes with caulk, OR to screw the old bezel which coincidentally fit around the face of the new joystick.
The solid “feel” of both the buttons and the joystick itself is superior to the old one! We are very happy with the outcome of this project.
Many Mainship’s original thruster controls were the push buttons for LEFT and RIGHT. The original owner of this boat left correspondence that shows that he replaced the button version over ten years ago. The buttons had become unreliable. His vendor recommended the joystick replacement as an upgrade.
Personally, I would recommend replacing any button controls with the joystick. One can operate the joystick by “feel” and it is very intuitive. You don’t have to constantly look down at the controls to make sure you are about to press the right button!
Digital Selective Calling (DSC) feature of all “mounted” Marine VHF radios can be a life saver in case you need assistance.
A “panic button” was pressed near us on Saturday morning.
Our chart plotter gave us the option of setting a waypoint at the point of origin, which we did. It was right on-line with our planned route for today!
So, we told the Coast Guard we would report what we could see from the position of the electronic MAYDAY call on DSC.
On AIS, we saw that SeaGem was the first boat on scene.
In the background, SeaGem can be seen above. Once SeaGem was told by the captain of Herkee that no assistance was needed, she steamed off. We simply let Herkee know we’d give them a slow pass.
They were anchored, and TowBoatUS was en route, as was a local USCG patrol boat.
We continued on our way. The crew of Herkee was no longer “in distress” and were a bit jovial about the start of their day.
Evidently they are in final preparations for their Great Loop adventure. So, taking the mast down was “on the list!”
Good Luck to the crew of Herkee! We will certainly be staying in touch!
So, Ray, why the description of a “powerhouse meeting”? Why the hyperbole?
Cruisers and Loopers rely upon information resources like Active Captain and Waterway Guide to make decisions on where to anchor OR which marina should we buy our dockage from.
The most important thing both of these resources offer are REVIEWS.
Reviews are an example of “crowdsourced” information contributed by mere mortals like you and me.
Many of us not only consume this information, but many take time to “donate” their observations to the Cruising & Looping communities… to you and me!
Tonight, Shelly and I succeeded at bringing this small group of six together for the first time:
Capt Mac Rubel and Captain Gene of Galene are two of the most generous REVIEWERS, the most generous contributors to Active Captain and Waterway guide.
I cannot name anyone who has appeared MORE OFTEN over the past years / decade than these two gentlemen.
What is amazing:
Mac and Gene had never met each other! (until tonight!)
What a great evening it was!
Tabatha was actually our server tonight. She did a fantastic job. Thank you Tabatha! This establishment was very busy; it was a Friday night after all.
Captains like Gene, Mac, and Ray display a huge volume of appreciation for our “Admirals” … there is not a lot of women around who embrace life on a boat. Thank you ladies for sharing this lifestyle with us. We could not do it without you!
For everyone else out there, two bits of advice:
1 – Seek out REVIEWS authored by Mac and Gene.
2 – Aspire to become a contributor like them!!! We all want YOUR observations, good and bad. Become a part of crowdsourcing. Facilitate a smarter community of Cruisers & Loopers.
Today returned to one of our favorite anchorages at ICW mm 210.5
The marina in this small harbor does not have any transient slips. But they do have pump-out ($0), ice, fuel, etc. So for us, it is a great well protected, anchorage with amenities.
There is a dinghy dock in the NW corner that is not 100% well maintained. But it is walking distance to a super Walmart, and there is a West Marine across the highway. Uber may make it safe, as I could not see any pedestrian crosswalks across this main highway.
I was able to ask a fellow WM customer for a ride back to the dinghy dock < 1/4 mile away. No problem!
During repairs & maintenance, this swing bridge south of USMC Camp Lejuene on the ICW (mm240.6) has been opening only at the top of the hour.
Click on pic below to see us clearing the bridge this hour at the 10:00am opening.
Galene led the way today. Click on the video below to see them crossing our bow on their way out of the marina at Carolina Beach State Park.
However,
We are trying to not do these long runs!
A 52.4 actual-mile travelled day taking over 6-1/2 hours making way underway is about twice our typical “comfort” target distance during retirement.
A large dredging operation at mm 293 was passed. Good thing it was high tide! There was some skinny water getting around the dredge.
But, we are pressing to Beaufort NC to help our buddy boat get to BOCK Marine for service, and to get re-connected with friends there. A longer day today makes for a better weekend!
Today’s successful passage to a favorite anchorage is Mile Hammock Bay ICW mm 244.3
There are 17 boats anchored in here tonight at last count!
Some of the 17 boats can be seen in this pic.
Darth & Andy caught our lines yesterday as we arrived at Carolina Beach State Park for two nights.
Captain Gene and I reciprocated this morning as they departed for Beaufort NC.
Their red Ranger Tug is named Little Red Fox.
They also have a blog!
It looks great, I look forward to spending more time looking at their work.
But even more, we look forward to “Loop Frogging” with them up to the Trent Severn Waterway in Canada this summer.
https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern
Here are some details to help you safely make it into this state park marina: https://shellerina.com/2022/03/31/carolina-beach-state-park-marina/
$3.55/gallon diesel is the best price for miles around on the water, and the staff here have become friends in many ways.
The restaurant appears to be BOOMING with locals coming by car, on this Friday night.
The nearby launch ramp (just off our stern) has also seen a lot of activity this afternoon.
Links to past visits here:
https://shellerina.com/2023/10/11/wacca-wache-3-94999999/
https://shellerina.com/2022/03/26/3-95-gallon-diesel-icw-mm-383-7/
Answer: because that’s the replacement for the one I dropped overboard today!
Fortunately, I had a new/spare aboard, that was close at hand (NOT buried deep in storage.)
I knew this was going to happen *someday* … $20.
The waste cap is the one most likely to drop overboard cuz the retainer “chain” isn’t used on Waste caps … no chain enables a good seal with the ‘honey pot’s’ business end.
We were introduced to this great anchorage by Capt Gene of Galene. 4/18/2024
Heading north, we made it through the skinny waters of McClellanville. With 3 feet of tide above MLLW, the skinniest water we saw was 7.0 feet of water on the line we were on.
The NEW dockmaster, Kimberly, is very friendly and helpful. She sent us this highlighted dock map so we knew precisely which slip was assigned to us.
Gene thanks Captain Pat Howard of Spartina whom he met dockside a few days ago for the tip about this great waterfront town in SC.
I guess we lucked out timing our arrival at slack tide AND just in time for Communion!
(There were several places open for Sunday Brunch. But our Admirals had fed us already.)
Thoughts On ART…
If you like art galleries, this town has them every 50 steps as one walks around the village, and the quality of the paintings that I could see, strongly suggested a return visit when I both
1) have more time
AND
2) have a home with walls to hang the art in!!!
FYI: One of the disadvantages of full time living aboard a boat is the lack of wall space to hang favorite pieces we have produced or found in places like Bluffton SC. (Though Patty has several of her small creations hanging up on Galene!)
(Side Note: We did enjoy gifting many pieces of our art “collection” from our ‘dirt’ home as we transitioned to a full-time live-aboard lifestyle in 2021. I did not have the heart to have art wrapped up and sitting in storage! Art belongs on-display where it can be loved.)
Well worth the 7-mile trip up May River.
Ketch crossing our bow this hour. Click on the video below.
These anchorages are just a bit up-river from ICW mm 560. After a wonderful visit to see the town Bluffton SC from the municipal landing in the village, we came back out of May River to set up for a trip to Beaufort SC on Monday.
We learned first-hand the either east or west passage to the village of Bluffton works perfectly well. (The charts don’t make that decision clear. IMO)
Sat & Sun wakers can be annoying during the daylight hours anchored here. But otherwise it is a decent set anchorages if it isn’t blowing too hard.
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This marina provided us shelter from the storm for three windy nights, and one day of heavy rain.
As you can see, the local isobars have finally distanced themselves from one another, and so the resulting winds have left us.
Photo courtesy of Galene’s drone! (Gene is getting pretty good at flying it.)
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Twice this week Gene helped me solve “tight spot” electrical problems. This time it was the aft bilge pump system.
ICW mm 608
There is a sail CAT (unknown boat name) and three Mainship 390-s in this anchorage this hour: Loose Moose (Kathe & Bonnie), Galene (Patty & Gene), Shellerina (Shelly & Ray).
Off ICW mm 623 just south of St Catherines Sound.
https://mainuh.smugmug.com/Astronomy/2024/Eclipse8April2024
Click on link to see a gr8 time lapse.
By Don Lockhart N1AO
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George: “I can’t wait for Aug 2024 for the next total eclipse in the US!”
Sunset at St Simons Island, Frederica River GA (ICW mm 674). The wind settled down to make for a perfect 24 mile passage from Brickhill Creek (North Cumberland Is GA) across St Andrews Sound to this great anchorage. We love the church bells ever 30 minutes here!
Noworriesloop DOT gmail
Very reasonable asking price IMO, includes dinghy & outboard.
Finishing their Loop in NJ soon (in Georgia now). Great people.
2 helms, Teak & Holly sole. Fine package.
The loads discharge the system at night and usually by early afternoon the LiFePO4 (Lithium Oxide) batteries are back up to 100% SOC (state of charge).
The orange line shows the amperage “in” and “out” of the system.
The blue line is SOC.
It is noteworthy that the recharge rate with this type of battery chemistry is so fast. The other advantage is that it is OK to discharge these down to, say, 10% or so without shortening their longevity. Both are features that are advantageous over lead acid chemistry.
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((Triva: Evidently the noun pair can be followed by a singular OR plural verb! ref. American Heritage Dictionary))
I never knew that! Learn somethin’ new every day!
We have 70 feet of chain in the water here, and the snubber has been deployed, as it was blowin’ hard yesterday and this morning.
We “thread the needle” between a dredge and two boats aground at low tide today. ICW mm 703.3.
Fortunately, all we had to do is follow 3 other boats through this precarious place.
Two boats on the left ran aground. “The best time to run aground is at dead low tide.
ICW mm 716.5
Fernandina Beach FL
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We just took on 219 gallons of fuel at $3.2999999999 !
Gotta feel good about that!
Best price on the whole East Coast!
From Sisters Creek ICW mm 740 (free dock), I was able to UBER to Ring Power (local CAT dealer near JAX airport for $23.32.
Then I UBER’d to grocer Publix for water ‘n’ wine: $8.24
Then UBER’d back to Jim King Park -Sisters Creek dock for $19.50.
Total without tips: $51.06
The alternator was $250 with a core (failed alternator returned).
Rebuilt CAT alternators no longer come with a v-belt pulley!?
The CAT guys had no problem taking the pulley off my returned alternator core and putting it on the new one.
The install went normally. It tested fine!
ICW mm 740
It is where the ICW (north) meets the St Johns River.
We took refuge here with Galene because of high wind advisory and small craft warnings for today (4/3/2024)
There is a free dock here with city water, and flush toilet facilities. There is no shore power, but “Whadaya want fer nothin, your money back?!
About a dozen cruisers can stay here on the north face of the dock. There is also room on the inside / shore side of this dock for 2 (possibly more) boats out on the end.
On our first day underway Monday April 1, we observed the alternator was not contributing to our boat’s system voltage underway.
With the alternator down, can also charge our main starting bank (3x G31 AGM) both from the generator OR from the sun / lithium bank. So I knew this alternator was something we had to fix, but it was not something that would hold us up… not imminently critical.
Monday night, on anchor at Blout Point, we were charging both battery banks with our generator. The dishes needed to be done, so I figured I’d turn on the water heater too. These are all on separate circuits and each have their own circuit breakers. There is also a main breaker on our distribution panel, and our experience is these breakers will operate as they should when an over-current condition exists.
Well, Monday night the generator failed. The symptoms were the GENERATOR’s own 70 amp circuit breaker tripped. Turning it back on did NOT work! So the preliminary diagnosis was, “The genset’s own breaker has failed.”
I determined that the accessibility (close quarters / confined space) made this project one that I could not handle. Dozens of calls were made to find someone who would service our 24 year old Kohler 6.5 kw generator that is obviously on our boat. No luck until I found Hinkley Yacht Services in Savannah GA. They said, “No problem! Bring it in next week.”
I explained to them that the diesel engine side of this system has been well maintained, and continues to work well. This electrical problem is simply something I needed their help with.
Then Gene asked me if he could have a look.
He has the same vintage Mainship 390 (m/v Galene) with the same generator. He also has more hands-on experience getting inside the electrical controls box atop these generators.
With some Sweat and Blood and Prayers, Gene found a wiring conductor failure right at the AC Breaker. The breaker itself tested fine.
Corrosion of the #6 or #8 copper wire made it unable to carry its full current capacity, so the wire overheated and failed right at the breaker.
The breaker did properly open to prevent a more disastrous end result. But the wire was toast, and resetting the breaker would not fix that problem.
So, with a replacement crimp connector from Galene’s ship’s store for this gauge wire, we were soon back in business, generating 120vac as needed.
Our battery banks were in good shape because of all the sun on Monday and Tuesday.
But, before this fix, being down to ONLY sunshine as a way to keep batteries up (BOTH the alternator + generator were down) made us feel VERY vulnerable.
In this way, Gene really came through for us right here at the free dock at Sister’s Creek ICW mm740!
Thank’s Gene! Next dinner out is certainly on us… but that’s not all.
Evidently the prayerful “deal” Gene made with The Almighty during this ordeal was that, God said to Gene, “If I help you make this work for Ray, he and Shelly have go worship at church with you and Patty at least once.”
Gene and Ray accepted the Good Lord’s terms, so “We truly have a deal to fulfill now!”
We pushed off at 10:00am to take advantage of tidal currents heading out of the St Johns River.
We secured at anchor 2.5 hours later in the Blount Is anchorage.
We’ll take on 200 gallons of fuel tomorrow at Port Consolidated near Fernandina Beach. Then we’ll be in GA and SC for a few weeks.
Unless ir is an April Fools joke, the Maine news paper is showing they are not having the best weather this week:
Shellerina's Blog 