Category: Chesapeake Bay

The End of an Era

That’s it – we’re done.  We’re back home.  Obviously, we haven’t been blogging…we’ve been in a weird head space.

 

It was emotional coming home…With every week on the ICW, we got a little closer to our return to society…to normal life.  Oddly enough, as we got closer, we became more and more accustomed to life on the boat.  We got better at reading the weather, more comfortable with things breaking, less bothered by delays…It was starting to get easier, and we were starting to figure it out.  WE WERE HAVING FUN!  MJSailing always said it takes a year before you really get into the groove, and we now understand what they meant.  It was getting good.

 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

 

We returned to the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club on July 16, 2015.  My folks threw a huge party and really made us feel welcome!  We had cake and expensive champagne.  We put on our smiles for the cameras.  It was amazing, but it really hit us hard – it was the end of an era.  Had we done everything we wanted to do?

 

Honestly, after TARA was safely tied up, we didn’t go back down to the boat for two months – not because we were sick of sailing, more that it was too emotional to be on Tara after living aboard for 10 months.  We couldn’t see her stuck in a marina…or something…

 

It has taken us some time to decompress, think about what we’ve done, and absorb all of the crazy adventures.  In the end, as expected, the hard times have turned into amazing stories that we reminisce about again and again.  In the end, IT WAS WORTH IT.

 

We’re happy to be back to a big bed and hot showers.  We have a comfortable place to live (thanks Mom & Dad!) and a nice grocery store around the corner.  Life is good – we’re home safe and have a lot of incredible memories.

 

In other ways, we are sad.  Operation Tropication has ended.  We know if we did it again, we would do a lot of things differently…we know we would do it BETTER…but that’s life right?  There’s always an opportunity to do it better, no?
Now it’s November.  Many of the friends we met along the way are probably down on their boats now, preparing for their crossing to the Bahamas and beyond.  Many of them are “snowbirds”, which we used to think was a dirty word, but now we have learned to appreciate.

 

We have started looking at boats/magazines/blogs again, thinking about the next adventure.  The reality is – once sailing is in your blood, there’s no escaping it.

 

COMMENCE PHOTO SEQUENCE:

SURFS UP! Folly Beach

SURFS UP! Folly Beach

Haaaaapppppyyyy

Haaaaapppppyyyy

Rent a car and drive to Trader Joes, only to find out it's a freakin' used furniture shop. FAIL.

Rent a car and drive to Trader Joes, only to find out it’s a freakin’ used furniture shop. FAIL.

Sitting in St. Johns Yacht Harbour while the years first tropical storm brews offshore

Sitting in St. Johns Yacht Harbour while the years first tropical storm brews offshore

Mark's first haircut in a long time

Mark’s first haircut in a long time

We love Charleston. Have we mentioned that before?

We love Charleston. Have we mentioned that before?

Virginia

Virginia

AMERICA HAS TOUCH SCREENS TO ORDER DRINKS?!

AMERICA HAS TOUCH SCREENS TO ORDER DRINKS?!

AMERICA HAS CHEAP PIZZA?!

AMERICA HAS CHEAP PIZZA?!

WTF?

WTF?

Front approaching. Nature rules.

Front approaching. Nature rules.

Gearin' up

Gearin’ up

Lovely spring day in the Chesapeake (it got much worse from here).

Lovely spring day in the Chesapeake (it got much worse from here).

Pops happy to be aboard!

Pops happy to be aboard!

Family sail in the Potomac

Family sail in the Potomac

Happy Spinnaker Dad!

Happy Spinnaker Dad!

First Maryland Crab Experience. Holy Old Bay

First Maryland Crab Experience. Holy Old Bay

St. Augustine

Annapolis

Amazing sky in Rock Hall, MD

Amazing sky in Rock Hall, MD

Amazing sky in Rock Hall, MD cont'd

Amazing sky in Rock Hall, MD cont’d

Racing a major freighter into the C&D Canal

Racing a major freighter into the C&D Canal

We were pretending there was an apostrophe in there. D'Urban Highway. Say it with us. D'Urban.

We were pretending there was an apostrophe in there. D’Urban Highway. Say it with us. D’Urban.

Overnighter! Dark night up the NJ Coast

Overnighter! Dark night up the NJ Coast

Calm Foggy Morning - NJ Coast

Calm Foggy Morning – NJ Coast

FOG HORNS

FOG HORNS

Genoa blaster into Sandy Hook

Genoa blaster into Sandy Hook

33 hours, 170 miles, First overnight sail. Tired n' thirsty

33 hours, 170 miles, First overnight sail. Tired n’ thirsty

BACK TO NYC!

BACK TO NYC!

Printing this and putting it on the wall.

Printing this and putting it on the wall.

Splurging in the city :)

Splurging in the city :)

Continental

Continental

AirBNB loft in Brooklyn. Thanks to our host!

AirBNB loft in Brooklyn. Thanks to our host!

Picnic in the city

Picnic in the city

Cold grey megacity

Cold grey megacity

Liberte

Liberte

Weird Panorama

Weird Panorama

Threading the needle

Threading the needle

Happy/Cold

Happy/Cold

Get your sway on

Get your sway on

WRITE IT DOWN OR FORGET IT

WRITE IT DOWN OR FORGET IT

There's the sun!

There’s the sun!

Back to Catskill

Back to Catskill

Found our stands (amongst the chaos)

Found our stands (amongst the chaos)

Awww yeah

Awww yeah

Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung!

Damn. Mast down again

Damn. Mast down again

Passing our old friends When and If in Albany! Pretty with the mast(s) up.

Passing our old friends When and If in Albany! Pretty with the mast(s) up.

Lock 1

Lock 1

Rainy barbee solution

Rainy barbee solution

Free docks are great

Free docks are great

Glassy mornings

Glassy mornings

During our trip we were pessimists, optimists and realists.

During our trip we were pessimists, optimists and realists.

High water delay in the ICW = visit home!

High water delay in the ICW = visit home!

Nice to be back :)

Nice to be back :)

Summer backyard greenspace

Summer backyard greenspace

Caitie gets her hair did

Caitie gets her hair did

West Virginia

West Virginia

Sister time at the lake for July 4th!

Sister time at the lake for July 4th!

Saucy Ladies

Saucy Ladies

Sistertrip to Charleston!

Sistertrip to Charleston!

Rocking our July 4th swag

Rocking our July 4th swag

Mad Dog

Mad Dog

Reliving University

Reliving University

Grillmaster

Grillmaster

I wish I looked as hot as she does

I wish I looked as hot as she does

Snoozin'

Snoozin’

Spirit Cake! Cousins!

Spirit Cake! Cousins!

:(

:(

Heart Steaked Box

Heart Steaked Box

Rainy motoring in the ditch

Rainy motoring in the ditch

Casual

Casual

Young punks. The kid second from the right is giving us the finger.

Young punks. The kid second from the right is giving us the finger.

Vintage postcard moment - Holley, NY

Vintage postcard moment – Holley, NY

Who knew?

Who knew?

Happy Place

Happy Place

'Yonce

‘Yonce

Gorgeous weather - Eastern half of the canal.

Gorgeous weather – Eastern half of the canal.

Last two locks - LOCKPORT, NY

Last two locks – LOCKPORT, NY

This is it!

This is it!

They had a disagreement

They had a disagreement

#Enhance

#Enhance

First "Canadian" in a loooong time

First “Canadian” in a loooong time

Tasty

Tasty

MAST BACK UP! Buffalo, NY

MAST BACK UP! Buffalo, NY

Wally workin' on the radar

Wally workin’ on the radar

Doing what he does best

Doing what he does best

Last night - Erie, PA

Last night – Erie, PA

Product placement

Product placement

Don't bug me before coffee

Don’t bug me before coffee

Mmmm...Cake

Mmmm…Cake

MHYC we have arrived

MHYC we have arrived

Smile for the camera!

Smile for the camera!

 

Exploration Day in Solomons, MD

We are halfway down the Chesapeake Bay, and it feels GREAT!  We had an awesome two days in Rock Hall, MD, where we stayed at a lovely marina for a day of treat-yo-self showers and shore power, as well as a couple of extremely successful marine store visits.

We have a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) stove on Tara, which is great as it is often seen as safer than propane for marine stoves, however it is nearly impossible to find places to exchange your empty tank.  We had run out of gas at the end of the Erie Canal, and had thus been relegated to outdoor cockpit cooking with a propane Coleman for the past few weeks.  This wasn’t so bad… except that we couldn’t cook underway, and it was getting friggin cold making morning coffees outside.

Luckily for us, we found a great marina store that stocked CNG tanks, so we are beyond happy to be cooking indoors again (this morning’s breakfast burritos and coffee never tasted so good).

We used our dock time well, addressing a bunch of our laundry list of small boat projects, including fixing a small leak in our inflatable dinghy (it was missing a crucial O-ring) and replacing a moldy water filter for our galley.  Small wins, but they feel great.

Our first long sail day down the Chesapeake was super calm, and we even broke out the autopilot for the first time since Lake Erie, freeing us up a little bit to enjoy the flocks of brown pelicans dive bombing for fish around us.

Now we are in Solomons, MD, a boating destination on the Chesapeake Bay, and rightfully so.  It’s a beautiful area, and there are more sailboats here than we have seen in one spot…ever.  We’re anchored up Back Creek, and are loving exploring town while we wait out some more unfavourable weather.

 

Today’s activities included a local maritime museum/aquarium, where we learned about some Chesapeake boating history and also, the Megalodon.

IMG_9467 IMG_9464

IMG_9475 IMG_9477I do all the rowing around here*  (*JK – we’re equal opportunity rowers)

On a humorous note, despite the plethora of books, electronic devices, charts, etc. we have on this boat, we are really enjoying using vintage car-travel maps for big picture planning and visualization.  We were gifted some by Jim E. back in Mentor, OH, and then jumped on the opportunity to pick up some more at a cool thrift store in Brooklyn, NY.
IMG_9564 IMG_9570

Since the wind has been so light, and often in the wrong direction so far for us in the Chesapeake, happy motoring is actually pretty relevant :)

 

Chesapeakin’

Well, we hunkered down and waited on the hook for Saturday and Sunday in Chesapeake City. It was ugly – one day of pouring rain (though it broke temporarily for a nice sunset in the evening), and one day with 15-20knot winds dancing us all around the anchorage. We were in a very tight cove, with docks/rocks on all sides and spent the day playing the scope vs. swinging room game…not our favourite game. That said, we were SO HAPPY to be out of Cape May where it was showing 35-40+ knot winds and 12 foot seas!

We used the time to do some painting & reading – it was good to get the creative juices flowing again.

One nice break in the clouds on Saturday Night

One nice break in the clouds on Saturday Night

Art!  (and beer...and sandwiches)

Art! (and beer…and sandwiches)

When Monday rolled around it was time to get on with it. The gale warning had been dropped to a small craft warning so we took that as our sign (HA). It ended up being a nice but BREEZY/COLD day.

(edit: I think these next few photos are actually from our Atlantic City to Cape May sail which was considerably warmer…Picture this but bundled up with two hats/gloves/extra layers!)

More selfies - what can you expect there are only two of us and someone's got to steer!

More selfies – what can you expect there are only two of us and someone’s got to steer!

We were ready for some shore power/hot showers, so we decided it was time for a marina day in Rock Hall, Maryland. We were happy to get here – enjoyed a beautiful sunset and re-provisioned (can you believe we’re drinking Budweiser? It is America after all…)

Made it!

Made it!

Holy sunset, Batman!

Holy sunset, Batman!

Gratuitous sunset ring shot

Gratuitous sunset ring shot

This morning, we’ve been enjoying decent WiFi! Finally! We’re catching up on emails, enjoying our coffee and planning for the rest of our voyage down the Chesapeake. It’s gorgeous outside and we feel a bit guilty for not rushing out to sea while the weather is nice, but we need to recharge a bit (literally and figuratively).

First cup of the day :)

First cup of the day :)

Get to work!

Get to work!

OK enough bloggin’! I’m off to cook some (recently acquired) BACON & EGGS :)