Mer Sea

Getting to Baltimore proved more difficult than we would have thought. The weather on the bay is iffy right now, with lots of wind, and small craft advisories all over the place. We left Norfolk at oh dark-hundred, hoping to make some distance before the wind came up and agitated the bay.

 

Well, I truly believe that there wasn’t any hour that would have been early enough for that. I had stowed everything for possible heavy seas, and was extremely glad I had, as we had 3 and 4 foot waves with a short interval, which means you bounce, and before you have the chance to recover, you’re bouncing again. It’s a real struggle to keep the boat on course, and every so often you pitch side to side a bit, just to add to the fun! It wasn’t dangerous, but it was exhausting. You can’t even sit still on your seat without holding on, or you risk falling off!

 

We decided that we didn’t want to do this for 10 hours, so I looked at the chart and found the closest place to tuck in. The York River. We’d never been there, but it looked like the marina was really well-protected, so we decided to go there. I made a new course on the computer chart, and we turned into the York at about 9:00.

 

The next bit of fun was dodging the warships that were coming towards us to go out to the bay from a naval area on the river. These boys get very nervous if you don’t give them a wide enough berth, so we pulled way over in the channel to let them by. We found our way into the marina, and got ourselves secured by about 10:15 – a new record for early arrival! The marina was initially surprised, but then very gracious, about the time. In a way, marinas are a bit like hotels, so you typically don’t arrive too early, or leave too late. But this was definitely extenuating circumstances.

 

This marina, York River Yacht Haven, is really well-run and maintained. They’re in a beautiful location, with lots of land, on which they have grills and picnic tables strategically placed, a swimming pool, (a little early yet for me…), spotless shower and toilet facilities, a well-stocked ship’s store, and a GREAT restaurant on site. The docks are made of that composite wood and plastic material, and they’re in excellent condition. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and they have a courtesy car. We were truly glad to discover the place!

 

Good thing we liked it there, too, because the next day was a definite “no go” on the bay. We whiled away our time getting chores done on the boat and having a wonderful lunch at the restaurant (we were the only boaters there – it was all locals). Then we borrowed the courtesy car and went grocery shopping in the afternoon. A good day all around.

 

We were keeping very close tabs on the weather throughout the day, and it looked as though the next day, Saturday, might be a possibility for going, although things looked as though they’d be deteriorating as the day wore on. We once again steeled ourselves for an early start, and went to bed planning on heading out the next day. If things got bad, we could always pull in again, but we felt it was worth a try.

 

In fact, we’re still waiting for that forecast to become reality. The winds stayed out of the northeast, although northwest is what had been predicted, and they were light, not any 15 or 20 knots. The bay was absolutely smooth, not 2 to 4 foot waves, as predicted. Not that we’re complaining! It was an eerily beautiful day on the water, and we made the 90-some miles to Solomon’s Island by 2:00.

 

When we got to Solomon’s we first fueled up and got our slip assignment, then set out to head to the slip. The guy at the fuel dock had pointed and said, “Just go straight over there, past those docks and past the covered docks, and you’ll see me standing on the floating dock.” Well, we let him get a head start, then proceeded to do as he’d directed, and promptly ran aground. He’d neglected to suggest that we swerve hard left and over there around the marker before “Just going straight right over there…” We couldn’t believe it! We did some backing and filling to get off, but were finally able to do so, and found him on the floating dock. Got tied up and relaxed. Whew! Never a dull moment. Actually, I could go for one!

 

This marina is very reasonably priced, but is a bit of a hike to “downtown” by land – it’s on a different peninsula. But, if you use your dinghy, it’s not only closer, but fun! That’s what we did. We toodled on over to the town, found a place to tie the dinghy, and had a stroll. It’s a cute town, and there’s a large ecological and marine research facility that’s part of the university system there as well. I guess that keeps the town going in the winter, and the boaters keep it going the rest of the time. There’re tons of marine facilities and marinas, and lots of kitschy little shops. We stopped and had a beer and a snack at one of the waterfront watering holes. These early mornings have really thrown off our biological clocks – we’re hungry at all hours (more than usual!), and falling asleep at 8 PM. Of course, we’re up at 4 AM, so I guess it makes sense!

 

The next day’s forecast was much the same as Saturday’s, actually a little milder, so we decided to go ahead and make a run for Baltimore. The forecast was definitely deteriorating as the week progressed, and we did want to get to Baltimore so the work could get done. Also, HP was supposed to send a box there for me to use to ship the computer to them for repairs.

 

The run to Baltimore wasn’t as serene as the previous day had been. The bay was choppy again, although the waves were only about a foot, but there were also about 2,000 fishing boats out going slowly back and forth across the route that we were traveling. And with them, you need to dodge not only the boats, who didn’t seem to have any awareness at all of our presence, but you also need to figure out where their fishing lines are off their sterns. Of course, fishing line is invisible, but you don’t want to get tangled up in it, so you need to give the boats a pretty wide berth. Just how wide is a bit of a guess, and with so many, it was a challenge.

 

As the day progressed, the wind picked up, and the waves built, so that by the time we finally turned into Bear Creek for the marina, we probably had two footers in the bay. We were really glad we’d made the run, and left early, and were THERE.

 

Roy asked at the office about any packages for us, since the HP box was supposed to have been overnighted a couple of days ago. No dice. I called HP, and it turns out that those idiots sent the box to New Jersey! So I had to start all over again, trying to explain our predicament, and why I have two different addresses, one for the box, and one to deliver the repaired computer, and these non-native English speakers weren’t getting it, and I couldn’t understand them…it was getting very frustrating! When I asked for a supervisor, I was told that there were none available (this was Sunday). I think it’s possible that I was finally able to get my point across – we’ll see, as the box is supposed to be delivered here today. After I send it off, if I ever see that computer again, it will be a miracle!

 

So here we are in Baltimore, hoping to see some friends, and still waiting for the work to be done. We’re glad to be here, and think things are going to go well, and have already been contacted by the local Onan distributor asking where he should send the $5,000.00, so things are looking good. Stay tuned for more details and updates as they happen!