Rock Hall, MD - Day 255 and 256

May 25 and 26, 2016
Day 255-256

After fueling up we left Solomons Island for Rock Hall, MD.  I had read about Rock Hall being an Eastern Shore waterman's town, but had never visited.  Jake and Kimi were geared up for another day on the water.

Coming out of the Patuxent River and heading north from Solomon's Island we passed Calvert Cliffs on our port.  This a a place that many Marylanders go to look for fossils.  The layer of earth have many shark's teeth and other fossils that can be found without too much digging.

This is the Cove Point Lighthouse near Calvert Cliffs.  It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay.

When we reached the area between the southern end of Kent Island and the Bay Bridge the water became quite rough, much rougher than it had been to that point.  The Blue Angels were scheduled to perform over Annapolis for the Naval Acadamy graduation and there were all kind of boats headed there.  I think the water was rough due to all of the boat wakes.  Some of the boaters were very inconsiderate with their wakes, so we had a rough five miles or so until we got north of the Bay Bridge.

Rock Hall revealed some wonderful views over the Bay from the harbour, especially in the morning.  When we arrived in Rock Hall and tid up at our dock, who should we see at the next dock over but "See to Sea".  We had spent several days in Belhaven, NC with them and the last we saw them they were turning back to the Alligator River Marina because the Albemarle Sound was too rough for them to make the crossing.  Since we had seen them last they had been up to the Deleware Bay to "cross their wake" and thus compleating their Great Loop.  They then turned back south and were heading to Norfolk to leave their boat while they returned home to Orcas Island in Washingnon State. for a while.  Ron and Viki came over to our boat for docktails and we swapped stories and they offered some advice for our upcoming section of the Loop.

We took the trolly service into town and walked around to see what was there.  Frankly there was not much and some of the stores that were there were not open for business.  This building with a boat coming out of it was vacant.

The watermen in Rock Hall used to tow these shanties behind their work boats and live in them when they were finished working for the day so they did not have to go back to town.

Main Street Rock Hall, MD

There was an old drug store with a soda fountain on Main Street that was an interesting visit.

Sharon picked up a new boater's wine glass and some wine to go with it.  She calls it an adult sippy cup.

We had pretty sunsets in Rock Hall.  We went to dinner at the Waterman's Resturant that was just steps from our dock.  I was hungry for a real Maryland crab cake and I was not dissapointed.

We decided to stay in Rock Hall for an extra day since the weather on the Delaware Bay was not looking good to transit from the C&D Canal down to Cape May for the next couple of days and the facilities and views were much nicer at Rock Hall than we were going to find in the C&D Canal.

A Visit Home Then Back on the Loop - Day 238-254

May 8 to 24, 2016
Day 238-254

After the AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk, we moved the boat to the York River Yacht Haven just a few miles from our house in Gloucester, VA.  Over the next two weeks, we attended a family funeral near Roanoke, VA, saw our doctors in Gloucester, attended the 30th anniversary of our priest's ordination, saw doctors in Baltimore, visited family and friends in Baltimore, and attended our grandaughter's Confirmation in Culpeper, VA.  Oh, and we did spend three or four night at our house.  By the time all of that was done we were ready to get traveling on the boat again!

We left Yorktown on May 24th and headed up to Solomon's Island, MD, a distance I had estimated at 85 miles.  We knew it would be a long day, but while the Chesapeake Bay was relatively calm we wanted to make a lot of miles.  As it turned out the actual distance was 101 miles, our longest travel day yet!

Below is Wolf Trap Lighthouse off of the Northern Neck of Virginia.

When we arrived at the Calvert Marina at Solomon's Island we were tired from the long ride, but as soon as the boat crews already there saw us pull in they started setting up for a docktail party on the dock right in front of our boat.  We got to meet new friends and have a few cold ones before turning in for the night.

To the AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk - Day 228 to 237

April 28, 2016, to May 7, 2016
Day 228-237

We left Belhaven, NC after several "weather' days and began our trek up the Alligator-Pungo Canal to the Alligator River.  Our trip up the Alligator River was smooth after we began heading North.  About halfway up the river, we received a radio call from "Sea to See" who had been with us at Belhaven for several days.  They said that since the trip up the river was so smooth they were contemplating crossing the Albemarle Sound instead of stopping at the Alligator River Marina as they and we had planned.  We were thinking the same thing and both of us decided to poke our noses out into the sound and decide based upon the conditions we found.

We reached the Albermarle Sound first and cleared the shallows at the mouth of the Alligator River with some rocking and rolling with waves up to 4 feet.  By the time we cleared the shallow areas, reduced speed, and found our proper heading, the waves had subsided to 1-2 feet so we decided the passage was doable without too much discomfort and continued across the sound.

"Sea to See" poked her nose out, saw white caps and turned around.  They were going on a slightly different track towards Elizabeth City while we were heading up the North River to Coinjock.  Their track would have put the waves more on their beam while we were quartering into them, so their ride would have been significantly more uncomfortable than ours, so they were wise to turn back.

We made it across the sound OK and spent the night at the Coinjock Marina in Coinjock, NC.  The Coinjock Marina is basically a sea wall, a small ship's store, fuel pumps, and a restaurant on a canal.  The place was full!  We walked around and found a boat named "Reflection".  It turned out to be the authors of one of the first books we had read about the Great Loop, "Reflection on America's Great Loop"  We had a nice chat and found out that they were headed to the AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk, as were we.  They were scheduled to give one of the presentations there.

The next day we traveled to Norfolk for the rendezvous but had to stay across the river in Portsmouth for two days because the rendezvous marina in Norfolk was full until Sunday.

On Sunday, we moved to the Waterside Marina  in Norfolk.  The rendezvous started on Monday and lasted until Thursday.  There were 260 Loopers and prospective Loopers in attendance for 4 days of camaraderie and education on the portions of the loop to come.  We decided to stay in Norfolk until Saturday due to weather.

On Saturday, we moved the boat from Norfolk to the York River Yacht Haven and were finally able to get home from there.