1800 Days – Seg.19, Ch. 4, Pg. 21-26 (End of Chapter)

    We left our anchorage on St. Leonard Creek at 7:30 a.m. the next morning, Monday September 16 and Day 127. The weather was cool and cloudy with occasional light rain. We remained inside the cabin using our lower helm station and if felt good to be warm and snug on this early fall morning. As we left the Patuxent and entered the main body of the Chesapeake we were met by southerly winds of 10-15 knots and a two foot chop. We had to cruise south along the western shore, past Point No Point, and enter the mouth of the Potomac between Point Lookout and Smith Point where the river was more than ten miles wide. This area was notorious for rough seas when the strong Potomac current met the winds of the open bay, but on this morning as we made our way south the wind gradually diminished and the water was almost smooth as we turned around Point Lookout and steered up the Potomac hugging the northern shore. An hour's uneventful cruise brought us opposite the wide mouth of St. Marys River, which we entered without difficulty using previously set waypoints on the Garmin GPS unit. The river was pleasantly wide and deep with wooded, undeveloped shores. As we slowly cruised upriver, feeling once again the excitement of entering a new place and having a new adventure, we saw a large bird soaring above the river in front of us. This time there was no doubt: it was a bald eagle. By 2:30 p.m. we entered a large almost circular cove as the river made an abrupt turn to the west. This was Horseshoe Bend on the southeast shore of which was located old St. Marys City and St. Marys College. We anchored in 16 feet of water, let out 150 feet of anchor line to give us a large scope of almost 7 to 1 in case of wind, and settled in to our new place. We were the only boat in sight.

    We did not have to wait long to verify the security of our anchoring arrangement. All during the afternoon the sky became increasingly dark and by nightfall the winds increased and a hard rain began. For the next two days the winds remained strong, blowing between 20 and 25 mph with occasional gusts well over 30 mph. The Horseshoe Bend bay had a diameter of over a half mile with an expanse of 1.5 miles to the west where the river exited the bay. With this amount of fetch these winds created a two foot chop on the water, which meant that we were essentially wind-bound during this time. We wanted to take Recess to shore to see the city and the college but a two foot chop would probably have swamped our little inflatable. Again we had a time of "enforced idleness" at anchor, a condition that we had learned to appreciate. In this instance it was especially welcome. Since our second day on St. Leonard Creek my ulcer condition had erupted once again causing considerable pain and discomfort. Our leisure time for the first few days at Horseshoe Bend gave me an opportunity to rest and recover.

    I was also able to read and study the boat maintenance references we had on board, read the manuals for the generator and the battery charger, and take more measurements of our battery voltages under various conditions. While we were at Solomons I had verified that, when connected to shore power, the charger quickly and fully charged the batteries resulting in no-load voltages greater than 13 volts, which was the desired value. By Thursday at our anchorage off St. Marys we had been at anchor for a week and we were again having to run our generator frequently because our batteries never seemed to get fully charged. I read in the manual that the output voltage of the charger was very sensitive to the frequency of the ac power source and I wondered if the frequency of the power produced by the generator was off from the desired value of 60 Hz. If it was, this would explain the poor performance we were observing. I found that the generator had an adjustment screw to vary the generator speed and hence the frequency of the generated power, but I would need a frequency meter to test this theory and to set the generator to the necessary speed. Perhaps, I hoped, we could borrow a frequency meter from a boatyard in Urbanna when we got there.

A Sailing Class at St. Marys College

    Before leaving our anchorage, however, we finally got an opportunity to dinghy ashore on Thursday when the wind and waves dropped to manageable levels. It was an interesting visit though not entirely what we expected. St. Marys City was the fourth permanent settlement in British North America and Maryland's first capital from the time of Lord Baltimore. What remained now was an active archeological dig uncovering artifacts from those days, a historical reconstruction of some of the buildings complete with people dressed in period costumes working at old crafts, and a museum of history and archeology with a gift shop and a restaurant (more of a sandwich shop actually). The college itself had an attractive campus. It has been described as Maryland's public honors college, a small, liberal arts, coeducational school designed and managed to emulate the experience of some of the exceptional private colleges found in the east but at an affordable cost (a relative term we were sure). We had also recently read that it was ranked among the top ten "party schools" in the country. Since Nancy and I had pursued our undergraduate education at large state universities, it was interesting for us to speculate about the quality of student life to be found at St. Marys College. After our walking tour of the area we had lunch in the museum's restaurant. Then we returned to our boat and prepared to leave the next morning for Urbanna.

Farthing's Ordinary - The Tavern in Old St. Marys City 

   Urbanna is located approximately 15 miles up the Rappahannock River, the next major river to enter the Chesapeake south of the Potomac. We took a leisurely two days for this cruise, stopping to anchor overnight at a favorite location of ours behind Sandy Point below the Potomac. The first day out from St. Marys was particularly memorable because winds were light and we cruised through the calm and broad lower reaches of the Potomac amidst numerous monarch butterflies. It was exciting to think that we were joining them in their southward migration. We also had our first sighting of pelicans that day, another sign that we were progressing to the southward. We arrived in Urbanna early on Saturday afternoon and, not without difficulty, found dockage at Dozier's Port Urbanna Marina. It was September 21, the first official day of fall in 1996 and Day 132 of our new lives. It rained hard that night.

    We found Urbanna to be a wonderfully convenient stop for cruising boaters as well as a charming small town tied to the waters of the Chesapeake. Urbanna is in the heart of what formerly was the tobacco belt of Virginia and the town itself dates to 1680 when it was declared an official tobacco port of the colonies. Now, the entire center of town, where there are seven buildings that have been in use for more than 300 years, is a designated national historic site. In the modern day the town is probably most famous for its annual Urbanna Oyster Festival usually held in early November. We were told that this festival draws more than 70,000 people each year for a wild and frantic weekend. The festival hordes were difficult for us to imagine as we walked the quiet streets of this seemingly sleepy little village. A few blocks up the hill from the marina brought us to Virginia Street where almost all the facilities we needed were conveniently located. It was an easy matter to restock our beverage and food supplies and do our laundry (after toting it down the street using our dock cart). And of course we washed and cleaned the boat and had a most welcome meal ashore at the Virginia Street Café.

    Our most significant accomplishment while staying at Urbanna was the solution of our battery charging problem. Dozier's not only had a frequency meter in their boat service department but they were kind and trusting enough to let me borrow it on Sunday morning. When I tested the generator I found what I had suspected. The generator frequency, even under no load, was between 57 and 58 Hz. I adjusted it to be 62 Hz. so that, under load and the resulting slight decrease in the generator speed the frequency should be close to 60 Hz. Our subsequent experience at anchor verified that charging the batteries when running the generator was now as effective as running the charger on shore power.

    Since anchoring in St. Leonard Creek the weather had been cool and we had exchanged our tee-shirts and shorts for long pants and sweaters. Now that fall had definitely arrived we were thinking increasingly that perhaps it was getting time to head south to try to find our winter accommodations. By Sunday night in Urbanna not only had the charging problem been fixed but most of the major chores associated with shore leave had been completed. We still had to get our mail from the post office on Monday morning (the mail drop had been previously arranged with Kathleen), pay our bills and dispose of whatever personal business was necessary. It was about 70 miles to Norfolk, a long day's cruise for us, so we decided we would leave late Monday morning or early afternoon after seeing to the mail and filling our water tanks. We would cruise for a few hours before anchoring somewhere for the night, which would allow us to arrive in Norfolk by mid-afternoon on Tuesday. We felt that it was time to end our exploration of the Chesapeake. The only problem was that the Coast Guard had issued a small craft advisory for Sunday night and Monday with a forecast of 20 knot winds and four foot waves on the lower bay.

    Monday morning in Urbanna was bright and beautiful with, unbelievably, calm winds. We completed everything necessary to our departure and then sat up on the bridge in the bright sunlight and wondered if we should leave anyway despite the forecast. We had a rule to which we tried to adhere, and that was we do not take out the boat unless it both sounds good (the broadcast weather report and forecast) and looks good (the conditions around us as we observe them). It certainly looked good on this Monday morning, but NOAA kept forecasting 20 knot winds and four foot seas on the lower bay, and the Coast Guard persisted in their small craft advisory. What to do? NOAA had certainly been wrong before. We were now anxious to go. All was ready. We decided to violate our own rule, reasoning that we could find a place to anchor if we encountered conditions that were too rough though we knew that this was not always feasible if we were far out in the bay with no hospitable shore near.

    We did not get far before we encountered the winds that had been forecast. As soon as we left Urbanna Creek at about noon, and slowly cruised past the breakwater into the main body of the Rappahannock, we were slammed by strong winds blowing down the river, churning its surface into a mass of whitecaps on top of three foot waves. We rode the waves downriver, slightly quartering across them until we could round the point at the mouth of the Corrotoman River where it entered the Rappahannock. Then we headed up this beautiful and sheltered river finally finding a good anchorage about five miles above its mouth. There we stayed overnight until early Tuesday morning when we left for Norfolk. The small craft advisory had been dropped but out on the bay we encountered steady 15 knot southerly winds with whitecaps on three foot seas. We operated the boat from inside using the lower helm station where we were out of the wind and spray. Finally, after nine hours on the bumpy water, we passed through the channel between Old Point Comfort on the north and Fort Wool on the south at the end of Willoughby Spit, thus leaving the Chesapeake and entering Hampton Roads and the port of Norfolk. We found a safe anchorage in nearby Willoughby Bay. Our fall cruise of the Chesapeake was at an end.

1800 Days – Seg. 18, Ch. 4, Pg. 14-21

    It was not difficult to change our plans. We decided to go into Solomons the next morning and get a slip in a marina. We had been at anchor for eleven days since leaving Rolph's, our provisions were running low and the prospect of eating at restaurants seemed most desirable. We could do our laundry, dump our accumulated trash, reprovision, clean and check the boat, enjoy some good restaurant meals and explore the town of Solomons. Perhaps I could even solve the problem of the battery charger. And then, when our shore leave was finished, we would head back out to anchor and explore parts of the western shore of the Chesapeake that we had often discussed. It was a good plan and this time we would be able to follow it through.

Looking Out Over Solomons, Maryland, Toward The Mouth Of The Patuxent River

(Courtesy of D. Traub & Son, Baltimore, MD) 

   Solomons is another of the small attractive towns, villages really, centered around life on the bay, that are found on both shores of the Chesapeake, but especially on the western shore. There is a natural harbor, very well protected and easy to enter, where Back Creek flows into the mouth of the Patuxent. The business center of the town, sometimes called Solomons Island because of a narrow channel, now filled, that connected the creek to the river, occupies a narrow strip of land between Back Creek and the main body of the Patuxent. Back Creek is navigable with at least eight-foot depths for almost a mile and a half. Not only are there good anchorages but both shores are lined with marinas and boatyards. Another creek branching to the east off lower Back Creek, and named Mill Creek (another one!), is also easily navigated while providing good anchorages in a more residential setting. Solomons has been a boating center on the bay for more than a century and it remains an ideal place to stop or stay for Chesapeake boaters. All the necessary conveniences such as the post office, banks, hardware and marine stores, a very upscale grocery store and a number of good restaurants, are concentrated in the small business area and easily reached. There are also the Calvert Marine Museum and the Drum Point Lighthouse which provide interesting visits.

Getting Provisions On Bikes, Spring Cove Marina, Solomons, Maryland

    We came into Spring Cove Marina at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 10 and Day 121 of our new lives. We had chosen this marina because it was closest to the business area and museum and we were delighted with our choice. It was an attractive marina set in wooded grounds with well-maintained docks, a fuel dock, a clean laundry, an excellent captain's lounge with an extensive trading library for cruisers, a good ships store and a very inviting swimming pool. The rates were good ($1 per foot plus $8 for electric per night), and the staff were friendly and knowledgeable as they helped us dock at an excellent slip assignment on a T-head with an unobstructed view of the harbor. As a real bonus the fuel prices were very low; we took on 166 gallons of diesel fuel at a price of $0.99 per gallon.

A Visit From A Solomons Swan

    We stayed in Solomons for four days and the entire time was as delightful as it was productive. We had stopped in Solomons once before, in June of 1993 when we were headed south on our first ICW cruise. On that occasion our stay was for only one night and we were at anchor near the head of Back Creek. On our current visit we had sufficient time to become acquainted with the town. The weather was hot on Tuesday afternoon as we worked hard to clean the boat, but a swim in the pool late in the afternoon was most welcome.

    The only other person using the pool while we were there was a middle aged woman. I struck up a conversation with her beginning with the weather and the good facilities at the marina. She told me that she and her husband were on an extended vacation while touring the Chesapeake and then, to my surprise, she went on to complain about boating on the Chesapeake. She actually complained that there was nothing to do and no place to go. They had been to Baltimore, Annapolis, Georgetown, Chestertown and now Solomons, she said, and they were all the same - another marina with a swimming pool. In contrast, Nancy and I were so excited by our Chesapeake cruise, so eagerly anticipating going to different places, learning about them, getting to know them. How could anyone be so oblivious, I wondered, so bored, so uninterested in what was around them? Was this another woman tagging along with a man while he was following his dream? We had come across this kind of situation previously. Or was her attitude indicative of the way she lived her entire life? Regardless of the reason, this encounter left an impression that I was not to forget.

    After the heat of Tuesday, Wednesday was cloudy and cooler with a high of 73, which was most welcome as we biked around town to the post office, boating store, drugstore and bank. We also visited the museum where the highlight was, most unexpectedly, a display featuring living jellyfish-like animals, called comb jellies, with remarkable bioluminescent properties. They seemed other-worldly as they floated around the tank with their transparent bodies and narrow veins of body fluids emitting stunning sparks of light. On our way back to the boat we were caught in a downpour and became thoroughly soaked. It was great fun.

    Thursday was devoted to extensive shopping for food and other supplies, filling our water tanks and making everything ready to return to our cruise. We had decided to leave on Friday because a large number of boats were expected to begin arriving on the weekend in anticipation of the annual fall rendezvous of the Marine Trader Owners Association (MTOA), probably the largest boat owners association in the country. Although we were former members of this group and would have been interested to see some of the boats, we detested crowds and congestion, and we had become anxious to avoid further marina fees and to return to the quiet peace of anchoring. By the end of the day all was ready. We had no definite plan for the next stop in our cruise of the western shore but we had decided to find a nearby anchorage that was described in one of our cruising guides as one of the most beautiful on the bay. While there we expected to plan the remainder of our tour.

    St. Leonard Creek is a relatively small stream that flows into the north shore of the Patuxent about six miles above the entrance to Solomons harbor. We had a leisurely Friday morning and pulled away from the marina dock shortly after 11 a.m. It was a warm 80 degrees, breezes were light and skies were clear. We cruised slowly up the Patuxent past Point Patience with its strangely deep water and easily entered St. Leonard. The creek was as advertised with wooded hilly banks and comfortably deep water as long as we stayed in the middle. Shortly after we entered the creek we thought we saw a bald eagle soaring over the eastern banks. This was an unexpected treat even though we could not be confident of our identification. About three miles up the creek a tributary, Johns Creek, made off to the right, and at this juncture there was a set of docks with a large building on top of the hill behind them. I was surprised but Nancy had read about this in the guide and told me that this was Vera's White Sands Restaurant and Marina, with Vera being a former Hollywood starlet. There were only a few boats at the docks and the marina appeared otherwise deserted. We wondered what their rates would be in this seemingly remote but beautiful location. Was this a possibility for a summer home for us and Summer School? Perhaps we could visit later in our stay and gather some information. We continued about a mile farther upstream and dropped our anchor in eight feet of water at a wider part of the creek that provided ample swinging room. Then we settled in for an afternoon of reading, relaxation and quiet conversation.

    Fall came to us that night on St. Leonard Creek, finally, after so much anticipation and all the warm weather in the wake of Hurricane Fran. About 6 p.m. the sky became dark with huge towering clouds. There was some wind and a brief light rain, and then the skies cleared and the temperature dropped. At dusk the wind was almost calm once again and the temperature had dropped to 65 degrees. We were treated to a family of swans, two adults and seven "teenagers", swimming past the boat with the water calm enough to see the reflections of their beautifully curved necks. For the first time in many nights we slept with the air-conditioner off and the boat open to the night air.

An Early Fall Morning At St. Leonard Creek Anchorage 

   I awoke early the next morning, just after first light, excited by the feeling of coolness in the air. The view out our big salon windows was striking. It was about 6 a.m. and there were plumes of mist rising into the comparatively cold air from the glassy calm water. Our electronic weather station in the cabin indicated that it was 54 outside and only 64 in the interior of the boat. I did not want to start the generator to heat the boat because that would surely wake Nancy, but hanging over the table in the salon we had a beautiful brass oil lamp, the "trawler lamp" as we called it. This provided appreciable heat as well as good light, so I lit the lamp, brought our portable computer from the office in the front cabin to the salon table, and worked on my writing for more than an hour until Nancy awoke. After our customary pills, juice and coffee I returned to my writing work, this time in the office with the generator running to charge our batteries. I continued working till almost noon and felt great satisfaction from accomplishing more than I had in any one day for a long time.

    We stayed on the boat for the remainder of the day, watching a little college football and doing some light boat work, but mainly talking, getting out our charts and guides, discussing our cruising plans for the remainder of our tour of the Chesapeake. We decided to remain on St. Leonard Creek for the rest of the weekend, but after that we resolved to try to visit two other locations that held our interests before heading south to North Carolina or beyond. The first was St. Marys City, which was located on St. Marys River, which flowed into the Potomac not far above its mouth. Not only was this small town the home of St. Marys College of Maryland, it was the fourth permanent settlement in British North America and the location of a museum and active archeological dig. (The charts and guides do not use an apostrophe in these names.) This was about a day's cruise and fifty miles from our current location. Following our visit to St. Marys, we wanted to cruise to Urbanna, Virginia, a small water-based town on the Rappahannock River about 85 miles farther south from St. Marys. While in the Bahamas on our long cruise in 1994 we had met the captain of a charter boat who made his home in Urbanna, and his descriptions of this town together with the various materials we had read piqued our interests. Of course these plans were subject to the usual vagaries of the weather, but at least we now had some goals.

Lush Tropical Surroundings At Vera's White Sands Resort, Solomons, Maryland

    On Sunday afternoon we visited Vera's using Recess to travel the mile down the creek from our anchorage. When we landed at the marina docks we found them to be somewhat in a state of disrepair but probably adequate for our use. Once again we wondered if perhaps the rates would be low enough for us to consider this location for our home next summer. The marina was deserted so we walked up the hill to the restaurant. The appearance of the building was striking, lushly tropical surrounded by exotic plants, palm trees and totem poles. We entered the restaurant and found the interior even more fantastic with all sorts of carvings and artifacts apparently from Hawaii and Polynesia and Africa. There were inlayed tables supported by carved elephants, shells and wicker chairs, diving helmets, giant turtle shells, bar stools and a bar covered in some kind of leopard print, Hawaiian music playing softly in the background and a huge painting of a woman covered with peacock feathers. The only person inside was the bartender who introduced himself as Carlos. He informed us that the kitchen was closed, but he said that he would be glad to make us a couple of mai tais if we cared to sit at the bar. These turned out to be large and good, and we slowly sipped on them while Carlos told us the story of Vera. She was the woman in the painting, he said. She was almost ninety, swims and runs every day, and still personally oversees everything at the resort. She was a Hollywood starlet who married a very successful doctor known as the "ophthalmologist to the stars." They made lots of money on real estate, Carlos told us, before her husband died, leaving Vera a very wealthy woman. For each of the past thirty years she had taken a world cruise and the furnishings in the restaurant were things she had collected in her travels. Could we possibly live in such a place and feel comfortable and at home? We tried to imagine having this as our local restaurant. But Carlos knew nothing about the marina and he did not expect any of the marina staff to come in for the remainder of the day. On our dinghy ride back to Summer School we had many unanswered questions. There was no doubt that we had experienced a fascinating and memorable afternoon.