Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The End to a Wonderful Trip

Blue Heaven Rendezvous #37

After leaving Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth with 20 knot winds we motored to Old Point Comfort where Fort Munroe is located. We wanted to be closer to the bay so we would not have an extra long day the next day. After anchoring, we took the dinghy into the dinghy dock at the marina and were able to walk around. The fort was very interesting with a moat all around it and a town within it. There was also an excellent museum which gave all the history about the fort. We got some great views of the town within the walls and of how rough the bay was from the top of the fort. We were very glad we stopped.

The next day we were able to sail about three hours until the wind came around on our nose. We then motored into Jackson Creek on the Piankatank River. Old sailing association friends, Marge and Bill Goettle, were working on their boat at the Deltaville marina right off of where we anchored. Later we enjoyed sharing stories about past cruises and of course, cocktails and hors’doeurves on Blue Heaven. Present were Dave and Toni on Sequence and Bob and Chesley on Cygnet who also knew the Goettles from cruising the Bahamas.

The following day we were in the Solomons and spent the early evening with the Luke and Jeannie McLaughlin on Grianphort and the Mershons once again. Everyone seemed anxious to be getting home and even though we all were heading up the bay the next day, we each were headed for different locations at the end of the day.

It was an unexpected day of decent south wind of about 10-12 knots that sent Blue Heaven up the bay with an unexpected treat. The Blue Angels flew over a few times. Later we found out that the Naval Academy had their graduation and thus was the reason for the air display. We were able to sail all the way to Mill Creek off of Whitehall Bay. Our long time sailing group, Bay Region Mariners Sailing Association (BRMSA) was having a rendezvous there to start the Memorial Day cruise. We had five boats and it was just so nice to see former friends again. We spent the entire holiday weekend with our group of about fifteen different boats, sailing up the Severn River to Little Round Bay for Saturday and then to Rock Creek off the Patapsco River on Sunday. We shared Happy Hours, dinners and a breakfast, all planned by our cruise captains, Fritz and Bronnie Becker who did a wonderful job. What a great way to end our seven months on the water; with good friends and sharing our experiences of the last seven months with them. Our association motto, “Good winds, good food, good friends” sums up the weekend and the entire trip perfectly!


(We arrived back to Spring Cove marina in Swan Creek near Rock hall Maryland after 221 days and 2948 miles. )




(Credit goes to Ann Miller for her photos she took to document our return.)



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