On the Road Again (The Waterway Road that is!) and Welcome Aboard!

New rug by Arleen for new Blue Heaven deco

After 15 cart loads full of “stuff” Blue Heaven was finally supplied for the trip.  I know, all you people are saying, “Don’t they have grocery stores along the way?”  Yes, they do, but it is so much easier when you have a car and the prices in Lancaster, Pa are definitely lower than many other areas.  And, all of those carts were not food but clothes and other supplies and even my herb garden!

Basil, parsley, rosemary and mint

Al was amazed I found a spot for all the food.  He did not think it could be done.  Now the trick is to know where to find it.  I already lost the garlic.  Finally, I remember putting it outside in a basket because it smelled up the entire boat!  That was the one thing I forgot to put on my inventory list.

1st night dinghy raft-up

Al volunteering at the Gam

Some of the 350 cruisers having lunch at the Gam

Our good friend, Bob Castello, brought us down to the boat on Wed., Sept.26^th and the next day we headed to the Rhode River to anchor off Camp Letts to attend the Seven Seas Cruising Gam.  A gam is basically an educational event with speakers, happy hours and meals.  We started the first night with a dinghy raft up happy hour with an open question and answer session about heading south. The next day Al and I volunteered to help fill the "goody bags" every participant couple gets. This year they had Nigel Calder and Lin Pardey for speakers who have written many books for sailors.  Nigel  books on electrical systems and powering your boat for living aboard are in our library, so Al was glad to find out he has done well putting our systems together.  There were many other topics from anchorages on the ICW, Can You Trust Your Charts, to numerous safety topics.  They had a great flea market on Sunday where there were some great bargains but all we came away with was a gaff to pull in all those fish Al is going to catch this year!!!!! (If you followed our last trip, Al caught one Mahi Mahi the entire trip and he got it near the boat and the lure broke.)

Dave and Toni

Toasting to a new adventure!

Sunday we left the Rhode River after meeting many new friends (350 people attended the Gam) to connect with our old friends, Dave and Toni Mershon whom we met at the Little Choptank after having a nice sail.  We enjoyed a pleasant evening catching up with each others news and toasting to another adventure for Blue Heaven.  Unfortunately, the Mershons decided not to cruise this year since they just moved from Landsdowne to Williamsburg.

The next day we motored to the Solomons and put down the anchor off of Spring Cove around 1PM. We walked to the grocery store for a few fresh items and to get some needed exercise.  Since it was suppose to rain most of the day on Tuesday, we decided to stay put and visit the Chesapeake Maritime Museum which we have not been to in years.  We saw another couple, Chesley and Bob from Cynet anchored near us whom we met on the last trip and whom the Mershons knew so we invited them to come along for the museum visit and lunch at Stoney’s.  Yes, the crab cakes are still baseball size!  After lunch we went back to finish our exploration in the museum and about the time we were finished, the skies opened up and down it poured.

Arleen the Mermaid at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum

Bob &  Chesley learning about rays and skates.

We got an extra hour in the museum.  There was a volunteer who was very educated on rays and skates so we learned a lot about them.  We also happened to be there at their once a day feeding which was fascinating to watch.  It is a great little museum to visit if you are ever in the area.

Just a few of the baby flies.  The floor of the cockpit was covered!

We decided to move on the next day (Oct. 3) even though they predicted 2-3 ft. seas in the area of the bay we had to pass.  It seemed very quiet in the anchorage, so we decided to go and check it out. We are glad we did because there was just enough wind to motor sail and the bay was quite flat.  I would say one of the flattest we have ever had for the mouth of the Potomac.  So as you can see, you cannot always depend on the weather predictions given.  Although the bay conditions we favorable not all was "hunky dory!"  We were inundated with baby flies.  They were all over the boat, us and the food we were trying to eat.  Just look at the cup!  Glad it was after we drank our drink.  Finally we entered Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico and the flies let up thank heavens!  One of the prettiest and quietest spots on the bay and definitely one of our favorites.  We enjoyed a dinner with the Mershons on Blue Heaven to end the day planning to move to the Deltaville area tomorrow.

This is the first night's sunset on the Rhode River.  We hope it is a sign for beautiful things to come!