Wild ride

Well, some days ya just  gotta wonder why you bothered. Not really forecast, but we all know how that works, eh; winds came up strongly last night and took the canvas apart on the bimini top. Not all that difficult to handle unless the wind is blowing, and one hand isn't listening to instructions. Oh, and it was cold. Off to find fuel, pump out facilities, etc. For sheer fear and stomach knotting intensity, try watching 80' of anchor chain refuse to come up 'cause the winch decides to slip. The joy of it all. So, refuelled, pumped out, de-trashed, etc, off we go. Winds were forecast to be out of the WNW 10-15. Oh, and small craft advisories; sort of the same forecast we had yesterday. On the Bay, we had 3-4' breaking seas, underlaid with some nicely rolling swells. Fortunately it was all going our way. Then we found that the US Navy had decided to use the target range they have in the neighborhood of the Potomac River. "Capt, you have to go east until
 you round Point Lookout Light" Beam on to those seas? Lovely! Anyway there is nothing quite like surfing 20,000#s of boat down a 4-5' wave face. Yeah, baby!

So we are now anchored in the Greater Wicomoco river, near Reedsville, VA; home of one of our largest, if not the largest menhaden fisheries in the US. Those of you using lipstick on a regular basis may be familiar with the products of this fishery.

Tomorrow, we're off to Norfolk, VA from there thru the Great Bridge lock and on to NC. Stay warm, catch you on the flip side.



                                                             

Day 2.

In spite of the dire forecast: small craft advisories, etc, we were up & moving at an early enough hour to get to Solomons Island, MD by 1600. Conditions were great; sunshine, light breeze, 1' or less on the seas. Still cool enough to run from the lower station, even tho' we'd both prefer to run from the bridge; quieter, and better visibility. But, until we can get the bridge canvas repaired, we will be a bit limited in the time we spend there.

At this point, Scooter seems to be running well, temps and pressures are holding well and we are getting good speeds for the RPMs indicated. We are currently anchored in Mill Creek, Solomons, MD. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a

fairly early start in the am; guess that will depend on the fuel dock being open on time. That, of course is just one of the variables involved. Then chug down the Bay to the Rappahannock River in VA Maybe further, maybe not. I can see a possible squeeze coming, what with nasty weather coming for the weekend, a RR bridge in Norfolk that has a restricted opening schedule, and some nasty sound forecasts in the Carolinas. Oh, well!

Moving, finally!

Forecast for the day; scattered showers, possible thunderstorm in am, then partially cloudy & 60+ degrees. I fell for it; probably 'cause I wanted it to happen. Thanks for the ride down, Scott. Headed down the river in misty, cool, conditions. Lots of debris afloat, but not a mission halter. At the river's mouth visibility went to 50 yds, indefinite ceiling. looking behind us, it appeared that the same conditions prevailed there as well. So, press on, eh; Radar, GPS, new fog horn chirping, OK, moaning in an obscure way, that is exactly what we did. Sorry I don't have a picture; camera balked. We threaded the shipping channels with the radar; and picked our way into the Magothy River. Not my planned start to this trip, but it is done; we are tied to the ground, fed, relaxed, and will give it a further shot tomorrow. 

Stay warm, catch you on the flip side.

2nd time around?

   So, following is a report/update on Scooter's cruising activities since our last visit
 many moons ago. Frankly, there is not much to report. Weather issues; rain, rain, and more rain .Altho', I heard it expressed as "it only rained twice, once for 45 days, then again for anther 45 days". There were some health issues that got in the way of extended cruising; now past. Some maintenance things; You know how that is,Chuckie, open one thing up to fix it, and, lo & behold, something new rears its ugly, or expensive head; Scooter now has a new Blue Sea distribution panel, new batteries, all new LED interior lights, and all new Garmin/Standard Horizon electronics; both upper & lower stations. One new prop shaft, both strut bearings, and a new rudder box on the starboard side.  Of course there is more to do......later, man.

   All of this work, thanks again, Wayne, was done in preparation  for a trip South on the AICW this Fall/Winter. In the last month, last three weeks, in fact, the port alternator support bracket bolts sheared off, leaving the bolts in the block; fun job, but done. Water mysteriously appeared in the aft part of the engine room, not in puddles, but in a spray pattern. Problem tracked down/solved. Easy, peasey, but time consuming.

   So, Chuckie, here are November 27; car is loaded, boat is fueled, etc. Captain takes one last little bag up the nicely installed, solid, immovable paver steps, to put into the car for the trip to Scooter.
Yup, you got it; trips, can't catch himself in time, and ends up driving his right shoulder into the aforementioned solid paver step edge. Hence the occasional goofy typing; left handed 'tisn't my thing.

   Ortho doc tomorrow, then pick a new departure date for New Bern, NC, before big freeze sets in here. Life certainly does have its twists and turns, eh? We'll press on best we can. Catch you on the flip side.


































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Summer update; 7/5/2010

Hi All;

Just a quick catchup on the summer so far. Scooter is snugged into a slip at Weavers Marine in Essex, MD. Activity so far this summer has been limited to a family day outing to Middle River. Persistent and aggressive snakes; OK, one snake; followed by a series of anally inspired brain burps in trying to get back into the slip (Captain's issue), to include our first real live man-overboard event, made it a fairly memorable day. Can't duck it, I suppose; nor can I blame the 20KT winds for all the problems. Suffice it to say that we'll do better next time.
Scooter has been undergoing a refit/renovate operation during the last month or so. Included is a radar swap; out with the old Vigil, in with a newer JRC. This, of course, has led to a clean up of the bridge area, holes filled in & faired, paint applied, and some extra storage built in. I'll get some pics as soon as more progress is made. Next on the list; some gelcoat repairs, clean up the teak, and do some preventative maintenance in the engine room.
Trips are being considered to DC via the Potomac River, and perhaps to Cape May, NJ. We'll certainly keep you posted on developments. Enjoy summer, it will only be here once this year.

5/7/10

We were up early, sliding out of our Rhode River anchorage in a gentle, cool, breeze as the sun started to cast a rosy glow over the river scenery. Our destination was the West River fuel dock, just down the Rhode River, into the West River. The goal was to be riding the tide up the Bay out of the West River by 0830. Reasoning: the high winds that were due that afternoon were forecast to be in Baltimore around 2pm. We wanted to be tied tightly to a dock by then. Well, as with so many plans, it did not quite work that way. We finally left the fuel dock @ 0910. Another blessing of our current economic times; low staffing numbers, complicated by some of today's WHC attitude. Anyway, press on. The ride up the Bay was fairly fast, helped by wind, tide, and seas to surf down. Of course, as we passed the Bay Bridge and turned onto the heading for Back River, the wind kicked up with a great deal of determination, turning Back River into a frothing chocolate washing machine. Up the river to good ol' Weavers Marine, our home, once more, for the coming season. With mixed feelings, we unloaded bags, and bags of stuff, closed the systems down, shut seacocks, and promised Scooter we'd be back real soon to clean, refit, renovate, inside & out. He's a great little boat, and we can't wait to go some more.

Many thanks to Bob S. for coming down to pick us up in the Excursion. It swallowed all that gear, all those bags and had room left over. The drive up 83 was , well it just went by in a blink. A quick dinner in town, a quick drive home to the greenery in Bloserville, and the day came to an end.

In the future; clean up the weeds, clean up Scooter, make plans for the next trip; hopefully in June. So, stay tuned. We'll keep you abreast of changes we make to Scooter's systems and appearance, and let you know where we'll be headed next.

Thanks so much for following along, it's been a blast having you aboard.

Be safe, keep the grass short and the beer cold. Have a great summer.

5/5/10.

Up the Bay! Has a fun ring to it, doesn't it?Today was certainly a gorgeous day for boat travel on the Chesapeake. Cool temps, calm seas, great visibility; could not have been better. 'Course, it all evens out. We are anchored in the Rhode River expecting the wind to be calm & then shift to the W/NW. It is howling out of the S now; whitecaps and all. Hopefully it will die down, or, perhaps, switch to the other side; that would be the side we planned on for wind protection. If not, well, we'll sleep lightly, I guess.

Last night we spent the night tied to a dock in Olverson's Marina in Lodge Creek. Qaint place; all the walkways are covered, as are most of the slips. Great for a rainy day, but I'm not sure how much snow load they might take. Hope Virginia stays warm. Pretty place, tho', lots of neat old boats and friendly folks. They knew where we were from and what boat we were on in the first 10 minutes that we were there. The courtesy car we went to town in was one of several Jeep Grand Cherokees that are kept on the premises for boaters use. 'Nother good idea. Lovely countryside around Callao, VA; gently rolling hills, quiet creeks and farms. Nice place to visit. I suspect that we'll be back on our Potomac cruise.

We got an early start this morning, easing by this little lady doing the home on the dock thing. Ospreys abound all around the Bay these days; neat birds. Tidal currents played havoc with our speed, so we elected to duck into the Rhode River for the night. We've enjoyed being here several times before. Matter of fact, the esteemed Mr. Strayer and I began Scooter's trip south from this same anchorage in November. For that reason as well, it seemed a fitting place to break the trip home. Tomorrow morning, wind & weather permitting we will head under the Bay bridge to Back River and our summer home at Weaver's marine service. Scooter has a refit list awaiting action before heading out again in the upcoming weeks. The captain also has a list that will need attending to! "Git 'er done" will have to be the rallying cry for May. Just gotta love retirement, sooo much spare time!. No problem, mon! Be safe, be hoppy; we'll catch you on the flip side!