St. Michaels and visitors!

Duncan travelled south for a visit with us this week :)  Unlike his visit to Florida last winter when the weather was not cooperative, this time we actually left the dock and sailed a bit!

July and August on the Chesapeake are known for their persnickety wind conditions.  Our winds were light and variable, but we weren't in a hurry, so we killed the engine and coasted along slowly.  Tilghman Island in the distance

Hanging out in the shade

Sunshine and blue sky

Quite possibly my favorite bird

Heading up the Choptank River to a peaceful creek

After we anchored and tidied up, we hopped in the dinghy and explored St. Michaels (MD) on the eastern shore.

Leaving Virginia Dare for a few hours

Whoopsy daisy :(

Lots of beautiful flowers around town

When I grow up, I want to be a purveyor of fun things!

It's a very quaint town.

Lots of church bells ringing throughout the day.

Evening in St. Michaels

Town harbor

We dinghied back home and admired the colors of the setting sun.

Leaving the dinghy dock on the back side of town.

Puttering down the creek

Virginia Dare awaiting our arrival.

Virginia Dare at sunset

After a few chores the following morning, we hopped back in the dinghy and went to the maritime museum (stay tuned for a separate post about that).

Our anchor chain and snubber

David and Duncan at the Hooper Straits Lighthouse display at the maritime museum.....this is for you, David Hooper! :)

Maryland's state flower

We had oak leaf hydrangeas in our front yard in Traverse City.  I loved them!

Always thinking of our pooch :)

Our friends from Ohio were also on the eastern shore and it was SO GREAT to be able to catch up with them for a couple of hours!

Lunch on the water (photo credit: Duncan Cooper)

Andy and Heather were happy to see our new home :)

Hold on!

Crab boats

We never swam in the creek......it was riddled with these nearly transparent jellyfish.

Friday evening's sunset

We woke up early Saturday morning to head back to Tracy's Landing so Duncan could continue roadtripping to visit friends.

Osprey was up early as well

Crabbers working their lines

Making our way back to the Choptank River.

Another hitch hiker.  See the joints in his tail?  They bend!  He curled his tail down to the webbing.  It looked like an upside-down scorpion tail.  I didn't have my camera handy when that occurred :(

One of my favorite places to stand.  THANKS for visiting, Dunc!

Come on and take a free ride!

We've had quite a few hitch-hikers in the last couple days :)  A butterfly, grasshopper, dragonfly, and bat have all ridden along with us.  The bat even crossed a state line.

Camera gets foggy when changing from air conditioning to hot and humid outdoors. Must store it in a better location.

This guy rode on the dodger cover.

Dragonfly

When we unfurled the headsail on Sunday morning, a bat fell into the water :( and another one flew around and around the boat until he decided to land on the mainsail.

He creeped along the bottom of the mainsail.......

......until he found a dark place to hide in the sail track in the boom.  He left sometime before morning and hopefully found new friends in Maryland (he most likely came from Kilmarnock, Virginia).

We've made our way back to Herrington Harbour North in Tracy's Landing, Maryland, where you might remember we purchased Virginia Dare in September.  We'll hang out here for a couple weeks as we tackle some routine maintenance.  We'll definitely capitalize on "good wind" days and sail around the bay using this as our home base for a little while.

If you follow us on Facebook, you will have seen this post already: 

31 weeks ago, on December 13th, we set sail from Herrington Harbour North in Tracy's Landing, MD. Last night (July 19th), we docked right back there with 3,073 nautical miles under the hull (that's 3,536 statute miles). We'll be here for a little while to do some routine maintenance and then decide where to go next. As David said, "We came back with all of our fingers and toes!" I guess Round One was a success :)

Another small victory is that we traveled to the tropics and -- knock on wood -- never had any bugs or, heaven forbid, rodents move aboard.  Everyone has an opinion or suggestion about food storage, cleaniness, galley tips, etc, when you're in that climate.  We digested all that we'd read and heard, kept the boat SUPER clean, and smartly stored our food.  Also, since bay leaves are purported to be natural bug repellents, we put a single leaf in every cupboard that may contain food or come in contact with food (pots, pans, dishes).

So, we're hanging out in the Chesapeake Bay for a little while.  Here are some scenes from our last few days:

Three freighters at anchor near Cape Charles, Virginia.

Smith Point Lighthouse at the mouth of the Potomac River

Lots of traffic in the shipping channel.  This tug was pushing the barge south.

Point No Point Lighthouse between Cove Point and Smith Point on the western Chesapeake

Sunday afternoon regatta off the Patuxent River

Out of the ICW and sailing in the Chesapeake!

We left Coinjock, NC, on Tuesday morning and motored up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to Chesapeake, VA.

Capt. Nathan shrimp boat was pulling Cassandra in the channel and taking his fair share of the middle.  There was very shallow water just outside the channel, so we passed port-to-port more closely than usual.

Strike a pose :)

Just about every channel marker had an osprey nest with hatchlings.

Even though our mast height is 57' (plus the length of the VHF antenna), I always hold my breath when we pass under a bridge that guarantees 65' of clearance from the surface of the water.

It looks like the VHF antenna is nearly touching the bridge, but it's not.

Safely out the other side :)

In December, we saw many eagles along this stretch of the ICW.  Did not see any this time around, but I'm always happy to watch the fighter jets!

We transited the Great Bridge Lock just after a rain shower.  Entering from the south, the lock dropped us about 3' before we were free to move north.

Following Bright Angel from Grand Haven, Michigan, into the lock.

David chatting about aviation with our lock keeper.

We are closed in the lock.

We dropped approximately 3' in ten minutes.

Northbound gate is about to open.

We spent Tuesday night at Top Rack Marina in Chesapeake, Virginia, where your stay is FREE if you dine at The Amber Lantern.  We obliged and enjoyed tasty seafood/pasta concoctions, dined with four other cruisers, and even met the chef.  On Wednesday morning, we timed our departure to coincide with the first post-rush-hour bridge opening up river.  The whole Hampton Roads/Norfolk harbor area is a very busy port with military, commercial, and private vessels.

Lots of bridges

About to enter the very busy area at the northern end of the ICW

Chutes and ladders?

Pretty little tug with a fresh paint job!

Railroad bridge lifting for us.

I spy a fighter jet.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

The bow of an aircraft carrier

And we officially leave the ICW (R36) -- hip hip hooray!

Old and new 

Lots of traffic from many directions

That little tug pulled the cargo ship by its stern to the dock. 

E-2C circling Norfolk harbor

Hovercraft speeding by

Tour boat

We lucked out and timed our departure so that it didn't interfere with Warship 24 (right) leaving for the sea.  Charles Dickens (left) enters Hampton Roads.

Charles Dickens is a wee bit rusty.

Leaving Hampton Roads/Norfolk for the Chesapeake Bay.  We are directly over the I-64 tunnel that links Hampton to Norfolk.

Sails up, engine off!  Enjoyed 15-20 knot winds in the lower Chesapeake Bay as we sailed across to Cape Charles, VA.

Figure 8 knot on the headsail sheet

Sitting in the shade for a little while :)

Can't tell you how nice it was to SAIL -- happy captain!

No crab pots at this end of the bay

Sunset from the cockpit of Virginia Dare.  Dinner at The Shanty (building on right) was delicious.