In June of 2005 we reunited with Charlie and Carol, who we met during Canal Cruise 2002. Back then we both owned pontoon boats. We've both now changed boats, us to Cloud Nine and and Charlie and Carol had recently purchased a 34' houseboat and were keeping it on the Elk River on the Chesapeake. During this trip we also participated in our 1st Rosborough Rendezvous, hosted by Christina on La Trappe Creek.
Saturday, June 11th, 2005
Saturday, June 11th, 2005
The alarm rang at 3:00 a.m. and Craig & I scrambled out of bed in Middlebury, Vermont, hoping to get on the road to Elkton, Maryland pulling our boat, Cloud Nine, by 4:00 a.m. We had loaded the boat & filled the frig & Colman cooler the night before. All that was left was hitching the trailer to the truck.
We were off by 4:15 and drove through a sleeping Vermont countryside over to Route 87 in New York. From there it was Rt. 287 to the NJ Turnpike (95) to Rt. 295 over the Delaware Bridge to US Rt. 95 to Rt. 40 and then various local roads to Trident Marina. The dreaded NJ Turnpike was no problem, although we did hit some stop & go on Rt. 287 – which was our least favorite road of the trip.
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| Enjoying the rooftop deck of Two Seas |
Sunday, June 12th
Water was pretty choppy when we woke up. Charlie & Carol headed out to pick up their dingy and get their 1st pump-out. Then we headed down the Elk River together, hoping to overnight in Veacy Cove on the Bohemia River. Water smoothed out for awhile but got very active as we neared Turkey Point at the mouth of the Elk River. The Susquehanna River and the Northeast River come together with the Elk at this point and it is always turbulent. But we made it to Veacy Cove and were pleasantly impressed with its sandy beach and 75° water. We tried rafting up to Two Seas, bow to stern and I got quite concerned about the way our gunwale slipped under their metal deck band when the boats bounced. We decided to anchor separately and this turned out not to be much of a problem because the water was so shallow at low tide that we could walk between the boats in the water.
Love these warm waters and so does Ballew!
Carol has won Ballew's heart. She has come on the trip equipped with dog treats and is generous with passing them out.
Our new Honda 2000i generator seems to be working out just great and rides on the Armstrong Bracket well. Charlie has a Honda 3000 generator and it is really impressive.
Love these warm waters and so does Ballew!
Carol has won Ballew's heart. She has come on the trip equipped with dog treats and is generous with passing them out.
Our new Honda 2000i generator seems to be working out just great and rides on the Armstrong Bracket well. Charlie has a Honda 3000 generator and it is really impressive.
8:20 a.m. departed Veacy Cove, Bohemia River. Very choppy going out of Bohemia River, especially near Turkey Point. Pulled into the Sassafras River to rest and anchored off a high sand bar. This water is really testing Charlie and Carol and we hope they are going to be willing to go on.
Amazingly nice beach! All 5 of us swam and relaxed. I collected some small shells & velcroed them on the wall of the V-Berth over the big shell I bought last summer at South Street Seaport in NY.
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| Cruise Map |
Tuesday, June 14th
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| Annapolis, Spa Creek |
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| Alex Haley statue |
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| Carol & Charlie |
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| Spa Creek bridge |
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| Navigating Spa Cree |
Was in phone contact with Christina who gave us directions to get to her place.
4:30 p.m. Proceeded up Spa Creek, under the drawbridge to dock at Christina's apartment dock.
Met Christina and Consuelo and had a great time getting acquainted. Consuelo takes the cake! No sooner had we docked than she quietly boarded our boat & poked her head in at the port side door. I sure thought Ballew would take exception to this, but when she hopped down into the boat he was meek as a lamb and totally taken by her.
Christina is exactly the same in person as she is by email! We sat in the shade on land and got acquainted.
In no time flat she solved two problems I've been having:
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| Christina and Consuelo greet us - our 1st meeting! |
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| Consuelo checks out Cloud Nine |
Met Christina and Consuelo and had a great time getting acquainted. Consuelo takes the cake! No sooner had we docked than she quietly boarded our boat & poked her head in at the port side door. I sure thought Ballew would take exception to this, but when she hopped down into the boat he was meek as a lamb and totally taken by her.
Christina is exactly the same in person as she is by email! We sat in the shade on land and got acquainted.
In no time flat she solved two problems I've been having:
- When docking between pilings go in bow first. Climb onto the dock from the bow. This works pretty well with the tidal changes. (Later in the trip she told me how to catch the pilings with a looped line on the tipity tip of my boathook when tying up).
- Use our Big Bertha fender when rafting up to Two Seas & tie up side by side, facing the same direction.
Christina's new boyfriend, Tom, arrived later and was just as great as she said he'd be. We all sat up on Two Seas' roof and enjoyed the sunset. A bit tricky getting from Two Seas' starboard door to the dock!
It was a hot night near a boat ramp….!.....but many thanks to Christina for giving us a free overnight dockage!
Wednesday, June 15th
Rafted up to Two Seas with Big Bertha between our sterns and it worked slick! Got dingy and kayak down and played. Humidity dropped and had pleasant sleeping weather.
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| Captains kick back! |
Ballew approves of the raft up! Now Carol greets him every morning with a treat and he really likes this. He likes her so much that he let us leave him with her while we went for a dingy ride last night. Departed Rhodes River at 9 a.m. bound for Harris Creek on the East Shore by crossing Tilghmann Island through the channel. Fueled up 1st on the West River. Tammi and Ballew went back to bed and slept while Craig crossed the Chesapeake on his own.
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| Tilghman Island |
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| Bridge at Knapps Narrows |
Crossed Tilghmann Island via the Knapps Narrows and headed north up Harris Creek to Dun Cove (recommendation from Tom) to anchor for night. Dun Cove too built up to take Ballew ashore, plus we're hooked on beaches so continued up Harris Creek and found some farmland beach around 1:30 p.m. Blew hard during afternoon and rained hard. Blew during night.. Set GPS anchor watch. Anchor held! Humidity dropped and the oppressive heat left.
Friday, June 17th – Saturday, June 18th
Rosborough Rendezvous
Cool, 71° and bright with a breeze. Plan is to head to Oxford for lunch/shopping & maybe 2 new batteries. Shut the Coleman frig down yesterday cause it was draining the batteries. Choptank River is beautiful. Missed the turn for Oxford and got a nice tour of Island Creek (our GPS was acting funny and not naming locations as well as it had been doing). Finally figured out our mistake and went back to the Tred Avon River and up to Oxford. Getting tied up to the marina dock was a circus! You need to be some kind of cowboy to lasso those pilings! Had lunch and bought groceries.
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| Cloud Nine, Fair Dinkum & Consuelo |
We got rafted up to the RF246 belonging to Joe and Pam (brand new hi-sided boat from Oxford named Fair Dinkum).
Meanwhile Two Seas was getting blown around and they finally gave up on rafting and dropped anchor instead. This too didn't work out well and they were soon stuck on the sand. No doubt all the broken china and pounding from the waves had taken their toll on C&C and they needed some peace & quiet to regroup. After awhile they got pushed out from shore and spent the night at anchor.
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| Mike & Carmen's Cameno |
Meanwhile the Rendezvous group was getting acquainted and as we did another boat arrived and was tied up before we even realized they had arrived. They were Mile and Carmen on their Cameno from Kent Island (Castle Marina). They are former RF246 owners. To their starboard were Christina and Tom aboard Consuelo, then Joe and Pam with their RF246, then us.
On Saturday Charlie and Carol joined the raftup to our port and Jim Schilthuis arrived on his Cobia and rafted up on the other side of the Cameno. Jim has a Rosborough on order.
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| This is what a rendezvous is all about! |
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| Consuelo & her kayak dinghy |
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| Texas 53' Hattaras on the left, towering over us |
Then everyone started cooking and some pretty impressive suppers took shape. Tom gave me some sliced onions & I made us omelets with hydrated shitake mushrooms from Costco, onions & cheddar cheese. Turned out good!
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| This is how Tom navigates, hopping from roof-top to roof-top. |
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| Front Row: Tom, Christina, Consuelo, Carmin, Jim Back Row: Craig, Charlie, Carol, Ballew, Tammi |
Planned for 7:00 a.m. start, hoping for early morning calm waters but after getting up….and getting up most of the other boaters…. we discovered strong wind from the north and opted to delay departure. Discovered our anchor line ran under Two Seas. Humm.
The wind started to calm down and the group began to disburse around 9:00 a.m Then we worked on getting Cloud Nine & Two Seas untangled. Underway by 9:30 and Consuelo circled back for photo op.
Headed west, destination undecided. The Choptank River was on its best behavior and we made it thru the Knapp Narrows at noon where Charlie paused to gas up. We have plenty of gas for the rest of the trip. Our batteries are doing well, now that the Coleman Frig has become an ice chest. Departed gas docks at 12:30.
Decided to head for anchorage on Shaw Bay off the Wye River East, although previously we had considered Shipping Creek off the Why River. Chart showed awfully shallow water there and Shaw Bay looked deeper. Cut between the shoals at Bennet Point following Red 2, Green 3, Red 4. Kept our eye on dark clouds to the west & heard about a squall on the radio. Shaw Bay seemed too exposed to north wind, upon arrival. Changed destination to Dividing Creek. Anchored at 4:00 p.m. Really nice. Quiet and wooded.
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| Christina & Tom depart |
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| Cloud Nine departs |
Headed west, destination undecided. The Choptank River was on its best behavior and we made it thru the Knapp Narrows at noon where Charlie paused to gas up. We have plenty of gas for the rest of the trip. Our batteries are doing well, now that the Coleman Frig has become an ice chest. Departed gas docks at 12:30.
Decided to head for anchorage on Shaw Bay off the Wye River East, although previously we had considered Shipping Creek off the Why River. Chart showed awfully shallow water there and Shaw Bay looked deeper. Cut between the shoals at Bennet Point following Red 2, Green 3, Red 4. Kept our eye on dark clouds to the west & heard about a squall on the radio. Shaw Bay seemed too exposed to north wind, upon arrival. Changed destination to Dividing Creek. Anchored at 4:00 p.m. Really nice. Quiet and wooded.
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| We meet Sandy and Dave Netting |
Not long after we anchored a dingy zoomed up to us with two smiling people wearing Rosborough hats. They turned to be a couple who were buying a 1999 RF246 located in Florida in just two weeks. They are so excited! Their longtime sailing friends can't believe they are switching to a motor boat, but they are thrilled and wanted to see our boat. Invited us to come boat with them sometime and use their dock in North Carolina. I'll bet we'll take them up on this idea!
Monday, June 20th
After a lovely sleep and blissful night we departed Dividing
Creek at 8:45 a.m. for St.
Michaels. Then we hope to overnight at Kent Narrows
at anchor. Overcast day - 67°. Our first a.m. with condensation on the boat!
Looked for Dave and Sandy Netting as we left but they had already left their
raft up and we caught up to them before long. Lots of waves and photos!
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| Craig at St. Michael's Maritime Museum |
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| Museum photo |
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| Museum lighthouse |
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| Cloud Nine docked at St. Michaels |
Had lunch at Crab Claw Restaurant – steamed oysters for me (great!), then walked to grocery store and stocked up. Good grocery store. Left for Kent Narrows around 2:30 to anchor south of Kent Narrows,– on west shore across from Hog Island. Not much beach for dog trips, but good anchorage.
Tuesday, June 21st
Departed for Kent
Island Bridge
at 7:30 a.m. Lots of
current here but, fortunately for us, the tide was coming in (toward us) and we
gave it some power and zoomed right through. Good idea to avoid this crossing
if the tide is flowing with you. Gassed up north of Narrows Bridge,
water, pumpout…but forgot to get ice for the Coleman cooler. On Sunday and Mike
& Carman gave us 2 blocks of their ice as they departed for home, but most
of it is gone. Now our batteries are staying charged overnight.
Water almost flat calm as we headed north and we want to
take advantage of this to get our boats much further north, perhaps as far as
the Bohemia River. Higher winds are predicted for
Wednesday and Carol & Charlie need to be home Friday, so…time to make hay!
Saw a huge commercial boat that was very different from
anything we've seen on the St. Lawrence or the Hudson
River. No towers or stacks. Ship resembles a block of Styrofoam with
a slightly tapered bow. Blue bottom/white top. Saw lots of other ships too. |
| Crab boat |
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| Tug pulling barge |
Crossed mouth of the Sassafras River at 1:30 p.m. ( 6 hours after 7:30 a.m. gas up). The calm conditions were lasting. Anchored at 3:00 p.m. on the Bohemia River at the junction of the Great Bohemia River and the Bohemia East Canal (?). Very muddy bottom. Charlie said he almost lost his shoe when he stepped down into it. Very shallow too. Not too exciting. Dingyed around and saw lots of duck blinds. Water skiers entertained during dinner.
Wednesday, June 22nd
Slept in! Overcast a.m. with windy forecast. If the sun
doesn't show up this a.m. we may end the trip today. Lazy morning spent reading
Michner's Chesapeake. Around noon sun came out and we moved the boats west
to Veacy Cove – same spot as our 1st night out. Played in the water
remainder of day.
Pot-luck supper aboard Two Seas during which we heard thunder & felt the wind change. All we got, however, was a brief shower. Had to rearrange anchor lines fore & aft after wind change. Windy all night till around 2:30 a.m. when things settled down.
Pot-luck supper aboard Two Seas during which we heard thunder & felt the wind change. All we got, however, was a brief shower. Had to rearrange anchor lines fore & aft after wind change. Windy all night till around 2:30 a.m. when things settled down.
Thursday, June 23rd
Plan on lingering at Veacy Cove till noon and then returning to Elk
River and Trident Marina for haul out. Then we'll spend night
aboard Cloud Nine on the trailer and drive off early Friday a.m. for Vermont. Added up our
trip mileage on the GPS and figure we traveled somewhere between 260 and 280
miles.
Departed Veacy Cove on the Bohemia River
at noon. Winds had subsided
and the tide was high. Headed for haul out at Trident Marina. Arrived at
Trident at 1:30 p.m.
Pulled the boat out and Craig found a shady spot to park the rig (it had gotten
pretty warm).
Showered and then dined at marina restaurant. Said goodnight
& goodbye to Carol & Charlie around 9 p.m. and went to bed – on land! My sea legs make me feel
drunk.
Friday, June 24th
Alarm rang at 4:00
a.m. and we were on the road by 5:10. Had an uneventful trip home and arrived home in Middlebury, Vermont
at 2:40 p.m. Great trip!!!
We had so much fun but spent only 2 nights at dock the entire time, and neither cost us anything! Remarkably inexpensive cruise. Wonderful being with Charlie and Carol again and really enjoyed socializing aboard their new boat. Good friends, good boats, beautiful waters – pretty near perfect!
We had so much fun but spent only 2 nights at dock the entire time, and neither cost us anything! Remarkably inexpensive cruise. Wonderful being with Charlie and Carol again and really enjoyed socializing aboard their new boat. Good friends, good boats, beautiful waters – pretty near perfect!
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| Two Seas returns home |
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| Boater's bi-focal sunglasses - chic, eh? |
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