Adventures on the Chesapeake

After our book buying spree, we got back to the boat and left the marina… heading up the Chesapeake. With its tide and current Redding and flowing twice a day, you only ever have 6 hours where you are not fighting the currents. Although we always try to sail, in a narrow body of water after, with a head current we don’t always make the miles we want and do to crab pots, it is advisable to either stay in the shipping channel or be on the lookout for pots (which is much more difficult at night).
Our first night, we pulled into the first Bay in the Deltaville area (going into Fishing Bay would have added 1.5 hours to our trip). Sadly, when we dropped the main, it didn’t come down all the way and we had to anchor with it still up. The polyester wrap outside the dynema had been chewed up, rendering the halyard useless. We got it down, but wouldn’t be able to use it again untill we bought a new ($600) one, which we had shipped from Travis at Mack sails to Herrington Harbour North.
Our second night (June 13) was at Cove Point. We arrived late and left early, and by 2pm we were at Herrington Harbour and assigned to Slip B42. The channel in was dragged to 7ft but we draw 6.3 so it was really tight! The docking was between big pilings, and we were attempting to back in with two young dock hands helping. They didn’t tie off the midship line in time and the wind was blowing 20knots…. So we got pinned sideways against the pilings, blocking in 3 other boats. We checked with them and they were not going anywhere, so we remained untill Monday morning when the wind died and our neighbour helped easy us into the slip.
There are approximately 1000 boats at this marina between dry storage and water. It was amazing and the grounds were immaculate. The gardening was beautiful all along the paths and every dock, from A to M, had its own sitting and BBQ stop on land, with benches and Adirondack chairs all over the property. It reminded me of home and how much I loved to sit outside my home, with the same brick pavers, sip my coffee and chat with the neighbours walking by. It also reminded me of how much I loved to garden.
We borrowed bikes from the marina and took a spin through the yard and used them often to go to West Marine (on the premises), which seemed to be a daily occurrence. After using instacart again we found out that the marina would do a courtesy shuttle to a nearby grocery and hardware store, so we got away on Friday and had fun perusing the aisles at a new store, Christophers. The marina also had a pool and bar area, with a laundry room and the most magnificent bathrooms and shower rooms I’ve ever experienced at a marina!
We did some socializing on the last couple of days. Ian and Alex (Brian son and daughter-in-law came from Baltimore for a Saturday visit) and we went to eat at Wharf 38 (for a second time — so good), visited the pool and bar and hung out at the boat. They brought pastries and coffee for Father’s Day. The boat next to us was Dave in a Halberg Rassey (Tenacious) and we toured each others boats. Further down, a motor yacht that had done the great loop (YOLO) had a dog named Lucie (same as the Marina office women)… we swapped boat tours with Calvin and Beth Bell, who we also sat with at the Slipholders Dinner. Michel (who sailed with us to Antigua) was out on his boat Sea Whisperer (Hunter 49) and he and his wife Terry came to the Marina for a night. We were going to have dinner but found out about the free steak & shrimp dinner at the pool (with a band), so we all went to that and had an enjoyable night that ended with dancing to Free Bird (Leonard Skinner). On Sunday, International Day of Yoga, I was excited that there was a class outside, so I attended and it felt great. The marina definitely gets a 10/10!
However, it was posh and expensive and we had hoped to be there only a few days, but Nathan and Ed at Zimmerman, nor the delivery of parts, were as quick as we had hoped. Eventually, the hoses, expansion tank and freshwater pump was replaced on the Perkins, all the coolant was flushed (it took a full day) and the locking nut on the stern gland stuffing box was un-seized, although they couldn’t get the packing out to repack. Brian and I re-rigged the main halyard and I sewed the dynema sleeve on two places, as well as the outhaul. When we filled the water tanks, we realized that the port tank is leaking into the galley and tried to determine where it was coming from (with no success), our bilge pumps are also temperamental (and Nathan suggested we drill a small hole in the topside of the hose to prevent air bubbles), our splinter stopped working and we tried to repair it with a new head, but failed, so we had to order a new one (pick up in Maine). We also cannot get our forward A/C to run.
Ed worked Sunday and when we was done at 5:30pm we were going to leave, except as we turned on the instruments the low water alarm was on and we were a low tide, a bad time to go. We were also heading to Herrington Harbour South to get fuel. In the end we paid for another night and left in the morning. As tricky as it was getting in, the same for getting out and we ended up leaving a bright green stain on the piling, leaving an opportunity to figure out how to repaint Lorena’s starboard stern.
Getting gas, although a narrow fairway in and out, wasn’t a problem, we filled up on diesel ($5.34/ gallon), 110 gallons (we hold 250) and left for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, knowing we would need to anchor for the night in order to catch the current (2-3knots) across.
About 15nm after leaving Herrington Harbour Brian checked the coolant and found that it was still leaking, very disappointing! We sent a message to Nathan, reminding him of my comment and fear, that we seem to get work done, problem “fixed” and get out on the water only to find we spent ALOT of money and still had the problem. At 25nm away, while Brian was checking the fishing line he notice the stern gland going off a lot. When we went down the drip that used to be once every 5-10sec was now a constant dribble of water. We called Nathan immediately. It was disconcerting to still have both problem, one that could be perilous. Nathan called back and offer for us to return or suggested we tighten the lower lock nut and the bolts on the neoprene gasket (that should have been a paper gasket). The leaks in both areas were subdued enough for us to continue. We found a nice spot to anchor at Still Pond with lots of bird watching and bluffs. There was a storm warning for thunder and lightening so we tucked in as close to land as possible and prayer that “the awful autograph of God” would not poke Lorena!Read more