Departing Maryland

We've started the 2nd leg of journey to move Cheers to her new home port in Lake Erie.  We have our reservation at Cedar Point, Sandusky Ohio where we will stay until November and then she will go into heated storage for the winter at Son Rise Marina.   We flew into Baltimore and left the dock at 3:00 pm.  Going up the Chesapeake we had a couple of storms off in a distance, but all we got was a little rain.  We wanted to get to the anchorage just before the C&D canal.  We set the hook just after dark.  We enjoyed our dinner out on the cockpit and watched the light show off in the distance.   

Baltimore Area

A couple weekends ago we drove over to Baltimore to knock out some projects in preparation for our final leg home. 

Had a nice ride into the Inner Harbor and found zero boats anchored or moving.

Took a short 8 mile ride to Anchor Bay East on Bear Creek to top off on diesel fuel and had dinner on the patio at the Hard Yacht Cafe. 

After a few attempts we successfully lowered the mast and boom onto the rear rail using the windlass.  With the bimini and antennas down we measured 14' 6" at the highest point.  With full tanks we should have no problem with air draft on the Erie but I'm a little worried about the 5' water draft. This was just a practice run, everything was restored to normal for the offshore trip to New York Harbor. 

The weather was hot, the pool was cool and the pizza from Johnny Rad's was delicious. 

Trip Summary

Date	Departure-Arrival	Miles	Hours
7/1-7/2	Stuart FL to Saint Augustine FL	191.6	26
7/3-7/5	Saint Augustine FL to Oriental NC	419.8	54
7/6	Oriental NC to Alligator River NC	85.6	12
7/7	Alligator River NC to Norfolk VA	84.4	14
7/8	Norfolk VA to Taylor's Island MD	101.8	13
7/9	Taylor's Island MD to Baltimore MD	52	8
		935.2	127

The first leg of our trip home to Ohio is complete. We logged a total of 935 miles over 127 hrs of run time and used approximately 570 gallons of diesel fuel. Our overall average speed was 7.3 knots however most of our travel time was at 2000 rpm's making 8-9 knots. 

Made it to Baltimore

Our last day underway was only 52 miles and took 6 hrs thanks to an incoming tide. We docked at Anchorage Marina in the Fells Point area where we will leave Cheers for the next month waiting for the Erie Canal to open.

We made it just ahead of the tropical depression that came west from Bermuda.

Fells Point has everything you may need within walking distance of the marina. A Safeway grocery store, Target, many restraunts and pubs and even a West Marine. 

Chesapeake Bay

We departed the Mill Creek anchorage traveling 101 miles in about 13 hours.  The Chesapeake Bay is very similar to Lake Erie, except for its salty, has sting rays and white jelly fish…lots and lots of white jellyfish.  Google search indicates these are sea nettles and they do sting.  The bay is full of them!  It’s hard to get a picture of these guys because by the time you see them we’ve passed them.  Did get a passing sting ray!

We settled down at Taylors Island anchorage for the night at 7:45 with plans to get up early for our last leg to Baltimore! 

Headed to Norfolk

Departed Alligator River Marina to Norfolk.  The trip was 85 miles and took 13 hours.  The river was beautiful with lots of osprey, bridges and our first lock.  

We experienced our first “pucker factor” when we got to the Gilmerton Railroad and highway bridges.  Both were down.  The clearance on the railroad bridge only 10 feet and the highway bridge 35 feet.  We called the bridge operator and was able to get the railroad bridge opened, but the highway bridge was not scheduled to open for another hour.   We calculated our height and decided that we should clear the highway bridge with our antenna down.  We slowly approached the bridge with Tommy and me on watch.  We cleared the bridge with 5 feet to spare!  Thank goodness!

After clearing the Gilmerton bridges we came upon the Naval Yards and downtown Norfolk.

A little storm just missed us as we headed to our overnight anchorage.  We stayed at Mill Creek anchorage in front of Fort Monroe.  As we approached we were met by dolphins!   

Alligator River

Today we covered 95 miles from Oriental to Alligator River Marina.  The Alligator Pongo Canal connects the two rivers and is 25 miles.  It was unlike any place we have seen before.  Rather narrow with dense forest in parts and open swamps in others.  

On the other side of the river we went through the Alligator River swing bridge.  

Docked for the night and to take care of our Diet Coke emergency!