Annapolis, MD to Solomon’s Island, MD to Tangier Island, VA
October 16-20 (way before Sandy)
“An electrician, a rigger, and a mechanic walk onto a boat…..”
We spent another two days in Annapolis, getting some work done. This time we stayed on Back Creek, at a marina. We were able to borrow a car to get supplies from West Marine and the supermarket, which was great. The electrician came and inspected all the electrical systems on the boat, especially the batteries. We were concerned about how they were charging, but he gave us the “all clear” on everything and we breathed a sigh of relief.
Next came the rigger. We had a new halyard installed for our mainsail, fixed the inner forestay, re-spliced the halyard that broke, and moved the spare jib halyard to the port wing halyard (for the spinnaker or to pull the dinghy out). He was up the mast for hours but all went smoothly, except when a bird flew right into him, 62’ up in the air and he started screaming. I flew up top in a panic, thinking that his harness had broken and he was about to plummet to the deck. Even the dockmaster came running over and was worried. It was kind of funny after we all calmed down.
Finally, Karl the Mechanic came. He is an expert on Fisher-Panda generators and walked us through changing the oil and the maintenance schedule. He also pointed out some installation errors that had been made. More items for Chris’ project list…
Meanwhile, the kids and I were busy with schoolwork. I also did laundry and started plugging away at paperwork that has to be done before we leave the states. We found some time to paddle board over to s/v Echo to see Jeff and Mary before we left. They were also getting work done on their Beneteau 473. I enjoyed sharing storage and outfitting ideas with them, since our boats are so similar. We applied the name of our website to our boom as well, which was a difficult project. It took four of us to put it on evenly without any air bubbles. Chris and I worked late into the night, installing our new Manson Supreme anchor, cutting our anchor chain and marking it with depths to make it easier to deploy.
We left Annapolis on Thursday, October 18th and are seriously “headin’ south” as the cruisers we meet like to say. Seems you don’t have to be any more specific than that when conversing, probably because most of us haven’t completely solidified our plans. Hurricane Season officially ends in less than two weeks, which means that all of us who are “heading south” are gearing up, provisioning with food and other staples, doing last minute boat projects, and checking the weather forecasts. What we are NOT doing is actually deciding where to go and how exactly to get there. There is no right answer and too many viable options, none of which are without challenges.
Cruisers are holing up in places like Hampton, VA; Beaufort, NC; and Morehead City, NC. Some will go to Bermuda, some to the British Virgin Islands, some to the Bahamas, and some will head straight down the coast to Florida. Our plan is to stay in Aurora, NC, where my mother and stepfather live, until October 30th. We will complete a number of boat projects and provision with food, school supplies, and anything else we might not be able to get outside the U.S. On October 30th, we will move the boat to nearby Beaufort, NC, where we will go Trick-or-Treating with our friends from the Full Monty and maybe even Anything Goes. My dad should arrive shortly thereafter so that we will be able to leave for the British Virgin Islands as soon as we are given the okay by our weather guru, Chris Parker.
Projects to complete by November 1 include, but are definitely not limited to the following: fix the aft head ASAP; install our new watermaker; change the oil in the engine and outboard; make an additional bookshelf; complete Satellite phone setup; install new WiFi system; seal forward hatches for passage; install new magazine racks; install shelving in the aft starboard locker; clean and tape the stantions and railings; polish and buff hull and transom; fill propane tanks; buy replacement PFD cartridges; practice EPIRB drill; practice emergency engine start and shutdown; sew canvas storage bags for aft starboard cabin; buy storage bin for freezer and bins for bilge; and thoroughly clean the boat while we have free and easy water.
We have started plowing through some of these items, focusing on ordering any parts and supplies we need from the internet so they are delivered to my mother’s house before October 30th. Meanwhile, we still have to get to Aurora. We left Annapolis on Thursday, October 18th with dim prospects for a decent trip. Sure enough, the wind was on our nose and the seas were 3-4’ and growing. There was a small craft advisory in effect. It was a slow, bouncy ride and we didn’t get to Solomon’s Island, MD until sunset. After borrowing Chris’ Dubarry seaboots on our last passage, I finally broke down and bought a pair at the Annapolis Boat Show. The only thing that made this trip bearable was that I had the perfect excuse to bust out my new boots. Oh my. They are sublime. Warm, dry, and comfortable all day. I even slept in them for a bit while snuggling with my tired little Porter.
We had a tough time docking the boat because the wind was pushing us onto the dock. I had to set all four dock lines and line up the fenders perfectly to the pilings after jumping off a moving boat, onto a wet and slippery dock, in heavy winds. It wasn’t pretty, but we managed.
A short walk up the dock brought us to the clubhouse of the Solomon’s Island Yacht Club. What a nice and homey setup they had. The main floor was one open room with a bar on one end. There were about 15 people there, talking, drinking, and laughing. The crowd was older and they were all very nice to us. We each had a well-deserved beer to celebrate the long trip and to warm our insides. The bartender gave us three Shirley Temples to bring back to the kids on the boat.
I brought the drinks to the kids, who were still on the boat, and they decided to go up to the clubhouse to thank the bartender and collect Chris, who was still schmoozing with the folks at the bar. Apparently, they don’t get many kids around, because they fell in love with Bryson, Reese, and Porter and had them telling our whole saga. They came back to the boat with gigantic smiles on their faces as they plopped down a bag of Halloween candy that the ladies had insisted they take back. Super. But now they had to go back with our boat cards (business cards with our names, email address, website, and cell numbers. All the cool cruisers have them:) They handed out half a dozen and met the Commodore of the club while they were at it. We fell asleep after eating a quick dinner of sausages and spaghetti with salad.
By 0730 the next morning, we were getting under way again. It would have been fun to spend more time on Solomon’s Island, but our project list and that departure date are making Chris and I pretty antsy. The sooner we get to Aurora and get started, the better. There were more small craft advisories in the forecast for Friday, but when we got up, the waves were quiet and the wind was still at bay. We got fuel and a pumpout and raced out of the harbor, following another sailboat and a large powerboat.
It was raining, but the radar showed that we would sail out of it pretty quickly. We sailed out of the rain, and into the fog. Heavy fog stayed with us for a few hours but then it cleared and the sun came out. It was another long day at sea, but it makes such a difference when you aren’t smashing into the waves. We were able to do our schoolwork without a problem and Chris even worked on small projects up in the cockpit, such as splicing lines (braiding the end of a rope back onto itself). I got to catch up on the phone with my friend Christine and Reese texted her friend Kelli.
When we finally saw land again (that’s right. The Chesapeake Bay is so large that you can’t see across it at this latitude.), we were thrilled. Tangier Island, VA was our next stop. The Chesapeake guidebook didn’t make it sound too promising, but we went in anyway and yelled over to the dockmaster that we wanted a slip for the night. He told us to take slip number 8 and pointed to the right. We made our approach and both Chris and I agreed that the pilings were a little too close together for a boat of our size. The cross wind would make it an extra-tricky to back into the slip. The dockmaster walked over to assist us and Chris yelled over the wind, “How wide are the pilings?” He deadpanned back, “Wide ‘nuff.” We decided we liked him right then and there. Hilarious. But he took pity on us and found a dock space for us to pull alongside, which was marginally easier.
We were told ahead of time that the accent of the locals is heavy and laborious but that it is getting weaker now that they have television. Now that they have television? But the dockmaster was very pleasant and great to talk to. I asked him what we should see in town and he said, “Weeeellll, I don’t really know. I just moved here. Eighty years ago noooowww.”
He then went on to tell us all about the place, starting with his house, which was conveniently located at the end of the dock. He told us all about the 17 cats he owns. He also suggested that we wait a bit till the tide goes down before exploring town. I wasn’t sure what that meant until the kids and I walked to the end of the dock and discovered not only the 17 cats, but that, sure enough, the high tide was up and over his lawn, the “road”, and pretty much everywhere else we could see. Yup. Might want to wait apiece…
Tangier Island is a small place and feels a little lost in time and kind of down on its luck. There is no internet or cell phone coverage, which seems to be my new barometer of a place. I’ve definitely been living in suburban NJ too long! There is one tiny grocery store, two closed gift shops, and two restaurants. A church, a post office and a school round out the town. People drive around in golf carts, though we did see one car. The houses were sadly run down and some were even falling apart, left in a pile of rubble. We were told that the island was so remote for so long that a large number of inhabitants share one of only three surnames. The water table is so high that the cemeteries are “New Orleans” style, with the concrete crypts above ground. What is a little more unusual is that some graves are placed right in people’s front and backyards. I have never seen that before.
We spent the afternoon on boat projects, chatting with the two other boats that came in just before us, and playing with the kids. One of the boats was called “Cool Change”, which is the name of my favorite song about sailing.
Bryson and Reese got a huge treat in the late afternoon. They have been wanting to go up the mast on our bowson’s chair so we set it up and offered them the chance. They loved it! Be sure to check out the videos we took on YouTube once I post them. Bryson wore our GoPro Hero video camera on his head and the views are really cool. How many of you would try it? If you said “yes”, how about if Porter was in charge of tailing the line???? We suddenly realized that it was getting late, so we ran up the road to the restaurant for dinner. Thank goodness it was low tide!
Note in “realtime”: To all our northeast coast friends and family, we are so concerned about all of you and hope you get power restored quickly and repairs done safely. We love and miss you all and hope that reading about our adventures will provide a moment of relief and pause during this stressful time. Stay tuned for our own saga of surviving the storm in North Carolina…