CODA Mid-Atlantic 2025 (7).

 CODA : Chesapeake City: Favorable weather continues.

1 May 2025 

Chesapeake City, Maryland 

City Center.

Marc-  Today was another day of very favorable currents and lite winds for 52 miles from Annapolis to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Army Corps of Engineers mooring Basin.  There are no actual moorings here, just open space for anchoring and some docks.  We chose to anchor since the end space at the free docks was taken (the only space with deep water at low tide).  It is much quieter anchored by the Army Corps. of Engineers base at the northern end of the basin.  It also makes it easier to see the Canal Museum.  Unfortunately we were locked inside the base when the museum closed.  I did find someone to let us out.  The base is staffed 24 hours a day.  Most commercial ships, tugs and barge traffic occurs at night.  

We recognized the boat in our coveted free dock space as belonging to a couple we had befriended from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  I did discuss our plans with Captain Bill for reaching Cape May, New Jersey tomorrow.  The back up plan is to reach Chantey Creek,  New Jersey.  We also discussed foul weather possibly later in the week.  We may buddy boat tomorrow.

The coveted deep dock space.

Our quiet anchorage with the geese family.

Mural inside the Canal Museum.

Before steamboats there were mules.

The big picture of where we are just above the "Md." on the left and the far right hand upper corner which is New York Harbor.  There is no direct route only a zigzag down Delaware Bay and up the New Jersey Shore in the Atlantic Ocean.

Happy thoughts of ice cream.

The ice cream bench.  The Mint Chocolate Chip was very good.

A really nice antique toy store in town.

Pretty porch quilt. 

Almost every house in town has a porch with rocking chairs.

CODA Mid-Atlantic 2025 (6).

 CODA : Annapolis: More blue skies and fair seas. 

30 April 2025 

Port Annapolis Marina, Eastport, Annapolis, Maryland  

Thompson Point Lighthouse at the southern entrance to Annapolis Harbor.

Marc- 56 miles today of motorizing in light winds and calm seas.  We encountered several large ships passing at a distance.  There were the usual crab fisherman out and about when we were near shore.  It was a pleasant day.  We passed close by the Thompson Point lighthouse that is very similar to the Lighthouse we toured in Solomons except this one is still in service.  I think this lighthouse is now automated and is still maintained regularly. Our tour guide explained in the earlier years a bell was rung by a wind up mechanism that had to be winded up by hand every two hours when there was fog.  Imagine that the bell rings twice every 6 minutes for as long as there is fog and you need to rewind the mechanism every 2 hours until the fog lifts.  Don't even think about sleeping with that bell ringing.  The new lighthouse sounds a automatic horn twice every 6 minutes when there is fog.

This Liberian cargo ship passed us doing 13 knots.

This Dutch container ship passed us doing 19 knots.

AIS image of the traffic flow in Chesapeake Bay.  The Oldendorff is the rusty old cargo ship.

Taipei Triumph is the 1197 foot Dutch container ship in perfect condition. Coda is just motorsailing along with a few other boats. 

The same ships passing each other.

Crab boat working on the bay.

Another crab boat design.

At the end of the afternoon we docked for free at the Annapolis Marina.  Unfortunately it's in Eastport which is mostly residential.  Fortunately we have a dinghy and all city streets in Annapolis that end on the water have a public dock for tying up.  Now that is considerate.  So we crossed over the harbor to the side that had shops and restaurants. 

 A very nice lady directed us to a neighborhood restaurant where we ate.  

CODA Mid-Atlantic 2025 (5).

CODA : Moving on up Chesapeake: Blue skies and fair seas. 

29 April 2025 

Calvert Marine Museum anchorage, Solomons, Virginia  

Drum Point Lighthouse now part of the Calvert Marine museum along with a variety of traditional wooden boats historically made in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Marc-  Excellent travel day today covering 58 miles motoring, motor-sailing and finally sailing.  The Bay winds were 10-15 knots out of the south and the seas built to 4 feet, when we crossed the mouth of the Potomac River,  before dropping to 1 foot near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.  We found an excellent place to anchor Coda near the museum that had a free dock.  

Rather strange looking lighthouse at the mouth of the Potomac River.

We were able to figure out that the "kill switch" on the Yamaha outboard was acting up causing the engine to fail to start.  I just checked and tightened the wire connections and the outboard roared to life.   Tomorrow we move on to Annapolis.

This area is famous for its blue crabs.  There are thousands of crab traps out on the Bay and fortunately we avoided them.

These striped fish are common here in the Bay.

This lady was born in the Drum Point Lighthouse.  We took the very interesting tour.  The US  Coast Guard preferred to hire Men with families for Lighthouse Keeper since they only had to pay for the Keeper while the wife and the kids worked for free.  The location of Drum Point Lighthouse next to shore and on a beautiful beach made for a very interesting place to live.  Lighthouse Keepers on Chesapeake Bay were also required to do search and rescue of sailors in distress.

View of Coda from the first floor of the Lighthouse.

CODA Mid-Atlantic 2025 (4).

CODA : What a difference a day makes on the Chesapeake: Blue skies and calm seas. 

28 April 2025 

Jackson Creek anchorage, Deltaville, Virginia 

On our way to drop the anchor in Deltaville at 15:40.

Marc- It was a really nice day to be on Chesapeake Bay.  We were able to sail on the lower bay but the winds died off after we crossed the mouth of the York River.  We make good progress regardless with a calm sea and favorable current.  No troubles getting to Deltaville.  

Once we were settled at anchor, we made our way over to the Deltaville marina to use their facilities for a small fee.  We made several trips with the dinghy without issue.  On out last trip the outboard would not start (no spark) for some reason and we simply rowed back to Coda nearby.  

Sue we really enjoyed the salmon that you sent us for dinner tonight.  Your preserves are wonderful too.

After dinner we walked through a nice wooded park over to the maritime museum.

Flowers in the forest.

Magnificently restored 101 year old workboat.

Maritime Museum building with a barn quilt.

Another restored wooden fishing boat.

Deltaville sunset.

CODA Mid-Atlantic 2025 (3).

CODA : The Chesapeake on hold.  

27 April 2025 

Hampton Public docks, Hampton, Virginia

Red is a no go for travel do to high winds.  NOAA had put out small craft warnings.

Coda is hiding in Hampton at the white dot.

Marc-  Today was a good day to do some maintenance on the boat and laundry.  We also visited the nearby space center as well as the city carousel.  I did some more teak refinishing and painted the bottom of the dinghy.  We all walked around town a bit.  We did find ice cream!

View of the Hampton waterfront from on top of the space center.  The building in the foreground encloses the city Carousel.  Coda is behind the large brick hotel in the background.

Some nice horses are in here.

Space center where we saw a IMAX movie about the US Navy's Blue Angels (synchronized demonstration team).

Lots to look at here.

Great name for a place with Ice Cream.

That's all folks.

We hope to reach Deltaville in Chesapeake Bay tomorrow.

CODA Mid-Atlantic 2025 (2).

 CODA : The Chesapeake.  

26 April 2025 

Hampton Public docks, Hampton, Virginia

The stowaway is found.

Marc-  The day started off well with breakfast on board Coda then a quick trip over to the Great Bridge Lock.  I found this little guy hiding behind a fender that had been stowed on deck.  I asked the Lock Tender if he was dangerous and he responded no.  I scooped him up and placed him on the lock wall where he turned and jumped into the grass.

Our plans for the day were to get to a special opening at 09:30 of a Southern Railroad Bridge that was being repaired and had limited openings.  We arrived at the Bridge at 09:00 and waited for the first planned opening at 9:30.  The Bridge failed to open for the next 4.5 hours.  We hovered in place with a few other boats for the first hour.  Then we just went off to the side of the Elizabeth River and anchored.  The bridge Maintenance crew made periodic updates on VHF Channel 13.  It was total mayhem on the water when the Bridge finally opened.  About 30 boats had gathered during that time and some captains had little patience.  We went through after the first rush to get through.  The fact that a large commercial tugboat came through when Coda did made the passage exciting but doable.  

The Bridge delay caused us to abandon our plan to sail up to Deltaville.  We opted for Hampton where we would be safe and secure from some stormy weather headed our way.

The infamous Bridge. The problem was an electrical issue with the railroad bridge in the foreground.  The Gilmerton Highway Bridge in the background performed flawlessly.

Norfolk has many ships and most of them are battleship grey and belong to the United States Navy.

A rare exception.

These were two tugboats pushing barges apparently racing on the river.

Aircraft Carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower being repaired.

Two warships ready for sea.

The World War II battleship Wisconsin open as a museum.

Norfolk is also a major commercial seaport.

Hampton is a fishing port.

Sunset at the Hampton Public Docks.

The thunderstorm arrived at 20:40 and put on a sound and light show.