June This month was spent fixing all the items needed for gunkholing - a leaky dinghy, a broken windlass, and an oil leak in the generator - at Atlantic Yacht Basin, our favorite pllace! Our personal mechanic, aka Captain Sophal, did a darn good job fixing all the tasks himself. He even installed a deck washdown pump, an excellent feature to get the gunk out of the anchor chain, keeping the deck clean. But what fun is all work and no play? So we socialize quite a bit with Mary and Nicholas of Odyssey and Hugh and Dottie of Old Bull, Rosemarie and Jim of IntiRaymi and Ray and Berny of Whisper. The latter two boats were pleasant surprises as we did not know their whereabouts at the time, having met IntiRaymi in the Bahamas and Whisper in Jacksonville. Landlubber friends Jon and Peggy stopped by on their way to Boston. 

Jul 3-4 We tied up at Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth/Norfolk, where Eileen's brother and his friend Rick came to celebrate the Fourth of July with us. We took the opportunity to stock Mai Thai's galley  with their car while they explored Portsmouth by bicycles. We caught up with Bill and Joy of Chandelle who was docked at nearby Ocean Marine, and here, we met their cruising buddies Steve and Joan on Colorado Cat. 

Jul 5-8 Having met Bill and Mary of Kalaha at Great Bridge, we cruised with them from Norfolk to Deltaville. Passing by the busy Norfolk waterway, we saw a few war ships, but mostly pleasure crafts and container ships. No submarine in sight. On the York River, we immersed ourselves in some American history at Yorktown  where Lord  Cornwallis and his men surrendered to General Washington in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. The free trolley took us around the historic town which is dotted with 18th Century homes, art galleries and antique shops amid battlefield grounds. When we finally returned to our dinghies, waves were  kicking up, soaking us wet. Sophal had his phone in his pocket, and it never worked again. Two hours later, a wicked storm passed through with heavy downpour, lightning and thunderstorm. Kalaha had gotten underway, and when they heard the storm heading towards us, they turned back and re-anchored, clocking the wind speed at 43 knots! Here, we were anchored in a wide open area. Thank goodness our anchor held.  

Jul 9- 31 We meandered off to the next river - the Rappahannock where we provisioned at Deltaville, and spent the next several days visiting the small towns of Urbanna and Irvington. Running further north, we stopped at Solomons Island, Maryland, where we spent two months at Town Center Marina (now  Solomons Yachting Center) three years ago. After returning from a provisioning trip, we were delighted to see Chandelle and Colorado Cat anchored behind Mai Thai.  Our love affair with seafood (in this case, blue crabs) had us convinced them to go up the Patuxent River to dine at our favorite crabshack - Sandgates Inn. Alas, thunderstorms prevented us from getting out of our boats that evening, much to our chagrin. They left the next morning, but we refused to leave without eating our fair share of them critters. And they were excellent, just as we remembered it. We went back to Solomons to fuel up at Calvert Marina - cheapest in the Chesapeake Bay, we found - before heading across the bay to the Choptank River on the eastern shore. Cambridge was our first stop. We tied up at the bulkhead. It was a good thing we got there on a weekend because next to it is a government building. We would be uncomfortable if people were working and watching us from their cubicles. This friendly town has much to offer us cruisers - a great library within walking distance, laundromat not too far away, several restaurants and deli shops. We biked around the quaint little town admiring the well-maintained old  homes. From the Choptank, we went to Oxford (sounds like we are in England) on the Tred Avon River - a picturesque town with a beautiful harbor, grand homes and marinas. This sleepy town came alive when we returned on our way south and witnessed a boating poker run event that brought several dozens cigarette boats to its harbor. This with gasoline over $2 a gallon. And who said the economy is in the doldrums?

Jul 1-31 Next stop was idyllic St Michaels on the Miles River. We were anchored across the harbor from the Maritime Museum, a great spot to watch both pleasure and working boats plying in and out of the little harbor, and to watch the tourists banging on their crabs at the famed Crab Claw Restaurant. Feeding the family of swans was an absolute delight! After several days of playing tourist, we were ready for some quietude. Which Chester River offered. This part of Maryland is quintessentially rural and Chester River is the prettiest river of all! We were hoping to soak up some more history at Chestertown, a port that dates back to 1706, and had it own tea party, only it didn't make it to the history books. But the anchor refused to hook. We settled for Corsica Creek, off of the Chester, which is equally pretty. Back into the bay a couple of days later, we stopped at Rock Hall and then ventured further north to Georgetown on the Sassafras River.