A Plan for the Chesapeake

When we planned our trip north from Florida, we anticipated a summer and fall of fishing and crabbing, touring museums, and hanging out in funky oyster bars along the Eastern shore. We also looked forward to meeting up with family and friends in various towns throughout the Bay. These fun-filled days, we thought, would be interrupted only briefly for a haul-out to paint the hull and bottom. OK, so we're still learning.

Our journey from Florida to the Bay began on July 4th when, after the frantic, last minute tasks were completed, we said farewell to our many friends at the marina, exchanged email addresses and took to heart their last minute advice. We finally cast off our dock lines from the Green Cove Springs Marina, the place we'd been trying to leave for nearly four years (that's another story of much planning gone awry). Our dear friends on "Saviona", Ashley and Stephen, accompanied us down the St. John's river to an anchorage at the Ortega River where we spent an extra day wrapping up preparations and lingering with them for one last dinner... one more brunch... yet another evening. When we stole away from the anchorage at 5:00 AM on the 6th to ride the currents to the river's mouth, Ashley and Stephen were up, waving flashlights in a unison, slow arc. It was a sad farewell, but one that is tempered by mutual assurances that we'll see each other many more times in our travels.

Our trip north was intended to be a sea trial for Thaleia as well as for us, as we had not been sailing since our 1997 Christmas trip to Cuba on our Formosa 41'. Our first day sailing outside from Jacksonville was absolutely idyllic. I could hardly believe that we were actually beginning our cruising life! The first test came that same night, when a nasty two-hour squall battered us. By dawn, the boat had sustained a broken yoke on the main gaff boom that, together with an increasingly leaky gear box, dictated that we stop in Charleston for repairs. Oh, darn the luck! Can you imagine having to stop in beautiful downtown Charleston? So, after making repairs, we gave ourselves permission to take a few extra days to explore and enjoy. Yes, give us points. We're slowly learning that agendas and schedules keep us from smelling the roses, or salt spray, or from walking the streets of Charleston until we find the perfect place to eat.

We had hoped to continue to sail outside all the way to Beaufort (you guessed it--to meet our schedule of getting to Annapolis QUICKLY), but several northers kept us inside as we continued our trek north. In fact, we made the trip all the way to Willoughby Bay, slowly, on the ICW. The northers made the open water passages on Albemarle Sound and Pamlico River difficult, but gave us more opportunity to get to know Thaleia in a somewhat protected environment.

Upon our arrival in the Bay, we were met with yet another norther that kept us in Willoughby for several days. By this time, we were several weeks behind schedule (there's that nasty word again) and the daughter who was waiting for us in Annapolis (now, skeptical) was beginning to say things like "oh, yeh, whenever...". As it turned out, this first season of cruising was also a sea trial for our family and friends, all of whom had hoped to spend a sailing weekend aboard Thaleia somewhere in the Bay area. Then, of course, there was the Schooner race in October...

When we couldn't quite make it to Annapolis for our weekend date with daughter Dee, we settled for Galesville, just south of Annapolis, where she joined us for a sail. It actually turned out to be a delightful choice. The anchorage was peaceful, and right next to us was a beautiful, perfectly maintained skipjack, one of the traditional Bay fishing boats that we had only read about. The Saturday night pickin' and grinnin' session at the country store was a piece of down-home Americana, and the sailing in and out of Galesville was a perfect introduction to Thaleia for Dee and a good lesson for us in flexible scheduling of guests aboard.

The following week, we made it to Annapolis where we spent the hottest week in recent history--makes you believe in global warming--dinghying to the town dock to find food and air conditioning. We had a great anchorage in Spa Creek where the tour boat and mallards came by every evening, both on schedule, for predictable prattle. We moved to a mooring toward the mouth of the creek when Dee and her friend, Elizabeth, joined us the following weekend for a sail to Cantler's Restaurant in Whitehall Bay--great crabs and a free (if you don't count the restaurant tab) overnight tie-up on the pier.

We said good bye to Dee who was off to Egypt for three months, and made plans to see her in, perhaps, the Dominican Republic sometime during the winter, as we would surely be there by the time she returned at the end of November. We then made our way south to Solomons where we took in the museum before sailing on to the Great Wicomoco for Mike and Lynn's wedding. We tied to their pier and ate crabs harvested from the pilings the entire time we were there. We dressed the ship for the wedding (she was exquisite) and met the photographer, S. Jett, who--get this--was the same photographer who took the pictures of Thaleia for Roger Landry's 1999 feature article in Cruising World. He took pictures of Thaleia in her finery that now reside in Mike and Lynn's wedding album. Now, what are the chances of that happening??

Enough fun and games you two; get to work!

After the wedding, we sailed to Deltaville where we hauled the boat for painting and repairs. Deltaville could best be described as a very very small town with a decided bias toward marine things. For instance, there's a West Marine store, but no pharmacy, clothing store, or even a five-and-dime. When you find your bathing suit and boat shoes of choice in the hardware store, and your favorite imported cheese in the knickknack shop, you know you're in Deltaville. I'm sure that our memories of the Bay will be primarily of life on the hard in Deltaville at the Norview Marina, but we have taken some time to explore the Bay area in Dee's Subaru, have spent the requisite time and money at the Hampton "Tiffany" (Home Depot, Walmart, Sam's) and have chilled frequently at my favorite time-out, the Urbanna laundromat.

Here we still are, Thanksgiving, 2001, hoping to re-step the bowsprit and splash next week before winter sets in. Yes, it's November and we've been here working hard for nearly three months. The good news is that the boat is getting caught up and we're having a great time doing it.

Today, we'll have dinner at the Inn in Urbana and give our many thanks for a good life, many wonderful friends and loved ones. I won't even dare to say what our next "plan" is and where we can be expected to turn up, but I will say that the kids are hoping we'll make our way in the boat to D.C. for a family holiday visit before turning southward. Sounds like a plannnnnn.....