Grace on the Chesapeake

After our all too brief “furlough” back home in California, we arrived back in Washington, DC after a 2 day stopover to visit Glenn and Karen at their beautiful home on the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.  We hitched a ride back to Fantasea which was moored in the Washington Channel off the Potomac River.  She was in good shape but, alas, the refrigeration unit was not working.  And this after we had spent the day provisioning for the next week.  We were able to secure ice to keep our perishables fresh until the next day when Bill, our local go to mechanic arrived to diagnose and address the problem. Turns out it was a fuse that needed replacement but he had to remove the stove to get to the refrigeration fuse area. 

That problem solved so we then turned our attention to the fresh water pump which would pressurize itself every 25 seconds.  That loud noise would be followed by the equally obnoxious bilge pump going off for 3 seconds.  Talk about the constant drip on the forehead torture!  What this means is that there was a leak in the fresh water system.  Dave, referred to us by the Capital Yacht Club staff, came by to identify the leak and suggested that the hot water tank was the culprit so we placed an order for a new one that would be delivered to a marina that we planned to visit 5 days hence.  In the meantime, to protect our sanity, we turned off the fresh water pump until we had to use it for washing dishes and bathing. 

It was necessary to move on, pump or no pump, so we proceeded down the Potomac River to the Chesapeake Bay.  Along the way, we passed by Mt Vernon, home of George Washington and observed the tradition of boats and ships to sound the bell in his honor.  We did not have a bell so we simply saluted.  That night we anchored in a peaceful area down river and the next day continued on toward the Chesapeake.  We turned up the St Mary’s River and anchored in the horseshoe bend at St Mary’s College.  The historic city of St Mary, by the way, was the original capital of Maryland.  

We finally reached the Chesapeake and turned north to Herrington Harbor Marina where we docked for the night.  We engaged the services of a marine services company to install the new hot water tank.  In addition, over the ensuing three days, this team installed two new faucets, replaced worn hose clamps, and resettled the speed transducer.  The leak was fixed they claimed.  But it was not!  After nearly pulling the rest of my sparse hair out, we elected to leave Herrington Harbor on Saturday rather than wait for Monday for the technicians to return.  By the way, Herrington was the most beautiful marina we’ve visited with new restrooms and showers that would rival a Ritz Carlton (almost). 

On to Annapolis where surely we would find competent technicians to solve the leak.  After all, Annapolis is the sailing capital of the entire East Coast with more yacht service companies too numerous to mention.  Of course, few would offer any encouragement other than to say they were backed up for weeks before they could get to us.  Hat in hand, we went to a very large boat yard where contractors by the dozens were stationed and called on Marc who owned a fairly sizeable firm with a dozen or so employees.  Marc surely took pity on us and agreed to stop by the boat.  He did indeed show up and, after about 45 minutes, directed me to the area where a hot water line ran under the stringers and emanated a distinct hissing sound like water escaping from a hose!  The next day, he returned with one of his staff and they established a new line to replace the old one.  The leak was fixed!  The next day I went to his office to pay the invoice and ask his advice for the on board generator which was not having adequate water flow.  Without a generator, there is no air conditioning while away from a dock.  He amazingly came down to the boat again and we worked on identifying the blockage. 

This was truly amazing and we have concluded it could only be by God’s grace that the very busy owner of a marine services company whose work backlog extended to weeks, would make such a significant amount time for us. 

That afternoon, we uberred to a marine consignment store where they took our gennaker sail and said that if it did not sell in 3 years, they had the right to dispose of it.  And there fee would be 50% of the selling price. 

We weighed anchor in lovely Back Creek off the Severn River in Annapolis, happy to be on our way back up the Chesapeake.  There is a canal called the C and D Canal that links the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River.  About 14 miles long the canal is where the Chesapeake Inn and Marina is located.  We anchored in a calm cove after 8 hours of sailing and dined at the classy restaurant. 

The next day we motored the rest of the way through the canal and entered the Delaware River on our way to Cape May, New Jersey.  We enjoyed a marvelous sail down the river and turned up the Cohansey River to seek anchorage as we could not cover the distance to the cape in one day.  We found the Hancock Harbor Marina where we could dock for a mere $1 per foot.  That’s about half of the going rate is on the Chesapeake and a third of other marinas as we traveled north. We were finally in New Jersey albeit at a place I had never heard of called Greenwich, pronunced “Green” not “Gren” as in that village in New York or the swanky town in Connecticut.  We met a couple who had just married in February in Key West.  They owned 150 acres of farmland and a number of race horses.  We hit it off immediately and, before the evening was over, they invited us to visit their farm the next day.  We opted to spend some time with this interesting couple rather than sail down to Cape May.  Glad we did because it was a fascinating experience to see all the fruits and vegetables that they grew.  We bid farewell hoping to connect with them on our way back down to South Jersey in October.