Stuck Inside of Jersey with the Southern Blues Again

Apologies to Bob Dylan. If your old enough to know Dylan, then you’ll recognize his “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”. In our case, we were longing for the warm South.  Following our return from the Atlanta trip, we found ourselves in rainy and cold weather in Long Island’s Port Washington.  We hastily made our way back through the East River down to Atlantic Highlands where we hunkered down on a mooring for seven days.  Gale force winds along the Jersey coast threatened our calm anchorage and delayed our southward journey and, while we were protected by the breakwater at the marina, we lamented that such a long delay would find us shivering in the cold Northeast.  We took advantage of the weather stall to attend the Living Word Christian Church in Atlantic Highlands with Reverend Bill Bendick and wife, Louise, and were warmly welcomed by their congregation.

We finally had a break in the weather and we dashed down the Jersey coast in the Atlantic and then north into the Delaware Bay where, for 5 straight days, we cruised for 8-11 hours per day.  Our goal was Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay but first we must transit the C&D Canal.  You can imagine our delight when we found a superbly protected anchorage in Worton Creek, MD and actually sat on the bow of our boat and whispered to each other because it was so quiet. 

That did not last long as the very next day, we set out on day 5 to reach the Maryland state capitol.  Wind was favorable so we hoisted the main sail, deployed the headsail, and turned off the iron sail (engine) for a 3 hour romp down the Chesapeake in a driving rainstorm that soaked us and served to remind us that we were unprepared for the weather of the mid-Atlantic states.

California Dreamin’

From Annapolis we uberred to Baltimore and boarded a flight back to the OC (California).  But not before we met up with Scott and Jennifer at a posh bistro in Annapolis for a lovely reunion with our friends whom we had met in St Martin, French West Indies years ago. Back in Southern California, it was so marvelous to visit with son Blake and daughter-in-love, Kelly, and the remarkably cute grandson, Liam, 7 months. 

Randy and Margie put us up in their lovely home in Dana Point and so extended to us such hospitality that we reluctantly returned to the East Coast.  The purpose of the west coast visit was to reconnect with friends and visit with clients as we had committed to do every 60 days or so.  The 10 days passed by so quickly and we were nearly exhausted from the nightly soirees we had with dear friends and family.

Back in Annapolis, work continued on Fantasea to replace several expensive electronic devices without which we would be in grave danger of getting lost or running aground.  And, of course, we needed to extend our visit for a day or so before resuming our southward sojourn.  With that we met up with Mario and Lori whom we had met four and a half months ago at Gilligan’s on Pope’s Creek on the Potomac River where Mario’s band was performing. After a lovely evening with them, we cruised down to Solomons Island, then to Reedville, and on to Yorktown, covering three days of 50 plus miles but we were keen to seek the solace of a warmer climate.  Yorktown was especially memorable because of the Victory Monument to the successful siege and ultimate surrender of Britain’s Lord Cornwallis’ troops to General George Washington in October 1781 that marked a significant milestone in the American Independence success. 

Our last day on the Chesapeake saw us motor sailing south down the bay to reach Norfolk, VA, home of a vast military and industrial complex including the largest naval base in the world at Norfolk.  The sheer number of naval vessels including three aircraft carriers and commercial freighters and tankers was overwhelming.

The 4^th day of sub 50 degree temps has served to remind us how thin our blood has become from decades of Southern California living.  Finally we were back on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) on the 700 mile trip down the East Coast from Norfolk to Florida.  First stop was Coinjock, NC and we put in at the marina to seek refuge from the gale force winds from the north.  One may be tempted to think that this is some backwater stop but judging from the number of huge motor yachts, it has become a favorite for the cruising crowd.  After another high wind directed delay we struck out down the ICW and cruised south along the Alligator River through an old swing bridge and then the Pungo River Canal. The fall splendor was in full bloom as we cruised along this narrow waterway and we found a peaceful anchorage about 55 miles south of Coinjock at a place called Deep Point.

We pressed on the next morning to Belhaven, NC where we took refuge at the Dowry Creek Marina, one that we had visited months before. The staff at Dowry Creek greeted us warmly amd extended all the hospitality you would expect from one’s neighbors in the South.