Last Day on Chesapeake Bay

It would take several weeks to explore all the great cruising locations on the Chesapeake Bay.  We are glad to have been able to retrace some of the most historical waterways and destinations that people before us used to make our country.  It's hard to take it all in, but now we have a visual and spatial sense of what these places looked like, and that makes reading about the historical events more personal.  Navigating the waterways in and around the Chesapeake Bay gives you a new respect for what early explorers faced, and they didn't have the luxury of real-time weather, GPS, maps or flushing toilets.  We will never forget the people and places along the Chesapeake Bay.

The northern end of the Bay narrows, and we took a path toward the east that goes up the Elk River and then into the Bohemian River that takes us to our last marina on the Bay.  This stop sets us up for preparing our exit of the Chesapeake by taking the C&D (Chesapeake to Delaware) canal.  The ideal window for this passage is a function of tide, current and weather.  All three need to be favorable to make the 27-mile passage as comfortable as possible. Viridian's fuel tanks were topped off with about 112 gallons of diesel, and the holding tank was pumped before we went into our assigned slip.


Bohemian River Yacht Harbor is not located close to restaurants but some restaurants deliver to the marina.  We were all in the mood for some pizza and chicken wings, so a phone call was made and in no time we were digging into the boxes as we sat around the pool that overlooks the river where a sailboat regatta was taking place under a gray, misty sky.  Osprey carried fish into the wind until they couldn't fly anymore and landed on boats moored close to shore.  It is almost June, and we still needed to dress for cool weather.  The sun has not been seen since we left Solomon’s Island, but the wind has been unusually calm, giving us good cruising conditions and cool nights.  We hear reports of historic flooding taking place in the Baltimore area, but all we see as we pass these places are a few logs and sticks floating in the channel.  It keeps us on our toes on a long, quiet cruise.

That's the news and here's some views:

We are here

Today's route from Rock Hall Marina, MD, to Bohemia River Marina, MD 

Bohemia River Marina, MD

Check out the fog horns on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Chesapeake Bay tapers as we come to the northern end in Elk River

Relaxing at Bohemian Bay Yacht Harbor

Docked under a brief break in the clouds

If it Weren't For Boat Wakes We Would Have No Waves At All & Tankers on Anchor

Another foggy morning start put us on glass smooth water as we steamed 35 miles northeast toward Rock Hall Marina, MD.  The only waves on the Bay were from our wake and the wakes of the few boats we saw on the water.  The visibility was about 7-10 miles and a light fog covered the distant shores.

As we made our way north we began to see large tanker ships lining the channel emerge from the fog.  We calculated that they were all anchored waiting their turn to go into Baltimore, MD to load or unload.  We decided to deviate from our charted course to pass to the south of the tanker line and run up the eastern side between them and the bank.  It took an hour or so just to pass all the ships as we made our way to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that spanned the narrow northern section of the Bay.

Passing under the bridge we  heard two different foghorn tones blasting from somewhere out of the middle of the bridge.  This was a new experience.  The fog seemed to thicken to the northwest but we turned eastward to make our final approach to the marina.

As we came around Love Point there were dozens of fishing boats anchored in the still water.  Too thick to pass through them we went north of them and turned toward the bank and picked up the approach channel that ran parallel to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake.

A 90 deg port turn into the channel  gave us a view of the water with fog and clouds in the background.  The color of the clouds and fog reflected on the still water and gave it the same color, totally erasing the horizon line between the water and the sky.  The #3 marker buoy appeared to be hovering in the air and gave me a very disorienting feeling as there was no fixed reference to relate to.  I had to look over to the bank to get my bearing and break the vertigo spell.  The approach into the marina area was kind of sketchy as the dock master had to direct our turns inside the jetty to avoid running aground in side the marina.  We followed his instructions and made it into our slip alongside the face dock where all transient boats stay.

The bikes were taken off and we made a run into town to West Marine and the local grocery store for a few items then came back to Viridian to get a little rest.  We all met at 5:30 PM at the Waterman's Crab House for another fabulous seafood meal.

Will be moving on tomorrow to our last stop on the Chesapeake Bay waters.  Then it's across the C&D canal and down the Delaware River to Cape May to begin making our way to New York Harbor.

That's the news and here's some views:

We are here

Today's Passage North on the Chesapeake

Rock Hall Marina

Leaving Herrington Marina, MD

Calm Waters all Day Long

Tanker Ships at Anchor

 Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Solomons Island, MD To Rose Haven, MD - About the Half Way Point

Time to exit the mighty Chesapeake Bay and make our way north into New Jersey, New York and up the Hudson River.  Sadly, we won't be stopping at St. Michael s or Annapolis but will save some days for Canada and the Great Lakes instead.  Viridian departed Solomons Island at about 0800 this morning with low, gray clouds hanging over the calm waters of the Chesapeake and the cold front that passed last night dropped the temperature down to jacket weather.  A thin mist was falling as we turned around Drum Point and into the northern end of the Bay.  The 39 mile cruise was smooth and uneventful and we slid along side the face dock in Herrington Harbour Marina, MD. 

One of Meg's cousins, Max, and his wife live near D.C. and drove over to visit with us over a platter of fresh, steamed crabs with crab dip and cheese biscuits in a downtown restaurant.  It was good to see familiar faces and talk about things that only kinfolk can relate to.  Naturally, ice cream was found after our crab meal and we walked down the sidewalk of an old MD town.  Time to do some clothes washing and get ready for an early morning departure for Rock Hall, MD.

That's the news and here's some views.

We are here

Today's Route to Herrington Harbour Marina, MD

Herrington Harbour Marina

Fresh steamed crabs!

A meal with family

Docked at Herrington Harbour Marina, MD

A little over halfway, approximately 3200 miles

Tangier Island, VA to Solomons Island, MD

Ten miles north of Tangier Island, Viridian and crew left the state of Virginia and entered the state of Maryland.  Our destination took us northwest 46 miles to the mouth of the Patuxent River, into the Patuxent River and north into Back Creek to our dockage at Calvert Marina, Solomon’s Island, MD.  We left Tangier Island at 0730 and our cruising buddies left Dozier Marina in Deltaville, VA at 0630.  By the time we got to the northern end of the mouth of the Potomac River, we were finally in radio range and identified our group on AIS heading north.  Viridian fell in with the three Looper boats at the mouth of the Patuxent River, and we cruised right into the Calvert Marina and slid alongside the face dock and tied up.  We all wanted to get off the water for the Memorial Day weekend, as that marks the beginning of the summer boating season.  Several other Looper boats came into the area and docked at our marina and other marinas in the immediate area.

After checking in, the crews of Viridian, Second Wave and Dash Away launched our dinghies and explored the upper end of Back Creek and found all the dinghy docks for the various restaurants and museum.  We finally pulled into the dock at the Charles Street Brasserie and had a nice supper at the end of a long cruising day on the Chesapeake Bay.

The next day we tested out Dash Away's new dinghy fuel tank to make sure the hose and fittings all worked and didn't leak.  Later that afternoon we dinghied over the Culvert Maritime Museum and spent an hour or so checking out all the displays on exhibit concerning the history of maritime activities in and around the Solomon area of the Chesapeake Bay.  A bike ride on the gravel roads around the marina and a fine meal at the Hidden Harbor Restaurant ended the day as a storm system moved from the west over our area and brought wind and rain for the evening.  It is expected to continue raining for a few days, so we will stay tied up until the weather breaks and gives us a good travel day to go to St. Michaels next week.

That's the news and here are some views

We are here

Today's route from Tangier Island, VA to Solomon, MD

Early morning on Tangier Island, VA

Crab boats coming and going in early morning

Burgee Flag Pole repaired

Diving Bell?

Out exploring Back Creek 

Supper time at Charles Street Brasserie

Viridian and Second Wave Admarials

Saturday - May 26, 2018

Second Wave, Viridian and Dash Away

Two Old wooden work boats

Captain Mike from Dash Away testing his new fuel tank

Checking out the Lighthouse that once stood over Drum Point at the Patuxent River Inlet

There is also one like this on Mobile Bay that is still in service I believe

View inside lighthouse

Lighthouse sleeping quarters

Lighthouse dining room

This is the mechanical bell ringer referred in the Notice to Mariners above

Later Same Day

 Calvert Marina has traces of the old military base still visible.  You can see some of the old sidewalks and barrack foundations along the shore where we are now docked.

She was worn out from chasing down a gopher rat and too tired to care that we were close by

Once she got her breath the picked up her meal and vanished