Saturday, May 1, 2021. Day 146.
The power went on in the marina before
dawn, not sure of the exact time. Roland saw the marina dock lights
go back on before day break, got out of bed and changed our power
from DC to AC, and then went back to sleep.
It was cold in
the morning (less than 50°), but sunny and clear and, more
importantly calm. Traveling would be a pleasure.
I did our
last load of laundry, we had coffee, checked on the Philadelphia
house video, read some news and send some texts. I was trying to
adjust to the idea of our homecoming. I was excited and
emotional.
Gail and Mike came over to help us off the
dock, and at 10:30 am we left Hartge Harbor Yacht Marina and entered
the West River; we were off.
I steered for the first 40
minutes. When the crab pots became numerous, Captain Roland took the
helm. When they thinned out, I went back steering.
It was
rough and windy; the wind was on our beam; it was choppy, so as a
precaution, I put the wristbands on and took a pill shortly after we
left the dock.
As we neared Annapolis, it was beautiful. There were
several sailboat races in progress and when they turned around the
marker, and opened their spinnakers, it was quite impressive. We
watched four races which were run simultaneously in different parts
of the Chesapeake.
I steered most of the day until about
2pm. The wind slowed down to 4-7 knots from 15 to 22.
At
4pm, we approached an area of the Chesapeake Bay where several rivers
enter the Bay: the Sassafras River, the Susquehanna River, the Elk
river, the Bohemia River and the Northeast River (where I had done
most of my sailing on Zig Zag many decades ago). Around the
confluence of all these rivers, the cross currents became a steering
challenge.
When we entered this area, we checked out the
channel range markers (flashing lights that when the captain lines up
the markers behind each other, the captain knows he or she is in the
channel). A very cool and important navigational tool for the
freighters.....after lining up the range markers, we hustled out of
the channel; there was plenty of depth and width for Magic Moments.
It was best to leave the channel to the big boys!
We were
able to steer from the flybridge for most of the late afternoon; it
was sunny and warm-really nice. The water was so calm that I was able
to see our wake trail in the water.
At 5:45pm, we anchored
in the mouth of the Bohemia River. It was quiet; clearly pre-season.
Captain Roland was unable to anchor as far into the Bohemia River as
he had originally planned. It was much more shallow than it had been
a few years ago when he had anchored here last. But the winds were
not too heavy, so the site closer to the mouth of the river worked
out well. We were joined a little later by a catamaran.
[A favorite boat name spied today:
“Knot Normal” ]
We had a very special meal for our
closing dinner of this adventure. It was quiet and peaceful after
sundown, and I was really excited about arriving in Philadelphia on
Sunday.
Sunday, May 2, 2021. Day 147.
I
was up early and the sunrise was dramatic. We had a nice breakfast,
my new favorite: poached eggs.
I spent most of the day
cleaning up and packing; the captain was at the helm. We left our
anchorage at 9:20am, and entered the C and D (Chesapeake Bay and
Delaware River) Canal at 10am. There was no wind and the current was
with us, so we were zipping along at 10 knots, which for Magic
Moments, was quite a clip. Timing is everything! The tide and the
winds were with us all day. The Captain did a great planning
job.
Although I missed most of the scenery (cleaning and
packing), what little I did see of the C and D Canal, was quite
beautiful, with bike trails along both sides. However, there was a
lot of debris in the canal. There were several bridges, all of them
tall to let the large freights pass through. It was overcast, there
was a slight breeze (about 11 knots), and very few boats even though
it was Sunday. At 11:30 am, we left the C and D. Cape May to the
right and Philadelphia to the left. At the ends of the canal, there
are traffic lights so that if there is a large freighter in the canal
(the light is red), and one does not enter until the freighter passes
(obviously, green). Remembering the waste of time and fuel in the
north channel at the Port in Miami, someone should clue them into the
traffic signals! The port police could spend their time much more
productively!
The wind was picking up and reached 20 knots
on our beam (not fun); but when we made a turn it was a tail wind (no
problem whatsoever). We passed Fort Delaware, which was built in the
1800s to protect the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia and held
Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. I understand it is a
beautiful park and museum with lots of interesting activities.
A
little after noon, we passed Stephen's friend's boat that had just
left Pier 5 in Philadelphia “Curlew”, that morning, and the
Captain and Roland chatted on the radio. He appreciated the
diversion as he was traveling alone. Stephen had alerted both of us
that we would probably be 2 ships passing in the day (sorry about the
corn!).
I took a break from cleaning and
packing, to steer a bit in the afternoon.
At 1:40pm, we had our first
glimpse of Philadelphia although we were still 18 miles away. I as
getting really excited!!
The Delaware was very industrial from now
on, not scenic, but interesting with barges and tugs and freighters.
We saw another small sailboat race as we pass Corinthian Yacht Club
(one of the oldest continuously operating yacht clubs in America,
founded in 1892).
Due to the low tide, we had to slow
down significantly. The dockmaster had made it clear that we could
not get into Penn's Landing Marina before 4:15pm, when the tide would
be high enough.
The dockmaster, Rich, and a boat neighbor,
Gary, together with a third man, were there to help us dock. As
confident and strong as they were, the wind was too much. Captain
Roland had to back out, turn around, and, at Rich's suggestion, we
docked on the northern side of the slip, letting the wind blow us on
rather than fight the great fight to dock on the southern side, which
was our slip. Fortunately, the boat normally in the north side of
the slip would not be back until Monday and we agreed to move the
boat Monday morning when the wind would not be a problem. Brilliant
idea; Rich and I were going to get along just beautifully!
Docking
on the north side went perfectly. We tied up and were joyfully
greeted by about a dozen (all vaccinated ), friends who had come to
welcome us home with wine and flowers. They took pictures, we greeted
each other, they toured the boat, we had wine and snacks, chatted,
and had a blast. It was so festive! It was so kind of all these
folks to take the time to come down to Penn's Landing to greet us. I
was so appreciative; it was a great homecoming! Chris and Charlie, who had taken us
down to Maryland in one unbelievably packed car....Charlie is a
packing genius!), at the start of this odyssey, drove me home with
lots of our stuff, and left us with homemade cinnamon buns for
breakfast Monday morning. It was so lovely and so thoughtful, I was
so touched. Roland got a ride home from Deborah and Sean after
everyone left and he closed up the boat.
I was thrilled to
be home, I love my plants, I love my house, I love it all; it was
just terrific to be home. But most of all I was looking forward to my
spacious and endless shower. I turned on the water and when it got
warm enough I flipped the diverter for the overhead
shower............and water poured out of the wall!!! What?????
After cleaning up the mess, I had my
well practiced “navy shower“ and went to bed. Like Magic Moments,
there’s always something in the house to fix, repair or
replace!
But, that was for another day (thank you Scarlett
O'Hara),. ......... right now I was just basking in the glow of our
homecoming.
