May 1-2, 2021 Coming Home

 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.