Solomons Island, MD to Chesapeake, VA

   We have arrived on the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW), home of our friends the Coles and are looking forward to catching up and hanging out for awhile.  The trip down the Chesapeake was a whirlwind, we motored from Solomons to the Great Wicomico River, and stayed two nights in a nice secluded bay waiting for wind.  The entrance to the river was sketchy, with several uncharted fish traps to the north of the channel, we made sure we steered well clear, but it reinforced our decision to not travel the Chesapeake at night. We had a visitor, a boy and his dad paddled up in their canoe, complete with pirate flag, and demanded something sweet.  We obliged and learned that they were lucky enough to live on the point we were anchored just off.  Just down the river we had passed a stinky fish plant, and learned from our neighbor that it is the last Menhaden fish processing plant on the east coast, which manufactors fish oil...no wonder the smell!

   We battled a headwind the next day and had a fast sail, but only covered about 20 miles down to Deltaville.  Nice quaint neighborhood creek to wait out a passing front overnight and Kellee experimented to make bread in the pressure cooker with great success, definitely a recipe worth repeating, and super easy.  The next morning dawned chilly and we were anxious to move south.

   We had an awesome downwind sail under double reefed main all the way to Hampton Roads and made it in about an hour before sunset, covering 42 miles.  Our anchorage was a nice spot to watch the big ship traffic to go by and we slept well despite being right next to the entrance to the highway tunnel.  Monday morning we double checked our planning for the ICW, to make sure we would get through the bridges before the evening rush hour closures and headed into the ICW.  It was a busy Monday morning in Norfolk, we saw 4 different naval ships get underway and crossed several tug/barges traveling north. 

   6 bridges later, we arrived in the Cole's back yard. It's a perfect spot with the dock only a block away, we've planned several maintenance projects for this visit and are looking forward to catching up with our friends.  Please visit our videos page for a couple of new additions.

Downtown Annapolis, MD.

 Navigator has arrived on the ICW.