Miles River Yacht Club on Monday (10/21) morning was still rainy and windy when we got up so we weren’t sure if we would go or if we would stay today. We consulted Mike’s girlfriend, “Windy” and my boyfriend “Noah”, (NOAA to most folks) and they said it should start to clear by 8:00 am and be a good travel day. Lo and behold around 8:00 the sun started to peek through the clouds and the breeze started to die. Wow, they were spot on!

Once we got Scout-About back on her perch and got things ready to take off it was about 9:25. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. On shore we could see that the leaves were just beginning to change colors. The sky was all sunshine, puffy white clouds and a beautiful blue. On the water the reflection looked like diamonds and we saw power boats and lots of sailboats out enjoying the day. Inside the boat it was jackets, long pants, socks and tennis shoes. I also pulled out a scarf and gloves.  It was one of those “pinch me” days. As in… “pinch me” …do we really get to do this? How lucky are we?

Along the way we saw an island being built from harbor and channel dredging’s and a 900+ foot CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) ship being off loaded while guarded by security boats with machine guns on the bow and stern.

Our beautiful journey today was just under six hours. We had been to Solomon’s Island, MD before so we decided to drop the anchor rather than dock at the Yacht Club. I have to say there is something comforting about returning to someplace you’ve been before. Since leaving on January 9^th every single destination has been totally new and unfamiliar (oh, except for Oriental, New Bern and Wormley Creek). Going back to familiar places feels good.  We arrived a little after 3:00 and dropped anchor. There were only two other boats (sailboats) in the anchorage. Once our anchor was set three more boats (sailboats) pulled in and later in the evening a power boat came in. There were seven of us in the cove, but we had plenty of room in about 15 feet of water.

 We were only a few hundred feet from Solomon’s Island Yacht Club, so we lowered Scout-About, cruised in and tied up at their dinghy dock to go ashore. Michael was intrigued by the “Tiki Bar”. When we were here in late September the place was teeming with bikini clad females and topless males, but we never ventured inside. I guess we were hanging out with the older Yacht Club crowd – or as someone we met called them – the red (turns pink after washing) pants. So, today we ventured inside. There was not one person there except the bar tender and manager. It was completely dead. There is a photo on their wall of the April 1998 grand opening and there are 100’s – no, maybe 1,000’s of people in attendance. It’s quite the place. The bartender told us they host an anniversary party every year in April. Michael put it in his calendar. She also said they will completely close down in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, we spent the night on the hook. It was a bit rocky-rolly and noisy from the water slapping against the hull. We’re not sure why because it wasn’t that windy and there didn’t seem to be any boat traffic. So, we’re asking ourselves if it was worth it to anchor out verses paying $82 a night to be tied up at the Yacht Club dock. Not sure, I guess we will have to decide next April.

Tuesday (10/22) morning it was another – do we go or do we stay now? “Windy” and “Noah’s” advice wasn’t quite as black and white today. We decided to go but we also had several “ditch” options in case we had to run from the weather. We departed our Solomon’s Island, MD anchorage about 9:25 in a light fog and headed across the Chesapeake for Crisfield, MD. We had a little bit of everything today – light fog, light rain, spray up to the fly-bridge, gunnel to gunnel rolling, flat seas and some sunshine – all in our four-and- one-half hour cruise. It was an interesting day, but we didn’t have to search for a ditch-out place. Today there were mostly working people on the water, fishermen who locals call “watermen”, and not many pleasure craft.

We arrived at Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield, MD around 2:30. It’s a very large marina but looked to be about 90% vacant. Once we got settled, we hopped off to take the doggies to attend to business and find a place for a late lunch and a beer. We walked about a mile in two directions but no luck. The town was dead – no one around, few places open and many boarded up. It looked quite depressing and desperate. So sad really. Back to the boat for dinner on board.

We’re happy we didn’t wait longer to start heading south. You can tell there are seasons in this neck of the woods, and they are definitely beginning to shut-the-door on the yachting season!

Wednesday (10/23) yet another do we go or stay day. “Windy” and “Noah” thought it would be ok, but again we had several “ditch” plans. We didn’t want to get stuck in Crisfield, so we headed back across the Bay about 10:00. It was a little rough today but not scary. Four hours later we arrived at Dozier’s Regatta Point Marina in Deltaville, VA. Another familiar place and we even saw some folks we met when we were here in September, nice! Once settled at Dozier’s I took the courtesy car to do some grocery shopping. Then it was re-stocking and cleaning. Nothing new here so we had a nice quiet night and dinner on board.

Thursday (10/24) morning we made another last-minute decision to travel today based on the future weathercast. We were going to another familiar location – Wormley Creek Marina. Wormley Creek is where we ended up when we were running from Hurricane Dorian earlier this year, so we have a “warm and fuzzy” feeling for this marina. After breakfast, at about 10:10, we released our lines and headed south down the Bay to the Yorktown river in Virginia.  It was an epic cruise. We arrived about 2:00 and tied up in our old slip. Nice! We’ll be here a few days then we’ll continue heading south. Will keep you posted…….

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