Back in Solomon's

Greetings from Solomon's (again). It has been a couple of days, so I thought I would send some updates.

Deltaville was an OK little town. We went into town to watch the town parade. The highlight of the parade was the Shriners. They put on quite a spectacle on Harley's and in little go karts. It was pretty funny to watch. Afterwards, the club had a large cookout back at the marina and we watched the local fireworks.

The next morning, we awoke to overcast skies and the prediction of rain. We made our way out of the creek. We had a few more porpoise come out to play as we were leaving. As soon as we got to open water, the rain began. It wasn't much, just a good steady rain that lasted all day long. Oh well. We went to Mills Creek just north of Deltaville. It was a beautiful anchorage and we had a nice evening.

After Mills Creek, it was up to the Cone River. This was a second night at anchor. It was another beautiful creek that was wide open. So we rafted all of the boats together and had a fun evening. We did a little bit of swimming, but there were still some jellies in the water. So it was a real fast swim.

After Cone River, it was off to Solomon's again. We motored the whole way. We realized on the way that the engine wasn't charging the batteries. (These things always seem to happen when I'm at the wheel.) So we kept on motoring for fear of turning of the engine and not having the battery power to start it again.

We came across Patuxent Naval Air Station. We saw a bunch of really neat stuff flying in and out. In particular, we saw an Osprey flying. If you have never seen one of those, they are really cool. It's one of those planes that can turn their props up and take off vertically. Then they rotate the props down and fly like a plane. Very cool!

So last night was the Styx concert. I didn't go, but you could hear the concert perfectly at the marina. Sounds like it was a good concert. They did "Come Sail Away" as their last song. Very appropriate, I thought.

Today, the mechanic came early to check things out. It turns out, the alternator was busted and wasn't creating any juice. Aren't boats wonderful?!?

After some breakfast, it was time to head rent some bikes and head to the stores for provisions. With the boat stocked up for a few more days, we decided to do some exploring. We took the bikes and saw a neat garden area. We then visited the Solomon's Island Winery for a tasting and to purchase some bottles for home. (We definitely need to come back here.)

Anyway, it's late afternoon and time for a swim in the pool. Tonight we have another club cookout and tomorrow we head North to Herrington Harbor South marina for two nights.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July. Hope you all have big plans for the day. Today, we are in Deltaville, VA. I don't know much about the area, but I know we are just below theRappahannock River.

So the latest of our adventures . . . We stayed in Solomon's until Friday morning. Jack and I spent a couple of restful days just hanging out. We rented some bikes and took a tour of the town. We visited the Calvert Marine Museum which was really cool. The museum has the Drum Point Lighthouse on site and completely remodeled so that you can walk through the whole lighthouse. We also tried some of the local restaurants. Oh, and the pool with the underwater music at the marina was interesting.

(Oh, and one other thing we learned . . . when we return to Solomons with the fleet on the 7th, Styx will be appearing in concert at the museum. Might have to check that one out!)

Thursday night, Jack's son, Jeff, rejoined us on the boat. Friday was going to be a long day so we were glad to have the additional crew back. We got up at 5 AM on Friday and were underway by around 6:30. We had guessed on about 12 hrs of sailing down to Deltaville.

We had some nice wind on the way. We saw a bunch of sting rays in the water and we had one dolphin stick a fin up to wave hi and then he was gone.

We pulled into Deltaville around 5:00 PM. It was a LONG day. There were two other boats here from our club, so we all went out for dinner at a local eatery.

So that brings you up to date. We are in Deltaville for the day today. Tomorrow we leave for one of the local anchorages.

Hope you all are doing well and see you all soon!

The Sailing Trip Begins

The captain aboard the ship has a laptop and we had a wireless connection. So I thought I would e-mail you all and say hi.

So far, it's been an interesting trip. Saturday morning, we sailed to Rock Hall to enjoy an evening at anchor in Swan Creek. We had our usual club party and had a nice peaceful evening.

Sunday morning, we got an early start and began the trek South. Winds were light until we got to the Bay Bridge. Then the wind picked up and we had a fantastic sail down the bay. We averaged about 6.5 - 7 knots which is pretty good for a sailboat. As evening came, the winds died again and we began to motor.

Then the fun began...around 10:30 PM, the engine all of a sudden started making a loud banging noise. It sounded like someone below with a hammer banging on the engine. We also started putting out either smoke or steam, but it was too dark to tell. Luckily, we were cruising South with another boat so they began to tow us for a bit. We eventually got a TowBoat to take us up to Solomon's Island. It was about a 3 hour tow ride. So we got into Solomon's about 4:00 in the morning on Monday. Obviously, followed by sleep.

Monday, we got a mechanic to check things out. Amazingly, everything was fine. He checked a few things. We started the engine and it ran beautifully. The only thing he could think of was that we had an injector stick which will cause the sounds we were hearing. So the good news is, all is good. The bad news is, we don't know exactly what happened.

That being the case, we felt it wasn't a good idea to head the 68 miles South to join the fleet. So we decided to stay in Solomon's until Friday and enjoy the many restaurants/shops/museum here. We'll just kick back and relax. Then Friday, we'll rejoin the fleet in Deltaville for the 4th of July festivities.

That's it from here. Off to see what adventures await us today in Solomon's Island. Catch you all soon!