Trip Diary for July, 2006: In the Chesapeake Bay

Saturday, July 1; Solomons, MD: The day was primarily devoted to allowing the new crew, Sandy and Klaus, to recuperate from their long drive yesterday.  Lola spent most of her boat time dealing with 6 weeks of mail that Sharon Hawks had carefully assembled and given to Sandy to bring to us.  About 11:45 we took the dinghy to the Captain's Table for a great lunch and then toured Back and Mill Creeks as we returned; "dinner" was at McDonalds when we went grocery shopping.

Sunday, July 2; Onancock, VA: We left Calvert's Marina at 7:45 AM, knowing the 10-15 mph winds would produce rough water.  While not terrible, the 2-4 ft. waves throughout most of the trip made an uncomfortable ride.  To minimize the duration, we ran at 18-19 mph for all but the first and the last 5 mi. segments, covering the 64 mi to the small, but friendly Onancock Wharf by noon.  After a light lunch of leftovers aboard we walked 3 blocks into town.  It was beautifully decorated for the 4th with flags along all walks. However, temperatures we were in the mid-90's and we decided it was too hot to continue a walking tour.  Returning, the men napped while Sandy re-worked Lola's nails.  Dinner was aboard: grilled brats, fresh roasting ears and pasta salad.

Monday, July 3; Tangier Island, VA: After showers and breakfast, we resumed yesterday's aborted walking tour of the delightful small town of Onancock.  We stopped for outstanding rolls and coffee at the Corner Bakery, but most of the stores were closed until noon except for a few that would open at 10.  Thus, we returned to drop lines at 9:50 AM after welcoming aboard 4 boaters who wanted a ride to their catamaran anchored in the nearby bay.  Waves on Tangier Sound were only 1-3 ft. and we ran at cruise speed over that open water.  The highlight was seeing two medium sized cownosed rays beside the boat near the east Tangier Island entrance channel.  Tangier Island is a quaint community with a watermen economy primarily dependent on crabbing supplemented by tourism. The entrance channel is lined with crab shacks. Parks Marina, the only one on this island, is small, but very friendly.  Shortly after docking at 11:45 AM we were surprised by the arrival of Don and Joanne Cameron, Ontario acquaintances from the AGLCA fall rendezvous aboard Time & Space.  They joined us for a delightful lunch at the Channel Marker.  We returned to find the electricity off with temperatures in the 90's.  After the manager re-enabled it a couple of times it was clear there was insufficient power along the dock for all boats to run AC.  He agreed to relocate us to a dock with more power whenever a day-transient boat at that dock departed.  We cranked up the genny to have AC for the expected delay of 1-2 hrs; last summer's problem with the AC main breaker reoccurred so we could run only one unit.  When the other boat owners returned, alarms rang as they started their engine, so another hour passed while they diagnosed and fixed the problem of low hydraulic fluid.  We relocated just before a beautiful sunset and grilled hot dogs for dinner aboard.

Tuesday, July 4; Solomons, MD: West winds picked up overnight to 10-15 mph, so we dropped lines with only coffee at 6:55 AM.  Waves were 2-4 ft. as we entered the bay, but soon calmed to 2-3 for most of the 47 mi. back to our slip at Calvert's.  Running at cruise speed most of the way, we arrived back by 9:50.  After settling in, we went to Four Winds about 100 yds. from the boat for a great lunch.  Temperatures reached 94 with high humidity in the afternoon, so we primarily stayed inside and watched a movie.  By 7 PM a front reached us, lowering temperatures by 20 degrees and bringing intense thunderstorms.  Between storms we managed to grill steaks with roasting ears for dinner aboard.

Wednesday, July 5; Baltimore, MD: We loaded into the car at 9 AM for a rainy 80 mi. drive to Baltimore and its National Aquarium in Harbor Center.  We especially enjoyed its Australian and frog exhibits as well as its dolphin show. Upon leaving the museum, Lola and Sandy spent 1.5 hr. shopping nearby while Larry and Klaus toured the submarine Torsk and the Coast Guard cutter Taney.  We returned via Annapolis for a wonderful, albeit pricey, dinner at the Chart House.  It was 10 PM by the time we reached the boat.

Thursday, July 6; Solomons, MD: The morning, still rainy, was devoted to laundry and removal of the defective air conditioner main breaker on the generator's fuse panel.  We returned to the Captain's Table for lunch as the rains stopped after totaling 2 in. and then went shopping south to California, MD.  Returning, we loaded the car for driving to IN tomorrow and then grilled chops for a fine dinner aboard.

July 7-9: Friday Klaus and Sandy drove us back to their home in Noblesville, IN where Keith and Sharon Hawks picked us up for the last leg to W. Lafayette, completing the 715 mi. trip about 10:30 PM.  Saturday was devoted to local re-entry matters and getting ready to depart Sunday for central IL to attend church with Larry's mother in Macon and then go to the nearby Kater family reunion, the first in more than 30 years, at Lola's home farm.

July 10-17; Portland, OR: We left home Monday at 3:15 AM to drive to the Indy airport for a 6 AM flight to Portland, OR and the annual meeting of Larry's professional engineering society, ASABE.  Frontier Airlines provided on-time, pleasant flights to Portland via Denver.  We arrived at 10 AM PDT, but our bodies felt like it had already been a long day.  Lola rushed to her 10:30 AM luncheon, arriving only a few minutes late, while Larry had a more leisurely startup.  Tuesday and Wednesday were also devoted to ASABE activities, primarily at the Convention Center.  Thursday began with a 1 hr. delayed bus for the Mt. St. Helens' tour with an outstanding Eco-tours guide, Jeff.  While much of the valley has grown back since the volcano's last major explosion in 1980, there is also still substantial evidence of nature's phenomenal power. Our starting delay turned out to be fortuitous, as crater clouds cleared by the time we reached the viewing area. The crater now has two interior domes.  The older one (dark area in the picture) has been inactive since 2004 with a newer one, partially obscured by femurs and clouds, growing at the rate of 6 ft. per day.  Friday we drove west along the Oregon side of the Columbia River toward Mt. Hood. The scenery was spectacular! Our first stop was beautiful Wahkeena Falls, followed shortly by the less picturesque, but much taller 620 ft. Multnomah Falls. As we neared the city of Hood River, the Columbia was loaded with wind surfers and kite boarders attracted by the strong winds that regularly blow up the Columbia Gorge. We spent the night at the beautiful Resort at the Mountain in Welches, OR.  Saturday morning we headed toward Oceanside and the beautiful Oregon Pacific coast. As is our custom, we visited a lighthouse; the decommissioned Cape Meares light is unusually short because of its cliff location that offered a spectacular coastal view. After driving 50 mi. north along the coast, we returned to Tillamook for a night at the Red Apple Inn, a dubious choice.  Sunday we drove back up the coast to Seaside for a walk in the Pacific. Next was Fort Stevens to view the Peter Iredale shipwreck before an extended visit to the nearby Fort Clatsop, the site where Lewis & Clark wintered before returning from their westward quest in 1804 to find a water route across the continent, with its outstanding exhibits and literature.  After stopping in Astoria for a late good lunch at the Silver Salmon, we returned to Portland and feasted on Salty's outstanding appetizers and desserts while enjoying an incredible sunset view of Mt. Hood and the Columbia (camera was at the hotel).  We left the Holiday Inn near the airport at 7:45 AM for the return Frontier flight Monday.  Both the Portland and Denver departures were an hour late, so we arrived in Indy about 8:30 PM.  By the time Larry exchanged a dead car battery with the new one from the trunk (we knew it was failing), it was after 11 PM when we reached W. Lafayette.

Tuesday-Thursday, July 18-20; W. Lafayette, IN: We spent 3 days catching up on sleep, personal business and a few Purdue obligations before returning to the Chesapeake.

Friday, July 21; a day driving: We left W. Lafayette in our car at 6:45 AM with an initial stop by Sandy's Indy office to leave materials.  The remainder of the day was spent with both Lola and Larry driving in very heavy traffic, arriving at Calvert Marina about 10:45 PM after an extended stop in Haggerstown, MD for dinner and returning earlier purchases; observed only one road accident, a serious one involving a van and semi north of Washington, DC.

July 22-31; Solomons, MD: Saturday we unpacked, re-supplied and cleaned the boat.  Sunday began with 9:15 AM services at the small, but welcoming Solomon's United Methodist Church on the island, established in 1784! Dave and Jan Beasley, past Head of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at NC State and formerly on the Purdue ABE faculty, arrived about 11:15 AM.  After chicken salad sandwiches aboard, we toured the excellent Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons.  We especially enjoyed close-up cownosed rays we first saw near Tangier Island. The unusual, decomissioned and relocated Drum Point Lighthouse was also impressive. Monday was a cooler, beautiful day with very little wind, so we took the Lola Marie for a 5 hr., 39 mi. trip on a totally flat Chesapeake to Cove Point with its lighthouse and LNG terminal and then several miles up the Patuxent River.  We were surprised to observe several dozen huge schools of menhaden/alewives on the surface for a few miles north of the Patuxent River mouth. Returning about 3:15, we rested before going to Solomon's Pier on the Island for excellent seafood dinners with its delightful sunset view of the gracefully arching Gov. Thomas Johnson bridge over the Patuxent. Tuesday started with a visit to the Annmarie Garden about .5 mi. from our marina, a large and beautiful forest with many outdoor sculptures maintained by the Smithsonian; this oysterman and zebra-painted seahorse are but two examples.  Next we drove south 15 mi. to restored historic St. Mary's City on the St. Mary's River, the 4th European permanent N. American settlement and Maryland's first capital. We even saw the Maryland Dove, a replica of the ship that brought the first 140 settlers to Maryland in 1634. We returned and continued north 11 mi. for a close-up view of the Cove Point Lighthouse that we saw yesterday from the water.  Beasley's departed at 8:15 Wednesday morning.  After resting and a late lunch aboard, we visited the laundry and drove to West Marine to pick up a order.  Ron Spalding returned to replace the lost zinc on the starboard prop shaft.  When he finished and Larry reconnected power to the boat, the 50 amp supply socket powering all air conditioners began smoking; one of its wires that had vibrated loose melted!  Larry devoted the remainder of the afternoon to removing the ruined wall-mounted power input socket and the fried 50 amp line plug that supplies its shore power.  Thursday was totally devoted to repairing the power system.  This included a trip to Annapolis to obtain parts and to make a few purchase returns.  Temperatures reached 95, so the lack of air conditioning made the work uncomfortable.  By bedtime, we could run a single AC unit.  Friday was spent putting the finishing touches on the wiring systems, including checking the tightness of wires on every electrical cord plug and socket (several were found to be less than tight).  Afternoon temperatures reached 98, so even the short periods when it was necessary to turn off power quickly resulted in a hot interior.  An hour prior to dinner, we took the boat a half-mile up Back Creek to Calvert's pump-out with its very tight dock.  Tired, but happy to have everything back in safe working order, we went to Taco Bell for dinner.  It was so nice to return to a cool boat before showering.  Except for going to the marina laundromat, we spent all of Saturday aboard.  Lola ironed while Larry restored order to the pilothouse after having many tools out for the electrical work.  About 4:30 we enjoyed a brief intermission for a wine tasting party at Four Winds before reading time and early bed.  Sunday AM we went back to Solomon's UMC for services.  Returning via McDonalds for a light brunch, we spent the afternoon vacuuming and reading.  Temperatures continued in the mid-90's, but moderate winds made it feel better than the previous two days.  Having temporarily satiated our desire for the area's excellent seafood, we drove 12 mi. (having a car certainly increases one's options) to Outback in California, MD for dinner.  With temperatures reaching 97 Monday afternoon we opened and worked the Mt. St. Helens puzzle Beasley's gave us, staying aboard the boat all day until 7:30 PM when we left to shower and wash laundry.

Water miles traveled this month: 173 (total 5,429).

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