Washington, DC 28 June 2009

St. Clements Island about 30 miles up the Potomac River is where the original Maryland colonists, arriving on the Ark and the Dove in 1634, erected a wooden cross. The cross here is made of stone and was erected in 1934.

Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge about 50 miles south of Washington. It is the only bridge crossing the Potomac other than the bridges in the immediate DC area.

Lots of pleasure craft on the Potomac
including this small boat with a sun umbrella protecting the lone fisherman waiting for a catch.

We captured Mt. Vernon ,the home of George Washington. There were lots of tourists on the grounds.
Not only do the tourists come by buses and cars but a ferry boat passed us which had tourists heading for the boat dock in front of Mt. Vernon.

Fort Washington on the Maryland side of the river just below Washington.

The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge. If you look closely under the bridge span you can see the Washinton Monument.

As we approached the marina at James Creek we captured this picture of the Capitol off in the distance. We left Spring Cove Marina on June 24th and motor-sailed to St Mary's at the mouth of the Potomac. On the 25th we started heading up the Potomac to St Clemons Bay where we spent the night and the following day waited out a cold front. We got up early on Sat. the 27th-6:00 am and left for the long journey up the potomac (about 73 miles) to Washinton, DC. We will spend a day or two visiting the Washington Mall and Museums.

St Marys City, MD and St Clements Bay, MD, 25 June 2009

We are anchored in the St. Clement's Bay. You can see some of the residences on the shore a short distance away. This area is considered a suburb of Washington DC.

We passed this tall ship as we were leaving Solomons Island, MD on Wednesday morning, 24 June. She was one of several tall ships that were at St Marys City celebrating the 375th anniversary of its founding last weekend. St. Marys was the original capitol of Maryland.

At St. Marys City, this is a replica of one of the two ships that founded the colony.

Sunset in the St. Mary's river.

Solomons, MD 24 June 2009

We spent last weekend visiting with our son Lee his wife Evie and our grand kids Chloie and Emery who were camping in western North Carolina near Ashville. The mountains in this area are beautiful with sweeping vistas. Here we are at Grandfather Mountain near the highest point in the Smokies. This foot bridge is one mile high.

Local fauna.

There are some great caves in the area.
Here's Emery enjoying the view and scaring his grand parents by running along the edge of the cliff.

Just amazing views.

We had the boat at a local marina in Solomons for some minor work and now we are off again. We will cruise the Chesapeake a bit by heading up the Potomac possibly up to Washington DC in a few days.

June 10, 2009 Solomons, MD

We left Hampton, Virgina on Sunday morning June 7th under light winds- 5 kts so we motored up the Chesapeake Bay about 47 nautical miles to an anchorage called Fishing Bay. Lots of pleasure craft and fishing boats in the bay under blue skies and calm seas. Fishing Bay is a pleasant quiet anchorage. We had the company of several sail and power boats anchored not far from us. Up at 6:30 am the following morning for another light wind trip north about 60 nautical miles to Spring Cove Marina in the Solomons which is about 60 miles south of Annapolis. We are having some minor boat maintenance done at this marina. This is the same marina that put in our new engine a year and a half ago. It is a lovely marina. We were surrounded by baby gosslings while at Great Bridge.

Almost all of the channel markers along the intercoastal waterway had nests of baby Ospreys. Some of the nests had 3 babies and both mother and dad where feeding them.

Hampton, VA 7 June 2009

We spent Friday June 5th at Great Bridge all day because of the periodic torrential rains. On Saturday the 6th we left Great Bridge,VA at 8 am catching the Bridge and the Lock without any competing traffic. It was overcast all day but no rain. Later in the morning a fleet of power boats and trawlers heading north in the seasonal migration passed us as they speed ed up the ICW. As we passed Norfolk we saw a large ocean liner tied up at the city docks with a huge HDTV screen on the top deck capturing the tourists pictures who looked like they were enjoying their stay on the ship. The Navy Shipyards looked as busy as ever. As we crossed over the bay into Hampton there was the usual container ship and barge traffic. Once we docked at Blue Water Marina we were surrounded by pirate activity- the Black Beard festival was going on with a battle between two tall ships and pirate flags heralding the activity. At night we watched the fireworks display across the harbor. Today we are going to head up Cheasapeake Bay about 55 miles to an anchorage and then on Monday to Spring Cove Marina in the Solomons for some minor ship maintenance.

June 5,2009, Great Bridge, VA

Charleston Suspension Bridge. We took this picture as we left Charleston heading to Beaufort, B.C.

Captain Gordon at the helm. Not much wind but lots of warm sun.

We left Charleston, SC on Sat. May 30th and made a long run (2 days) to Beaufort, NC. Arrived in Beaufort just after sunrise. We had very light winds all the way so motor sailed. There were lots of pleasure craft and fishing vessels out of Charleston and the beaches were packed with sun bathers. Once 10 miles out there were very few boats so we

had the sea to ourselves. The night time skies were full of stars and a quarter moon gave us light through most of the night. The planet ( Venus) rose early in the morning and cast a light on the seas as it rose in the distant horizon. We replenished our diesel tank with some fuel in Beaufort and then continued our journey to a small anchorage in the Intercoastal Waterway called South River (off the Neuse River) The next morning we continued on the intercoastal waterway where we saw more northbound traffic- trawlers and sailboats. We made a 12 hour run to Belhaven and the following day a long hull (90 miles to Coinjock, NC). It was nice to get a hot shower when we were in Coinjock. Yesterday we proceeded to Great Bridge were we are currently docked, waiting for a good weather window-it is raining for our journey up the Chesapeake Bay which we hope to do on Sunday.