Up the Hudson River & More Cousins! in Hyde Park

         We entered the Hudson River on Sunday morning.  We cruised past Liberty State Park and the Empire State Building and then we were passing by the little red lighthouse as we went under the George Washington Bridge - Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse. 

It’s always amazing to us how quickly we leave the buildings and busy-ness of the City behind to find forested rolling hills and cliffs.  The Hudson River valley just gets prettier and prettier the farther north you travel.  We found an anchorage labeled “End of Con Hook” in a bend of the river on the New Jersey side and dropped anchor there for the night.  Trains run along the shore on both sides - Amtrak on the New York side and freight trains on the NJ side.  Freight trains are much louder.  It took several of them passing before we stopped jumping up to see if a large boat was bearing down on us.

On Monday (Memorial Day - May 29) we had a destination:  Hyde Park, a little north of Poughkeepsie.  I have a cousin who lives here, whom I haven’t seen in many years.  Jean had recommended a couple of marinas and we chose the one in the Mills Norrie State Park, called Norrie Point.  It’s a bargain at $1.25/foot, and though it doesn’t offer much beyond a restroom building with showers, it is nestled in a large state park that has miles of trails and it’s only a short cab ride into Hyde Park.  We didn’t need the cab, Jean came to pick us up for a reacquaintance Memorial Day barbecue at her home.  We met Jean’s husband Andy, and their four cats before settling on the back porch. Over hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad and watermelon, we reminisced about our families and extended families, catching up on our lives.  

On Tuesday, Jean took us to tour the FDR Presidential Library, Museum, and family home. It was really impressive to walk through the displays of his life and his four terms of the presidency.  We’d learned a lot about him when we toured the summer home in Campobello last August, but he and Eleanor both have so much history between them, you really need to spend a lot of time in both places to learn it all.  Jean and Andy both love history.  He builds intricate dioramas, specializing in Revolutionary War scenes, and Jean had a lot of extra knowledge that augmented our FDR tour.  She drove us around the town to show us the Top Cottage where FDR met with foreign leaders, and Stone Cottage where Eleanor lived.  We also saw the Vanderbilt mansion and were treated to river vistas and many local stories.  Hyde Park was fun stop, and it was wonderful to reconnect with a member of my family that I haven't seen for so long. 

FDR's Study

View from the Vanderbilt property

New York City Harbor

Dan makes friends even at the fuel dock.

     Saturday morning May 27th we were up and out of Applegate Cove by 0700, before the pleasure boaters started zipping around.  There were, however, plenty of fishermen out, many of them gathered in the channel.  They fished from all manner of boats big and small - even kayaks and jetskis.  We made our way out of Manasquan and traveled along the New Jersey coast up to Sandy Hook, where we made a fuel stop and saw our friend Jay on Nomaste riding at anchor there.  He’s heading home and we made plans to reconnect when we’re back home in 2024. 

From there we went right up to New York Harbor.  The predicted gusts of 20 knots in the afternoon never materialized, and except for the zoo of ferries, tour boats, tugs, tankers, cruise ships, and other boaters like us, the sea itself was fairly calm. 

        We ducked behind the Statue of Liberty and moved further north to anchor behind Ellis Island.  The views of the City are spectacular, almost worth the constant noise of helicopters and the thumping music of the tour boats.  We sat down on our back deck with drinks and chips to people- and boat-watch, keeping everything battened down because of the constant wakes.  We must have gotten used to all the motion and commotion, because neither of us had trouble sleeping that night.

 

NJ-ICW

Marsh at Sunset

 

       We spent three nights in New Jersey.  Wednesday May 24th we moved from the Cohansey River and stayed along the shoreline all the way to the Cape May canal, with the last five miles or so really lumpy.  We were so glad to get inside New Jersey, out of the winds and current.  We debated anchoring in front of the USCG base there, but there is no real shore access in Cape May unless you stay at a marina, so we pushed on to Sunset Lake to drop the hook there.  We were one of two vessels anchored, the other was Jay on Nomaste (No Mast), a red lobster-boat trawler from Buck’s Harbor, Maine.  We visited with him for a few minutes before we went ashore for some supplies.  

We had contemplated a run up the coast to Atlantic City or beyond, but the weather was predicting strong, gusty winds for several days, with accompanying strong seas.  Many of the other Great Loopers we’d come to know were sheltering in place until a good weather window opened up.  We didn’t want to hang around, so we consulted the tide chart and decided to do the inside passage again.  Its best to take it at a mid-tide rising, but even then there are some spots that, on the chart, look too shallow.  We never found less than 7 feet, but it was still slow going because the run from Cape May to Atlantic City has many, many bridges, and lots of no-wake sections, as well as though iffy charted spots.  We didn’t make it Atlantic City until Friday, but by the end of the day we were anchored only five miles from Manasquan, in Applegate Cove.  A weather window was opening for Saturday and we were determined to take it, even if it did mean Friday was a twelve hour cruising day.  While we cruised I spent some of the time logging all the bridges.  We have the Boat Galley’s compilation of the Atlantic ICW, but now we have a comprehensive list of all the NJ bridges, complete with heights and opening times.  

Point Pleasant Canal

Fishing from the beach.

        

        We don’t know why people are adamant about not going inside New Jersey.  Sure, it can be slow, and it can be a little nerve-wracking in one or two places, but if you pick your tides and watch the buoys, you’ll also be treated to miles of marshland, many kinds of birds, fishermen in all sorts of craft, and little children eagerly waving to you from their docks or porches.  You’ll also avoid the snotty winds and lumpy seas.  But then again, if it’s a nice weekend or better yet, a holiday weekend, you’ll get just as tossed around by everyone determined to go as fast as possible in their pleasure boats.  That might be a good reason to wait and go outside!

Fishing from a kayak!

Rock Hall, Chesapeake City, and Delaware Bay

         We had a leisurely morning in Kirwin Creek, watching a local waterman fish crab on trot lines.  In a small skiff, the man slowly hauled up one long line, examining each baited section for a crab - the crabs grab onto the bait and hang there - ready with a net to collect any crabs.  He patiently went back and forth along the same lines several times.  Crab season has only just begun.  We saw many boats loaded down with pots ready to be set.  

We got to Rock Hall just before noon on Sunday May 21.  Cousins Denny and Laura were working at Haven Harbor South Marina this weekend, and that is where they put us, at a dock in Rock Hall harbor.  Dan and I took care of chores (laundry, shopping) while we waited for our  to finish their work day.  We took them out to dinner at the Blue Heron Restaurant where had great seafood and got all caught up with news and exchanging pictures of our grandchildren. 

Denny had told us we’d have a great sunset view from our dock and he wasn’t wrong!

Monday we left early for the cruise to Chesapeake City.  Our timing couldn’t have been better - the entire free dock was empty, and only one boat was in the anchorage.  We chose the free dock for easy access to shore; we’d move to the anchorage later.  We love this little town with its dollhouse-like houses and we spent about an hour walking up and down the streets, admiring front porches and poking our heads into a couple of the stores.  We decided to walk around the anchorage basin to the C & D Canal Museum.  It hadn’t been open last fall.  We couldn’t tell if it was open for the season or even on a Monday, but we figured we’d take our chances.  It was a nice day for a walk no matter what.  

The Museum was open!  It’s housed in the old brick building that housed the steam engines and flywheel that operated the old lock - and the machinery is still there and impressive to see.  There are many pictures of the older versions of the canal and the ships that passed through them, as well as a diorama of the lock that once occupied this spot.  It’s a small museum, but well worth a visit.

When we got back to the dock, our friends Joe and Lynn on No Rush had rafted to us and we all took drinks and chairs to the pavilion in the waterfront park for ‘docktails’ and spent some time getting to know each other.  They are also on the Great Loop, having begun their journey in Michigan.  After our drinks, Dan and I took the Willie Dawes over to the anchorage and No Rush settled into our spot at the dock for the night.  Chesapeake City’s dock offers power and water for a nominal fee, but the overnight itself is free.  

This morning we left around 0900 to head through the C & D Canal into Delaware Bay.  It’s a long way to Cape May, and it’s not a bad run if conditions are good, but today we knew the NE wind was turning E and then SE, which would make it a long and lumpy run, so we had several possible destinations in mind.  At first we thought we’d anchor just belong the nuclear power plant, then we thought we’d push on to Bivalve, and in the end we split the difference and anchored in the Cohansey River as white caps were starting to cover Delaware Bay.  It’s pretty and quiet in here, mostly marshland.  Already we’ve seen several bald eagles as well as osprey.  

Cohansey River - much better view than the power plant!

Chesapeake Bay

         We left Rebel Marina on Wednesday morning May 17.  The sky was lowery and the winds were forecasting strong easterlies coming.  It was either go now, or waiting until the weekend, and we decided to go.  David Briggs - marina owner and dockmaster - gave me a lookover when I settled up, and bid me to come look at the chart of the Chesapeake Bay he had on his wall.  He suggested the direction to take and gave us a couple of options for anchoring, his manner telling me he was thinking if we really meant to leave, he was going to make sure we had a safe place to go.  “You don’t want to be over here -“ he motioned to Mobjack Bay on the west side of the Chesapeake “Not with a strong east wind.”  

We followed his advice.  It a lumpy run out of Willoughby spit into the Chesapeake - the NNE wind was against the favorable tide and current.  We had thought about trying for Crisfield, but it was too uncomfortable to endure these conditions all day, and the wind was picking up, so we took the channel toward Cape Charles and followed it just north of that harbor and turned into King’s Creek.  Navionics was dead on saying the turn was confusing; there were markers all over, some private, some official, and most of them weren’t in our chart plotter.  We figured it out, though, and slowly motored our way between the very shallow oyster farms into a small basin in front of Oyster Farm Marina. 

They hailed us and offered us a slip, but we found the small anchorage and decided to stay there, hoping the tide didn’t leave us on the bottom.  David had understated that this area was “tricky” and “shallow”, but it was well-protected, and we spent a quiet night and the tide didn’t affect us. 

We had another lumpy day on Thursday, clinging to the shore as much as possible to find a little shelter from the east winds, and this time made our way to Crisfield.  This was our first time in this town, and the picture below sums it up fairly well: most of the town is for sale.  We got there early afternoon and anchored in a very well-protected cove, in front of the US Coast Guard facility.  We rowed ashore to find a town that offered very little beyond a couple candy stores and restaurants.  Most of the main street was not just shut down, but shuttered over and for sale.  We’ve seen many a depressed waterfront town, but this one tops the list.  It offers ferries over to Tangiers and Smith Island, but both islands are sinking (and Smith is all but inhabited now), and there’s little to attract tourists beyond the novelty of a one-time visit.  Hopefully Crisfield will find a way to reinvent itself, but right now it’s pretty sad to walk through.  

On Friday morning we moved from there up into Tangier Sound to a nice little anchorage in Duck Point Cove, off the Honga River.  Again the passage was rough, and a barge we passed en route advised us not to go out into the Bay itself, as it was “really sloppy.”  We hadn’t planned to anyway - we were just fine making short hops up the Chesapeake as we waited for things to quiet down.  

We found that quiet today - Saturday.  The day started out with a misty fog and a SE wind blowing about 10.  The forecast kept changing, and we were prepared to stop at any time should the wind shift to the west or thunderstorms brew up suddenly .  Both had been predicted in various forecasts.  But the winds died down and the waters took on that glassy calm that the Chesapeake can achieve so suddenly, and we had a pleasant day traveling northward.  We spotted other trawlers creeping out of their protected spots to take advantage of what is probably the calm between two fronts.  The sun came out and as the afternoon wore on we entered the Eastern Bay heading toward Kent’s Narrows, and pleasure boaters started to come out to play as well.  We dropped anchor in Kirwin Creek, off Prospect Bay.  We'll have an easy run to Rock Hall tomorrow.  

One of many weirs we passed today.

Out of the Dismal to Norfolk

         We moved from the Welcome Center to a free dock at the Douglass Landing, which is a small park on the Virginia side of the Dismal Swamp.

There is a length of road here that is closed to cars; that day it was used for cyclists training for an upcoming race as well as a few runners.  We walked alongside the road for about an hour before returning to the boat and continuing on toward the end of the canal.  We tied off at the seawall just before Deep Creek bridge.  Since the bridge and adjoining lock open only four times a time, many boats tie off here to wait for a designated time.  If they have a lot of time to wait, it’s just a short walk to the town where there is fast food and a grocery store and other businesses, and this is what we did while we were there:  we went shopping.  We made the last bridge opening at 3:30 pm, but declined to enter the lock, instead anchoring in front of the lock for a quiet night. 

The next morning we left the Dismal Swamp and were almost immediately in the busy-ness of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia.  The Elizabeth River divides the two cities, and the shore line is devoted to tugboats, big ships, and the US Naval fleet and shipyard on both sides.  We turned into the free dock in Portsmouth, right in front of the Portsmouth Naval Museum, squeezing into the last available space.  

We had not toured the Museum last fall when we’d stayed here, so this was the first thing we did once we were settled.  It’s a wonderful little museum and gives a great history of the naval shipyard and surrounding town of Portsmouth.  We also got a tour of the lightship Portsmouth dry-docked on the other side of the museum building.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the historic district, pausing to read from our pamphlet about the various houses and plaques, and ended our self-tour with a drink in a small bar to celebrate Mother’s Day.  

Monday, May 15th we moved over to the Norfolk side of the river, to Rebel Marina.  We have a history here, as people who have read our 2015 blog know.  This is where we came ashore to take our cat to the vet after she’d been sick from her walkabout adventure in Rock Hall.  The folks at Rebel leant us their car and let us use their washer and dryer (I did seven loads of laundry!) to deal with Tommie’s illness.  They didn’t remember us, but they did remember the cat!  I only did two loads of laundry this time.  

We didn’t need their car this time.  Our good friend Jeanne picked us up on Tuesday morning to take me to my doctor’s appointment for xrays and a follow up consultation on my hand injury.  Good news on that front - my fractures are healed enough for me to stop wearing a splint!  (Now I begin the tough work of therapy- and believe me, after nearly nine weeks, it is tough.)  After my appointment Jeanne took us to one of her favorite lunch places - Danny’s Hotdogs.  We placed our orders and then posed for pictures.  Bernard, one of the owners, came running outside to get in the picture with us. 

Food collected, we got back in the car and Jeanne gave us a bit of a history tour of Norfolk as she took us to her home where Bob, currently housebound recovering from foot surgery was waiting.  (Jeanne, we think, should start a side business of bus tours of Norfolk.  She knows just about everything about the town.)  The four of us and their three dogs spent a great afternoon on their front porch enjoying our takeout and catching up.  

We pledged to get together again next year when we pass this way on our way home.

To the Dismal

          We crossed into North Carolina on May 5th and we’ve been traversing its coastline for a week.  We made a stop in Southport for a late lunch at Fishy Fishy, after a walk around town.  Dan got his shrimp & grits fix.  We moved from their dock to the Carolina Beach anchorage - no overnights allowed! In fact, the manager came out to tell us we couldn’t hang around at all once we’d eaten. Good thing we did our walk first… 

From there it was a good cruise through the Camp LeJeune marine base to their Mile Hammock Bay for a quiet night with a small handful of other boats.  No war games that night.  We kept our cruising around North Carolina and up to one of our favorite towns - Oriental.  On the way we made a stop at RE Mayo for Dan to pick up some shrimp so he can try to duplicate the shrimp & grits meal he enjoyed at Fishy Fish.  We took advantage of Oriental’s free docks for two nights while the wind blew hard from the east.  Unfortunately, most of the things we tried to visit were closed on Sundays and Mondays, the two days we were there.  Our bad luck streak continues!  

From Oriental we pushed on to Belhaven, another sleepy little town very friendly to boaters.  We’d never been there before, and found it very charming.  As we approached their breakwater, the River Forest Marina hailed us on the radio and offered us a slip.  How could we turn down such warm hospitality?  Their dockhands met us to help tie us up and we got the grand tour from Henry, who has come out of recent retirement to ‘help out’ while the marina is in transition to new owners.  I don’t know the future of this place, but we were charmed by their friendliness and amenities - free laundry, good shower facilities, free use of golf carts to explore the little town.  And we were happy to be protected at the marina when the line of thunderstorms came through later that evening.  Dan did try his hand at shrimp & grits with andouille sausage and okra, and though I didn’t share the meal (seafood allergy), it looked great and he was very pleased with his results.  

        In the morning we snagged one of the golf carts and went on the self-tour of historic homes, beginning and ending with the River Forest Manor, situated across the street from the marina.  

After Belhaven we spent one very quiet night in pretty little anchorage all by ourselves and then moved on to Elizabeth City, gateway to the Dismal Swamp.  We had actually considered taking the Virginia Cut route instead of the Dismal this trip, as we’ve never cruised that way, but the bridge on that route is being powered by generator while they try to fix it, and due to limited openings (every two hours) the USCG is encouraging people to use the Dismal Swamp instead if they are able.  We really didn’t mind coming back through here.  We love the Dismal Swamp.  We arrived at the North Carolina Welcome Center dock around 2:00 pm and spent an hour or so walking the boardwalk in the Swamp Park.  We plan to spend a second night here in the Swamp before moving on to the Portsmouth/Norfolk area.  

Leaving Elizabeth City for the Dismal Swamp

Reunion in the Carolinas

          We had a somewhat chance get together with old friends, the Giguere family, or at least a good portion of them.  

Tom Giguere and I met as classmates at the US Coast Guard Academy in 1977.  I was fortunate to be invited up to Sturbridge Mass, to Tom’s folks home on a number of long weekends while we were cadets. This was a family with six children so it’s hard to say whether a couple extra mouths were even noticed!  I do know it was a welcome respite from the rigors of a military academy, with some good old fashioned home cooking to boot!

Tom and I sailed on the USCG Barque EAGLE

     Tom and I have kept in touch over the years and he has been our shore contact for this extended cruise.  In the last couple of years Tom’s Mom Andrée and two of his sisters have retired/moved to North Carolina, and as luck would have it, Tom and his wife Cheryl were visiting NC just as we were getting back (from Maine) to the Willie Dawes, so we invited them for a little afternoon cruise on the ICW.  

The Giguere Clan

    The afternoon arrived but the weather didn’t cooperate (high winds) so we had our lunch aboard the boat at the marina.  Tom, Cheryl, Mom Andrée, sisters Christine and Denise, and Denise’s son Ben were in attendance.  That evening we joined them for supper at Christine’s new house, just over the border in NC.  We had a good chance to catch up as well as try and reconstruct the past, (I hadn’t seen Andrée, Christine and Denise since sometime in the early ‘90s!).

     It’s good to know that we have a few more friends to visit next time we’re coming up the ICW!

Back on the Great Loop Adventure

         We had a good time in Maine.  The weather was in the 70s when we arrived, and a quick trip to Boston to meet the new grandson saw temperatures in the 80s!  Then the weather turned give us blustery, rainy days in the low 40s and we felt like we’d had a very long summer and had moved solidly into autumn.  It was very disorienting to see daffodils and crocuses blooming in our yard.

We accomplished everything we’d hoped to do - Dan spent quality time in the barn shop, I got my cast off, we had several good visits with friends, and multiple visits with family, and managed to unearth a few things out of storage: heirloom baby clothes for Leo and a rocker for his parents.  We arranged a Pease get-together at our son Joe’s house, midway between Camden and Boston, and got a photo of four generations of Pease gentlemen.  There were lots of hugs and some laughter and many stories. 

There were also a few unforeseen issues:  my hand is taking longer than it should to heal, our bathroom sink sprung a leak, and we found out our mooring in Camden needs complete replacing.  I have a splint and another follow up appointment in Norfolk with yet another new-to-me orthopedic clinic (fingers crossed for a better outcome!), it only took two trips to the hardware store to fix the sink, and we’re awaiting the final bill for the mooring.  Obviously we won’t need it for the Willie Dawes this year, but we since had already signed it over to the town to rent at their discretion, it would be nice if it was reliably available.  

We rented a car for the trip back to South Carolina, filled it right up with must-haves, and left Camden on the 29th of April.  We spent the first night in Boston, getting in a few last grandson cuddles, and made it to Midlothian VA after a Sunday drive through the rain.  We had an appointment with a Torqeedo repairman here, a retired guy who works out of his garage.  Fortunately he had the exact part we needed and was able to fix the engine while we waited, on Monday morning.  We arrived back at the marina Monday evening, May 1st.  Tommie settled right in immediately, and we took only a little bit more time.   

This morning (Thurs. May 4th) Dan did some last minute errands and turned in the rental car and we left the marina shortly after lunch.  We didn’t go far - it was only a few hours’ cruise north before we anchored in Calabash Creek - but we’re officially on the Great Loop adventure now.  Today was more or less a shake down cruise to make sure everything works after a month off.  

There’s more to tell about this past week, but I’ll let Dan tell it.