360 Water View

As a pre-Rendezvous activity, one of the big AGLCA sponsors, Curtis Stokes, organized a bike-building event to support the local Boys and Girls Club; a big crowd of folks pitched in to assemble twenty kids bicycles to be given to disadvantaged children. Each bike had a name-plate for a specific child, and they were to come later in the day and get the bikes.

It was quite moving to see how excited the kids were when they came in the room and saw the rows of shiny new bikes, and found the one with their name on it. We helped get the bikes and helmets adjusted, and while some kids knew how to ride and were riding around the ball-room, others hadn’t been on bikes before and got some assistance pedaling around. The AGLCA then treated them to ice cream before the chaperones took them home with their new bikes.

Even on a Saturday, before 9 am, the fighter pilots are spooling up the engines and taking off, for training, or…..?

We got to see several of them take off – from right at our anchorage.

The anchor came up hard, and covered with dark mud/clay and shells, we dragged it at the waterline for a little while to wash off most of it, then pulled it in to get underway. We picked our way out to the clear channel, for a short day down to Norfolk, the site of the AGLCA Rendezvous. The trip took us along a long row of Navy ships, as well as a lot of commercial terminals.

A civilian seaplane landed quite close to us, and then followed along behind me, creeping up quite close as I started my turn into the Waterside Marina.

The marina was bit snug, but right in the heart of an entertainment and dining district – live bands all afternoon a quarter mile from here, and then a different one a hundred yards from us- a nice way to end a few quiet days.

Probably no new posts until after the Rendezvous is over on Thursday.

Pretty uneventful day on down the Bay, but we did see dolphins twice. Neither time did they come close enough to the boat for long enough to get pictures, but it’s fun to see them.

Anchored right near Langley Air Force Base, where we saw some jet fighters up close coming in to land – need to bone up on my aircraft ID, but I think they were F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The route into the anchorage was VERY tricky, lots of zig-zagging through the markers, and pretty shallow in spots. Had to carefully place ourselves amongst some crab pots, but the anchor held solidly all night.

We heard the sound of Retreat being called at 1700, but missed Taps later, as we were sound asleep by then.

Saturday, on to Norfolk.

May 2 – We got an early start on our 65 mile day, leaving Solomons Island around 7, so as to time the tidal currents at the mouth of the Potomac River’s entrance into the Chesapeake. It was quite breezy out of the southwest, against us, with waves very choppy – at points, a bit of a washing machine – and spray coated everything all the way up to the flybridge on occasions.

We had no cabinets dump out onto the floor, but moving around the boat definitely required at least one hand holding on to something at all times.

We picked up a hitchhiker out in the middle of the Bay, 3 or 4 miles from shore – he rode for a while and then off he went.

We found a well-known anchorage with good protection from the wind, and anchored without drama and settled in at 3 o’clock for snacks on the sundeck, enjoying the balmy 80 degree breeze.

1 May -We have mounted the white AGLCA burgee, and taken ashore all that doesn’t need to go, and hopefully kept aboard all that’s needed.

We head out in a slight mist, knowing that the conditions will clear later, and have an early opportunity to begin honing our radar skills. We pass by a day-marker where the ospreys are tending their nest – Chantale wasn’t in quite the right angle to see the two speckled eggs that I could see from the flybridge.

Lots of fishermen were out, clustered near hotspots, or trolling. We passed the Cove Point LNG terminal staying well outside their restricted zone (we later heard them hailing several other boats who had strayed inside – and they sounded serious!)

As expected, we encountered plenty of crabpots turning up the Patuxent River, and it was nice to see the military aircraft flying close overhead from the Naval Air Station across the river from Solomons – the sound of Freedom!

We docked uneventfully at Solomons Island Yacht Club, and had a good time meeting up with Doug and Susan Smith, the Harbor Hosts for all the Loopers they graciously host at their great facility.