Year 2 Day 59 - Oxford, Md

We had intended to leave Oxford this morning but now have an issue with our bow thruster.  It's a long story and we may not be able to get it repaired until next week as it's the Memorial Day week-end.  So I refuse to be stressed out over this and we've been getting some little projects finished here on the boat, riding bikes, etc.  We need to get moving so we can get through Canada in the time frame allowed.

The weather up here in Maryland has been great so if we have to stay over the week-end, we'll try to rent a car and drive over to St. Michaels which is where we originally wanted to stop.

Year 2 Day 58 -Oxford, Maryland

Today is Wednesday, May 23rd and we arrived here in Oxford, Md. about 2:00 and after securing the boat went for a bike ride through this beautiful, quaint old town.  There's not much here but all the homes are old and so charming with gorgeous gardens.  We made it back to the boat before a nasty rain storm hit. 

Backtracking to Monday - We left York River Yacht Haven about 7:00 AM and headed for Tangier Island which is a funky, rather poor fishing town dating back to the 1600s.  It's a unique place and although there's not much there, it's very peaceful and I'm glad we decided to visit.  They have a strange way of speaking dating back to early ancestors and they bury family members in a plot in their yard.

Entering channel at Tangier Island

Funky crab table and chairs

Family cemetery in front of home

Sunset over Tangier Island

After leaving Tangier Island on Tuesday morning we headed to Solomons, Md. to meet up with our

friends Ron and Anita who we got to know at York River.  We had a great visit with them enjoying cocktails on their boat and then going out to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant.  We said good-bye this morning and headed for Oxford.  Tomorrow our destination is Rock Hall closer to the head of the Chesapeake.

Year 2 Day 55 - LAST NIGHT IN GLOUCESTER POINT!

Today is Sunday, May 20th and if all goes well, we pull out tomorrow morning.  Everything is good to go and now we're hoping for the weather to cooperate.  Right now it's raining.  We had originally planned to leave on Saturday but due to high winds in the bay which continued even through today, we've postponed it until tomorrow.  After all that's happened, it will seem like a miracle if we actually get to leave.

We've gotten to know so many nice people here at the marina that's it's hard to say good-bye.  Several couples went to Tony & Melinas Italian Restaurant tonight and had a great dinner and a lot of laughs.  We'll sure miss everyone but know we'll meet many more along the way.  We thought our first stop would be Deltaville but have now decided to head for Tangier Island which we've heard is a rare experience.  Capt. John Smith stopped here during his 1608 exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and John Crockett first settled the island in 1686.  On the entire island today there are only 4 or 5 names and most of them are descendants of these two settlers.  I'll add more later after my visit.

Year 2 Day 51 - Still in Gloucester Point

Today is Wednesday, May 16th and we're still here!  So much has happened with this engine issue that it would take too much time and space to explain all of it.  However, as of today I think things are beginning to gel.  We're so anxious to get going and we're now running several weeks behind schedule.  This means that all the time we were going to spend exploring the Chesapeake Bay will have to be postponed until a later date and we fully intend to return.  Our first stop will be Deltaville Marina and then on up the Bay.

We went to Bethesda on Saturday to take my car and leave it covered in the driveway of our son-in-law until such time as we can figure out how and when to pick it up.  Fortunately our daughter Sherrie was there visiting her husband and we had a great time with them, going to Frederick, MD, walking around that cute little town and enjoying a wonderful dinner.  We rented a car and left Sunday morning so we could get back in time to take the boat out for a test of the new engine.  Everything looked good so now if we can get our gauges repaired today we should be good to go.

We'll miss our view from the bow of our boat here at Gloucester Point where we've seen so much wildlife over the months.

                                             View from bow of boat

Mike repairing hatch

Year 2 Day 41 Gloucester Point

Today is Sunday, May 6th and yesterday we spent the day at the Mariners Museum in Newport News.   There was so much to see and I'm sure we didn't see it all in the 5 or 6 hours we were there.   In 1862 there was a battle here in the Newport News/Hampton area between two ironclad ships called tne Monitor and the Virginia.  Both were sunk and in approximately 1974 the Monitor was discovered and in 2006 they started the process of bringing it to the surface.  There are parts of this vessel in the museum to see as well as a full scale replica of the ship.

This is a replica of the Queen Elizabeth which Mike was on with his family when he was about 8 years old as they crossed the Atlantic to England.

Also on display is the collection of August Crabtree who carved 16 miniature ships and they are amazing!  Mr. Crabtree was truly gifted.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Norfolk for the boaters' rendezvous.

Year 2 Day 39 - Gloucester Point

Today is Friday, May 4th and it's beginning to warm up here in Virginia.  Last night we went to the restaurant here at the marina to join our new friends, Ron and Anita Miller on their last evening before leaving on their onward journey.

We've met some great people on our journey and these guys from California are a couple of our favorites.  We really hate to see them leave but maybe we'll run into them again further north.   

Year 2 Day 36 - Gloucester Point, VA

Marshall getting ready to leave

 for Camp LeJeune 

Marshall's New Car - 07 BMW

Today is Tuesday, May lst.  Mike cruised back to Gloucester Point on Friday evening and due to last minute unexpected repairs, he left Portsmouth too late and didn't get back to the marina until about 9:00 PM.  I was upset that he left so late and wanted him to wait until Saturday morning but he was so anxious to leave, he decided to go.  There were 5 of us upstairs in the lounge watching for him and I was getting more and more nervous.  Finally I saw the red and green lights on the boat as well as the spotlight and was so relieved!  It's tricky getting into this marina even in the daylight but especially so in the dark.  However all's well that ends well.

We spent Saturday cleaning up the filth left by the ins and outs of all the mechanics in the boatyard and to get ready for Marshall.  Finally he appeared at 5:30 PM and he looks great!  We were to happy to see him after 2 years.  That night we dragged him to the Saturday night dinner with all the old boaters and we were happy to show him off.  Then on Sunday morning we went to church at St. Joan of Arc where we were once again blown away by the incredible blind priest.  He even sat down at the piano and played and sang a song he had written for the children taking their first communion.

Sunday evening there was a going away party for another couple getting ready to set out on the remainder of their journey and we dragged Marshall along again.  The party was held on an amazing 72' catamaran which was formerly a drug boat which they had obtained through an auction sight unseen.  Amazing!

Yesterday I went to Williamsburg for another injection early in the morning and when I returned, we decided to take the boat out for a cruise since we had a new engine.   We hadn't been out 30 minutes when the engine started acting funny and Mike decided to turn around and get back to the marina.  We're pretty upset about all of this and the Cummins mechanic is coming back tomorrow morning.  Is it ever going to end?????

Marshall left this morning for Camp LeJeune and we'll miss him so much.  I know he was nervous to check in to a new unit as he's been off for a month.  Hopefully we'll get to see him again before too long.