Thursday, January 26, 2012

Goodbye Chesapeake Bay, and thanks for the memories !
 2nd – 18th November
Map picture



From Washington we day hopped along the Potomac River and  then south down the Chesapeake Bay to Deltaville, a familiar place where we had spent a couple days while heading north to Maine some months earlier.The trip of 125 miles was pretty boring and bitterly cold, and with the temperature hovering  around 8-10 deg C it made for a very unpleasant passage, sitting at the helm was not much fun at all.
IMG_7831                       IMG_7823          

Once clear of the Potomac we were greeted with a strong following breeze, and we sailed at a fair clip to Reedsville, dodging a lot of menacing looking wooden fish stakes along the way (memories of sailing in Indonesia came flooding back) and then on to Deltaville where Daryl and Annie from No Rehearsal were there to greet us and take our lines. Daryl had negotiated a crazy low rate at the Norview Marina for us, like $75 for the week, so we decided to take that rather than spend a week on the anchor, it was quite a novelty for us.
Staying in Deltaville also gave us a chance to once again catch up with our friends Donny and Judy, who live in Richmond, and have a lovely holiday house in Deltaville. Donny was kind enough to (again), lend us his Lexus SUV, so we took full advantage and did some provisioning as well as a little touring around.
As luck had it, that weekend the annual Oyster Festival was being held at the nearby town of Urbanna, so Daryl and Annie joined us in the Lexus for a fun afternoon out.
IMG_7834IMG_7835  
The festival is held over two days and attracts around 80,000 people. This was our first small town fair and it was a real hoot, by the time we got there it was in full swing.The main attraction of course was the abundance of oysters, served raw, steamed, stewed, fried or frittered.There were oyster tents, chowder tents, craft stalls, oyster shucking contests, the crowning of the Oyster Festival Queen and to top it off a big street parade with colourful  bands, baton-tossing marching girls, floats and lots of flash cars, bikes and trucks that were mostly collectors items.
IMG_7838   IMG_7837
IMG_7945   IMG_7905
IMG_7857   IMG_7865
The parade lasted about an hour and was very entertaining. Interestingly, there were only two places selling alcohol, though outside the supermarket there were quite a few people discreetly drinking from bottles in paper bags.  A small area  was set aside where you could buy wine by the glass, we didn’t go in though, it was way too crowded. The other was in a field behind the Fire House, the area was enclosed and you needed to produce ID to enter (even at our age), as beer was available from a small mobile bar. Liam had a couple of drinks and  then we joined in with the locals and had a dance. The band  that was playing was excellent and everyone was very laid back, sort of mellow actually, the place had a nice feel to it.
IMG_7932   IMG_7928
After leaving the festival we headed  to Donny and Judy’s who had invited the four of us over for a Saturday night dinner.They certainly rustled up a great meal with  BBQ’d oysters, home made crab dip, steamed prawns and baked potatoes. It was a great night that went well into the evening, they are terrific company and excellent hosts. They even suggested that we  make use of  their house during the rest of our stay in Deltaville and we nearly did. Judy’s bathtub was very alluring and Liam had his eyes set on the big screen TV with all those sports channels, but sadly time just slipped away and we didn’t get around to it.
IMG_7961  IMG_7966
A novel feature at the marina where we were staying  was the extravagant lengths that many of the  boat owners had gone to, to make the place a “home away from home”.
IMG_7992

All the docks were undercover, sounds a bit strange I know and we’d never seen anything like it before. These boat garages, they were all power boats, had a roof and walls with the boats tied stern-to in  their pens. Each owner had personalised their little piece of turf and installed the necessities of life that ensured they were comfortable when they were there, even if they didn’t take the boat out. Lounge chairs, kitchen sinks, refrigerators, microwave ovens, carpet rugs and bars complete with stools where you would sip a beer or two and while away the afternoon. Jimmy Buffett memorabilia was very popular, one section was even called “Jimmy Buffett Drive”. Several times we saw people  come down  to stay on their boat, in the pen, for a few days, and  they sure did make good use of the gear they had installed.

goodbye chesapeake blog
IMG_7985

After a chilly and windy week at the marina it was time to move on, this time to Hampton. We had driven down there during the week and dropped off our spinnaker for some minor alterations and now it was time to go back and pick it up. We were a little annoyed that we were changed another $125 as we’d already paid them the best part of $700 the first time that we’d left the sail with them some months before, and they hadn’t done the repair correctly.                                             Oh well, that’s life when you own a boat  I guess. A couple of days later we motored out of Hampton and across the bay to Norfolk, 15 miles away.
Norfolk, in Virginia, is famous as the world’s largest naval base, and is home to huge nuclear powered aircraft carriers, menacing looking nuclear submarines and an abundance of frigates, amphibious landing ships, destroyers and their support ships. We cruised by two aircraft carriers, the USS Enterprise and  the Dwight D Eisenhower, a couple of submarines and some very interesting looking ships that we were unsure of, and while all the ships were behind a floating fence, we were still reasonably close to them.
PB141545PB161575
 IMG_8017
Norfolk is not a big town, but it was interesting with an excellent naval museum, Nauticus, located just across the bay from our anchorage. The unquestioned star attraction of the town was the USS Wisconsin, an Iowa class WW11 Battleship, the last one ever built, and it looked amazing. If you ever saw Cher singing “If I could turn back time” aboard the USS Missouri with those big guns up on the bow then you know what the Wisconsin looks like, they are identical sister ships. There were tours available that, unfortunately, did not get you into the bowels of the ship, so we were content to simply gawk and take some snaps.
PB151561                  PB151558
The local movie theatre was showing J Edgar Hoover, and having just been in Washington where scenes from the movie were filmed,  we took the opportunity and went to see it, a great show with Leonardo putting on his usual, brilliant performance.Walking back through the mall after the movie it was pretty obvious that the silly season was just around the corner. Christmas displays and decorations filled the shop windows.No one quite does Christmas like the yanks.
PB151563 
By now we were really killing time until the weather systems settled and we could head off around   Cape Hatteras and on to Charleston, a distance of 360 miles. Cape Hatteras is notorious for  shipwrecks, it demands respect as the weather can be treacherous due to the north flowing Gulf Stream against the opposing  swells, and right now those swells were big and threatening.
Rather than wait in Norfolk, (we’d seen it all in four days) we decided to move further along some 30 miles to Rudee Inlet, a fairly small bay just south of the entrance to the Chesapeake. Another catamaran was already there when we arrived late in the afternoon, and together with No Rehearsal we pretty much filled up the place, and Remi De was yet to arrive! While at Rudee the weather was foul, driving rain and very cold, we simply stayed put inside the boat and away from the elements. Bruce, Toni, Remi and their dog Ollie from Remi De had a tough trip down, sailing in a strong breeze and lumpy seas, they  hit a speed of nearly 15 knots down one wave. Naturally, they were exceptionally happy to drop the anchor in our nice calm bay, away from the rough conditions just outside the inlet. As Rudee Inlet was to be the parting of the ways for  Remi De, No Rehearsal and us, we all got together for a farewell dinner on GWTW.
IMG_8022

We had been sailing in company with the other two cats for roughly the last six months, from the Bahamas to Maine and back and it would be sad to break up the herd.  Daryl and Annie were heading straight to Cape Canaveral to haul out No Rehearsal and head back to New Zealand for a few months and the Remi’s  would be carrying on to St Augustine to spend Thanksgiving with friends down in Orlando.
A couple of days later the weather had settled, the seas were down and the skies were clear, and we were ready and eager to move on. Every mile under our keels was a mile closer to warmer weather and believe me we were over being cold, and were now champing at the bit to pack the winter clothes away and to break out the shorts and tee-shirts once again.
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CRUISING NOTES. Formalities: Call CBP Richmond on # 8042269675 each time you change anchorages. Supermarkets: Deltaville The Deltaville Market will pick you up and then drive you back. Also in the same shopping complex is a West marine and a Dollar General discount store.True Value hardware, Ullman sail loft & the Post Office are all within walking distance of the marina.There are a couple of restaurants ,cafes and a seafood market on the main street.
 Norfolk: Anchorage / dinghy dock : Anchor between Hospital Point and the Tidewater Marina and take dinghy to the dock outside the Nauticus Museum on the opposite shore. McCarther Mall is three blocks from the waterfront. It has movie theatres, department stores etc. The supermarkets,Harris Teeter and Fresh Farm  are a short taxi ride away. 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Washington, DC: Museums, Monuments and a whole lot more.

19th October –2nd November

IMG_7775

After a very busy six days in Annapolis our next major target was a big one, Washington DC (who knows what “DC” stands for ? We didn’t, but we’ll tell you later). It’s not far as the crow flies, less than 27 miles from anchorage to anchorage in fact, but our journey would be a good deal longer, around 190 miles as we initially had to sail south down the Chesapeake Bay and then head in a more  northerly direction up the mighty Potomac River. Many yachts bypass Washington due to the distance involved to get there, but we had been including DC in our plans for many months and were  keen to go, no matter how far it was.

We have a fair amount of ground to cover here, so arm yourself with a coffee, tea, wine or beer, find a comfy spot and enjoy the read.

Leaving Annapolis we sailed in rather brisk conditions across to the small township of Oxford on the eastern shores of the Chesapeake. It was a pretty little spot with a well protected anchorage that served us well for a couple of days of strong winds. There didn’t seem to be  a great deal to see  or do in Oxford, though we did enjoy a walk into town and a meal or two at Schooner’s, the only restaurant on the waterfront. It was here that we got to talking to some nice folk who were fairly new to the cruising game, Frank and Christa from Hun Bun 111 and Leif and Birgitta from Persamus. Both boats hailed from Boston and having just been there ourselves we had lots to talk about. They were heading to the Bahamas together and  it was their first passage of any distance so we enjoyed hearing of their plans and comparing notes, for we would eventually be Bahamas bound ourselves.

IMG_7227         IMG_7246 

   IMG_7256         IMG_7253

The wind  had eased a little for our next leg to Solomon's Island at the mouth of the Patuxent river, and we spent the entire day tacking our way the 50 miles south, we were very happy to arrive and drop the anchor in a crowded bay later that afternoon. Our sundowners that evening really hit the spot and were well deserved.

PA171364

The next morning we headed out and into the big and winding Potomac River. The trip upriver took us three days and with a lack of wind we motored the entire way from Solomon's Island to DC, anchoring at night along the river shores.

Our last day dawned overcast, drizzly and cold, we were  now only a stones throw from DC and had planned to arrive mid-afternoon. Despite the weather, our spirits were high and with only a couple of miles left to go we suddenly realised that all our plans might be about to come unstuck. The Woodrow Wilson bridge loomed up in front of us. It  spans the river just outside of DC and we needed to pass under it in order to get to the anchorage in the Washington Channel. Our guide book said that the bridge had undergone some  renovations and the height had been increased substantially. What the book neglected to say was what the new height was and the times that it opened. As we approached the bridge we were very disheartened to read the sign down at water level saying the height was 73ft. It sure looked a lot higher, like high enough that we’d make it through, but what if the we were wrong? Masts and concrete are not a good combination.

IMG_7282

So Annie got on the internet trying to find out the new height, no luck there, then she made a few calls to the Marine Police, the Coast Guard and  a couple of the local yacht clubs, but still no one could tell us the height. Finally one club gave us the bridge manager’s number but all he could do was offer us an opening time,t he catch was that you  had to book it 24 hours in advance! There seemed no option but to wait until the bridge was raised. Sensing our disappointment the bridge manager compromised a little,offering us a 2am or 4am opening next morning, (apparently these are the only times available on weekdays), we opted for the 2am slot and he promised to have someone call back soon to confirm the booking.

Rick, who actually worked as a rigger on the bridge, phoned back and yep, our 2am opening was set. He casually asked if we were the cat that had been milling about near the bridge for the last hour or so and what clearance we needed, when we told him 75 feet he asked why we simply didn’t go through now, the span was 85 feet above the water! You could have knocked us both over with a feather, we’d finally found someone who knew the height of this damn bridge and he’d said it in such a confident  matter of fact way that we decided to give it a shot.    PA191384                      PA191385                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

I gotta tell you we were more than a little nervous as we motored up to that big lump of concrete, but with Rick’s encouragement we gingerly inched forward.

The slightest scrape of our VHF antenna kissing the bridge and Liam would have had the engines in reverse gear as quick as a rat up a drain pipe. Along with Rick, who was in constant radio contact with us, were a few other riggers positioned under the bridge to check our clearance as we went through and sure enough, Rick confirmed  we were clear by 10 feet…excellent, now we could breathe again! We yelled a big thank you to them and they called  back '”Welcome to Washington”.  Around 40 minutes later we were  tucked in the anchorage opposite the Capital Yacht Club, and very pleased indeed to be there.

PA221405

 

To say there is lots to see in DC is a gross understatement. We stayed 2 weeks and still didn’t see it all, but we made a hell of an effort, out walking all day and marveling at the rich history that surrounded us. There are the world famous Smithsonian Museums, Capitol Hill, The White House, and many  monuments and memorials that honour key historical figures as well as those who fought and died for America in various wars, and a great deal more. To write about everything we saw would take a long time, and probably put you and me to sleep, so we’ll just focus on the things we really found special.

The Smithsonian Museums are legendary, we had heard about them for many years, and believe me the legends are well deserved. There are seventeen museums and galleries that come under the Smithsonian banner and like many things in the USA, they are BIG.  Most are located along the parkland area called the National Mall, which extends from the Lincon Memorial at one end to Capitol Hill at the other. We spent quite a few days looking through the Air and Space Museum, the Natural History and the American History Museums. It’s quite easy to occupy an entire day with each one, such is the volume, diversity and quality of the exhibits. And as many of the exhibits are interactive, it’s very easy to lose yourself amidst the clever technology available. In fact we needed to go back a couple of times as we found ourselves being ushered out at closing time, and yet we had much more to see.

          IMG_7649       IMG_7656

A word of advice should you get to the Smithsonians…leave yourself lots of time, and probably take a break after a couple of days, we did. You can get serious “museum overload”.

     IMG_7329    

     IMG_7344

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the Smithsonians are about history, cultures, air and space travel and the evolution of man and animals, another museum is devoted to history of a very different, almost recent and depressingly tragic kind… the Holocaust Memorial Museum. The focus here, as the brochure states, is about “the mass murder of the European Jews – a watershed event in human history”. It took us more than a day to view all the exhibits and gain a good comprehension of the events depicted, it’s disturbing, graphic, and at times, very emotional but extremely well done. The Holocaust Museum is not for everyone, though it gave us a far better understanding of what really went on under the Nazi regime during their horrific ethnic cleansing campaign. For obvious reasons photography was not permitted inside this museum.

Apart from the museums, Washington has loads of memorials, and they are just brilliant.

IMG_7494

We strolled through those commemorating the WW11 efforts of Americans in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres of war, then past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial  which lists the names of the 58,000 who died during that war. And did you know that more than 420,000 lives were lost amongst the allies, including over 53,000  Americans, in the Korean War? We certainly didn’t. The Korean Veterans Memorial was very well designed, it is made up of two exhibits, one is a granite wall filled with etched faces of service men and women, and just opposite the wall are statues of soldiers on patrol. When you look at the wall from a certain angle you actually see the statues reflecting on the highly polished surface of the wall, it made a terrific photo opportunity. The memorials all differ slightly in the manner that the message of loss is communicated, but that communication is extremely effective.

PA231407

PA231411PA231410

IMG_7484          IMG_7707

IMG_7549    PA301526

                                       IMG_7540 

On a more positive note there are some fabulous monuments to historical figures, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson being at the forefront of such people. Their monuments were sensational. We particularly like the Lincoln Memorial, the setting is neat and when you consider his achievements in unifying the Union while abolishing slavery, it’s obvious why he is so revered. Another one, constructed with a decidedly poignant message was the national memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Having been opened only recently, it was designed with a more modern way of conveying a message, and it is really clever.

IMG_7530     IMG_7503

IMG_7467   IMG_7554

PA241470    DSCF1283

DSCF1279

The monuments that we visited were all located among extensive garden and park areas, and set near a huge pool that looks like it stretches nearly a mile, the “Reflecting Pool” (it was under renovation when we were there), this too is all part of the National Mall.

  IMG_7497

INTERMISSION TIME!  You’re about half way through. Ok time for you all to go and have a loo break, another coffee or just shut down your computer and read the rest another day.

As with any nation’s capital, and Washington would have to be by far the heavyweight here, there is also the political element.1600 Pennsylvania Ave aka The White House and Capitol Hill are very prominent landmarks and definitely demand a visit.

IMG_7316   IMG_7325

To say the White House has over-the-top security is an understatement, the place is crawling with Secret Service Police, they’re on foot, on bicycles, in suits and in “darth vader” type vans. While you can certainly get  up close and personal with the White House fence for photo opportunities, and just about hear the tune to the West Wing TV series in your head, the minute anyone of importance arrives or leaves the premises the surrounding area goes into lockdown mode and the public are moved way back from the perimeters. This happened while we were there and the polite secret service took on a whole different persona. It was an amazing transformation, almost hostile you could say. Still, that is their job and they do it well.

IMG_7368

 

Washington overall is crawling with cops bearing any number of badges…Secret Service, Sheriffs, FBI, K9 divisions, State Police, Subway Police, Park Police and a few more to boot. Anyway, the White House is truely grand and seeing it in the flesh, so to speak, was a real “Washington moment” for us. Tours are available to visit the White House, but unfortunately for Australians our embassy in Washington no longer has the inclination to provide the paperwork necessary for it’s citizens to visit this icon. There is, however,  an excellent visitors centre explaining the history of it's location, construction and the day-to-day running of the place.

DSCF1171 

Capitol Hill, where most of the politicians hang out, is quite a monument in it’s own right. We signed up for a tour, along with many other folk keen to see the inside of government, and had an interesting couple of hours, and with the help of a very knowledgeable guide gleaned an understanding of the building and it’s workings.

Sadly, the House was not sitting that day, so we missed out on actually observing the banter between those entrusted to run the mighty US of A, maybe next time.

DSCF1176   IMG_7394

The US Supreme Court and the  expansive Library of Congress is also housed up on the Hill. The Library is a very ornate and somewhat old-style building, it nevertheless holds tens of thousands of precious books and manuscripts and, if you happen to see Leonardo Di Caprio in the movie, J Edgar Hoover, you will be watching a good amount of footage set in the very same library.  IMG_7432 IMG_7426IMG_7415

 

 

 

 

 

 

To say we walked all Washington would be a fair statement, we trekked many miles, and several of those miles were out to the Arlington National Cemetary, final resting place of over 320,000 servicemen and women, along with many political figures. The cemetery dates back to 1864 and covers 624 acres. We took a short tour and were simply gobsmacked at the sheer number of white headstones marking  the gravesites, they appear to stretch forever.

IMG_7599   PA241440PA241443 

On average there are 25 burials daily, a very depressing thought considering we are talking about people in combat. We were there to observe, at a distance, one such burial, and as described in the cemetery's pamphlet, the procedure is as follows –“The flags at Arlington stand at half staff when burials are underway. A funeral with full military honours is a dignified and moving occasion. An honour guard accompanies the American flag-draped coffin drawn by matched horses. A band plays solemn marches while muffled drums beat the slow cadence for the procession. Before the remains are lowered, a squad fires three rifle volleys and a bugler blows the long notes of “Taps”. Finally, the guard folds the flag and presents it to the next of kin”. You cannot but sense the emotion present, just being an observer was quite moving.

The most visited site in Arlington is the gravesite of John F Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline and their deceased children. An eternal flame, the only one here, attests to the reverence the nation holds for JFK. His brother Bobby is laid at rest nearby in a grave marked only by a single white cross. It stands alone under a tree, away from the other graves, it looked respectful.

IMG_7587 IMG_7593

There are also memorials to the Pan Am Lockerbie tragedy in Scotland and the astronauts who perished in the space shuttles, Columbia and Challenger missions.

While at Arlington we also visited the Tomb of the Unknowns and witnessed the extremely formal and precise Changing of the Guard, which takes place every hour.

           IMG_7611         IMG_7614

A sentinel (guard) from the Third US Infantry division maintains an around the clock vigil. He paces 21 steps alongside the tomb, pauses 21 seconds, then returns, with every movement executed being a crisp and quick one, and naturally the sentinel is immaculately presented in a pristine uniform. It was a pretty cool thing to see.

As luck had it, one of our best friends from Oz was in DC for a business trip. Susan, from the Gold Coast, arranged to stay a few extra days and spend some time with us. It was really great to see her again, the last time was when we had a whirlwind visit back home for Christmas in 2009. We had a fun few days cruising around town with her. We took in the Spy Museum and enjoyed a couple of good meals in local restaurants. Coinciding with Susan’s visit was a monster cold snap that descended on Washington and took everyone by surprise. It actually snowed for a couple of hours,and according to the locals that never happens before Halloween, and while it was bloody cold, like 5 deg C,  it was also a bit of fun and we made the most of it, posing for silly photos and laughing at the craziness of it all. The a/c on the boat had a good workout as we had it on non-stop trying to keep warm, needless to say we never left the boat that day.

     PA291508   DSCF1253

PA291503  PA291515

Our Washington story would not be complete without mention of the incredible amount of helicopter traffic directly over our anchorage. Sometimes we felt like we were under a chopper highway. It would not be an exaggeration to say we’d see a few choppers every hour, and they flew very low with the vibration and noise resounding through the whole boat, we just  loved it. Many of these choppers were the big White House types, we called them POTUS choppers as they regularly ferry Barack Obama and his senior aides to and from the White House. Sadly we never were quick enough to snap off a photo. It seems that when you see three of these choppers in formation (we did once), then the President is up there in one of them.They fly up the river and then the trio split to go in different directions. The idea is to keep the bad guys guessing as to which one is actually carrying the precious cargo. They looked and sounded terrific, we really looked forward to hearing the “thump thump” of the rotors heading our way, though the locals were far less enthusiastic. I guess the novelty does wear off when you live there.

IMG_7782   IMG_7778

Washington is different to most other cities as it’s pretty much all about the Government and Government activities. The Pentagon, the largest office building in the world is there, well just across the river in Virginia, the FBI, a ton of embassies, Australia included, anything to do with record keeping, taxation, justice, agriculture, money printing and just about any other government institution you could think of is headquarted here.

IMG_7733   IMG_7729

Most of the workers are public servants and at times the place had a sort of “sterile” feel to it, particularly around the buildings housing the government employees as the streets were often  curiously empty. In total contrast to weekdays were the weekends when there always seemed to be some public event taking place, whether it be a fun run, charity walk or marathon, the streets came alive and were awash with people.

IMG_7383  IMG_7382

Washington is a city of old style buildings, usually low rise. Even the new buildings resemble the historic ones, so the city has style very different to say, New York. That said, it’s  an easy place to walk around, the terrain is flat, the streets and pathways are wide and the lack of crowds makes getting from A to B quite simple.

IMG_7725  IMG_7758

Our travels so far along the USA east coast had provided us with some fascinating sights, and Washington DC (DC stands for District of Columbia – were you right?) was well and truely up there as one of the highlights.There is just so much to see and there is no other place quite like it. Still, two weeks in one place is a long time for us and just like the flocks of Canadian geese that we saw overhead, it was time to get moving and head on down south to warm and sunny Florida.

Yippity,Yippity,Yippity, That’s all folks! 

      ***********************************************************

CRUISING NOTES: Formalities: This is a tricky one. CPB are at Andrews Air Force Base and don’t want to know about yachts so I called Virginia on # 8042269675. Supermarkets: Safeway is a 10min walk from Gangplank Marina or for everyday things there is a CVS/pharmacy at L’ Enfant metro station, 5 mins walk from Capital Yacht Club. Anchorage & Dinghy dock: Anchor in the Washington Channel outside the Capital Yacht Club, the dinghy dock and club facilities are available for $15 per day, inc wi-fi, water, showers & laundry. Gangplank Marina further down the channel is $10 per day (we didn’t use them). Attractions: All are within walking distance of the anchorage, the National Mall & Smithsonians are only 5-10mins by foot. The metro station at L’Enfant station is 3 mins walk.