We have become weather mavens the last 13 months. Today the winds from the South at 10 to 15 knots, gusts to 20. That means 2′ waves from the South. Gusts to 20 means they will be white caps and will start to build. Weather for Sunday is the same plus showers. So rather than do two nice days of 30 miles we will do one long day of 60+.

So it’s up and ready to leave the dock at 6:30. We are off and rather than go South around the island (and head into the waves (bounce, bounce) we will go through the famous Knapp’s narrows. While we did our last lock in Virginia two weeks ago, today means a drawbridge. We head out, call the bridge operator and he will open when he sees us. So push off and a little before 7 we are looking at the “closed” bridge. The boat behind us reminds the operator we are there, and by 7 we are on our way out into the Chesapeake.

We need to run West before we can go North, but that means broadside waves. I head SouthWest to quarter into the waves so we get a little bounce and a little roll for about 3 miles (half and hour) until I can turn 90 degrees and go North West.

It’s an OK day on the bay, 2 foot waves are nothing to the hard core fish guys and they are out in droves today. Lots are out trolling, so we need to watch out for the trolling boards that are about 50′ behind the boats. Most of them have flags on them so they can be seen. The captains have done this before, so it’s not much to keep out of each other’s way. But the autopilot isn’t happy about being pushed around by the stern waves so there is some bow dance that goes on.

By 9 the Bay Bridge is fully in sight as is a container ship coming up fast behind us. I call and he is doing 16 knots to our 8 so we pull to the side so he can pass us on the “One”. Susan got some great pictures of it going by and then later on on under the bridge.

At 9:30 we officially entered the Upper Bay and with a little luck we would be docked by 2:30. Oh, but as Mark says: “the tide givith and the tide taketh away” and I was now looking the wrong way at a falling tide. Oh well, we will slog along at 7 knots.

For the next few hours familiar places slid by. It was nice to start going “hey I’ve seen that before”. Love Point, Swan Point, Fairlee Creek, Still Pond .. At 2PM we passed by Turkey Point Light and we were officially in our home waters.

Susan has been doing GoPro time lapse photos along the trip, little mini movies of our adventure. So at 2:32 in the mouth of the Bohemia River we both stepped to the bow and held our Gold Looper flag, we were GOLD LOOPERS!

Susan took down our white flag and put up our gold one. We did a tour down to the 213 bridge to see if we could find any of our boater friends. A quick spin and we came back to Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbor, our former and now home again. A 90 left, 90 right, spin starboard, bump it, bump it, shut it down and we were home!

Across the next few day’s we will post some trip wrap ups and stats so keep an eye out here.

Gold Loopers, YAY US!

Looking for lighter winds in the morning we got out of the marina at 8. There were a number of other boats that had the same plan, we were part of a parade that motored down the Patuxent River. It was a pretty smooth ride and soon we were turning North to head up the Chesapeake. The good news is the Bay is starting to narrow, you can see both sides when you are in the middle channel. We laugh on the trip, the chart plot for the first trip on the Quo Vadimus from Chesapeake VA to Bohemia River is still showing up.

Ahead is the Cove Point Natural Gas Facility. It was built in the 1970′s for that decades energy crisis. It fell to disuse in the oil boom of the 1980′s. It was resurrected and expanded in the 1990s amid a huge amount of controversy over having an LNG facility (that may go Boom) near to a nuclear plant (just a few miles at Calvert Cliffs). But the proponents won out and the expanded site went into operation. Enough gas can be stored to heat 375,000 home for a year. So the tank farm and the unloading port are both huge. But wait, there is more. With all the fracking going on the companies that own the port want to use it to export LNG. So the controversy continues.

Just North is the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant. It was built in the 1970′s and as a budding engineering student the day long field trip to see the plant was great thing to do. (My father had contacts in the 1970′s and the “stranger danger terrorist” hoopla hadn’t started. One of the side effects of the plant is that it heats the water of the Chesapeake and the fish just love it.

As we traveled along we ran into a number of 50 foot pools of fish that were swimming on the surface, the striped bass season was getting ready to start. The smaller fish swimming in school as protection are easy snacks by the much larger “rock fish”.

Around 11 we turned into the Choptank River and ran into a problem. As a mariner, I watch the charts and they are the guide. But the Coast Guard / Corps of Engineers often move buoy’s to match the actual condition (shoaling, channel moving, etc.) So the rule is follow the buoy, then follow the chart. Unless the buoy is really wrong then follow the chart at low speed. We’ve seen buoy’s set up in strange configurations in the river where you follow an S bend to get around them. But it looked like the red markers had been moved. Remembering that there had been heavy ice in the bay I dropped speed, followed the chart and kept a close eye on the depth finder.

That worked well for both of the markers that were well out of position. By noon we were tying up at “Tilghman on the Chesapeake” Marina. Tilghman’s Island has been around since the 1800 and has been home to oyster-men, crabbers and summer vacationers. In the old days you came by Steamboat and stayed the week until the next steamboat arrives. Today you wait in traffic to come across the Bay Bridge at Kent Island, fight your way down Route 50 through Easton and then down Rt 33 into the island. By the time most people try that they are tired in either Easton or St. Michales, so they stop there.

We unloaded our bikes and headed into the town center about a mile away. First stop was “Two if By Sea” for lunch. Susan went for fried rock fish, I went old school with a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. After we finished lunch we biked into town and across one of the few remaining 24 hour drawbridges in the US. It’s a very pretty place, lots of work boats that go out every day for crab or oysters, a smattering of pleasure craft for the locals. The fishing is great and there lots of water to explore in all of the coves of Talbot County. The Choptank River is to the south and the towns of Oxford and Cambridge are a short ride away.

Back to our cool boat for naps and catching up with things around the boat.

Towards 6 PM we headed off to dinner at Harrison’s. They have been a Tilghman destination for years and years. They were one of the first places to take boarders in the 1800′s. Dinner was good but it started us remembering other dinners that we have had on this trip. Some of our favorites were Susan’s Birthday dinner in Atlantic City at Docks (with the puffed potatoes), Dinner at the top of the CN tower, our first Fish Boil in Door County, and 2”Pork Chops at Patti’s. One that stuck out was from a year ago today, doing the lunch truck rodeo with my Sister in Rochester.

We cycled home happy and contented. Just 60 miles to go to the mythical Loop Crossing, wonder if there will be a buoy at the mouth of the Bohemia.

Looking for lighter winds in the morning we got out of the marina at 8. There were a number of other boats that had the same plan, we were part of a parade that motored down the Patuxent River. It was a pretty smooth ride and soon we were turning North to head up the Chesapeake. The good news is the Bay is starting to narrow, you can see both sides when you are in the middle channel. We laugh on the trip, the chart plot for the first trip on the Quo Vadimus from Chesapeake VA to Bohemia River is still showing up.

Ahead is the Cove Point Natural Gas Facility. It was built in the 1970′s for that decades energy crisis. It fell to disuse in the oil boom of the 1980′s. It was resurrected and expanded in the 1990s amid a huge amount of controversy over having an LNG facility (that may go Boom) near to a nuclear plant (just a few miles at Calvert Cliffs). But the proponents won out and the expanded site went into operation. Enough gas can be stored to heat 375,000 home for a year. So the tank farm and the unloading port are both huge. But wait, there is more. With all the fracking going on the companies that own the port want to use it to export LNG. So the controversy continues.

Just North is the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant. It was built in the 1970′s and as a budding engineering student the day long field trip to see the plant was great thing to do. (My father had contacts in the 1970′s and the “stranger danger terrorist” hoopla hadn’t started. One of the side effects of the plant is that it heats the water of the Chesapeake and the fish just love it.

As we traveled along we ran into a number of 50 foot pools of fish that were swimming on the surface, the striped bass season was getting ready to start. The smaller fish swimming in school as protection are easy snacks by the much larger “rock fish”.

Around 11 we turned into the Choptank River and ran into a problem. As a mariner, I watch the charts and they are the guide. But the Coast Guard / Corps of Engineers often move buoy’s to match the actual condition (shoaling, channel moving, etc.) So the rule is follow the buoy, then follow the chart. Unless the buoy is really wrong then follow the chart at low speed. We’ve seen buoy’s set up in strange configurations in the river where you follow an S bend to get around them. But it looked like the red markers had been moved. Remembering that there had been heavy ice in the bay I dropped speed, followed the chart and kept a close eye on the depth finder.

That worked well for both of the markers that were well out of position. By noon we were tying up at “Tilghman on the Chesapeake” Marina. Tilghman’s Island has been around since the 1800 and has been home to oyster-men, crabbers and summer vacationers. In the old days you came by Steamboat and stayed the week until the next steamboat arrives. Today you wait in traffic to come across the Bay Bridge at Kent Island, fight your way down Route 50 through Easton and then down Rt 33 into the island. By the time most people try that they are tired in either Easton or St. Michales, so they stop there.

We unloaded our bikes and headed into the town center about a mile away. First stop was “Two if By Sea” for lunch. Susan went for fried rock fish, I went old school with a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. After we finished lunch we biked into town and across one of the few remaining 24 hour drawbridges in the US. It’s a very pretty place, lots of work boats that go out every day for crab or oysters, a smattering of pleasure craft for the locals. The fishing is great and there lots of water to explore in all of the coves of Talbot County. The Choptank River is to the south and the towns of Oxford and Cambridge are a short ride away.

Back to our cool boat for naps and catching up with things around the boat.

Towards 6 PM we headed off to dinner at Harrison’s. They have been a Tilghman destination for years and years. They were one of the first places to take boarders in the 1800′s. Dinner was good but it started us remembering other dinners that we have had on this trip. Some of our favorites were Susan’s Birthday dinner in Atlantic City at Docks (with the puffed potatoes), Dinner at the top of the CN tower, our first Fish Boil in Door County, and 2”Pork Chops at Patti’s. One that stuck out was from a year ago today, doing the lunch truck rodeo with my Sister in Rochester.

We cycled home happy and contented. Just 60 miles to go to the mythical Loop Crossing, wonder if there will be a buoy at the mouth of the Bohemia.

We work up to a great morning. Our marina is tucked well back of the Potomac so there was no wave action. The rainstorms that were predicted went well north of us.

We got off the dock early and our last 10 miles of Potomac was a mild chop. We turned north to go up the Chesapeake and ended up with a 1 foot following sea, the winds and waves predicted for today didn’t show up either.

Around 11 AM we turned into the Patuxent River and started our way up to Solomons Maryland. On our port side was the Navy Patuxent River Air Station. It was a busy day over there, lots of planes taking off and landing.

We got fuel for the next to the last time on the trip (one more fillup at our home dock). Pretty happy, looking at around $3.70 per gallon for the trip. Pumped out and filled our water tanks so we are good for the next week.

It was a hot day here on the boat so we stayed in for the afternoon. Susan found a really good place, the Ruddy Duck that was a bike ride away. I tried their local beers and we had great appetizers of crab cakes, cheese puffs and their signature Duck-a-dillios.

The temperature drop during dinner made the ride home easier and the boat was nice and cool. We only have a few more days to go we are only 98 miles from the Bohemia River.

We got into Colonial Beach on Thursday with the intention of going one more place on the Potomac and then heading north. But the NOAA forecast for Saturday had waves of 2-3 feet.

Let’s talk wave forecast for a moment. When they say 2-3 foot waves they mean that 90% of the waves will be 2-3 feet. 9% will be bigger at 3-4 feet. And 1% may be bigger at 4-6 feet. Not happy thinking that every hundredth wave will be huge. So I opted to wait. And it may be a long wait, the weather looks this way until Thursday.

On Saturday we did a bike tour of town, there was a beach festival and we went up to see the car show and the vendors seling from everything from seashells to sauces. There were a lot of families on the beach, it was a great day of fun and sun.

Sunday we snagged the marina truck and headed around. On of the downsides of having family members that are recycle oriented is that I don’t want to toss easy recycled trash out. We have a lot of cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles. At this point we had lots so we headed out to the transfer station.

Of course the instructions of “head out of town on 205” neglected to say “West or East” and I picked West. After 2 miles I figured out that I was not going the wrong way but we came up to Wilkerson’s Seafood. Ok, See Food and Eat It has been my mantra, so we stopped. Susan had amazing fried oysters and I had the prime rib sandwich. (Ever wondered what happens to left over prime rib? Slice it into ¼” slices then do a quick grill, wonderful!)

Now going East we found the transfer station and transferred our recyclable items to their big recyclable container. Environment saved!

Virginia is the birthplace to three US presidents, and George Washington tops the list. We toured Mount Vernon, and now it was time to visit the birthplace. But first it was antique time! Susan had prior experience in selling real antiques, and I’ve spent many an hour looking at Junque. So we stopped at an Antique Emporium (aka a big barn filled full of stuff) to see what bargains we could find. Sadly nothing that we needed or wanted badly.

George Washington’s birthplace was pretty neat, there was a great visitors center that talked about his grand-father and father’s farms. Most of the early founding fathers were pretty wealthy, and it’s nice to see some of where they got their money from. I have been impressed with the National Parks tat we’ve seen this trip, lots of good info and places to visit, I’m happy that we purchased a pass to all the parks.

While Virginia is full of government contractors, some of their greatest exports is beer and wine. On the way home we stopped at one of the local wineries. Karma of starting off with Canada wines and ending with Virginia wines. The ones we tasted are pretty good and we selected a bottle to take home with us.

I’ve posted often about “marina cars”. They are all a little different, but most of them are run of the mill cars. One of the marina people wanted the truck we had to run to pick up some bigger items, so they wanted to trade us to take the car. It’s a 1975 Corvette. Umm, pickup truck for a Corvette, let me think, a nanosecond, and I’m in. In a wild squeal of burned rubber and flying gravel we were off!

OK, so not really. We both got into the car and had an “Ummm” moment, when we both realized that our butts were lower than our ankles. We were in, but there was a big debate if we could get out later on. Cool thing about marina’s they have 70 ton boat lifts, so we can get out here, the restaurant could be a different story. I gingerly back out, not a good thing to hit the stands of boats “on the hard” so they fall over.

We made it to the Lighthouse and got out of the car. Dinner was as good as a week ago. I had the mussels and a grilled portabella mushroom. Susan went for the filet steak. When kids say “awesome sauce” they are talking about the sauce she had.

The night was quiet, I watched NASCAR and Susan did internetty things. Monday will be boat tasks, mostly along the lines of cleaning.

Monday and Tuesday were indeed that, just hanging around the boat. I did get some things done and we did get bike riding in so from that standpoint it was good.

The wind died down overnight but the rain came, so instead of yesterdays stunning bright morning, we woke to a gray drizzle. Since today would be a long day we opted for breakfast off the boat. Our first try, Jacks Place, a local favorite was closed. So we ended up at the French Country Cafe.

We had the “French Breakfast”, eggs, meat, a potato galettes and a croissant. They were very good. The place is set up semi cafeteria style. You place your order, you can pick up additional items, juice, coffee, silver, etc. and pay. Once your food they bring it to the table.

We met a Looper, the Captain of the “Zendo”, they had been at our dock but visiting with friends. They were headed down today to Colonial Beach and then on their way. (Turns out we saw them down there, they were anchored off in the harbor.)

Next we went to the Torpedo Factory Art Center. It started out as a munitions factory at the end of WWI and during WWII made the Mark III airplane torpedo and the Mark XIV torpedo for submarines. They have one of each on display. In the mid 70′s it was turned into artist studios. There are about 130 artists there now. Some of the spaces were open and we got a chance to see some great art. I picked up a card of a really cool kite sculpture. The sculpture is $1,800 so I’ll need to put it on my Christmas list.

Normally today would be an “it’s raining, stay in port day”. It’s about 64 miles back to Colonial Beach and normally it would be about an 8 hour run. If we leave around 11:30 today we will be with the falling tide the entire way. On the way up we averaged only about 7 knots since we were against the tide part of the way.

We got pumped out and took off at 11:45. As Mark says “The tide giveth and the tide taketh away.” On the way up we were against the tide doing about 7 knots. Once we got past the no wake zones, we set the speed to our normal RPM and flew down the river at about 9.8 knots the entire way (some peaks of 10.2) until we got close to the 301 bridge (near the Navy Test range). As we got closer the speed started to drop since we were in the next tidal pool. The test range was also “open” so we were able to stay on the Virginia side and cut a few miles off. The final result is we got to the Colonial Beach harbor and into Boathouse Marina about 6:00 PM. A six hour run vs the almost 10 it took to go the other way.

Because the temperature started off at 62, I fired up the generator and Susan made grilled cheese for lunch. It was nice to have a hot lunch on a cold day. For dinner it was chicken and her version of Spanish rice (rice, salsa, corn) and grilled onions and peppers.

We were both tired, I crashed early, she stayed up to see how one of her show season ending worked out.

Cold and a little blowy in the morning. I did laundry, changed fuel filters and got caught up on some email stuff. Susan cleaned and also did some email stuff.

For dinner we went Denson’s Market and has an amazing dinner. We went with the owner of The Boathouse Marina. The appetizer we shared are Sugar Toads with a Cheerwine reduction. The fish is the Northern Puffer Fish. They take the tail, bread it and deep fry it. You eat it like you would eat a chicken wing, there is a series of connected bones down the center. It was very good, but strange for us, but it’s a Chesapeake Bay specialty. Between the three of us we also had scallops, fresh swordfish and really great home made crab cakes. My side was spinach with bleu cheese and bacon. A great dinner. We got eclairs to go, along with home made sausages and crabcakes for later on in the week.

Our host took us on a tour of the town, so we got to see all the great little houses and the backstory on some of the town. One of the great sunsets of the trip was tonight, so it turned out to be a great rest day. We both feel really good, having the day off made a huge difference.

We shared one of the eclairs, they are HUGE and also very good. It made a great end to the day.

Today was forecast to be hot and it was, mid day temps went to 85, and there wasn’t much wind. But first things first.

We got up and had a slow morning. The last few days have had us up and going pretty early, so it was nice to hang on the dock a little while. We pushed off about 8 AM into the very still water. We swung around into the Potomac on a wide lazy arc to miss the shoaling at the tip of Colonial Beach.

Coming into the river we were soon approaching the Navy test fire range. A VHF radio call to the range officer on “Range Boat 3” confirmed that the range was active and we should move over and stay along the Maryland shoreline. We did that and facing an oncoming tide slowly worked our way up the river. And when I say slowly it was just that. Our normal cruise speed is engine RPM of 1,800-1,900 RPM and we go 8.1 to 8.4 knots. With the engine at 1,900 we poked along at 6.9 knots.

Based on our speed we knew it was going to be a long ride. But it is a very pretty one the Potomac has some good vistas.

Along the way we passed a government site with some big radar / satellite dishes, the world famous Quantico Marine Base, a really neat power line spanning the river and some amazing homes.

We turned up into the Occoquan River and headed up the very narrow channel. I had not thought the current would be so bad, so we were almost two hours later than planned. So we were at dead low tide, and showed about 4-5′ under the keel the entire way.

We got tied off and while we were checking emails, etc., there was a short cloud burst that went by. We were hoping for cooler air, but instead we got more humidity. There were rain bands to the west, it wasn’t clear if we would see them or not.

Dinner was at the marina restaurant, we did our appetizer selections and sat back to watch the view and enjoy our food.

When we got back to the boat the crews of “The Chief”, “Para’Dice”, and “Lady Min” were doing docktails. We joined in and got good tips on where to go and what to see across the next few days. The crew of “Para’Dice” is in the planning stages of their Looper adventure, so we talked some about our trip.

The rain bands that may or may not arrive and did so with a vengeance. The skys opened up and it just poured. (There was a ton of sticks and stuff in the water the next morning). When the rain quit I had a short chat with the Captain of “Para’Dice”, he had a few more questions.

On the plus side it looks like the new weather stripping on the upper helm door is working well. We’ll keep a towel there just as a safety measure but there was no moisture from last night.

Flashback: One year ago we were still in Ilion, NY, working our way through the Voss’ Menu (we are now regulars, after 5 days everyone knows our name)

Another early start, today because we wanted to tour St. Mary’s Maryland.

The good news was the winds were from the South, so we would have following seas for the trip North. But the winds were up so there would be 2 foot waves the entire trip. Saying that the trip out into the bay took longer since I needed to go South some (waves on the starboard quarter) vs full abeam. Once out in the bay I could head north and put them on the stern.

While there was some sailboats out the only other traffic was a small container ship and two tows. One was pushing their barge (with lots of bow waves crashing over it). The second was actually towing the barge. This is the first time I’d seen an actual “tow” since we we left last April. It had to be hard for him to keep the line from taking up slack as they traveled over the waves.

At 11 AM it was time to make the turn into the Potomac River at Point Lookout. Again I needed to make the turn to put the waves on the Aft Port Quarter to keep us from tossing around. A few miles up into the Potomac River the waves broke down into moderate chop. By the time I got to the mouth of the St. Mary’s river the wind had dropped and we were down to swells.

St. Mary’s Maryland is one of the earliest settlements in Maryland and is where the first capital was. In 1634 Lord Calvert and 140 settlers plus crew to set up the first English settlement. The Dove was their scout boat, all of the families were aboard the much larger Ark.

A replica of the Dove is anchored outside the recreation of the town of St. Mary’s. We sat just outside the dock and got some great pictures. From there we went around the corner to St. Mary’s College and docked at their wharf. Graduation had just ended so there were lots of families taking pictures of their children. Wonder how many shots the “Quo Vadimus” is in? Talk about a photo bomb!

We walked through the very pretty campus into St Mary’s. There is a recreation of some of the original buildings. A few are on the former site and there is sections of the floor that are cut away so you can see the original basement floors (mostly brick). They have also set up the frames of a few other buildings so it’s easy to see what they looked like. St Mary’s reminded both of us of Fayette MI, the steel town that was abandoned in the 1800′s. They still have the frames of some of the buildings up so you can sort of visualize what it would have looked like.

One of the things I found interesting is that the fireplaces are in the center of the house so it heats from the center out. The chimney is more of a trapezoid type shape, so it was easy for the 1630′s settlers to build without them falling over.

We did a quick tour of the Dove. The mate said that there was no recreation of the Ark, it would take millions to build it and maintenance would be a problem. They did a demo of the “salute gun” that they used to signal to the other boat.

We walked back through the campus and made a quick stop at the coffee shop for a snack. Frozen microwave food is just the pits. But with most of the students gone it made sense to not have the cafeteria open.

We got back on the boat. There was one Gold Looper anchored out in Horseshoe Bay, but we couldn’t get the name of the boat. We cruised back up the St Mary’s and turned into our marina at Dennis Point. There is a huge fish tournament here, so we will take our time getting off the dock in the morning.

We got some gusty rain so I needed to run out and furl the Looper flag. When it rattles it sounds like the entire bow is coming apart. Likewise Susan adjusted the fenders to keep them from slapping around like a freshly boated fish.

We’ll do two slow days up the river and then spend some time in Alexandria VA. Next stop is Colonial Beach.

One year ago today we were starting our five day stay in Ilion NY Like here it rained, but unlike here it where it rained only an hour in Ilion it rained 2 days in a row and flooded the Erie Canal. Once the Canal was closed we had to spend the days in Ilion until it opened up again.

Excitement is in the air. We are recreating the maiden voyage of the “Quo Vadimus” from May, 2011. We’ve spent the last two days at Atlantic Yacht Basin, yesterday was pretty much goofing off.

Today we were off the dock at 6:45 AM. Once again one of those wispy fog mornings. We made the 7AM Great Bridge Lift Bridge opening. We slid into the Great Bridge Lock at 7:10 past the squawking geese (nesting pair at the end of the lock). We rose 18” and like our very first lock in 2011 our last lock of the Great Loop is over, no muss, no fuss.

We took it easy during the first two hours. Since the “Steel Bridge” is gone, there wasn’t anything to time for. We almost got hung up at one of of the rail road bridges, but the tender called out that I should pick up the pace and we passed under with lots of time to spare.

The Navy Yards were abuzz with a carrier and 4 warships coming into port. Lots of chatter and lots of requests by the Navy ships for people to get out of their way. I’m always amazed that people don’t pay attention and won’t move fast enough to get out of the way. It’s not like they could easily stop.

We were in the bay proper by Thimble Shoals by 11AM. We were happy that we waited out the weather from yesterday. Today we had 10 knot south winds kicking up a minor swell on our stern as we headed north.

This section reminds me how big the Chesapeake Bay is in the Virginia end. You can’t see the Eastern Shore and after awhile there is only water to the South and North.

Througout the day the winds picked up so when we turned into the Rappahannock the waves were 1-2′. We needed to angle off to get into the river so it was a little rolly for awhile. We got into Norview Marina to get pumped out. While there we talked to “Field Trip”. They had come up yesterday with the north winds and said that it was not a fun time.

Our slip was next to a custom 57 power cat. The owner told us all about it, it sounded like a great boat. He has the same problem most of us do, people say “wow, I want to come down and ride, but they never actually show up. He’s downsizing to a 45 power cat, I asked if he wanted to take a 45 Bayliner in trade and he said that he was a multi-hull sailor, no mono-hull for him.

But our little 8 hour 45 minute voyage of 62 nautical miles left us pretty beat. So Susan grilled pork chops and we were both in bed by 8:30. But it was a great day, we recounted the fun trip that we had with Dennis bringing the Quo Vadimus home for the first time. Ir was also great to have completed the last lock, 105 in total.

So after the 90 degree yesterday in the Dismal Swamp, we woke to a 65 degree morning. I was happy it had cooled down and it made the mosquitoes die off. Flashback to the slaves that dug this by hand, not a happy time. We putzed around the boat and then at 8 AM pushed off into the channel.

It’s a 15 mile ride to the bridge and lock, and the Quo Vadimus idles at 6. So I took a tip from my friend Doug and just used the port engine for the three hours at just above idle and we were good.

So since you asked, we go slow since 1) the canal is about 40′ wide 2) there is a ton of material at the bottom and it sometimes surfaces you go past fast. There are two boats following us so I didn’t want stuff up in the water for them to hit. 3) There was rain / storm last night, so there is stuff for me to move around, but not lots of room to do it in. So it was slow, slow, watch the turtles and the snakes and the birds and life in the 1800′s drift by.

We got to the bridge right at 11AM in time for the opening. The bridge/lock master was really nice, the three of us passed through and got into the lock in short order. He had lots of good tips on places to go, anchor and eat. I noticed that he didn’t work for the Army Corps of Engineers, but for an outside service company. Wonder if they are outsourcing the lock work, but he said he had been there for 20 years.

We got out of the lock and did 8 miles to our next to last lock on this trip, Great Bridge. We locked through tied up about ½ down the lock. There is a nesting goose at the south end and boats make them cranky. This was the nicest lock on our trip with brand new rubber sides, we really didn’t need our fenders. We will pass through this lock on Friday and we are officially done with locks on the loop. Yay Us!.

Under the Great Bridge Draw Bridge and into Atlantic Yacht Basin. The Quo Vadimus was purchased here in 2011, so she has “crossed her wake”, but our official crossing won’t be until we get to the Bohemia River. We are stopping here for the great fuel prices at $2.40 a gallon. This is less than ½ price of what I paid in Rochester almost a year ago and $3 less a gallon than my top price in Canada.

Docking here is also cheap at $1 per foot, there have been few places along the trip this cheap.

I stopped in to see our broker, Bob, at Virginia Yacht Brokers. He said we could sell Quo Vadimus now and quickly, but said if we were still boating and having fun keep on going. He has sent a few future Loopers to us in the past to help with Looping questions.

We had a visit from a future Looper that has purchased a 4788 to start their loop next year. We passed along all of our Looper tips. (Go now, have fun, don’t listen to other Loopers on where to go make it your own adventure, but spend as much time in Canada as you can!) [irony]

While at the dock we watched a huge parade of boats from 20′ day cruisers to 70′ yachts. There were two RIB boats with marinnes and a support boat. After 6 the crew boats come out there have been two 8 man and one 4 man shell one the water. This is a really great place to watch boats come and go.

Susan made a great dinner that starred corn on the cob. It’s cool that local vegatables are coming into season, and yes this corn was from Florida, but as of 4 weeks ago that was “local”.

We are coming off the river system so stuff like winds and tides are making a difference again. The Thursday forecast is for winds from the north. That means that the wind starts at our home in the Upper Chesapeake and drags water down so by the time it reaches us waves are 3-4′ (or more). No trip north for Thursday.

Sleeping in was easy since it had cooled down again. We both got caught up on computer stuff (hey new title pictures!) and some other odds and ends. I happened to see a carpet cleaning company working on the mega yacht behind us and we asked how much to do our boat. Not much it turned out and we now have bright clean carpet. Yay us!!

Lunch was at a Japanese buffet that you order off the menu. Which would be more of a prix fixe, or table d’hôte, but those are more of a fixed menu. We had the run of the menu, but limits on some items. None the less we stuffed ourselves and waddled out an hour later. My big treat was Hershey’s Ice Cream in a small cup. We had the cups as kids and my children had them as kids, it’s really great ice cream.

Did naps in the afternoon and watched boats go by until baked chicken dinner. It’s amazing how good a simple baked chicken can taste.

After dinner I spoke to one boat, it’s a refit oyster buy boat, but now it’s a cruiser with the oyster spaces turned into nice cabins. I also saw the “Active Captain Boat”, so they made their goal of Norfolk.

Did a little engine work for the rest of the trip. I can’t get to the sensor without crawling into the engine, so that will wait for the weekend. The belts on the new alternator were loose so they got tightened up. Checked all the fluids and we are ready to roll.