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Southbound ’19 – Travel Day 6: A Beautiful Day On Chesapeake Bay

Conditions: Sunny and warm.  Winds south 5-10 kts, waters calm then light chop.

Distance traveled: 79.4 nautical miles (91 statute miles)

Time underway: 7 hours 48 minutes

Average Speed: 10.2 kts

Max Speed: 18.2 kts

Fuel used: 90 gallons

We shoved off at 7:48 am and left the calm of Herrington Harbour South with what felt like the promise of a beautiful day on the water.  That promise (which also came from several weather forecasts) is the reason we decided to take on the ninety-one miles that lay ahead of us in one run rather than breaking it up into two as we had originally planned.  We don’t mind the longer days on the water at all as long as the weather cooperates.  We just anticipated that we’d be ready for a shorter day after five days in a row of traveling.  But it turned out that the friends we were hoping to see in Solomons, MD weren’t going to be there and we liked the idea of getting to OLOH’s October home sooner than expected to settle the boat in and see our friends there.

The Captain took Jasper for his morning walk and that can only mean one thing…that’s right folks, the Admiral is giving his broken toe a rest!
7:50 am Herrington Harbour South departure. We’ll be back!
The predicted great weather became a reality and temps warmed into the 80’s under sunny skies with light winds fairly early.  Not bad for the last day of September.

We knew we were headed in the right direction when we saw our first pelican of the trip swooping about at 8:41 am.  We took particular note of this simple highlight because, while it was a beautiful day, it’s a mostly uninteresting trip as we spend most of it a few miles offshore and traffic was generally light.  Probably the biggest excitement came when a Coast Guard cutter hailed us from four miles away asking our intentions.  In my head, I answer by saying, “whatever you need them to be” but they just wanted to make sure we’re not going to suddenly change course or get too close.

We didn’t pass many boats along our route but it was cool to see the 1947 60′ Trumpy Adonia heading north on the bay. She’s the flagship yacht of Waterway Guide, one of our essential and favorite cruising publications and was on her way to the Annapolis Boat Show which was about to get underway.
Not much to see here. Chesapeake Bay travel has few major sights so coming upon the 115-year-old Point No Point Lighthouse off of St Inigoes, Maryland is, well, something.
Sometimes the highlight of a day on the water is the meal you have underway! Old Bay dusted Maryland crab cakes served classic style with cole slaw and potato salad courtesy of OLOH fans and followers…and now new friends, Tom and Trish (and their pup Action Jackson) from Port House Grill in North East MD. Wow!! Excellent. They were moist and loaded with sweet crab meat – some of the best we’ve had.

The fair current that pushed us along for much of the day turned against us for the last two hours on the Bay, slowing our speed to around nine knots, but we weren’t on a schedule and conditions remained calm until we turned into the Rappahannock River where they got a bit choppy.  We were rewarded for our cruising efforts with the appearance of our first dolphins of this year’s trip south as they danced off OLOH’s bow about twenty minutes from our destination.  It’s always magical and another wonderful sign that we were definitely headed the right way.  Sadly, Jasper didn’t get to see them.  This time.

We were quite happy letting our little guy sleep peacefully even though there were some dolphin sightings.

We arrived at OLOH’s October slip with a warm greeting from our dear friends Claudia and Steve on their beautiful Nordhaven Ranger who caught our lines and welcomed us to Virginia.

Dozier’s Regatta Point Marina in Deltaville is our usual stop here but for a variety of reasons, it made more sense for us to tie up in a different spot this time.  We still love you, Deltaville Jimmy!
Deltaville arrival. Jasper is definitely ready to see his friends!

Our arrival OLO-Rita tasted particularly good accompanied by the great sense of accomplishment in completing phase one of our Southbound ’19 Adventure.  Granted, it is the shortest of the “phases” we plan to undertake, but putting 439 nautical miles (505 statute miles) behind us through four states definitely feels good and we’re very pleased with our decision to break up this season’s adventure.  We’ve got a terrific slip in a well-protected spot and it’s the perfect place to stage for what’s next.

Yacht Spotting: Friends of ours have an extremely well-kept Florida Bay Coaster so when we saw this one on the hard in Deltaville it caught our eye. Apparently Steel Away sunk just off the Chesapeake over ten years ago but hasn’t been given up on just yet.

We celebrated our arrival with the Ranger Crew and enjoyed a terrific meal together at The Table At Wilton in Deltaville.  One of the truly great things about being in the boating world is meeting like-minded people who you enjoy spending time with.  We actually met Steve and Claudia right here in Deltaville two years ago when they were moving up a size in Nordhavens!  Sometimes all it takes is a smile and a hello and the next thing you know you’re sitting at dinner with people who you feel like you’ve known forever!

Steve and Claudia are not only two of the kindest folks we’ve met along the way, they have a terrific sense of humor, an insane amount of boating knowledge and are a wonderful welcoming crew.
We were recommended the specialty drink – a hibiscus infused, vodka martini with a candied hibiscus flower. It was so terrible that the three guys only had three…each. Claudia was our driver and only drank sparkling water.
These fried oysters with a chipotle aioli sauce were are some of the best fried oysters we’ve ever had!
These aren’t your standard clam strips (with a side of cocktail sauce). They were perfectly cooked and perfectly tender. This place knows how to fry food! We are going back for more!
Chilled melon soup with a plum salsa. Steve decided to give this special soup a try – it was exceptionally creative and tasty.
The specials all sounded so good we all got them. This is pan seared Rockfish, red smashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and sundried tomatoes.
Hand cut, pan-seared rib eye, with sauteed mushrooms and an au jus sauce with a side of decadent, cheesy creamed spinach.
Fettucine with roasted red tomato, fennel sauce, and basil beneath perfectly seared scallops, mussels, and clams with a side of toasted, buttery bread.
This was our server, Jeffery, who was completely, totally and undeniably responsible for our gluttony and some good Dionne Warwick tunes! Thanks for the excellent service and great laughs, Jeffery! See you soon.
OLOH tucked into her October home as the sun sets on phase one of our Southbound ’19 Adventure.

Thanks for following along for this part of our journey.  We expect to be underway for points south by the end of October – but it’s boating – so anything is possible – stay tuned!

See you out there…

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And that concludes your OLOH instructions. M/Y OLOH back to 1-6

myoloh

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  2. Greetings from the crew of Bluenose! We are at our Georgian Bay home and will begin our trek south (on 4 wheels) after a Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. We hope to have Bluenose ready for cruising up SW Florida’s west coast early in November. It would be nice if we could have a reunion during the 2019-2020 season. Exumas are still in our Spring plans. West coast destinations will be our focus for winter. Smooth cruising! P&P
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