Up Chesapeake Bay

 The Chesapeake Bay is really, really, really, really big; some 200 miles from south to north!

More than 150 rivers, creeks, and streams provide freshwater, while the Atlantic Ocean provides salinity levels between 25% and 34% at the extreme south end.

 

 

 

 

 

 As we head out of Norfolk in the early morning hours, Spiritus gets a big push from the outgoing tide. We are happy when the chartplotter's groundspeed readout (top left corner) reads over 8mph.

  Doing 11.2mph, we feel like our hair is on fire!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 The first of many unmanned lighthouses in the Chesapeake.

In the 19th century, there were as many as 45 lighthouses up & down the bay.

 

 

 

 

The Thimble Shoal lighthouse, where we turn to begin our northbound journey up the Chesapeake!

 

 

 

 

 

 Approaching Deltaville, Virginia, almost every day marker we passed had an osprey nest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We anchored Spiritus in Jackson Creek upon arriving in Deltaville.

An approaching late afternoon thunderstorm helped cool the air as the wind slowly picked up speed.

 

 

 

 

 

 Captain Eddy tries to block the wind from the grill so our pork loin can get cooked! 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our calm, serene Deltaville anchorage the next morning.

One sailboat's anchor broke loose during the previous afternoon's high winds.  The anchor miraculously gained hold once again, bringing the boat to rest about 5 feet from a nearby dock. 

 

 

 

 

 

 It's hard to believe that once upon a time, people would actually live in these vital lighthouses, far from shore.  Today, of course, the lights are totally automated; even the actual changing of a light bulb is done by remote control from an office over 100 miles away!

 

 

 

 

 

 Our approach to the quaint fishing and sailing town of Solomons Island, Maryland, where we will spend four nights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The First Mate stands ready at the bow to snag a mooring ball at Solomons.

 

 

 

 

 

 Using the mooring ball instead of a boat slip is not only less expensive, but it keeps you out in the open water where you can often enjoy a better view of your surroundings.  Solomons is an active boating community and there is alway something interesting to watch. 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting from Spiritus to shore is accomplished with a quick dinghy ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After a long day on the water, the crew takes a well deserved break at The Tiki Bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 Returning to Spiritus to enjoy the Solomons sunset AND prepare ourselves for a live concert!

Only a hundred yards behind our mooring is the local outdoor amphitheater, where the CMA Award winning group, The Band Perry, is performing!

 

 

 

 

 

 Listening to great live music, watching a beautiful sunset, and drinking excellent wine on the flybridge of your trawler with the best girl in the world!

 It doesn't get better than this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Solomons is definetely sailboat country.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our marina had many wonderful amenities, one of which I caught Linda enjoying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've watched and participated in many sailing regattas in our day, but never have we seen a race between remote controlled sailboats!

 

 

 

 

 

The crew of sailing vessel Impetuous, Chris & Durene, were moored next to us for several days in the Solomons. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 People have asked, "How do you get groceries and supplies while you're travelling on the water?"

We either walk, borrow the marina's courtesy car, or use the marina's loaner bikes.

That big metal container in my bike basket is NOT a pony keg of beer!  It's one of our propane tanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Solomons is indeed picturesque.

 

 

 Late spring flowers abound and the smell of fresh mowed, deep green grass fills the air! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Calvert Marine Museum has one of three remaining screw-pile cottage lighthouses.

A tour of this restored lighthouse provides an excellent look into the simplicity of people's lives and the hardship they endured in order to provide their vital maritime services.

 

 

 

 

 

 The First Mate uses the lighthouse keeper's phone to order some ice cream!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Solomons is the home of the bugeye, a type of skipjack sailing boat used in the Chesapeake to harvest oysters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Calvert Marine Museum has constructed a fossil of what a megatooth shark may have looked like in prehistoric times.  They reached 50 feet in length and 50 tons in weight, with gaping jaws and sharp serrated teeth.

 

 

 

 

 

 Captain Eddy was shocked to see this pristine, 1958 Evinrude 35 h.p. outboard at the museum.

This was the same engine that powered his family Chris Craft  around  the bayous of Fort Walton Beach when he was a teenager.

 

 

 

 

 

 The beautiful Solomons boardwalk is a great place to enjoy a peaceful walk along the Patuxent River.