TIM PATTI RILEY BIG ADVENTURE

June 11, 2018

We arrived Ingram Bay Marina in Heathsville, VA Tuesday 5/29. It appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, but close to the ICW. Billy, the owner, was very nice & helpful. He did loan us his truck to re provision. We drove 30 minutes to a what else?.... Walmart. Saw nothing but fields & woods. To add to the charm, no TV or phone reception. I thought this is a great place to do the laundry. Packed it all up & carried it to the laundry. On the way to the laundry, I was challenged by a spider the size of a silver dollar. He blinked first & went the other way, much to my relief. When I saw the laundry room, I turned & hauled my laundry back to the boat. Two reasons: dryer vent tube was sitting on top of the dyer & I knew that spider's family lived there. I did not wish to meet them.

Wednesday 5/30 we left for Calvert Marina, Solomons, MD. We ran the Chesapeake Bay which was nice. Deep water & running on plane is always a welcome break from the ICW. At this stop we were treated to The Blue Angels practicing for an air show. Also, the loaner car was a diesel Mercedes, circa the 80's. Scariest loaner we have ever used, but it got us to the store & back.

On to Annapolis, MD on Friday June 1. We stayed at Annapolis Landing Marina. In keeping with the no traveling on the weekends, we planned to stay till Monday, but remained till Thursday. Very nice, but we either needed to drive or take a water taxi to downtown Annapolis. We have done both. They have a pool & a loaner car.

The extended stay was because we finally found someone to look at the generator, (did I mention the generator was not working?) but he could not make it till Tues. Andy showed on Tuesday (nice guy). Generator is now working. But (there is always a but, isn't there?) while he was having a coffee with us, he & Tim got to talking about the inverter which has been a puzzle throughout our travels. Won't try to explain the puzzle as it is above my pay grade & would probably bore you silly. Bottom line, Andy felt he could fix that also, but he could not work on that till Thursday. The decision was made to stay. Thursday late morning we got a call from Andy. He was not able to get the part he needed for a week. We did not wish to wait. Andy said he would ship it where ever we wished & Tim could install. We went with that. We stayed that day anyway, as his call came a little late & I planned laundry & cooking before we left.

While in Annapolis we had a visit & lunch with a former work colleague Sheila & her husband Gerry. It was great to see them & spend some time with them. Gerry is retired Coast Guard & would like to do the Loop some day.

Riley & I found a park with a trail through the woods, that reminded us of The Kopf Reservation at home. This is the first time, since we left, Riley has seen a deer up close. Trust me, he showed his enthusiasm. There is also a wide open field were he can run off leash, & a restaurant he approved of. (see picture) All in all Riley approved this stop.

Tim's back has improved, not great, but much better.

Friday 6/8 on to Delaware City. We ran the last of the Chesapeake Bay & the C & D canal. The Chesapeake treated us well. There was a lot of debris in the canal & we did bump something, but luckily no damage.

We stayed at the Delaware City docks. Once again the current needed to be taken into consideration. The dock hands were very good. Typically they bring you in & turn you at the dock, but Tim was able to turn before docking. All the boats that came in after were turned by the dock hands. They have a great system.

It is a nice little city & I wish we could have stayed a couple of days, but one lets weather dictate on this trip. When leaving here, one must cross the Delaware Bay, which I'm told can be hellacious, so people hole up to wait for a weather window. Tim, the dock master, holds a briefing at 1700 every day to explain what to expect. Our weather window was open on Saturday 6/9. The Delaware was glass.

We had some time before we left, so it was decided, we would give Riley a bath. He stands very still on the dock while we soap him up & rinse him off. Once that is done, he runs & jumps around like a crazy dog. This was not the best dock for bath time. Long, narrow & water on both sides. Of course, he fell in & did not have on his harness because you can't wear clothes while taking a bath, right? We eventually got him out & rewashed him.

Saturday 6/9 headed to Cape May, NJ. Whatever happened to my no weekend travel suggestion???
Not even a great weather day & still very busy. It did give Tim an opportunity to exercise his voice.

We docked at South Jersey Marina. There are several choices in this area, all with info & recommendations from those who have gone before. The choice is made on what you want to do, how long you will stay & amenities, you just never know what you will get until you get there. Not a good place for Riley & the most difficult docking yet. There are always trade offs.

Wind, current & narrow channel make docking here a real challenge. After some tense moments, Tim was able to get us to the dock with out incident. We watched & helped others come in that were not so lucky. Tim was out catching lines & shouting directions! I'm thinking they may hire him. Once again we were lucky, as 2 of them missed us by inches, but unfortunately they hit pilings & docks.

Looks like we will be here until Wednesday, waiting for a weather window to once again run the ocean. (It is a given, that we will check with TJ,our guardian angel, before we leave) We have rain, wind & 60 degree temps. I swear, we were cursed by the weather gods!

We did get to spend time with my cousin, Patti, her husband Les & daughter Reghan. It was fun catching up.