Thursday, July 28, 2011

Chesapeake,we are here!

We took three days off from moving North and enjoyed one of our favorite stops, the York River Yacht Haven, to celebrate our arrival on the Chesapeake. Another good reason was that it has been in the upper 90's and low 100's with high humidity, and we wanted to be hooked to power and have a pool to hit in the afternoon with a couple of cold ones.
Tuesday, we headed out on a much cooler beautiful day to the Cockrell. The crab fishing was great, but with a fish processing plant not too far away, the wind shifted and it smelled like rotten cat food and the bugs were bad. Needless to say, we moved today to another anchorage. We are on the Saint Mary's River off the Potomac. A beautiful anchorage overlooking Saint Mary's College, cooler weather, and we will be explore the Saint Mary's college area tomorrow.

September Song ( Cassie and Godiva are going to college) out
Bob


So, how do we get around this guy?


Is it a sailboat or a power boat. This is the first time a sailboat has passed us, planing no less!


I hate following barges. It's not the speed, but the prop wash.



The great bridge bridge. No, I didn't stutter. What a cool bridge. Three years ago, Diane K. tried to break it with a nickel.
Posted by Picasa

We spent the night at the free dock between the Great Bridge bridge and the Great Bridge lock. It wasn't so great because they don't have electric and it was 102 degrees when we arrived. Thank God we have a generator. I think they think this is a "great" place! I would think it would be great if they had electric at the dock. I know, I know, what do you want for free. We made the 07:00 opening. 


My expert line handler. and cute too!

The first bridge in Portsmouth is a RR bridge. It's closed, waiting for a train. After waiting for 20 minutes, the train arrived. Oh, did I mention it was going slow and had 162 cars.

After the RR bridge opened, we had another bridge 50 yards North of it. I hate bridges!

Posted by Picasa

These floating hotels house the workers while they are working on ships.


Have you ever seen so many cranes in one place?


OH sh..... Don't look now, but those two young boys have a big machine gun. The ships are guarded 24 hours a day while in harbor.


Amazing to see one of these monsters out of the water.
Posted by Picasa

More young boys with big guns.





Whatever floats your boat! The dry docks that float these ships are enormous.


The city of Norfolk.

Posted by Picasa

Dolphin playing at the bow as we go through Portsmouth.


I don't think they want you close.




This ship looks stealth.
Posted by Picasa

Monsters of the sea.




Finally through Portsmouth and into the Chesapeake to our first at one of our favorite stops, York River Yacht Haven. Tied to the dock in 100 degree heat. 


In this heat, the best thing to do is hit the pool with a cold one.
Posted by Picasa

Nothing like breakfast on the fly bridge while under way on a beautiful day. Life just doesn't get any better than this!


We anchored on  Cockrell Creek, off the Great Wicomico. After we set the anchor, I threw in a couple of lines. After about two hours, I had half a five gallon bucket full of Chesapeake blue crab.


One more for the bucket!
Posted by Picasa

You know you're in the Chesapeake when you start to see waterman boats.




It's not a lighthouse. I guess they just call them a light. They are scattered throughout the Chesapeake. In the old days someone lived here and kept the light lit.
Posted by Picasa