Annapolis, MD to Deltaville, VA - October 6 to 18, 2009

We had a front seat view to watch the preparations for the annual Annapolis Boat Show. It was like watching a giant jigsaw puzzle being put together. Each piece is put together in a specific order. Firstly, all of the boats in Ego Alley have to leave to make room for the ‘show’ boats to come in. Once the first group of boats is in, a bridge made of temporary floating docks is installed, then another group of boats is added and is surrounded by more temporary docks. This process is repeated several times until there is one giant raft-up. Temporary piles are driven into place to keep the whole thing stable.

We did not find out where the temporary docks are assembled but these are two of the work boats that move them into place. The other two work boats were called Pull and Yank.

Tents for the vendors covered almost all of the available parking spaces around Ego Alley.

Speaking of vendors, there were several who had items available that we simply could not live without! In addition to the Single Side Band radio, yards of sunbrella and phifertex, and the Wi-Fi amplifier that we purchased prior to the boat show we now have an Engel 12 volt freezer, a new inflatable life jacket and safety harness foe me, a boarding ladder for the dingy, new boat shoes, some fancy hose reels for the water hose and shore power cord, replacement LED bulbs for our reading lights and a KISS wind generator. Oh yeah, we also came across a beautiful brass barometer (the weather guru at the Seven Seas “Gam” said we needed one) at the Weems and Plath tent sale on the way to dinner. Several boat units later (1 Boat Unit = $1000) we added a few things to the never ending “To Do” list.

Night view before .

Night view after.

Iron Genny from LSYC arrived in Annapolis the day before the boat show started. It was great to see familiar faces! We had dinner together at the famous Davis Pub (famous to cruisers at least) one night and Roger and Hanni rustled up a great turkey dinner for Canadian Thanks giving. Thanks guys!

Dinner at the Davis Pub.

Our new friends Ron and Suzie, off the catamaran Easy Time, call Solomon’s home when they are not out cruising and recommended it as a good place for stocking up on supplies. After two days at the boat show it was time to move on and start crossing some things off the “To Do” list. We anchored in Back Creek for a few days and Tom got the wind generator up and working. Ron and Suzie took us shopping at BJ’s, Wal-Mart, West Marine, a wine and liquor store and Ace hardware then invited us to their home for dinner and let Tom use their garage to balance the blades on the wind generator. What wonderful people!

The weather forecast was predicting dropping temperatures, rain and increasing waves. Time to go SOUTH! We knew it would be a rough ride out on the bay so we planned a short hop to a protected anchorage that Ron and Suzie had recommended on Mill Creek (almost every river on Chesapeake Bay has a Mill Creek running into it) near Reedville. The distance was just right for the conditions and it was so quiet and protected from the weather that the wind generator wouldn’t turn. It was solid overcast so the solar panels were just barely keeping up with the refrigeration. Good thing it was cold and the refrigeration was not running more than twice a day. The leaves are starting to change color too, a good sign of colder weather. After a couple of days the house batteries were getting low and the weather forecast was telling us that if we did not leave soon we would probably be stuck there for a while. There was no accessible land to land the dinghy and go for a walk so we decided to head for Deltaville with Iron Genny and go to a marina to wait out the next few Dubarry days.

Deltaville is a pleasant village mixed with farmland surrounded by several marinas and boatyards plus a few stores (2 West Marine’s) and restaurants (Toby’s will drive you home after you have had too many drinks with dinner to find your way back past the corn field in the dark). We stayed at the reasonably priced Fishing Bay Harbor Marina which also offers discounts to Boat US members and has very clean and well maintained facilities. The hot showers and plug in heaters were very much appreciated in the cold, wet weather with night time low temperatures around 38 degrees F. It was also nice to be able to get out on solid ground and stretch our legs.

An odd place for a cactus but this one was thriving.

Someone wanted a view of the water when this place was built.

Too bad the trees in front kept growing.

Even the herons look like they would rather be somewhere warmer.

There is sunshine in the forecast for tomorrow. Hampton, here we come.