Splashdown and on to Solomons Island

June 18 - 24, 2015

As our stay at Zimmerman Marine had extended to over two weeks we suddenly had something to look forward to: the arrival of our friends Ken and Ann on M/V Charis.

We had met them even before we started the loop at a gathering in 2013 in Cape Coral for Loopers and wannabes. Their refrigerator on the boat had died and they ordered a new one to be installed at Zimmerman’s.

We had the rental car and so we all went out to dinner that night and in the following days we took them to all the little byways that we had been exploring.



Ken and Ann with us at Cocomo's in Deltaville, VA

The next day was Father's Day and we all went over to Kilmarnock so the dads could have some wood grilled burgers - a big hit. Afterward we went to the Historic Christ Church to get a little taste of the history of the area.

Historic Christ Church in Irvington- roof is being repaired

Ann and I try out the high back pews - not so comfortable

Three tiered pulpit has a sounding board over it

On Tuesday, June 23, Serenity was all put back together, had new bottom paint and was ready to go back in the water! The big blue truck, Sisyphus, picked her up and started the slow ride back down to the water.

Alex attaches the chains to hold the truck in place while the hydraulic
trailer backs the boat even further

Almost there!

She is back in the water and her newly polished hull is sparkling!

We moved back aboard and we had to wait twenty-four hours to let the hull sit in the water before the final alignment could be done. On Wednesday John and the trusty mechanic, Bob, took her out for a sea trial. John said the ride was so smooth it felt like a new boat!

 

June 25, 2015

It was exciting to get underway again and we were eager to get going at first light and leave the little narrow channel at high tide. Our timing was great and Ken and Ann on Charis were right behind us.

 

Charis, with her bright blue hull, follows us out of the channel at sunrise

Charis passes us in the early morning light. We had to go south out
of Mobjack Bay before turning north on the Chesapeake

After rounding New Point Comfort Lighthouse we were on the broad bay

 

Serenity on the move on a beautiful morning           photo by Ann S.

Smith Point Marina - not much there but it was a welcome haven for the
night with thunderstorms expected

 

Captain’s Log June 25, 2015

Departed: Zimmerman Marine, Mobjack Bay, Cardinal, VA at 5:55 am.

Engine hours: 7.2 hrs. – 733.8 total for trip
Actual hours: 7 hrs.
Miles covered 57.37 - Total for trip: 5207
Arrived: Smith Point Marina, Reedville, VA. 12:55 pm.
Weather: clear, wind light and variable. Temp mid-70s and climbed to mid-80s. Left early to ride high tide out of marina, nice ride, repairs on the boat were good. Vibrations are gone! Getting into Smith Marina a little challenging to find the channel but with help we arrived without going aground.  

Friday, June 26

The forecast was for a breezier day, but we really wanted to get to Solomons Island where there would be a lot of places to walk and restaurants to visit, so we set out. As soon as we turned onto the bay it was a bit rough with 2 to 4 footers and we rocked quite a bit taking lots of waves over the bow, but it was doable. We had to pass the large mouth of the Potomac River and then the waters calmed down a bit as we approached land.

Charis entering the Patuxent river

This was a big day for Ken and Ann because they would be finishing their great loop! They had started over three years ago from Solomons Island and had traveled it in sections every year and this was their last leg. They were crossing their wake as they entered the area and it was the culmination of a lot of hours traveling and many miles covered.
It was a rough and bumpy day out on the water, but not our worst. Our big moment was entering another state - we were now in Maryland.

Celebrating with Ken and Ann

Now they can fly the gold flag and are officially Gold Loopers!

A welcoming sign at the entrance of Solomons Island
"God Bless Y'all Real Good!"

Captain’s Log Jun 26, 2015

Departed: Departed Smith Point Marina, Reedville, VA at 0715 a.m.
Engine hours: 5.1 hrs /total on trip 738.9
Actual Hours: 5 hrs 15 minutes
Miles covered: 39.47 total for trip 5246 
Arrived: Zahniser’s Yacht Center, Solomons Island, MD
Weather: Clear, temps in 70s, north wind 15-20 and occasionally 25

Departed Smith Point and came into the Bay. North wind initially gave us beam seas of 2-3 footers and gradually bigger. We turned North as soon as we could and tacked a bit as we proceeded across the mouth of the Potomac River. Seas were 2-3 and occasional 4, short time between them gave us quite a pitchy ride.  They did calm a bit once past the mouth of the Potomac but still rough all the way to Solomons Island.                                                          

 

Summer Camp at Zimmerman Marine

Wednesday, June 3 - Thursday, June 18, 2015

Still  at Zimmerman. We certainly didn’t expect this long delay in our trip, but the boat needs to run well and this seems to be the best place to get things fixed once and for all. After the boat was pulled, shafts and props removed and ready to send off to the shop, there was not much for us to do. The boatyard is in a remote spot, there were no other boaters here and the staff would be gone for the weekend. Who you gonna call?? Our friends Al and Nancy, of course!
We had already rented a car and it was about a three hour drive into rural central Virginia so we went there for a long weekend. It was a great place to be with wonderful friends that we have known since 1976 when we were all stationed at Naval Air Station Beeville, Texas. We lived in the same neighborhood and our young children played together. We all had a good visit and got caught up on our various adventures and the status of our grandchildren.

 

Al, Nancy, Kathy and John with a Virginia panorama in the background

When we got back to the boat the shafts hadn’t been sent to the shop yet and we were resigned to staying there at least another week. I liken it a bit to being at summer camp. We could live on the boat and had power and water so our cabin was comfortable. The Virginia temps were rising and our little temporary A/C unit had a hard time keeping up with the intense sunshine and heat, but…it’s camp – what do you expect?

 

We are near the town of Mathews, just below center

Our boat had been hauled out of the water by a powerful truck with the name Sisyphus on the front. I looked it up and in Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). “He was punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.”

 

Sisyphus pulls boats out of the water and then rolls them back in again

The office and “bathhouse” were just a short stroll across the yard tucked in among the trees. We were thankful for clean facilities and plenty of hot water. Afternoon siestas were the order of the day when the sun got hot.  

We took field trips by car to all of the surrounding towns including Gloucester, Mathews, Deltaville and Kilmarnock (pronounced K’marnic). Someone told us about the “Northern Neck Burger Company” in Kilmarnock and it was one of John's favorite spots – not surprising for those of you who know his love for burgers.

 

All American burgers - voted second best in the state!
(photo from internet)

This down time was a great opportunity to do our camp chores like cleaning the boat and getting the Intracoastal smile off the bow. The tannins in the brown water had really stained the white hull. I've been scrubbing the fenders but some of them are a lost cause after a year of cruising and transiting over a hundred locks.

Wax on, wax off - look at that shine!

 We often drove by the sign for Fort Nonsense on the way to Gloucester. It was built during the civil war to protect Richmond's east flank from invasion forces from the Chesapeake Bay. However, the Union came down by land from the north and west so it was useless. One of the officers said, "This is nonsense." The area has been known by that moniker ever since. 

 

Not much here now but some historical markers and a nature trail

When the temps got up over 98 degrees and the little portable A/C unit we had borrowed for the boat couldn't keep up, we decided to abandon ship and move into the nearest hotel about 15 miles away in Gloucester. We have a room with a fridge and a microwave so we have made ourselves at home and hope to be on our way in about a week. Will keep you posted.

Life is good! We now have a pool where we can cool off.

No Captain’s Log 
 
Serenity hasn't been anywhere!

Salt Ponds Marina to Zimmerman Marine

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Serenity was pulled out of the water on Wednesday and the mechanic at Atlantic YB saw a problem right away. The prop shaft had somehow slipped forward inside the coupling and the metal line cutters were rubbing on the cutlass bearing housing. He made the necessary adjustments, checked a few other things and declared the boat fixed and it was splashed back down.
 

Things were up in the air for us for a while

While they were working on the boat I found a comfortable spot to sit in
the lounge at the ship's store - who knew they had a magazine called
Garden & Gun?!

We left the next morning to resume our trip and timed it so we would be ready when the nearby drawbridge opened at 7. Right after the bridge we entered the first lock we have seen since we left the Tenn-Tom waterway just north of Mobile early last November. The lock only dropped us about a foot and then we were on our way through the last 12 miles of the ICW.

 

A mermaid welcomes us to Norfolk

A few of the large channel markers had a bell on them that rang
as they swayed - you can just make out the clapper on this side

As seen through our windshield, a Navy ship makes her way into
the harbor from the Chesapeake - we gave her a wide berth

 

Captain’s Log May 28, 2015

Departed: Atlantic Yacht Basin, Great Bridge, VA, 6:45 a.m.

Engine hours: 4.8 hrs. – 721.1 total for trip
Actual hours: 4 hrs.  15 min.
Miles covered 31.95 - Total for trip: 5113
Arrived: Salt Ponds Marina, Hampton, VA, 11 a.m.
Weather: Left AYB early to make the 7 am Great Bridge opening and following lock as well. cruised the last 12 miles of the ICW through Portsmouth and Norfolk harbors. Out past Norfolk Naval Station to arrive at Salt Ponds Resort/Marina.  Prop shafts, although better are still an issue. Suspect the vibration is the cause and we will have to wait for the Zimmerman Yard to get it fixed.

Friday, May 29 - Tuesday, June 2

Salt Ponds Marina and Resort was a great place to stay because it was in Hampton and near lots of historical sites in the Tidewater area. We rented a car for the weekend and drove to Yorktown to see the sights. We took the trolley tour and walked along the historic Main Street. It wasn’t crowded or touristy so it felt like taking a step back in time. We also went to the Maritime Museum in Newport News. It has changed a great deal from the time we went there in the early '70s when we lived in Virginia Beach and my parents came for a visit. The next day we went to Fort Monroe and the museum there. It is the oldest fortress on US soil and Jefferson Davis, President of Confederacy, was imprisoned there after the Civil War.

 

Old Point Comfort light - built in 1802 - oldest standing
structure in Fort Monroe

 

Club room at Fort Monroe - John must be dreaming about a cold
beverage from this lifelike guy!

For my sister Mary - just crazy!

Meanwhile, John felt that things still weren’t quite right with the prop shafts and thought the problem might be a little more complicated, so he called Zimmerman Marine which was a bit north of us. They couldn’t fit us in for a few days so we were glad to be in a place where there was a pool, a small beach nearby and a restaurant on site. We even met new Looper friends on Low Profile and another Mainship named Compass Rose.

We were also near some old friends from who in the Hampton Roads area. They invited us to their lovely home and we enjoyed a good visit and a delicious home cooked Sunday dinner with them. 



Tracy entertains John on their wonderful porch overlooking
the garden

John, Kathy, Wendy and Tracy - friends we knew in Rome, NY
back in 1996-'98

The weather was starting to look like it was going to deteriorate for a few days so we took advantage of a relatively calm morning and made the 28 mile trip to Zimmerman Marine. As it worked out they had a spot for us and we could wait out the rain there.

  

Captain’s Log June 2, 2015

Departed: Departed Salt Ponds Resort and Marina, Hampton, VA 5:40 am
Engine hours: 3.9 hrs. – 725 hrs. total for trip
Actual hours: 3 hrs. 45 min.
Miles covered 27.67 Total for trip: 5141
Arrived: Zimmerman Marine, Mobjack Bay, Cardinal VA at 9:15 a.m.
WX: Partly cloudy, muggy, wind south at 10-15.
Left early in am to take advantage of winds, tide and forecasted T-storms in the PM. Ride was a little rolly initially but after an hour or so winds calmed down. Following seas the whole way. We are tucked into Zimmerman's yard well protected from the weather and now await the repairs.

June 3, 2015

We have just completed an in water evaluation of our vibrations and they will pull our boat out tomorrow. The prop shafts will have to be removed and sent to the machine shop to check to ensure they are straight. Unfortunately the machine shop will take about 5 days then it all has to be put back together. The shop has told us to allow 10 days to 2 weeks to get the whole job done.
Soooo ... we will rent a car, visit some friends and tour the area a bit until the boat is ready. The next blog post will be after we get traveling again.