ssloop: Glen Cove, NY to Solomons MD

We are happy to report that Sheli’s mom came thru the stroke with no physical damage however, it affected her memory and speech.

After a couple weeks in rehab, we moved mom to Waterford Assisted Living where she is getting great care. Sheli’s family members were flying in from places around the country to spend time with mom so this gave us the opportunity to fly back to New York on Friday, September 4 to continue moving the boat southward. Glen Cove Marina had launched Island Bound that morning so she was back in the water and waiting for us upon our return.

Saturday morning we departed Glen Cove and traveled a short 10 miles to the next bay at Port Washington, NY. We dropped anchor in the bay and took the dinghy to town where we were able to load up on provisions for the next leg of our trip. We looked quite silly pushing our loaded shopping cart across the 4 lane street to the dinghy dock. Success!

Although we normally don’t go thru the effort to schedule our travels around tides and currents, we lucked out this time. We rode the incoming tide west on the East River from Long Island Sound to Manhattan. As we passed the Statue of Liberty the tide had changed and we were able to ride the outgoing tide south down the Hudson River and the Lower Bay to Sandy Hook, NJ. After 42 miles we dropped the anchor off the beaches of Sandy Hook. It was a breezy afternoon but still managed a brief dinghy exploration.

Monday morning we departed Sandy Hook leaving the bay for open ocean. The Atlantic Ocean was calm so we had a smooth 93 mile ride to Atlantic City, NJ. Monday was Labor Day so the boaters were out in full force enjoying one last gorgeous summer holiday in the Atlantic City area. Cutting in just after the pier is a shallow little inlet that enters a cove serving as a super anchorage. After setting the anchor we took the dinghy to explore the surrounding sights of festive Atlantic City.

Tuesday morning leaving our anchorage we had to honk at a dredge barge to move so we could get out of the shallow inlet. It worked! Back on the Atlantic Ocean we cruised 44 miles to Canyon Club Marina in Cape May, NJ. This was an adventure. Upon entering at low tide we learned the marina needs dredging by all the mud we stirred up trying to get to our slip. We had to stern in to our slip because the marina has very short finger piers between slips. Upon backing between the outer most pilings we learned the hard way that a previous boater had left his line hanging long off the piling and was lying in the bottom of the slip. We of course snagged it because our props were touching the bottom. When it got wrapped around the prop the boat was pulled sideways against the piling. Argh! After nudging the transmission forward and backward, the line cutter did its job and cut the line. Whew. We stayed here 2 nights in order to dodge 2 days of windy conditions.

The winds calmed down somewhat so on Thursday we departed Cape May to make our way up the Delaware Bay. The first hour of our ride was quite rough but as we continued up the bay the waters calmed down. At the top of the Delaware Bay we entered the C&D Canal which brought us out to the top of the Chesapeake Bay. After a 96 mile run for the day we dropped anchor in Still Pond Bay, Maryland. What a calm, warm beautiful night.

Friday morning we continued down the eastern coast of the Chesapeake to Chestertown, MD where we took a slip at Safe Harbor Great Oak Landing. Once again we fell into our routine of Steve washing the boat and Sheli washing clothes. After our chores were completed we walked over to the beachfront restaurant at the marina. The weather, the views and the food made for a fantastic “toes in the sand”evening.

Saturday we traveled 25 miles to Grasonville, MD to Safe Harbor Narrows Point. We were happy to be able to run our air conditioning for these 2 nights as the temps were in the low 90s.

On Monday we moved on to St Michael’s, MD, a historic crabbing town with lots of great restaurants and shops. We knew we wanted to experience both so we dropped the anchor in the harbor and went to shore on the dinghy. What a great historic town to spend the afternoon exploring. In the evening we moved the boat to a nearby cove to gain better wind protection for the night.

Staying on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay, on Wednesday we travelled 42 miles to Safe Harbor Oxford where we stayed 2 nights. While here we checked out the area via bicycles and the dinghy. Quaint and quiet area with a great marina.

Thursday, September 17 we traveled 39 miles to the west side of the Chesapeake to Safe Harbor Zahnisers, Solomons, MD. Island Bound will stay here until the 1st of November as ours and most boat insurance policies require you to stay north of a certain point until November 1 for hurricane reasons. Saturday morning we Ubered to Washington DCA to fly home.