Weather Forecasts are Unreliable!

 We expected a strong front to move through today with high winds and possible hail, based on recent predictions. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day - lucky for us!

We walked around Solomons, and over to Solomons Island, where the tall ship Pride of Baltimore had just arrived at dock.



Fun fact: the distance between Solomons and Solomons island today is only 20 feet. At one time, they were separated by 500 feet of open water.

Lunch was at La Vela, located at the parking lot of the marina. Captain Don had a bolognese dish that he has wanted to order for a few weeks now. It’s an excellent restaurant with a wine selection that pairs perfectly with Italian food.

The marina has complimentary bikes… don’t get too excited, they are cruisers with slightly out of alignment handlebars and no tire tread, but they get you there and back. We biked 3 miles to AnnMarie Sculpture Gardens, and it was a lovely day to walk around the outdoor sculptures in the woods. They also have over 50 small garden-fairy displays, and a Pop Art exhibit in the Art Building as well.

This sculpture is made with cotton rope

The trip back to Safe Harbor Zahniser included a stop at West Marine, because the Captain was missing the neatly organized nautical supply aisles.

We enjoyed a quiet evening on Allure, while I used the (free) laundry facilities at the marina. It’s a clean, well-maintained marina and I recommend it to anyone in the area.

Comments

  1. RozenaJuly 20, 2024 at 10:25 AM

    Glad forecast was incorrect & you had a great sail day. Looks like a beautiful ship.
    Interesting fact re water separation, how did it get so close together, shifting sands?
    The food you have had on the trip sounds amazing, weight gain?
    Love the garden sculpture.
    Cap'n Don must have found something he needed among all those shelves.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RozenaJuly 20, 2024 at 10:27 AM

    The construction of the sculpture is so interesting made with rope. Bet that took some hours to.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Almost home…

Image
We left Solomons, with the intention of anchoring on the West River, around 9am. The temperature was in the high 50s, and the wind picked up over the first couple of hours. Then it became misty and visibility began to deteriorate. No photos today, as very few boats were even on the Bay and the conditions were lousy. We sailed initially, making about 6 knots. Then we motored sailed, consistently around 8.5 and even hitting 9.2. Once we made it to Hartge Yacht Harbor in a damp 55° breeze and saw the mooring field, the First Mate made a quick call about catching a ball. When a slip was offered, with electricity to run the heat, we wisely opted for a slip. It’s a comfortable marina, and we have been invited to join slipholders coffee and donuts tomorrow morning before we leave. Kudos to Brad, the Harbormaster, for lassoing the piling for us as we tied up! We met our friends Larry and Lauren at the dock. They are JSO members and Hartge is their home marina. They kindly hosted us to dinner a...
Read more

Anchoring in Mile Hammock

Image
 MM 244 While we passed 4 four dredges today, two of which were operational with hundreds of feet of pipeline, our transit was uneventful. Dredging is necessary to maintain the channels for commercial and pleasure craft, especially where shoaling is prevalent caused by ocean inlets nearby. We also passed under a swing bridge and a drawbridge. Openings were timed, so we had to be mindful of the schedule and gauge our arrivals accordingly.  The highlight of the day started when we anchored at Mile Hammock, a bay used by Marines at Camp Lejeune for training. On occasion, the ICW is closed here for marine activities. We called in advance yesterday (the Marines provide a phone number, which seems a bit low-tech ) and we were informed that no closures were scheduled for this week. Our anchorage for the night We were able to observe divers in the water with chase boats for almost four hours. The divers are really impressive, swimming long distances underwater with small orange buoys ...
Read more

Family Time is The Best Time

Image
It was a wonderful day for spending time with my Mom, Matt, Becca, Charlie and Ella!  We walked around Beaufort NC and visited the local Farmers Market in the morning. There was a terrific selection of handmade items, produce and crafts. I purchased fresh micro green arugula, which is both tasty and nutritious. Charlie and Ella got tie dye shirts, Ella got arm warmers (?!) and looked very retro.  We shopped, and had lunch at Finz on Front Street. We spent the afternoon on the boat, relaxing and catching up on family news and events.  Someone managed to take a nap… We drove to Morehead city for dinner at Catch 109 . Morehead City is a well-known jumping off point for serious sport fishing. Charlie and Ella came back with us to the boat, while Becca and Matt picked up some items from the hotel.  Matt and Becca joined us, and after a quick trip to The General Store for ice cream, the sun set over Beaufort NC.
Read more