A Day On The Dismal Swamp

The Dismal Swamp connects Virginia with North Carolina. It was built through a large swamp and the surveyors made the statement that it was a very "dismal swamp" and so the name stuck. It is a great way for boaters to travel south without going out into the big Atlantic Ocean. It is also beautiful. It can also be a bit unnerving as it is very narrow and carries only about 6 feet of water.There are very few homes along the way but occasionally you come upon a scene straight out of Huck Finn. This year the canal was especially full of green floating stuff. It is pollen and seeds from the trees and looks like split pea soup. After this passage, Steve spent 5 hours cleaning our engines of the green stuff. Not fun.

This was our second trip through the Dismal Swamp and probably our last. Every year there is talk of closing it down because maintenance is very expensive.

We are continuing south on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) or Ditch as some people call it. It will take us through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and finally into Florida. It is a great adventure.

Anne and Steve

Cruising The Chesapeake Bay

Leaving the dock can be hard. Especially when you have been attached for 2 months. We were calling Deltaville home, not so bad, but it was time to leave. We headed north on the Chesapeake Bay and made a left hand turn on the Potomac River. You can sail right up to Washington DC but we took a detour up the St. Mary River to St. Mary's College. There used to be a small town here and some colorful history remains.






The attraction for boaters is the beautiful anchorage and the cafeteria of St. Mary's College.



We munched our way through the dining hall leaving nothing untouched. Afterwards we figured some exercise might be in order so we did some touring with friends David and Deborah (S/V Water Music). There were plenty of historic buildings and sites to explore.



"I will behave"!!
The great anchorage and good weather gave Anne a chance to hoist Steve up the mast. Steve replaced the anchor light and added two radar reflectors. He also cleaned the main track since our main sail was getting stuck when we tried to drop it...not good.

The college racing team practiced in the bay and we watched them raise and lower their spinnaker.

We left St. Mary and headed back out into the bay. Heading north again to Solomons Island.

We stayed put here for a few days, rented a car and drove north to Annapolis. The annual boat show was under way. We do not need anything else on our boat but it is fun to look. We ran into lots of friends and bunked on friends Kenny and Tana's boat for the night. The highlight of the boat show is watching the end of the show when simultaneously the temporary docks are dismantled and 200 boats either sail or motor away.

Tangier Island was our next port of call. It lies in The Chesapeake Bay towards the eastern shore. It is a working island with not much for tourists to do but we found the place very interesting. Milton Parks owns the small marina. He is 74 years old and once he ties up your boat you are off on an island tour in Milton's small golf cart. There are no cars here. Milton was born and raised on the island and knows everything. The tour takes about 20 minutes...no kidding.

Later we chatted with our boat neighbors. They are Brits and we shared a couple of bottles of wine and good stories. What's for dinner? Cashews and wine.

We were really hungry the next morning so Milton took us to the boarding house for breakfast. The breakfast hall was empty except for the Methodist Ministers, Peggy and Leroy Jones. We had a great family style breakfast and were spiritually revived.

Crab cakes were not on the breakfast menu but we'll pray for a second chance to enjoy some.

The island makes it living from crabbing. Crab pots, like these, dot the entire Chesapeake.

The human population on this island is in decline, according to Milton. But the cat population is booming. Milton alone has somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 cats.

The Chesapeake Bay is enormous and would take years to explore. We have seen some beautiful historic places in our short stay here and would love to see more but it is time to head south again. The evenings are getting cool, the leaves are changing, the hurricane season is winding down and we are longing for the warm tropics. Our rum drink awaits us somewhere down south.

Adios for now from the crew of Fine Line

Shenandoah National Park

We are back in Virginia and hard at work finishing our painting project. We thought our decks would have been painted upon our return but they were not. They were barely started so we jumped in and helped. Soon the job was all ours as our painter quit. Ouch! Our good friends David and Deborah had also been hard at work on their boat Water Music. We decided to treat ourselves to a trip. Saturday morning we headed out with David and Deborah for the Blue Ridge Mountains.

John Denver (remember him) sang about the Blue Ridge Mountains: "Almost Heaven West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains Shenandoah River" These Blue Ridge Mountains were not in West Virginia but we did have to drive about 4 hours west to see them and it was worth it. Almost heaven is just about right.We spent the night in a nearby small town called Luray. We woke up Sunday morning to 39 degrees. Seems like we were just complaining about how hot and humid it was, now we were freezing our as.... off. How about something in between please?

We had planned for the chilly weather so off we went for some hiking and exploring.

The sun came out and warmed things up a bit but it did not get much above the 50's.

The trees were spectacular: Oak, Maple, Chestnut, Ash and many others. The leaves are just beginning to turn and we spotted a few gold and purple leaves. The landscape will change dramatically over the next few weeks as the leaves transform into fall foilage.

The Shenandoah Valley lies to the west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The valley is dotted with beautiful old homes and farms.

The deer were happy to pose for a photo

The Appalacian Trail runs along the mountain ridge. Small dwellings are placed along the trail for adventurous travelers. Approximately 100 people hike the Appalacian Trail yearly. It takes between 4-6 months to travel the trail from Georgia to Maine.

Steve decided to show us all that even though he just celebrated his 55th birthday he can still run up a hill at high altitude. Go Steve!

The mountains were great but the trip there and home was just as much fun. There is no shortage of beautiful old towns and the local scenery dates back to the Civil War. Wow! This is a church in Culpepper.

We enjoyed some great meals along the way. One of our favorites was "It's About Thyme" in Culpepper.

Now it is back to work. We are cleaning gooo off the decks from all the painting tape left on for way too long. Steve is installing two more solar panels to boost our battery power. Our cockpit will soon be enclosed with canvas and clear plastic to keep us dry during rainstorms. We are crossing our fingers to be underway in about 10 days. Where to??? Not Sure but we'll let you know.

Anne and Steve

Visiting San Diego

We paid a visit to Home-Sweet-Home in San Diego. It was great to see everyone but it sure was hot!


The house has been well cared for by our daughters. Way to go Meghan and Dana.


The family pet turtles were happy to see us.........they like broccoli

We spent a few days playing in the yard. Everything is blooming and colorful.

Meghan and Dana threw dad a birthday party with an Island theme ofcourseAnd the Captain got to spin a few tall tales to a captive audienceWe even setup a ring toss game, just like the islands.Steve got an offical Farewell Party from the Fire Department. Thanks to John and Amy Gonzales for hosting a great evening at their beautiful home. John makes the best pizza in his authentic Italian Pizza oven and the cake was great. Grazie John!
Steve got to visit with his friends

The rest of our trip was all about family and friends
Dinner with best friends

Steve's Dad took us out for a boat ride in Long Beach

We cruised around the canals of Long Beach in a 20 ft. electric boat. What fun.

And we got to see a new member of the family. Hannah with big sister Madison. Anne's sister Lisa is a "Super Mormor" (Mormor is Danish for Mother's Mother) Got it?

It was hard to leave after having so much fun. We are now back in Deltaville, VA. We are still working on some deck painting and canvas work. We'll be here for a bit longer.

Steve and Anne

Visiting the Confederacy

We arrived in Norfolk, Virginia at the end of July. The area is full of history and we stayed for a few days to see some of the sights. The water front is teeming with activity and our marina was front and center to all the action. The three masted schooner was a popular tourist attraction. We waved to all the people twice a day.

You could catch a ride on the ferry from Norfolk to Portsmouth. $1 each way . Both Norfolk and Portsmouth are in the process of restoring their downtown areas. There are cobbled streets, graceful old homes, restored brownstone houses, military memorabilia and much more. The Coast Guard is always on patrol in the harbor and fun to watch.

Norfolk is all about the US Navy. You can watch large battleships come and go. You can watch them maneuver with tug boat assistance, just don't get too close. The rule is you cannot get within 1000 feet of a naval vessel. The problem is they motor very fast and if you try to cross their bow within 1000 feet you get a reprimand. Yes, we know!

When we finally got away from the Navy ships we went north to Deltaville, Virginia. We had heard from several people that Deltaville was a very nice area and there were lots of boat services for reasonable prices. We were looking to make some boat enhancements and Deltaville sounded like our kind of town.

Now that we are in Deltaville we rent a car on the weekends and do some sightseeing. One of our favorite places is The Mariners Museum in Newport News. This is where the USS Monitor lives after being excavated from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The USS Monitor was a Union War Ship made from iron. Prior to the Monitor, navy ships were made of wood and easy to sink with cannon balls. The Confederacy had also built an iron ship. The Monitor hada rotating gun turret, a new and lethal tool to naval battle. The Monitor and The Virginian met in battle in Norfolk. Neither ship sank and the battle was a draw. Even today, nobody can claim a victory. Sadly enough both ships sank shortly after the war. The Virginian was sold for scrap but The Monitor was not located until the late 1900's. Once found it could not be raised until the 1990's. The gun turret was found under the ships deck, upside down and looked something like this recreation.

Once lifted from the ocean floor, it was placed in a tank with a solution to halt corrosion and begin the long process of restoration.
The Monitor has been recreated inside and out. You can walk on the decks and imagine what it would be like to be deck hand during the heat and humidity of the Virginia summers.

In the bottom picture, the gun turret is on the left and the pilot house is on the bow. The small pilot house was used by the ships captain and his pilots. It was a simple box with small slits cut into the sides. The captain would have to look through the slits, decide to fire on the enemy, leave the pilot house and run back to the gun turret to give orders to the gun crew. Too bad they didn't have cell phones.

The museum also has a great collection of interesting boats. This classic was one of our favorites.

The Cuban escape boat was also amazing. The couple that built this boat took 70 hours to get to the Florida Keys where they were picked up by the US Coast Guard. The motor came from their lawn mower.

Back on the boat we are enjoying the scenery. The Crepe Myrtle is in bloom and comes in many beautiful colors.

We have met lots of nice people at the marina. Few live on their boats and several visit on the weekends. Most visit via car but this one guy comes on Friday afternoon on his helicopter.

And then there is always the weather for entertainment.

We are headed to San Diego on the 18th.

Captain and Crew

S/V Fine Line