ANNAPOLIS TO DELTAVILLE (37:32.60N 76:20.00W)

We left New York to get away from hurricanes in the Atlantic, and went to Cape May and up to the Chesapeake Delaware Canal, to look for sheltered places to enjoy the Chesapeake area.

We had arrived in Annapolis on 24.9, and tied up to one of the harbour moorings, at $35.- a night. We went out to watch the 505 World Championships, taking our friend Les, whose daughter and son-in-law were racing, but the racing was cancelled due to lack of wind. We caught up with friends Jack and Joan from 12 years ago, and had lunch and Joan took us to provision. We went to meet our crew-member Alan, arriving from Scotland, and Carol and John came to join us aboard for dinner. We had been eating the local crabcakes at every opportunity, they are a Chesapeake specialty.

27.9 we went for a tour of Back Creek, with its marinas and boatyards, then refueled and filled up with water, and set off into the Chesapeake, a wonderful cruising area, but with a lot of shallow water, a tricky area for yachts. We anchored in the Wye river, a peaceful spot, with herons nesting on the roof of a boatshed nearby. The next day we set off to sail in strong winds for St. Michaels, a few miles away. We went ashore to look at the museum and provisions. 29.9 we motorsailed to La Trappe Creek, where we anchored near a sandspit. Soon after anchoring, a lovely power boat came past, they had recognized us from seeing us up the Sassafras River, and invited us to come the next evening to their home in La Trappe Creek, for an early Thanksgiving meal with their family, and invited our friends Sandy and Clacky along as well. They roasted the largest Turkey any of us had seen, 14.5 lbs, although they said they often had a 20 pounder for Thanksgiving. Sandy had brought along a Smith Island cake, a specialty of the area, with 10 layers of sponge and 10 layers of lemon cream!

We had been invited to join the Cruising Club of America Autumn Cruise, beginning 1.10 at Tred Avon Yacht Club, in Oxford, so we motored 8nmiles to the Choptank River, and picked up a mooring outside the Yacht Club, and had lunch with our friends Sandy and Clacky. The Cruise started with a dinner, with Crabcakes and Steaks, followed by American Apple Pie and ice cream. We caught up with many members we had met there 12 years ago, and the next day started with a race of about 12 nmiles, but with no wind, and carrying our heavy load of cruising gear, we came last (because everyone else pulled out!). During the race a superyacht motored past, and as we have found with many superyachts, they often have a kiwi crew and they called out and did an impromptu haka for us! The race ended at Mill Creek near Solomons, and one of the CCA members brought along his 50 ft Buy Boat, the ‘Nellie Crockett’, a 1925 boat which used to go out and buy oysters from the Oystermen, so they did not have to come ashore to sell their catch. He had bought a bushel of fresh oysters, and he and his son shucked them all evening. There was also an hors d’oeuvre/appetisers competition, and people had brought home-smoked goose breasts, crabcakes, and local specialties of all types. The Club traditionally has a keg of Rum and Fruitjuice, so we had a great party as the sun went down.

The next day we motorsailed 45nmiles to another Mill Creek, in Virginia, and had dinner aboard ‘Jocar’ the beautiful Hinckley of our friends Carol and John, a venison meatloaf, followed by Blueberry Pie and ice cream. The CCA had a closing dinner on 6.10 at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, in Deltaville, close to where we had booked to leave ‘Restless’ for the winter. We had another great party, and met many people who had come to New Zealand for CCA Cruises, and some who were coming to the CCA Cruise in NZ in March 2018. We were overwhelmed with offers of car loans and accommodation. 

We covered  1600nmiles this season on Restless, 1100nmiles of motoring on the ‘Triangle Loop’ from Catskill to Toronto and back, including 61 locks.

9.10 We were booked to hoist ‘Restless’ out of the water for the winter, so we motored around to Deltaville Boatyard, where we were efficiently hoisted out and ‘parked’. There were quite a few tasks to be competed before we left ‘Restless’, but we were ready to fly out from Washington on 12.10. We were picked up by son Gilbert on Friday morning, and went home to Pip’s mother Tessa’s house in Sunbury on Thames. Our second grandchild arrived efficiently on his due date, 16.10, a brother for Emmeline. He is to be christened Gilbert Frederick and to be known as Freddie. We were so happy to be there for this family event. We leave for Hong Kong, to see our daughter Olivia and her fiancé Shenton, and we return to New Zealand on 10 November.