The Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Sat 26 May 2012 11:06
38:16.60N 76:48.38W

Friday 26th May


Yes, well never mind the mountains, today we discovered the blue mud of
Virginia. We had been warned that the anchor would be messy, but not much
prepares you for the thick cloying glutinous stuff that we found clinging to
every link of the chain and the anchor itself. The good news is that because
the entire Chesapeake Bay is so shallow, you tend to anchor in just 3 metres
of water and so at least we do not have to put out too much chain.

So today I recovered it all, trying to wash the mud off with a deck hose at
the same time. (Sarah is sensibly installed behind the wheel, well away from
all this mucky fun.) As we did this, Bill emerged from his lovely house to
wave us goodbye and we do hope that we can return here and get to know the
place properly.

As I cleaned up and stowed all the gear in the anchor locker, Sarah headed
back down the narrow, shallow, twisting channel that takes you back to the
'Bay' but sadly as we went past one of the green markers (G9 for anyone
following us) we went very suddenly and firmly aground. The osprey in the
nest just a few feet from us was very unimpressed, but it is only soft
gloopy mud and we were soon off and back on track (not that we had actually
been off track!)

The rest of the day was a dull motor up to the entrance to the Potomac River
and we turned and headed upstream and hope very much to reach Washington DC
by Saturday night and perhaps even in time for the Memorial Day celebrations
there.

We then were enveloped in fog which was something we had not encountered
since 2008 off Portugal. It was not too thick but did require us to use the
radar for a while, but it soon cleared and we enjoyed a warm very sunny
day, but sadly almost nil wind.

By evening (good to be having longer days now we are further north) we
approached the entrance to the Wicomico River and made our way carefully a
mile of so upstream before heading into a bay and again dropping anchor just
short of all the laid crab pots and in front of some more large and
impressive houses. It was a beautiful setting and the smell from the forest
surrounding the bay was wonderful.

As we made our way into the river we were treated to a display of fishing by
countless ospreys, watching the graceful sea eagles soar and swoop down and
then lifting off the water with impressively large fish clutched in their
talons, which they then took back to their nests built precariously atop
almost every navigation marker. The grace of these beautiful birds is in
stark contrast to the pelicans we had watched earlier in the day. Unlike
their Caribbean relations who dive steeply from a height and vanish beneath
the surface as they scoop up their prey, the local versions appear to glide
low across the surface of the sea and then simply seem to crash in to the
water looking very ungainly with a big splash when they spot a fish.
Obviously this works as there is no shortage of large well fed pelicans!

We called up Customs and Border Control in Maryland to report that we had
crossed from Virginia into their state and found ourselves talking to Betty
who is based in Baltimore. Betty is someone we need to talk to at some stage
over the next few months as she can advise us about how we can renew our 12
month US Cruising Licence next year. Sadly the phone signal was very weak
and cut out altogether before we could expand beyond simply hearing her
acknowledge our arrival and give us clearance to continue on our way.

There were no other boats at all in the bay and with no wind either it was
an idyllic quiet evening to savour.

We are getting used to the water depths here in the Chesapeake which have a
lot in common with the east coast of England, in as much as there is very
little between the top and the bottom, so 8 metres of water is what can be
described as deep and mostly it is quite a bit less!