Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013:

We stayed in Turner Creek off the Sassafras River for a second night, waiting out the storm. We saw gusts in the high 30s at times, but we’ve seen worse, so it wasn’t bad. The phone signal there was terrible, but it was a nice little anchorage.

Chuck hauled the anchors and kellet around 7:45 or so and we left the anchorage around 8 a.m. with cloudy skies and cool temps, low 60s, I believe. Winds were NE at 12-14 knots with gusts to 23 in the Chesapeake. We motor sailed all day with a following sea. Seas started out at 2-3 feet, but increased to 3-5 ft. Not very pleasant, but tolerable.

We saw lots of powerboats leaving the powerboat show. They are setting up for the sailboat show now, which starts on Thursday.

Our SOG was 6.8 knots for a good part of the day. I made hot chocolate to take off the chill. We went under the Bay Bridge around 2 p.m.  Then seas were calm, so I went downstairs to make lunch, turkey, cheddar, LT and mayo. We looked for a mooring in Weems Creek, but they were all full. The tide was too low to get into Luce Creek, where the second set of navy mooring balls are. 

Hooking the Navy mooring ball in Clements Creek.

Adding diesel fuel to the tank on Sunday night in the anchorage.

We hooked on U.S. Navy mooring #6 in Clements Creek around 4 p.m., and took hot showers while the motor was still running. Boy, did they feel good! 

Tomorrow, we have a dock waiting for us with friends in Eastport, where we expect to be for 4 nights. We’ll go to the boat show from there.

Tonight’s dinner is Caesar salad, ravioli and sweet Italian sausage. Last night, we had petite filet mignon, Caesar salad and home-fried potatoes. I need to get to land to get some exercise!

Sheet Music is heading South!

Sheet Music is heading south for the winter! We had planned to leave home today, but when Chuck checked the weather on Thursday afternoon, the Delaware Bay was not looking good for Tuesday, which is when we would have crossed it. So we went to our marina, put the new dinghy in the water and moved Sheet Music on Thursday night to Atlantic City. Friday morning we left for Cape May.

We left the boat at Utsch's Marina for Friday and Saturday nights and our son, Ryan, picked us up to go home to finish getting our stuff together. Saturday afternoon we said goodbye to Mom Mc,  then went to a lobsterfest on Saturday at our marina with Ryan and Catherine and our marina friends. Afterward, Ryan and Catherine took us back to Cape May.

So, today, we crossed the Delaware and it was a beautiful day on the water. We are now anchored in Turner Creek off the Sassafras River. Tomorrow, we're expecting thunderstorms, some severe, so we'll hang out in this anchorage, get some housekeeping done, look at some charts and head to Annapolis on Wednesday in time for the sailboat show.

We plan to travel down the ICW, spend some time in Stuart, FL, with some friends and may cross to the Bahamas, depending on Mom Mc's health.

We hope you enjoy our travels!

Chuck and Kathy
S/V Sheet Music

Sheet Music Heading to Block Island

Sheet Music is heading to Block Island. We are on the ICW on our way to Barnegat for the night. Tomorrow we plan to head to Sandy Hook and Tuesday we'll go up the East River to Long Island Sound. Jazzy is staying with our son and daughter-in-law, Ryan and Catherine. It's great to be on the water again!

Heading to 2011 Annapolis Sailboat Show

Sheet Music is heading to the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis! Except for a few anchorings in Brigantine and Barnegat this summer, we haven't done much traveling this season, so we plan to leave on Sunday for Annapolis.

I'll try to update the blog, but gave up my Verizon broadband, so not sure if we'll have signal.

We're hoping to meet up with our Wyoming friends cruising on Godspeed. They are cruising down the coast and plan to be at the boat show as well.

And, of course, we'll meet up with our friends, Maryann and Steve Carol, who are eyeing up a Gemini.

Jazzy isn't making this trip. She'll be at our son and daughter-in-law's house playing with their dogs.

Sheet Music Winterized, On the Hard til Spring

All good things must come to an end. Sadly, Sheet Music is winterized and on the hard for the winter. She's at our dealership for some warranty work.

We would love to be heading south again this winter, but it wasn't to be. Maybe next year.

Come on spring!

Anchored in Aberdeen Creek off South River, Annapolis

Sheet Music made it to the Aberdeen Creek anchorage, off the South River, just west of Annapolis. The Chesapeake Bay was full of debris and we were dodging 6 and 8 ft. logs, lumber and trees all day long. And, of the course, the usual crab traps!

We missed our friends and the annual 'A Dock Lobsterfest' today at Viking Yachting Center, our home marina.

We saw lots of tugs and barges. They are digging out high spots in the channel in two places. Barges were lined up ready move the spoilage. The operations were unlike the dredging we saw on the last trip.

Our friend, Ron Pence, who runs Singles on Sailboats, is here with 18 sailboats rafted in a circle. We anchored near them and, after dinner, took the dinghy over. We had to lie down in the dinghy and go under a catamaran, which is in the center of the raftup, to get to Ron's boat.

This photo was taken before the last boats arrived and completed the circle.

We met Ron's new friend, Dunya (pronounced doon-yah). They were having a chili cookoff and people were climbing boat to boat to try the different entries. Tomorrow morning the prize will be awarded for the best chili.

We plan to pull anchor and may head to St. Michael's, weather permitting. I LOVE it there and would like to visit again.

Fair Sails,
Kathy & Chuck
S/V Sheet Music

Sheet Music Heading to Annapolis for Sailboat Show

Sheet Music is on the water again, this for a short two-week trip. We're heading to Annapoils, Md., for the World's Largest Sailboat Show. This is our seventh year attending this show.

We left home port on Tuesday, Sept. 28, around 4:30 p.m. and hooked on Ken and Debbie Wescoat's mooring at the Black Hole in Brigantine. After about 3.5 hours of sleep, we were up at 2 a.m., checked the weather online and readied the boat for the journey.

Waves were 6-8 ft. and I have to admit, I was less than thrilled going in the dark with that wave height. I get seasick in the ocean, so I had to lie down in the cockpit. Chuck had on his new raingear and I was wearing my peacoat and covered with a blanket.

We arrived in Cape May at Utsch's Marina and refueled around 9 a.m. Wednesday. We picked up a part Chuck had ordered (unfortunately, it was the wrong one) and an hour later, frustrated, we got back on the water.

This time, the wind and current were in our favor and our trip up the Delaware was very pleasant. We were making around 8 knots SOG all day and the wave height was less than a foot.

We pulled into Summit North Marina at 5:45 p.m. and prepared for the storm. It's a hurricane hole, so we were very protected from the winds there.

We stayed in the boat most of the day Thursday with lots of rain. Nature gave the boat a good washing. The winds and rain were still hanging around on Friday morning, so we opted to stay another day to see friends who used to dock with us at Viking. It was great to see Jim and Ruth Edwards (Naut Home II), Larry and Kathy Goldman (After Seven) and Wayne and Marlene Miller (Miller Time).

We went to dinner to Jim and Ruth while we were waiting for the others to arrive. As soon as we stepped out of their vehicle, we ran into our friend Betty Luderitz who lives in Newark, Del. Wow, how lucky was that?!

Last night, when we left After Seven (thanks for the yummy dessert, Kath), we checked out e-mail and found a message from our friend, Ron Pence, who lives in Annapolis. He is running a trip of an 18-boat raftup in Aberdeen Creek today and invited us to join them for a Chili Cookoff.

So, instead of Annapolis today, we're heading to Aberdeen Creek on the Sevens River near Annapolis, to anchor with them.

It feels great to be traveling again and I wish we were heading south for the winter. Maybe next year!

Fair Winds,
Kathy & Chuck
S/V Sheet Music