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

Getting Back into the 'Swing of Things' at Home

Well, we've been home a week and we're still trying to get back into the swing of things.

Chuck got a haircut after much teasing about how long it got. I wanted to snap a photo, but he slicked it back before I got a chance!

We heard from Bob on S/V Illusion on Tuesday who was in Atlantic City for a few days. We picked him and his friend, Tom, up and took them to Harrah's to see the casino. They dropped in a few quarters and Tom won $25.

Then we went to the Hi-Point Tavern near our house for a wonderful dinner. Chuck took them to the supermarket to pick up a few things, then took them back to A.C.

We finished unloading the boat mid-week and Chuck is working on getting the brown mustache off the hull. We found the water line! It was missing the entire trip, we were so loaded down. LOL.

Meanwhile, we filled the hot tub yesterday and I'm busy cleaning out drawers and closets. If we could live on a boat for 7.5 months, we certainly don't need all the stuff we've got!

It was not a nice weather weekend, so I didn't feel bad not going to the boat.

Hopefully, it will be nice next weekend and we can spend time with our friends at Viking!

We're Home! Well, at Viking Anyway

We left Utsch's Marina at 6 a.m. Winds were 16-18 knots. SOG was 6.2 knots and SOW was 7.1. We motorsailed with a reefed main and full jib at 000 rpms. It was bright and sunny this morning.

Highs were supposed to be in the 70s, but it was cool on the water!

We had to reef the jib. There was too much wind. It was coming from the NW over our beam.

We saw Wildwood off our port side. Winds were 22-23 knots with higher gusts. Seas were 2-3 ft. and there were white caps. SOG was 7. SOW was 7.7.

The kids kept texting us for an ETA. At 9:05 a.m. we were 17 miles from the Atlantic City Inlet and could see the skyline. We were six hours away from our dock. So close, yet so far!

At noon, we went under the Brigantine Bridge.

When we entered Great Bay, the winds were 26 knots! We pulled in both sails. We saw white caps in the bay and it was too much.

Joe, Eva and J.J. met us in their boat and followed us in. Nick was playing with his cousins at the campground. At 2:30 p.m, Ryan called and asked us to switch to VHF 72. One of our dockmates, Faye, wanted to tell us that the kids were patiently waiting for us at the dock and wanted to know how close we were.

We got to the dock around 3 p.m.  All three kids (Sandi, Joe and Ryan), our daughters-in-law (Eva and Catherine), grandsons Jesse and Jeremy, Ryan and Catherine's friends Greg and Lucy, and lots of dockmates were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Sandi was so glad to see us. She grabbed her dad and cried, then grabbed me and cried some more.

It's good to be home. This was such an adventure and we had a blast. I'm ready to do it again, but it will have to be in a couple of years. Maybe on a bigger boat. And next time, we'll have to fly home for the holidays. Chuck won't be away from the kids at Christmas again, he says.

We're exhausted and staying at the dock tonight. Tomorrow, we'll start packing things up and give this poor boat a break. It's loaded down! Then we'll take the trip home in Chuck's truck that Ryan drove to the marina today.

Thanks to all who have supported us on our awesome seven-and-a-half month adventure. We appreciate it more than we can say. We've met so many wonderful people and saw some beautiful sights!

We're in Cape May; Tomorrow: Home Sweet Home

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with our friends, Betty and Fred Luderitz.


We left Chesapeake City's free dock at 5:45 a.m., motoring through the C & D Canal at 2900 rpms. SOG was 8.8 knots and SOW was 6.5 knots.

We were heading for the Delaware River and Bay and praying it would be a calm day. We started out in long sleeves, a nice change from four layers we wore the last few days at the start of the day! Chuck boosted up the rpms and we hit 10 knots.

At 7:15 a.m., we entered the Delaware River and the coats went on. It was colder in the bigger body of water. By 7:30, we were pulling out the main for better steering and a little speed. It stops the boat from pounding so much, creating a smoother ride. We were "bouncing" through the waves.

At 8 a.m., we pulled the main mostly in and let out the full jib sail for speed. We kept a little of the main sail out for steering.

We passed the Salem Nuclear Power Plant. There was a U.S. Coast Guard boat guarding the power plant. Jazzy was on my lap under two blankets. We were "hobby horsing."  SOW was now 6.8-7 k and SOG was was 5.7-6 knots. Winds were 8-9 knots and wave height was just one foot. The winds were from SSW and the tide was coming in. It was looking to be a smooth ride.

We passed lots of big ships, but stayed out of the main channel. Here's a photo of Bum's Rest passing the ship.

After the tide change, there was no wind, just two knots. Sails were just swaying in the wind, so we pulled them in. Woo-hoo. Our prayers were answered. It was a nice, calm day on the Delaware!

At noon, we saw 9 knots of wind, so the sails came back out. It got hazy and we took a different heading than Bum's Rest, so we couldn't see them.

At 2:40 p.m., we were a few minutes from the ferry terminal and heard Bum's Rest on the radio and five minutes later, we were right behind them.

We pulled into Utsch's fuel dock at 3:30 p.m.  This is a really nice marina and they give you a bottle of Cape May wine and a goodie bag of local items. It's a nice touch.

Patti's parents were here waiting for them to arrive. Jazzy was so excited to see Sailor's mom-mom and pop-pop. Then Ryan and Catherine arrived to go to the Lobster House with us for dinner. She was going crazy jumping around. It's like she senses that we are almost home.

Tomorrow we'll be back at our home dock...Viking Yachting Center...home sweet home! All three of our kids and some of the grandkids will be there to greet us. We've sure missed them!

Thanks to all who have faithfully followed our blog. I hope you have enjoyed it. We'll blog our other travels. We hope to take a few small trips this summer/fall.

Feel free to e-mail me:  kathymcgowan1@comcast.net.

Birthday Wishes to Mom, Lynn and RJ! Chesapeake City Tonight

Happy Birthday to my mom, Florence Bradley; my niece, Lynn Leite McKenzie; and RJ Amato!

As soon as the coffee was done percolating on the stovetop, we pulled the mooring lines and were on our way from Annapolis to Chesapeake City, Del.

Winds were North 13 knots when we left. SOG was 6 knots and SOW was 6.3 at 3000 rpms. We went under the William P. Lane Jr. Memorial Bridges...really neat.

It's so cold and damp today. It's overcast and dreary. We pulled out the main sail and increased SOG to 6.4 and SOW to 7 knots.

Wayne called to say they saw Steve Pressman on his blue hull powerboat and he was heading our way. He and Amy used to be at Viking on "A" dock with us. We saw a boat that we thought was him in a distance, but weren't sure and didn't know his new boat name to hail him.

Winds decreased to only 6 knots when the tide and our direction changed. So the sails were put away and we were motoring the rest of the way.

We arrived at the Chesapeake City Free Dock around 3:45 p.m., where we joined Bum's Rest.

Our friends, Fred and Betty Luderitz, from Newark, Del., live about 20 minutes from here. They are meeting us for dinner. We're taking them out because we missed Fred's 80th birthday party while we were gone.

Only two more travel days to home port. Tomorrow we'll brave the Delaware River and Bay to Cape May, NJ!


More photos of the area: