October 22 Solomons Island to Mill Creek, Virginia

Oh man, we gotta get further south. So cold this morning. My nose felt like an ice cube! Mike got up at 06:30 and lit the buddy heater. It was 9 degrees in the boat! Yes, 9 degrees!! It didn’t take too long to warm up but I must say I’m looking forward to shorts and t shirts again instead of layered clothing.

I went up to the cockpit to catch the sunrise but I think I was a tad early.

This was one of our views after the sun came up. Albeit being cool this morning, it is a beautiful sunny day.

After breakfast, and hearing a good weather report, we pulled up anchor at 08:30 and motored over to the fuel dock. We left the harbour at 09:00 and as we headed out, I got some more shots in and around the harbour.

More marinas than I photographed on Friday

So many everywhere

A restaurant too

Department of Natural Resources and Police boats

I missed seeing this sign on the way in. “Welcome to Solomons Island”

Once out of the harbour and back onto Chesapeake Bay, here’s what we saw from Persuasion:

Crab boats

He went alongside his crab pot (with the blue flag on it) and swooped it up

An Air Force Base

And a restricted area

This is a bit hard to see but there is a tall white marker and to the left of it is the mouth of the Potomac River

And we were not sure what was going on, but Coast Guard boats were speeding by in both directions

The sun dazzling on this ketch; which coincidentally is when we crossed the border into Virginia. Yay, out of Maryland and into Virginia! Getting closer to warmer weather

A Chesapeake lighthouse marker

Today we heard Greg from Paperbird come on the radio. We radioed him and he was behind us. We were both heading towards the same area in Virginia for the night. We had one in mind but he suggested Mill Creek, and kudos to him for that. (As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we met Greg and Lyn from Paperbird in Lake Worth, Florida in January, 2014. We crossed over to the Bahamas in the same flotilla. It was their first time as well. They are from Maryland and have been going to the Bahamas ever since 2014. So they have made the trek 3 more times than us and know lots of great anchoring spots). It is quiet and calm in here. Heading in to the anchorage, we had to be careful of fishing weirs and crab pots. More photos for you:

Sandy beach and fishing weir

A well made nest on red marker #4

A home that has a beautiful view and is pretty for us to look at also

We set the hook at 16:00 and Paperbird was not long behind us. Mike talked to Greg on the radio before supper. We both plan to leave at sun up tomorrow and head for Hampton, Virginia. There were 7 boats in here by late evening. And the moon was so full. I should have taken time from blogging to get a sunset photo. Bet it was beautiful.

Today we traveled 43.55nm.