Our run down the James River and up the bay to Annapolis was uneventful although I did learn a few things I'll discuss here. We didn't shove off until about 11:30 am which was about 4 hours later than I wanted but it is what it is. The morning at the house didn't start off too good with my nine-year old thinking it was better to watch TV and not get ready to go and when I told him he had to help, he flung an egg across the kitchen and it hit the floor and went everywhere. I chased him around wanting to get my hands on the little brat but the kids all know I can't catch anything but a disease now with my bad foot. Anyway... we got out at 11:30 am.. (I'm still gonna catch that brat on the boat).
We headed down the James River from the Chickahominy and stopped in Hampton and let the dogs pee and I topped off the diesel fuel tanks with a little over 200 gallons. The weather was great with south winds about 10 knots and sunny an 90 degrees. Storms had moved down to the outer banks of NC but it looked like they were staying away from us for a change.
Once we got on the bay, it was dead calm... It was so calm it was creepy.
So here's the first thing I've learned on this trip. I now know why black canvas covers and such are not a good idea around salt water. I got this black canvas cover for the Yamaha WaveRunner and it looks very nice on the back of the boat:
The problem with the thing is that when saltwater sprays up on it, it dries (quickly I might add) and leaves this crusty look to the thing:
Even the new bench covering in the cockpit has this crusty stuff on it after a day of running on the saltwater. It gives it this whole Monica Lewinsky look and I'm not sure what to do about it... Like everyone else, I've owned *one* black car in my life and will never own another... (my car never had this problem though). The stuff does look good clean though.
The day really did drag on and on though. The whole family tried to stay entertained but there was a lot of sleeping going on.
Some of the kids had a very intellectually stimulating thing going on down below watching Sponge Bob:
On my great new AV set up on the boat:
I really hate that show... Seems like it is on 24 hours a day now and is just STUPID. Weathermen probably watch it. But, this is what I learned about the TV. Even the mount I bought for it that was not supposed to wobble did in fact wobble. It is not acceptable in my opinion. I think I'm going to just bolt the TV directly to the board that is on the back and screw the mount idea.
The dogs didn't do much... but steal blankets and get dog hair everywhere.
Speaking of the dogs, the one shown there with Chris is Lou. Lou was the dog that was run over by a truck and cost me like two tanks of diesel fuel to get him fixed. Now he is on some "special" food that can only be purchased with a prescription and so we had to run around to three different vets to find enough to store in the bilge for him... I think it's a scam.
Hours later... still running up the bay... We all noticed something. It's a great weather friday in July and there are *no* boats anywhere. We went for several hours and only saw a few sailboats and a work boat. Last year, this route would have had many boats going up and down the bay.
As we got closer to Annapolis, the crew started to get "happy" (this is the little brat the chucked the egg across the room this morning):
We did see some people out fishing as we approached Annapolis:
Thomas Point is always a welcome sight to see in the evening after a long day... Remember they make "Thomas English Muffins" here.
So here's the deal on our accomidations in Annapolis. I didn't make any reservations for the ride up to New England because I figure the boating industry is in such a depression, I'll be able to get a slip anywhere as long as I have cash on me. I called up to a place in Annapolis that is right next to ego alley and they were very nice and I told them I needed to fuel up and I was leaving very early on my way north. The guy told me he would be closed and to just park on the fuel dock and he told me where to plug in, etc. He said they open and 7 am and would fuel me up first thing.
We get to the place and dock and there is this woman pacing the fuel dock and she is giving us nasty looks and seems very upset. My wife wanted to know what we did wrong and I had no idea. She then goes over to her old husband and yells "Can you believe they parked on the fuel dock?! No one can get fuel now.." and gives me the evil-bitch-sail-boater look. My son wanted to go push her in the water. Her and the husband then take their 2 gallon fuel jug (empty because the place was closed) and steam off in their 50 year old zodiac.
The place we docked was on the BP fuel dock and had a great view of the Navel Academy and ego alley:
This is the bad thing about that spot though. We must have had 10 boaters pull up in 20 minutes before we left for dinner asking us 1) Can I buy fuel and 2) Where is the trash can.
We headed on over to Eastport and ate at the Charthouse. Had a great meal...
Came back and Susie and I walked the dogs uptown late and then came back and retired..
Posts
2 comments:
Gary- we must've just missed you in Annapolis. We went over there early yesterday morning, as my mother wanted to take her five grand kids on the stupid pirate boat that runs around Annapolis... they only time slot that was open was the 9AM, so we had to get to Annapolis by 8:30AM. We probably crossed paths somewhere at the mouth of the Severn. And yes, that wind was kickin' a bit in the afternoon, I'm sure the Delaware Bay was manly enough for you!
The big marina in Atlantic City is owned by the state. The state has the good property since they can just condemn and take what they want. But the state doesn't operate it. They gave the operation to Donald Trump because he's so customer orientated. He probably also gave the governor a nice big cash present at the same time. Payoffs to politicians are not illegal in NJ. We have the best politicians money can (and does!) buy.
All of the hired help in AC are mostly idiots who try to scam by without doing any work. Small wonder you had problems finding a place to eat. The smaller family run places are the only ones that are any good. One doesn't eat anywhere near a casino.
Never heard of a curfew. I would have pushed that one. File a complaint with the state for age discrimination on behalf of your four kids.
Post a Comment