Tues May 11 - Colton’s Pt Marina to Smith Creek anchorage

In which we drop our lines!!

It turns out that one of the hardest things to do after so long away from the boat is to drop your lines and leave the safety of the dock - we were so nervous about getting underway.  We thought back to leaving Jacksonville and New Bern and realized that “just do it” was the order of the day. So we managed to remember how to start the motor, and headed away from Colton’s Point. Melanie keeps talking about this article she read on neuro-plasticity and how learning new things is so good for aging brains.  Does it count if you have forgotten what you learned and then learn it all over again?  If so then this getting on and off the boat is really great for our brains.

We dropped our lines at about 1 pm and headed off for a shakedown cruise to an anchorage at Smith Creek just short of Point Lookout, where the Potomac joins the Chesapeake.  We wanted to check all systems including our ability to even remember how to drive the boat.  How to untie from the dock? Do we have fuel? How do we navigate?  Fortunately everything worked like before and with some luck we made it the three hours to our anchorage with no major issues or mishaps. 

Of course our anchorage was beautiful and we watched the sun go down with fish jumping and Ospreys calling close by.   Then the mayflies came calling and the wind came up and our fun boat started swinging back and forth like a pendulum with ADHD.  After about 2 am we didn’t get very good sleep or much sleep at all.  At least there is coffee and tea in our Blue Horizon mugs!

The plan for this year is to head north on the Chesapeake Bay, cross the C&D canal and follow down the Delaware River to Cape May, NJ.  Then we head north along the NJ coast to New York!  Can you imagine cruising into NY harbor on your own boat!! What a wonderful adventure and (sometimes scary) treat.  We will continue on the East River to Long Island Sound (LIS) to explore the coasts of Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York.  No plans to go up to Maine although many boaters say it is a wonderful trip.  We’ll then turn around and head back down to NY and continue up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal.  Entering the Erie Canal we will take our time hoping that Canada opens the border so we can continue on our “loop”...

Thanks for joining us on our adventure. We look forward to your comments and questions!  And, hopefully, to your visit.

In case you were missing the boat name pun of the day, here you go: