Chesapeake Summer 2018

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This afternoon we pulled into our marina in Portsmouth Virginia, which is at Mile Market 0 on the Atlantic IntraCoastal Waterway. While we did a lot of this outside, we are now 734 miles from home port!
 

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Yep, we got that front through Hampton. Luckily we were at anchor off the public piers. Swung us up towards the North bank and over a crab pot. It popped back up again when the front passed! :)
 
Day twelve. Leaving Norfolk Naval Base and entering Hampton Roads. Nimitz Class aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln, George H Bush, and Gerald Ford lined up and ready to serve!
 

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Day 13, anchored off downtown Hampton Virginia. Blew around 30 during the night which was a surprise, but we woke to find Tropical Depression 3 had formed right off the coast overnight. NOAA forecast saying it could be a named storm by end of day. So more rain and wind forecast for today and some of tomorrow. We had planned on going round to Yorktown this morning but will hold off on that decision until later. So much for heading out of Florida during hurricane season!
 

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Tied up at the city wharf at Onancock.

What a beautiful trip up the creek and delightful town! Well worth a visit if you ever visit the Chesapeake!
 
Those Eastern shore waterman accents are the hardest accents to understand in the country.....Way harder than Gulf coast cajuns.. Very cool look at some different culture.
 
We had a verbal run in with a waterman over off Deltaville this morning about our decision to navigate through his crabpot field, Wasn't hard to understand at all!!
 
We are off to Tangier Island for a few days on Monday.I understand that they have quite the Eiizabethan accent over there!
 
menzies said:
We had a verbal run in with a waterman over off Deltaville this morning about our decision to navigate through his crabpot field, Wasn't hard to understand at all!!
Click to expand...

Your in some of the best cruising grounds in the US. Your going to have a great summer
 
Boated in the Chesapeake for years, never been to Onancock. Going to fix that on our way home! Oh how I miss Irish pubs....

We should be in Chesapeake by mid September if you are still around.
 
Sealife said:
Boated in the Chesapeake for years, never been to Onancock. Going to fix that on our way home! Oh how I miss Irish pubs....

We should be in Chesapeake by mid September if you are still around.
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Dropping our last guests off in Baltimore on August 10th then start working our way back home. Planning to be home on or soon after Labour Day.
 
Well, maybe we will pass you as we head north. Should be in Charleston SC around 8/10, Wilmington NC 8/18, then Beaufort NC to Ocracoke to Manteo to Dismal. I’ll keep an eye out for you heading south.
 
Sealife said:
Boated in the Chesapeake for years, never been to Onancock. Going to fix that on our way home! Oh how I miss Irish pubs....

We should be in Chesapeake by mid September if you are still around.
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Scott,
If you're planning on Onancock, stop by and say hi. I'll be in Crisfield till the beginning of October, and then heading South.

Ted
 
Menzies
When you come back down the Potomac, there is a good anchorage up Glebe Creek. The Glebe and the Coan River come together at Lewisetta. More details on the spot on Active Captain. We have a house just up the Glebe and happy for you to tie up at our dock.
Bill
 
Ted, I’ll send you a PM as to not crap on Menzies thread.
 
bnoft said:
Menzies
When you come back down the Potomac, there is a good anchorage up Glebe Creek. The Glebe and the Coan River come together at Lewisetta. More details on the spot on Active Captain. We have a house just up the Glebe and happy for you to tie up at our dock.
Bill
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Bill, will look it up and see if we can make it!
 
Menzies,

I see earlier in this thread you allotted 9 days I think to get from Jax to Norfolk. Did that schedule work out pretty well for you?

I’m wondering if I can talk my wife into making the same run, but we are in the Sarasota area so maybe more like 2 weeks. Both kids start college this month and I’m looking for an adventure, some cooler weather, get away from the worst of the hurricane season. Would like to run outside some to break things up.

Are there some good/safe/not crazy expensive marinas to leave the boat up there until late October? Is late October early November too late to migrate back down? My wife doesn’t like cold/cool weather. I don’t mind it.
 
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I think 2 weeks from Fls west coast is pushing it unless it get there fast, lollygag back.

Plenty of inexpensive places if they have room by after Labor Day, which many might.

By late October you are gonna start getting cold fronts pushing through with strength and regularity. But get south of Norfolk by 1 Nov and you may get some chilly nights, and its long after t shirt and shorts weather. Have to be to Norfolk close to 1 Oct to really avoid more than cool weather for the most part. Plenty of warm days still, but the cool numbers start to go inverse and win out.

September is one of the best months in the Mid Atlantic for vacationing. Things still active and nice, tourists are back to school, work, etc....
 
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cardude01 said:
Menzies,

I see earlier in this thread you allotted 9 days I think to get from Jax to Norfolk. Did that schedule work out pretty well for you?

I’m wondering if I can talk my wife into making the same run, but we are in the Sarasota area so maybe more like 2 weeks. Both kids start college this month and I’m looking for an adventure, some cooler weather, get away from the worst of the hurricane season. Would like to run outside some to break things up.

Are there some good/safe/not crazy expensive marinas to leave the boat up there until late October? Is late October early November too late to migrate back down? My wife doesn’t like cold/cool weather. I don’t mind it.
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I summer on the Chesapeake and winter in Fort Myers, so let me answer some of your questions.

I did a delivery run with my trawler from Fort Myers to Norfolk in 13 days all ICW. It was brutal! Traveling every day 10 to 12 hours isn't fun. 3 weeks from Fort Myers to Crisfield, MD is a reasonable pace. 4 weeks was a great sight seeing trip. Certainly you can save a few days, maybe a week depending on how much you go outside in the Atlantic. Don't count on saving time going south in the fall. While you may get outside for a day or 2 at a time, you may wait several days for the weather window.

Crisfield is a good safe harbor with reasonable monthly rates. Pretty easy to fly from Salisbury (30ish miles from Crisfield) to Tampa (1 stop). Round trip airfare from Salisbury to Fort Myers with advanced purchase usually ranges $210 to $340 with American airlines (they handle the commuter flight from the hub airport to Salisbury).

Snowbird migration starts in late September and runs into December. I did it once in January, no fun. I typically leave between the 1st and middle of October. Great time and weather to travel South. If you left 1st of December, it could be chilly / cold until you were in NC. Leaving November 1st might be chilly on the Chesapeake, but fine by NC. Don't think you will be going outside (Atlantic ocean) much in November. May also loose a few days waiting to transit the Chesapeake and the sounds of NC.

If you need more info, just ask.

Ted
 
We did Jax to Portsmouth in ten days. But we purposely took it slow. We had anchor down or tied up by about two each day. We spent an afternoon and full morning in Bald Head and then the next day just ran a couple of hours to Wrightsville Beach. Coinjack to Portsmouth was also a short run
So we took it quite easy. I would guess you add a week coming from SW FL.
 
Boat speed is key...

My suggestions we're based on 6-7 knots.

I don't have the charts in front of me, but I will guess it is over 1100 NM from Sarasota to Norfolk.
 
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