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For the Photo Gallery click here HEADING SOUTH
We could sense a change in the air as autumn was trying to poke a hole in the heat and humidity. We watched and waited as two hurricanes hit Florida and the remnants felt their way up to where we were. We had no bad weather to speak of from the tail end of the hurricanes but could see the heavy cloud layer as it traveled fast across the sky heading north still seeing if it could create more havoc before it finally petered out. Hurricane Frances was a big one and did terrible damage to places we had passed previously on this journey and places that we now had friends and acquaintances. We watched the leftovers of it as it passed by. It was a massive black cloud layer, quickly heading north like a monster, still looking left and right for something or someone to pounce on. We felt its strength from the strange wind and rain it scattered along the way. We were glad to see it going by, not stopping. Now we hear another is on its way, maybe even more fierce, called Hurricane Ivan. We watch the news several times a day, as everyone else does, days ahead, to try and calculate its direction, paying particular attention to every detail. We watch, wait, to see if it is heading in specific areas where we have friends. It’s an ominous way of spending our time watching, and worrying about people we have met along the way and wondering if it will somehow reach where we are. Each new port, we silently think, will this be a good location for us if it decides to head this way? Or where is the nearest hurricane hole, in case things change? We don’t talk about it but I can tell when Larry says, we’ll sit in Onancock for a few days and see how the hurricane does. He’s watching and waiting. It seems this year, these hurricanes just keep coming, and how much more can the East Coast take? We feel though the end of these hurricanes is near. We are finally experiencing diminishing numbers of hot humid heavy days as the skies are clearer and the thick grey mist that has hovered over the Chesapeake all summer is lifting. We are able to see the shores more clearly now as we cruise and the colors of the landscape develop into true greens and browns and whites of the shores, not just the several shades of monotonous grey we’ve been seeing. We feel like walking and riding bikes as the heat is letting up and we’re getting our energy back. Hopefully we can start to shed those extra pounds we accumulated as we stayed inside the shelter of our air conditioned boat much of the summer, well actually since January. It felt so strange coming back to Solomon’s Island. It was the first place that we have “come back to” since January. Since January every single stop we have made has been in a brand new spot. We have always had to study the charts and read the guide and pay attention and search for the red and green markers, to get in safely and then familiarize ourselves with the new location. Now we actually were familiar with the entrance and the harbor and the layout. We didn’t feel the need to rush around town to see what was there and struggle to find the nearest grocery store and the best restaurant and where the cute shop was or the museum. Instead we actually just sat back and relaxed on the boat after we docked. Things were familiar and we knew where they were. Ironically though, we were exhausted when we got here and slept the whole afternoon. Maybe it was that we were just able to relax in a familiar setting or maybe the trip was catching up to us, - or maybe it was the change in the barometric pressure. It had made a drastic change since the last remnants of Frances went by.
WHAT IS THE LIFE SPAN OF A FRUIT FLY? During our travel today down the bay, it was peaceful and easy except there was one thing giving me difficulty. It was the fruit flies. We picked up some bananas at the grocery store in Cambridge, our last stop. I vaguely remember noticing some small flies hovering over the fruit section but didn’t pay much attention. Somehow they followed me back to the boat or must have hitched a ride home on the bananas that I bought. It’s been three days now with these little annoying things as they are still flying around inside the boat. They always seem to fly right in front of your eyes so that you are constantly reminded of them. You swish them away but that just gives them a wind draft to glide them across to the other side of the room faster and they always come back for more. Each day it seems like there are more. We’ve been pretty passive about them thinking they will die in a couple hours or for sure tomorrow, but each new day it seems like more are here and some are even getting bigger!
What is the life span of a fruit fly anyway? You can’t catch them. In other words, you can’t see them well enough to catch them, as they are so small and quick, but their annoying torturing presence is there, and they never let up. I don’t know why they keep hanging around. There’s nothing here for them to eat. I’ve hidden everything from their reach and have washed anything that the bananas were sitting on or in or came in contact with but they are still here. Thinking it would help, I put the bananas outside on the counter but they are still here and now they seem to be reproducing as the population is getting bigger. I can’t stand it anymore! . As we head out from Cambridge to cross the Bay, heading south to Solomon’s Island, I just can’t stand it anymore. My passive non aggressive attitude is not working. They are taking over! It’s annoying and I’m getting irritable. It’s time to take action and aggressive action. I figure I must do something to eliminate this fertility clinic we’re housing. I finally decide to go on attack, NOW! I get the fly swatter out and for two hours I hunt and swat them. Just when I think I’m getting a lead on the population, a few more show up from out of no where. I’ve got smashed corpses everywhere. They are on all the counters and windows in the salon. I’ve smacked them on the floor and on the seats. I went up to the pilot house and smacked about 20 up there as Larry is just in his own little world concentrating on cruising down the bay. Larry seemed oblivious to the whole affair, ignoring me (I figure he’s probably solving another problem with the chart plotter again). After I finish the massacre in the pilot house, I go down into the master stateroom and there are more! They must be trying to escape my wrath now as they are all clinging to the glass of the port holes trying the impossible, to get out the sealed water tight windows. I smack them there too, thinking I’ve finally finished them off. I take a break and sit on the toilet and just feeling confident they were gone, two more start flying around in front of my face in their lazy monotonous circles as if this war never started. It was so irritating because I was not in reach of anything to smack these pests with. I just had to sit and watch and wave them off. Occasionally I’d try to catch them in my fist like Larry does with flies, but I’m not quick enough. Finally, after putting and end to the last two in the head, I come upstairs and give a report to Larry telling him I think I’ve almost got them all and he nods approvingly but not paying me any attention. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t even know what I’m talking about or what I’ve been doing for the last two hours. He just continues messing with the chart plotter. I go into the salon and CAN NOT BELIEVE IT, I see more on the glass of the back door. They are on the OUTSIDE this time! They are the ones that rode out on the bananas that I put out on the back deck. I get my swatter and head out there, being very careful not to let on to them what I’m up to, but also careful to wave them away as I open the door so they don’t come back in to my “pest free area”. MY GOD, there are a bunch out here! I can’t believe it, they are multiplying by the thousands, it’s a friggin’ nightmare. They are clutching to the walls, the windows, hiding among the fenders and ropes, and behind the ladder that leads to the fly bridge. They are everywhere! I turn and look at those stupid bananas that started all of this as they sit innocently on the counter. Yes, those stupid bananas, they are responsible for this nightmare. I pick them up, and underneath, a whole new colony have hatched and are flying about now. I disturbed the sanctity of their shelter and fertility launch pad! I’m so mad, I throw those dang bananas overboard and begin my attack on the back cockpit. I’m smacking everything. I can see Ziggy has jumped up on the settee inside to see what I’m doing. His front legs are on the upper back cushion with his nose pushed against the window looking at me with a worried confused look. He starts barking. He must think I’ve gone mad. His worried eyes follow me back and forth on the back deck as I smack two here and three there. Some are huddled in corners and I stick the swatter in there to stir them out so I can get them. Before long I’ve got smashed corpses all over the white fiberglass and guts smashed on the windows. The teak is lined with partially smashed torsos and disjointed and amputated limbs. Just when I think I have the upper hand on them I walk down the gangway and find more. It’s the same all the way to the bow of the boat. I smash a couple on the windshield in front of Larry’s face. He still doesn’t seem interested nor do I think he ever wondered about all the smacking sounds that went on out the back deck as I whacked them by the thousands. We are nearing Patuxent, the air testing base, and I’m sure we’re on their surveillance cameras as we come within range of the base. Wonder what they will think when they review this war machine. We pass several day fisherman anchored. I’m too busy to give them the normal friendly wave as they stare at us and me swatting away as we go by. Not to be deterred with the mission at hand, I climb up to the fly bridge and there were still more! I guess they thought they could hide from me way up there and get a free ride on the canvas covering the dinghy. I got them though, all of them. I did a couple more checks around the boat finding one or two stragglers and quickly ended their lives. It was done finally. Mission accomplished. I admired the extent of my battleground. It was pure victory and quite an accomplishment after the days of suffering and torment we experienced. I went into the pilot house to tell Larry but he was heading into the harbor channel and couldn’t see where the channel marker was, so all the appreciation that I so dearly deserved went by the wayside as I was needed for a more urgent matter. I graciously joined in the hunt of the channel marker and soon we found our way into the harbor and docked at Zahniser’s Marina in Solomon’s. After we settled in, Larry finally surveyed the remains of the battleground and I received no words of congratulations or appreciation on a job well done or even any hints at a victory celebration, all he said was he needed to wash the boat. I guess he just didn’t realize all the work and strategy involved in this victory. I grumpily went below to take a nap. No wonder I was so tired. I just won a major battle. I awoke a couple hours later and felt refreshed. It was 5:00 PM, time for a glass of champagne. Larry brought it over to me as I was typing away on the computer, putting a few words in today’s log. I was writing a few of the regular phases, reached for a sip of champagne, and just as I bring the glass it to my face a fruit fly flies out from the inside rim of my glass. I swear, he paused in mid air, winked at me, then flew off to join two other friends across the room and they began their meaningless, monotonous, annoying circling that they do. I stare at them for a second and then just continued to finish my log for the day. I don’t bother to mention it to Larry. What is the life span of fruit flies anyway? ONANCOCK, VA – Eastern Shore, Chesapeake We left Solomon’s early in
the morning for our 6 hour trip back across the bay to Onancock. (We had left
Cambridge and stopped over night at Solomon’s again on our way South.) It was
an easy day and weather was just about perfect. We had the windows open and the
breeze felt great. The temperature was at something more normal today which is
a first for this trip.
We cruise along paying no particular attention to anything until we get to Kent Narrows. It’s one of those cuts between the marsh islands which are very shallow. It will get us out into Tangier Sound where we can make the straight run to Onancock Channel entrance. Kent Narrows was clearly marked and in the distance we saw a huge derelict freighter. At first we thought he was coming up the bay. We couldn’t believe what a piece of junk she was until we finally got closer and realized she was a ship wreck. It was misleading, as she just sat there, so quiet and upright as if she still was a sea going vessel. We wondered at what the decision would have been to just decide to leave her there and not try to get her out. It was an expensive decision too, as she was huge. These waters are tricky and shallow and the islands that show up on the charts are mostly underwater as they are marsh lands, so you have to be alert and watch what you are doing. You have to pay attention and respect the markers. During the day we passed several clusters of day fishermen. They anchor out in the shallows in their watermen boats. They hung together in groups over the edges of reefs. We’d slow our speed as we cruised by them not wanting to create a wake and one guy gave us the “moon”. Heading down Tangier Sound we passed Smith Island and Tangier Island both on our right. We were surprised at how small they were. Just a small patch of land as most of it was marshland that was underwater. We were planning to catch the ferry the next day from Onancock to see Tangier Island. Our draft is too deep to go there ourselves. We’ve talked to several people and they say it’s “iffy”. We began our entry into the Onancock Channel leading to Onancock Creek. Again, we were very careful to watch the markers and our course to the entry as the waters in this neck of the woods is shallow. Everything was clearly marked and we were glad it was a calm day with good visibility. The shallowest we got below us was 6 feet! It took us quite a while to meander up the Creek. It was about 6 miles to the dock from the channel marker. Once we got in the Creek, the shore along the creek was beautiful! It was perfect sandy shores, untouched marshes and beautiful trees. It was very scenic. A few people had come out to spend the day on the sand beaches in their dinghies or small boats. We began to see lovely old white colonial houses on the rivers edge. Their lawns were so green and graced the sandy edge of the creek. They were surrounded by beautiful forests of trees and big green open spaces. Absolutely beautiful all the way in to the dock! Once the channel markers end, you are suddenly there. Onancock has a very small dock anchored by an old warehouse on one side and the dock master shack on the other. As we entered the creek earlier, we saw a power boat quite a ways ahead of us that we followed in. Before we reached the end of the Creek we heard them over the radio trying to hail the dock master at Onancock. They were trying over and over with no luck. We now saw the power boat docked with a side tie on the dock which looked like the only spot big enough to accommodate us. I told Larry that I bet they docked there because no one answered them. Now what do we do as the dock master wasn’t answering us? We hung out a short while not knowing what to do. Soon we noticed people on the dock. We then heard the dock master call us back. He said the people at the dock were going to move and that when they leave that’s where he wants us. We watched as they got in their boat and left the dock. They moved over to where there were a few slips and backed into one of them. They were those darn old slips with just a couple piers on each side. After they cleared the dock we slid ourselves up to the side of the dock. The dock master helped us get a couple lines on and then quickly left to help the other boat. We checked in to the office and the “dock master” wasn’t the real dock master. He was just “helping out today”. I guess that explains the problem. He was nice and friendly. He gave us some brochures and a couple recommendations on places to eat and things to see.
ONANCOCK We decided to take Ziggy out and walk up the street to see what was here. We thought we’d see if we could find a place for coffee. As we stepped onto the dock a woman came right up to us. She was very friendly and was curious about where we were from. She was so amazed that we came all this way from California on the boat. She asked all sorts of questions and told us all about the town and nearby area. She was like a one woman welcome committee. It was great and we felt so welcomed. We thought what a nice place so far. She walked us almost all the way to the center of the village which was a quarter of a mile up the road and as we walked she’d tell us about the history of the village and who lived in some of the houses and how long. It was great to get the local insight. She apologized that there wasn’t more here for us to see. She also said that unfortunately most everything is closed Sunday and Monday, the days we’re visiting. She said it was a simple life here. Most people have to survive on several jobs to make ends meet. She said it was about 1 ½ drive to the mainland to do their main shopping, if they really needed it, otherwise it was a quiet community. She pointed out one house, where the woman who lived there, just passed away. She had lived there her whole life and she was almost a hundred years old when she died. She said that’s pretty much the way it is here. People have lived here for generations. She pointed out the old general store where the old men sit around the old pot belly stove in winter and visit. Ziggy had some business to do, as it had been a long day for him, so we said our goodbyes and thanked her for her information. She thanked us for telling her where we came from and telling her a little about our travels, which I thought was very gracious. The village has more churches than anything else. There must be five within walking distance. They are all very old and beautiful. They all date from colonial times as well as the many houses. The few residential streets are just lined with old Colonial and some Victorian homes. The town consists of one small main street and a cross street. It looks like something from a stage set. Along each side of the streets are old storefronts dating way back. There are a couple cafes, one old hotel with a restaurant, one small theatre, a couple shops with not too much in them, the general store, one old historical house which gives tours and then just the regular stuff like a bank, real estate, and a playhouse/gallery that looks pretty active. We couldn’t find any place open for a coffee. Everything really was closed, so we settled for an ice cream drum stick from the general store. The general store was a place that looks like it must have looked the day it opened. It had old wooden floors and high ceilings. The walls were piled high with shelves and all sorts of goods filling the shelves. In front of the shelves were old glass and wood display cases filled with smaller items. Scattered throughout the store were antiques, mainly the type that you’d find in a general store in the 1800’s. None were for sale; they were just the personal collection of the owner. The owner was a collector and mixed them in with his stock which really made you feel like you stepped back in time. You could buy most anything in there in the way of hardware, gardening equipment, household items, etc. You still had to pay at the wooden counter where the cash register was. The counter by the cash register was piled high with baskets filled with local fresh red tomatoes and potatoes covered in dirt. It had a lot of character. We walked back down the road to the boat. The dock is very small and it’s a good thing we made a reservation. Without it, there would be no place to accommodate us. We would have had to anchor somewhere back out the creek if we could find a place deep enough and out of the way of traffic. Right next to us is the ferry boat that takes people to and from Tangier Island. It looks like an old revamped fishing boat. The name painted in bold letters across the front bow is CAPT. EULICE. I was looking forward to riding her tomorrow over to the island. Right in front of the ferry boat was the old warehouse building that used to carry on all the important shipping that this little community did back in the 1800’s. It was painted brown and beige and its sign said Hopkins & Bros. General Store, Est. 1842, E.S. Steamboat & Restaurant. Well, it’s not a restaurant anymore and a new owner has taken it over with a new sign that says Tuna Hunter Sports Fishing. The inside is just as it was two hundred years ago but now filled with fancy reels and rods. The old wooden counters and glass display cases are as they were and on top of the clerks counter is an old brass cash register that is beautiful. The dock is also the main boat ramp for the area so it is a busy place. All the people come and go with trucks putting boats in and picking others up. Some people just seem to migrate to the dock to just see what’s going on. Sometimes the whiff of boats fumes is a little much. We also could hear all the local talk. There’s a bench at the front of the dock master’s office and it’s called “Liars Bench” and there’s always a couple old guys sitting there watching the comings and goings. A lot of talking goes on at that bench. The dock is at the end of the road from town and everyone seems to make a pass through. They all stop in their cars and stare at our boat. It must seem out of place in this small quaint place. Even into the evening hours we have cars driving up and shining their headlights onto the boat, trying to get a glimpse in. We ate in tonight as we were tired and didn’t feel like walking up the small hill to town. We finally closed the shades to give us a little privacy from the occasional headlight. It didn’t last long as they all seem to go to bed around here pretty early.
FERRY BOAT I expected to be awakened early, thinking it was going to be busy and noisy here at the dock, but to the contrary, it was quiet and peaceful. Larry is up early to see about catching the ferry to Tangiers. He sees the captain arrive early this morning and goes over to talk to him. He’s not too friendly as he tells Larry bluntly that “the ferry isn’t running today”. Larry says, “It’s not?” and the captain doesn’t bother to give him any explanation. Larry asks if it will be running the next day and he says “No!” I can tell Larry is a little shocked. The brochure says it runs everyday until October. He kind of stands there dumbfounded and the captain finally said “gettin’ the boat painted”. Larry asks if he’ll be running the end of the week and he says “dunno, maybe”. Larry is dumbfounded again and then the captain says “probably not until next week, caus’a the rain and all”. He then asks the other guy that is supposed to be painting it, how long it will take. This guy answers back, in some kind of slang that I’ve never heard before, that it’ll take him all week. Then they both started a big discussion amongst themselves about how long it’s going to take him, and that he told him one thing, and now he’s telling him something else, etc. Larry came back to the boat and we listened to them as they both spoke such in a strange way. We finally realized that this was how they talk on Tangier Island. It’s said to be a form of old Elizabethan English but with a local twang and twist, and that’s just what it sounded like. It was amazing to listen to them. So, we said to each other, “Guess we aren’t going to Tangiers”. We were both disappointed as we had been talking about going there all summer. We were nearing the end of our journey but we could back track to Crisfield and catch a ferry over from there but that’s a long trip back. We don’t like back tracking and we didn’t want to do that. The other option was to cross back over the bay to Reedville and take the other ferry there. I jokingly said we couldn’t do that as we stopped there on our way up and that ex CIA agent that lived there that had given us all those spy novels to read. We couldn’t go back there and admit that we hadn’t read any spy novels yet. We got out of the boat and talked to the captain again. We asked if he thought we could get our boat into Tangiers, having contemplated just going there ourselves. He looked kind of confused or should I say, thoughtful, and said we probably could if we went in on the Western side. He said that he “wouldn’t go over without callin’ ahead to make sure they have some dock space for us as there’s no turn around room in there, if you don’t have it”. We decided we’d take the ferry next year. Our boat is just a little too big and deep to make a comfortable trip if it isn’t necessary. So next spring we’ll stop in Crisfield, on the way up the Chesapeake, on our trip north, and take the ferry from there.
RIDIN’ BIKES We got the bikes out and headed on up the road to the Corner Bakery for coffee and whatever, as it was supposed to be open today. The Corner Bakery was the local meeting place in town. The locals gathered inside at the tables and got caught up on local news. I got a couple coffees and since the only thing they had to eat were fresh homemade donuts, I got a couple. Since we had Ziggy, we found some steps to sit on at one of the churches facing Main Street, and that’s where we had breakfast. We took a big bike ride after coffee and saw the surrounding area. It was a pretty town and much more populated than what we imagined from the few stores in the town. The area is filled with old homes, many dating back to colonial times, with large grassy lawns and big old trees. Most of the properties back up to lovely creeks and the settings are idealic. Many have little rustic docks, no bigger than what would be needed to accommodate a small row boat or skiff. Now I know why they call this place one of the prettiest towns on the Eastern shore. We headed over to a little old bridge near where we are docked and let Ziggy run free along side the bikes. The neighborhoods seem friendly and quiet and Ziggy loves chasing the local squirrels up trees. We can hear the neighborhood dogs bark as we go by. One of the country roads we take leads us back to the center of town. We’ve put Ziggy back in the bike basket and we ride through town, we are stopped by a man working on a building. He asks how we get Ziggy to ride in the basket as he’d like to have his dog do that too. We end up talking to him for awhile. He owns Boticello’s Restaurant in town and just sold it. He is now renovating another old store front to make it into another restaurant soon to open. He had a strong accent which we couldn’t place, so we asked. He said he was born in Argentina. We stopped to peak in the little Charlotte Hotel. Another boater had recommended that we should have dinner there when we visit Onancock. It was small and very cute. We were sorry now that we didn’t walk up the hill to have dinner here last night as they are now closed Monday through Wednesday and we’ll be gone by then. We noticed a really nice culinary store next store but it was closed too. We went around the corner to Boticello’s and decided to take Ziggy back to the boat and come back for lunch. Boticello’s turned out to be a busy place in this small town. It was nice to eat off of linen table clothes again; we started to feel like we belonged to the human race again. We had a nice lunch and watched as the place filled with people. After lunch we stopped in a few local galleries that were open and then headed back to the boat. We timed this town wrong unfortunately. The thing to do with this place is come any day except Sunday through Wednesday. Have dinner at the Charlotte Hotel one night and take in a first run movie at the small theater or see some local talent at the playhouse if they have one running while you there. Have lunch at Boticello’s and enjoy the scenery and for sure kayak up the creeks. We had a great time but missed a lot. Since we can’t get the ferry, we’re leaving early, heading south tomorrow to Hampton Roads to spend a few days on the Virginia side. We’ll use it as a base to rent a car and see Yorktown, Williamsburg and see the Maritime Museum in Newport News before going to Atlantic Yacht Basin to conclude our trip. That evening we ate at Botticello’s again for a great meal and it was packed again. Many were boaters that we recognized from the dock or who we had seen anchored nearby. We showered and “dressed up” getting ready to go out to dinner and then laughed at ourselves as we then climbed onto our bikes to ride to dinner. It was wonderful this life that we were living and being in this wonderful place. After dinner as we rode the bikes back down to the boat we again met the lady that greeted us when we arrived. She had brought her husband down to the docks for an evening stroll. .We had a long chat with them and they really were great people. It was too bad we didn’t have more time to get to know them. We gave them our card and hoped they would send us an email so we could keep in contact as we may come back this way in the spring. It would be nice to have dinner with them on the return trip. They were so generous and offered to take us to the grocery store or over to the other shore to see whatever we might want to see. We thanked them but told them we were leaving the next morning. What nice people we have met on this trip. Storms were coming in and we decided we’d head on to Hampton to get across the bay before we got locked in.
That night we got this email:
Boat is more impressive than pictures can show. and stories are great.. keep writing. - Howard & Jean Cann Westover Maryland 21871
EARLY MORNING LEAVING ONANCOCK We were up a dawn to get ready to make our way down the Bay to Hampton. I took Ziggy out for his morning walk and we stopped on the old wooden bridge by the docks. We looked up to the end of Onancock Creek. It was a magnificent site as the sky was slightly swirled with lace like clouds and the color of the sun coming up was pink. The mist or fog that lay across the pond was just lifting off the water slightly before the heat of the day that would soon creep up and make it go away. We started our engines and hated to disturb this peaceful paradise. These are the times when you wish that you had a sailboat so that you could quietly leave with respect. We slowly left the dock and those other boaters that had spent the evening there, still sleeping in their bunks, tied up to this peaceful place. We passed a large sailboat anchored nearby ad the couple were up and sitting having coffee in their back cockpit. We waved at each other as we went by, not knowing each other, but having a common bond in knowing that we both have an appreciation for our surroundings this special morning. I delay in putting the lines away as there’s so much beauty to take in as we leave along this six mile creek. I must say that as we left and wandered out the creek, the morning mist, and the flat reflective waters, with only a fish or insect to create a beautiful pattern in the water, was the most magnificent site probably on this whole trip. The green grassy shores, with marsh grass and cat tails, old wooden docks with dinghies, and white colonial homes that grace this creek is truly a site to see. I tried to capture it in my camera but it will never do it justice. Why did I not get my kayak out and explore this place while we were here? What was I thinking? We were busy exploring on bicycle, but the real beauty, though beautiful, is not the town, nor the Colonial or Victorian houses, nor the wonderful people we met, but it was the magnificent beauty of this creek. Thank God people haven’t come in and developed this area. It’s still as it was 300 years ago. Thank Goodness they haven’t boarded up the edge of the creeks with ugly concrete or wood walls. The creek melts into the lovely sandy shore and green grasses like nothing I’ve even seen before. The colors are mauve as the sun has awakened a little more and come out of its sleep a little higher in the sky. We hear the familiar honking in the background, I again stop putting away the fenders and lines, and hurry to the bow of the boat. I’m rewarded by the site of hundreds of Canadian geese flying in formation, following the route of the creek, heading inland to some hopefully protected inland water area. It was a site I’ll never forget my whole life. Then another group came and went, and so on, all the way out the Creek. It was the sign of Autumn and the nearing of the end of our trip. What a magnificent place, please don’t ever change. It’s the last of the last. For the Photo gallery click here
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For the first time since we came through the Panama Canal,
we are heading south. It was a strange feeling. In a way, a little sad, as we
knew the end to this wonderful journey was nearing and an end to this season,
even though we still had a few more stops to go.
I
just finished reading all of your web pages last night and was wondering where
you were now, when behold, We were visiting Onancock this afternoon looking for
a restaurant and found the boat docked by Hopkins store. You must have been
napping, all was open, shoes and bicycles were sitting on the dock. Maybe I
could have shouted out your name or stole your shoes!! We quietly left. 
