We’ve been in the Chesapeake for most of October – but unfortunately not seen much of it – it’s been too busy!

First off we were at the OCC dinner in Annapolis – great event and we met loads of old friends – we no longer feel like we’re the newbies in the cruising world! Fantastic how many great people we’ve met in our travels – and how we keep crossing paths.

Then it was the boat show – and we had several things on our minds to get fixed – the number one item was getting the Freezer sorted out. While it worked, it would only bring the temperature down to 16F – not quite enough to keep stuff frozen. Working with Frigoboat’s dealer in Annapolis, Coastal Climate Control, we finally got the whole thing working! We also had a problem with Monitor Windvane – the self steering mechanism that hangs off the back of Toodle-oo! – it’s never really worked very well (even though we have a new unit hanging there now). The Monitor folk were rather stumped but offered Matt Rutherford as a resource to fix it – Matt sailed his 27ft sailboat around the Americas (yes, North-West Passage AND Cape Horn!) using a Monitor to steer the whole way. While he didn’t make it aboard Toodle-oo!, he did have a couple of pointers which appear to have paid off… A minor kink in our downtube was affecting performance. We’ll see if we can get it working as we head south to the Caribbean. Then we had the engine alternator reveal that it wasn’t doing anything useful! With help from Bob on Baloo, we’ve managed to sort that one out and it’s working again! Unfortunately Bob sustained a nasty bang on his big toe (dropped the engine cover on it!) and looks like he’ll lose the nail – sorry Bob!

We spent a lot of time with great friends Peter and Patty on Serendipitous, who’ve temporarily suspended cruising while they fill the kitty and make improvements to the boat. They hosted a great party and helped out several OCC members, fetching and carrying and trying to fix various systems aboard various boats!

We finally managed to get away from Annapolis to discover the Chesapeake – it’s nice, though the shallow water is somewhat unnerving. A highlight was arriving at Mathews Yacht Club for another OCC event – with a whole load more friends to socialize with. We also got to spend 2 nights in the Commodore’s slip – able to charge the boat and fill with water.

Gwynn Island

We’re now approaching Hampton for the start of the Salty Dawg Rally to Antigua, hanging out in a small creek near Yorktown while a front passes through with it’s associated winds. We took an Uber ride into Yorktown yesterday so I could see where Cornwallis got thoroughly beaten by the Americans and French in the decisive battle of the revolution. Yorktown is a very small but very pretty little town – could be a village in the Cotswolds!

Yorktown Monument

This could be an English village…

Main Street Yorktown

Will try to post again before we head offshore – but in case I don’t remember you can track our progress here:  https://share.delorme.com/Toodleoo

Toodle-oo! is on the move! We departed Bristol, RI right after the installation of a new Autopilot ram on Monday September 25th and made our way to Block Island, picking up Perigee as we passed by Newport. We had a very pleasant sail even though fog was threatening and engulfed us at times.

After a night in Block and with hurricane Maria heading up the east coast, we had to take the inland route down Long Island Sound – but which gave us an opportunity to visit New York for a day and then we sailed down the East River – playing tag with Perigee as we photographed each other’s boats against the dramatic backdrop.

Toodle-oo! in front of the Financial District – Courtesy David Vogel

Toodle-oo! and Liberty – Courtesy David Vogel

Liberty and Perigee

Perigee in the East River

Our best sail of the trip was a rollicking good sail in which we averaged – yes averaged! – 7.95 knots between lifting the anchor in Sandy Hook, NJ and arriving at Cape May. However we then turned to go up the Delaware, right into the wind and after an hour of bashing and crashing into the chop, we called a halt at just past midnight and headed to the Harbor of Refuge at Cape Henlopen, where we waited until conditions moderated the following morning. Since then we’ve motored the entire way to Annapolis where we managed to shoe-horn our way into Spa Creek, right beside the boat show location where we’re anchored for the next few days.

From here we plan to cruise slowly south through the Chesapeake (our first visit here) to Norfolk, the start of the Salty Dawg Rally in November.