Author: Phil

After the Cowboy Rodeo in Crisfield we began September sitting still in Crisfield as a major storm stirred up the Chesapeaeke Bay making it a very messy body of water to travel.  We left Tuesday the 3rd of September and had a pleasant crossing and trip back to Colonial Beach.

Once there we handled our daily chores and enjoyed the town’s activities that included a great beach music festival on the 14th — wish I’d taken some pictures!  We were then ready for our two-week boat trip to Albermarle Sound but the COVID virus got us and stopped that trip quickly.  We’ve had the virus before but this trip through it was more difficult.  Once it had worked its course on us, we got on the boat and headed out for some site seeing on the water, as it was to late to catch up to the other boats on the Albermarle trip.

We decided to go to Yankee Point Marina on the Rappahannock.  We had read it was a good stop and run very well as a family business.  It was better than expected.  It had friendly staff, a great restaurant, a pool, and a large maintenance and repair yard.

Click on picture for a larger size image.

We left Yankee Point Marina on a clear sunny day and returned to Cole’s Point Marina.  We had our car there so the day after arriving we took a five hour road trip around the Northern Neck to see what had changed since we last did this tour, some 4 years ago.   A nice day.  We continued to relax and enjoy Cole’s Point.  Joe Littleton and his brother-in-law on At Ease and Dan and Janet Farrel on their boat stopped by for a night.  These were the boaters we were going to travel with to tour the Albermarle Sound area.  They left the next day and we stayed as we were going to Olverson’s Marina on October 4th for a WYA Club event that included more fun and a low country boil dinner.  More on that later.

August began hot as we expected.  We continued to enjoy all the activities of Colonial Beach with our friends in town.  While enjoying, we also planned a long weekend to Aquia Harbour, VA where the local yacht club, Aquia Harbour Yacht Club, had organized a fun-filled weekend that included a crab and Bar-B-Q feast.  The best part of the weekend though was visiting with boaters.

After the Dog Day’s event we had to take care of basic living type stuff but looked forward to going to Crisfield MD to attend the Boating Cowboy Rodeo where Chesapeake Bay work-boats competed to be the fastest boat to tie up and moor in a slip.  The event also included a crab-picking contest, music all weekend, and plenty of time to tour the town and visit with boaters.  See some of the pictures we took and then a video of one of the work-boats competing in the Cowboy Rodeo.

We started July getting ready to do some boating.  The first cruise was to Solomon’s Island for the weekend of the 14th.  We had a good crowd of people and enjoyed food, comradery, and hosting a group of boaters from WYA that were on their second planned long trip of the summer.  We gave them a couple of good meals and enjoyed their friendship.  Albert and Veronica traveled with us on BenjOllie and stayed in the forward cabin.  An enjoyable travel event even though we suffered some heavy rain on the trip to Solomons — no strong winds nor rough seas.

During the trip to Solomon’s I found out that my old High School friend Jay White was having some health issues and we decided to fly back to Washington and visit with Jay and Carmen White for a week.  We flew out on the 17th of July.   While out west we saw my cousins Damen and David in Quincy.  To round out the trip we visited my home-town of Ephrata and the college I graduated from, WSU.  I lived in Alfa Gamma Rho fraternity during my stay at WSU, and earned money for college while in High School shining shoes at a local Ephrata barber shop.  Jay and Carmen live in Wenatchee.  A few of the pictures we took are below.

We returned and made a good weekend trip to Point Lookout with the CYC group, then motored home to get ready for more boating.

 

I’ve kept this blog to record what Carey and I have done over time.  I became very lazy and did not keep this up between Jan and Jun 2024.  To catch up I’m going to do a little short hand writing to capture a few of the highlights during this six month time frame.

• In January we had a quiet month visiting with Jack and Ann and spending lots of time in the sun room with the fire place and staying quiet.
• In February I had cataract surgery and started to work with the eight marinas in town on some marketing efforts they needed.  Carey was heavily involved in her breast cancer recovery.  At the end of February I fell and collapsed a lung, starting a 3 and 1/2 week stint in Mary Washington hospital.  This was a scary time and I’m lucky to made it through the time.
• In March and April I did the follow up and recovery from the fall, Carey spent a great deal of time with doctors and the cancer recovery period.
• In May I was back in hospital for pneumonia and sepsis … a second bad period.  I believe I left MWHC with pneumonia and then sepsis finally caught up with me.  Tappahannock hospital “fixed” me and I came away feeling great.  And I’m getting better.
• In June we worked on the boat and handled the arrangements for the June Potomac River Festival Boat Parade that I had to cancel due poor weather.
• That’s a quick summary of Jan thru June 2024.
• Now I’ll try to get back in the mood to keep up with our schedule.

December started out mild.  The sun is shining and the wind is light so the 50 degree temperatures feel pretty good.  I’m getting the boat ready for the winter months and also continuing hope that the 37′ Maxum, Apolonia, will sell soon.  It has been on the market for six months and we’ve had two contracts that have not finalized because of a possible issue with a couple of the stringers.  I’m getting a yard to investigate whether there is a real problem, and if so, how much of an issue is it.

We made a trip to Manassas to visit with Jack and Ann and enjoy a 1950/60s music revue at the Birchmere Club in Alexandria and I attended the installation of a Historic Marker at the end of the Point in Colonial Beach commemorating the Oyster Wars of the 1950s.  One man was shot and killed in Monroe Bay during these “wars,” where Maryland and Virginia residents fought over the oyster beds in the Potomac River.

 

Carey spent a good deal of time during the month decorating the home for Christmas.  She is a real pro — see a few of the pictures below.

And we also attended the 50th Anniversary of the Colonial Yacht Club, a club we rejoined after returning to Colonial Beach.  They have new members that are fun and exciting.  We are enjoying the time with them and are looking forward to more events in 2024.  They talked me into being the Vice Commodore, even though I’ve been through this yacht club bridge drill many times before.  It should be interesting and not too time consuming.

 

At the end of the month we enjoyed a trip to Annapolis for Christmas with the grand kids.  Cynthia was able to get the day off, even though she is has very junior seniority at her new job in her new professional, a registered nurse.  We enjoyed a great day with presents and food.  We made the decision to do a variety of fondu; meats, vegetables, cheese, and fruits.  The grand kids really enjoyed it.  And we finished off the month with a New Year’s Eve party at the Ice House.