We take a break from the boat for some other travel. First is a quick road trip back to Minnesota. Then we fly to Australia to visit Danica and Fab near Melbourne as they eagerly approach parenthood.
We depart Baltimore heading back south along the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. It’s only a matter of a hours before we realize we have an engine problem. Then the problems keep coming as we continue south, ultimately proving the most challenging three weeks we’ve had since starting this cruising adventure as the Ladies Luck and Doom engage in combat. Despite it all we still see some great towns and enjoy new stops in the Chesapeake Bay.
We spend a week in Washington DC with visiting family, then head back down the Potomac and up to Baltimore. Stops range from a peaceful anchorage to small remote marinas to the very nautical and familiar town of Annapolis.
It’s summer on the Chesapeake for us! We start with a visit to Smithfield VA on the James River, then spend 4th of July in Hampton before heading up the western side of the Chesapeake to the Potomac River. Colonial and Civil War history abounds, as well as personal history for us, as we make our way along this first leg of our Tour de Chesapeake up to Washington DC.
The cruising lifestyle means getting creative with how to get around on land. But it also opens up lots of opportunities for adventures in what you see and who you meet.
Now that our Loop is done, we head back up the familiar ICW to Norfolk VA to undergo a five week boat and human upkeep period. But the trip is not without some boating drama.
From Ft. Pierce, we planned for a sprint of near-daily travel to get us the final couple hundred miles to our Loop Finish Line in St. Augustine. The route takes us through Eau Gallie, Titusville, Daytona, and Palm Coast before we arrive back where our Loop started, thus crossing our wake. It seemed straightforward, but of course Mother Nature laughs in the face of even the best laid voyage plan.
We start up the east coast of Florida, beginning with crossing Biscayne Bay to get back onto the ICW. Making our way past ridiculously extravagant homes and boats, we stop in Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Stuart before arriving for a month long stay in Ft. Pierce. There we completely slow down, enjoying just living and visits from friends.
We leave the Florida mainland behind and cross over to the Keys, visiting Key West and Bahia Honda before an extended stay in Marathon. Finally, we wrap up our island hopping in Key Largo as we start making our way back to Florida’s east coast.