The morning started a bit foggy as we headed toward Norfolk, along with several other boats. We all locked through in Chesapeake, VA and we left a Nice Goin’ sticker, as we had last year when passing through this same lock. We then continued on, waiting at a railroad bridge for the train to cross.

Finally, we reached Norfolk where Kathy reconnected with her mermaid friends.

Then we continued on into the glorious Chesapeake Bay to see the lighthouses, sailboats, awesome sunsets and a lunar eclipse over Yorktown.

More beautiful cruising brought us to the mouth of the Potomac where we refueled and then continued north through the bay to Solomons Island – with a military escort.

We rode bikes from our far-away dock to Oh Henry’s exclusive, private dock in front of the Lighthouse restaurant. Here we joined a fun group of boaters for drinks and dinner.

More cool lighthouses and pretty cruising north led us to Annapolis; always a favorite place to visit!

The weather forecast was deteriorating and we realized that if we didn’t get up to the Barnegat Bay in a few days, we’d be stranded for at least a week as the wind and waves became unmanageable. We quickly headed to the C& D (Chesapeake and Delaware) Canal, stopping in Chesapeake City for the night. We docked beside a restaurant, had dinner with a delightful couple from Charlevoix and then the band came on and entertained us as Kenton sat (and Kathy danced) on our boat!

There had been many logs, planks and other debris in the C&D canal, and our sunrise commute had us dodging more branches and tree trunks, some large enough that birds were riding along on them. We caught a favorable tide on the Delaware River and made the long, foggy cruise down to Cape May.

Cape May was delightful, as always, and the next morning we set out for Barnegat Bay. Strong winds pushed us up the coast, past Atlantic City, and through the inlet at Barnegat Lighthouse. We then made a long, careful cruise up the bay in the narrow channel. We turned into the Toms River and thought we might anchor off our house and dinghy in for the night, but our cove seemed too shallow. So we headed north to Barnegat Bay Marina and tied up in the howling wind.

A quick Lyft ride home, and we were able to enjoy Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore!