Albemarle Sound to Washington D.C.

Total Miles Traveled, 3751 since departing Green Turtle Bay, KY

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We spent four days at Edenton North Carolina, and by far, it was one of our best stops on the Albemarle Sound Loop.  We can see why this town is a popular retirement destination as it has everything to offer.  The town is home to hundreds of 18^th century homes, most of them continue to be private residences.

We attended vinyl night at the Edenton Bay Trading Company, boxes of vinyl albums to pick from, keeping the DJ busy.

On June 5^th we traveled 20 miles to the Albemarle Plantation Marina.  The marina is mainly located at a well-to-do residential area with a pool, tennis, bocce ball, pickle ball courts, yacht club, and an 18-hole golf course.  We took advantage of the best fuel price since leaving Florida and used the complementary golf cart to tour the area and have lunch. 

When planning our 24-mile route to our next marina at Hertford North Carolina, I noticed a restricted area extending 3 miles offshore.  It turned out to be the Harvey Point Defense Testing facility owned by the Department of Defense.  Specialty military air operations are located at this facility, as the installation has two usable landing fields and plans for a third.  Harvey Point is also used for CIA, FBI and ATF paramilitary and counter-terrorism training.  This is the facility that was used for Seal Team Six to train for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a scale mockup of his secret compound. We’re assuming some of the permanent military officials at Harvey Point have residences at the Albemarle Plantation marina location.

 It's not unusual to see Coast Guard and military flying overhead. 

Herford’s claim to fame was the famous baseball player Catfish Hunter.  He was the first pitcher since 1915 to win 200 games by age 31 and was a member of five World Series championship teams.

We departed Hertford on June 7^th and traveled 44 miles to Elizabeth City, North Carolina.  This was the last town we visited on the Albemarle Loop.  Although the city offers a free dock, we opted to stay at another free dock offered by the Mid-Atlantic Christian University, which provided more protection from the open river, wind, and waves.  

The Museum of the Albemarle covered everything from the American Indians to the Coast Guard of today.

Pailin's Alley is dotted with decorative plants, strung with Edison lights, with restaurants and bars on each side. Notice that awesome gal on the electric scooter?

Another DeFever boat owner arrived at the dock, we moved up as far as would could to help him tie up the dock, but the front of his boat still extended several feet past the dock.  

On June 10^th we departed Elizabeth City and started our adventure through the Dismal Swamp Canal.  The Dismal Swamp encompasses around 750 square miles located between Elizabeth City N.C. and Norfolk, VA.  The Dismal Swamp Canal is 22 miles long running along the swamps eastern edge and was completed in 1805.  The canal is very narrow and shallow and is maintained by the Corps of Engineers. The canal was closed this spring for dredging and debris removal.  Although I didn’t see less than 4 feet under our boat, we did bump something under the surface five times during our transit, we had two sailboats following us after passing through the first lock.  There are two locks one at the beginning and end of the canal and two docks that can accommodate our size boat.  We traveled about 18 miles through the canal and stayed overnight at a public dock about 4 miles before the last lock, a very peaceful experience.

Here is a short video of our cruise through the canal

https://gopro.com/v/lnO1n79qMvPoP

On June 11^th, we departed the quiet laid back Dismal Swamp and passed through the busy navel shipyards of Norfolk, Virginia on our way to a marina at Hampton, Virgina.  The Norfolk Naval Shipyard builds, remodels, and repairs the Navy’s ships.

Security is obvious everywhere through this area.

We stayed at the downtown docks located in the historic district of Hampton, lined with shops and restaurants a short walk from our boat. One of the highlights of our stay was the Virginia Air and Space Science Center.  Aviation exhibits spanning 100 years of flight, more than 30 historic aircraft, and a 3D IMAX theater are all within the NASA Langley Museum.

There were several interactive exabits throughout the museum.  The flight lab provided paper for making paper airplanes to see how far your design could fly in the wind tunnel.  

The original Apollo 12 Command Module Yankee Clipper.  Apollo 12 was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon

Built in 1920, this carousel is completely restored as original and is one of only 170 antique wooden merry-go-rounds still existing in the U.S., it is located at the downtown waterfront.   One of us really enjoyed riding the carousel, the things a captain will do.....

We departed Hampton on June 13^th traveling 56 miles on the Chesapeake Bay to an anchorage at Dymer Creek.    The Chesapeake Bay has more than 150 major rivers and streams flowing into its more than 64 thousand square-mile basin which covers parts of six states, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.  We’ll spend the summer exploring the historical towns and history of this area.

About 9 miles into our cruise to Dymer Creek, a submarine escort boat called a sailboat on the VHF radio and requested him to change course to the north as he was escorting a submarine into the area.  The sailboat was well south of us, and I was angling north so I didn’t change course.  After about 5 minutes the escort called me on the radio and wanted to know my intentions.  I told him I was maintaining a northerly course and after passing an upcoming buoy, I would be heading north.  He confirmed my course was acceptable.  Recreational boats must maintain a minimum of 500 yards distance from any military vessel.  Our first encounter with a submarine……. that we know of.

On June 14^th we cruised 44 miles, branching off the Chesapeake Bay to the Potomac River and continuing to Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina.  We stayed at the marina 5 days to catch up on routine engine room maintenance and using the courtesy car for reprovisioning.  We also avoided a major storm cell that passed through……glad we were not on the open waters of the Chesapeake!

Before entering the Potomac River, we saw this warship 3.5 miles to  our starboard, it is cruising 18 mph.  Military vessels normally don't transmit their position on AIS, they usually monitor your position an let you know if you need to change course.

We departed Olverson’s Marina on June 19^th and traveled 16 miles across the Potomac to an anchorage at St Mary’s City, Maryland.  St Mary’s City is a former colonial town that was founded in 1634 as Maryland’s first European settlement and capitol.  It is now a state-run historic area with half of the area occupied by the campus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.  The college cafeteria is open to the public and we had an awesome all you can eat lunch.  The College also provides outdoor concerts on Friday evenings through the summer, so we were able to sit on our boat and enjoy the concert.

The Dove is a re-creation of an early 17th century trading ship which made up the first expedition from England to the Province of Maryland.

I wanted to check our props and underwater gear after transiting the Dismal Swamp, especially after a few bumps.  Although the water was 79 degrees, I had to wear my wetsuit and hood as there were several Jellyfish around the boat during our anchorage.  Thankfully there were no issues with the Jellyfish or underwater gear. 

On June 22^nd we traveled 38 miles to the Boathouse Marina at Colonial Beach, Virgina.  As we traveled up the Potomac River, we crossed the Virgina and Maryland state line several times.   Colonial Beach was a popular resort town in the early to mid-20^th century.  The family of Alexander Graham Bell maintained a summer home here, the Bell House, and two U.S. Presidents were born near here, George Washington and James Monroe.

The Bell House

We departed Colonial Beach, Virginia June 28^th and traveled 44 miles to an anchorage near Indian Head, Maryland, then traveled 15 miles to Mount Vernon, Virginia on June 29^th. 

Mount Vernon is the location of the historic home of George Washington, originally built by his father in 1734.  George Washington expanded the house during his ownership twice and it remained his home until his death in 1799.  The National Park provides a dock to visit the 500-acre estate and tour the mansion.  We spent 3 ½ hours touring the property, a very interesting experience.  He was truly a unique individual.   It is amazing how the events of today are reversing the principles and values used during the framing of our Constitution.  If you get the opportunity, watch a documentary on George Washingtons life.

The front of the mansion looks huge, and it is, but it looks to be less than 50 feet deep when viewed from the side.

The exterior of the mansion appears to be block but its actually wood siding, cut and beveled to resemble stone blocks.

As customary since the passing of George Washington, we rang our bell as we passed his estate on the Potomac River.

The trees walking around the estate are huge, this tulip Poplar dated 1776

This baker studied the archives in Washington's library and duplicated the recipe for making bread, an oven is on the estate and fresh bread is made daily.  We purchased a loaf and it was amazing.

Washington's original desk and chair

This is the original front entry door.

Washington's Tomb

After touring Washington’s estate, we traveled 11 miles to the City Marina at Alexandria, Virginia.  The marina is located at the historic Old Town, lined with boutiques, restaurants, antique shops, and theaters.  

We had severe storm warnings on the 30th,  but we only had a light shower and an awesome rainbow over the Potomac River.

On July 1^st, we only traveled 6 miles to Washington D.C to the Capitol Yacht Club Marina.  We will stay here for a week visiting family and exploring the sights.