Linda and Regis travel...
Enjoying the gifts of the day with two dogs
Wormley Creek to Ingram Bay
I have to start with a correction to my last post, Norfolk to Wormley Creek. I had mentioned a stop at Back Creek in Langley, VA. I was wrong. While the air force base there is named Langley the surrounding area is not. Langley, VA is, in fact, very near Washington D.C. Back to the trip.
After my stay at Wormley Creek Marina, I headed down the York River toward the Chesapeake Bay. I had about 15 miles heading northeast before I could make a turn due north and head to Deltaville, VA another 20 miles away. Because my travel is now on the open water of the Bay, I wanted to plan my stops as two nights each. I could get extra rest if needed or wait for good weather. I would still have plenty of time to get to Deale, MD to meet up with Linda when her schedule opened up.
I was going to the south side of Deltaville which is on Jackson Creek. There is a marina there and a restaurant that happened to be open on Mondays and today is Monday. The creek is narrow and well protected from wind. I was anchored close enough that I was able to row the dinghy in. I did not have to lift a 60 pound motor off the boat then mount it onto the dinghy, only to the the reverse when done. Nice.
Getting into and out of this creek is scary. The channel is very narrow and has two 90 degree turns. Google has a great satellite view of the channel, you may need to click layers in lower left corner to get the satellite view. Entrance Jackson creek.
I did a video on the way out. YouTube
Next stop was to be Reedville, VA. As I was planning the stop I came across some reviews that were not so good. I dug a little deeper and called up satellite images of where I wanted to go. It didn’t look good. I switched plans and cut this leg a little short and pulled into Ingram Bay Marina. I was going to stay one night however the weather had other plans. The next hop was to cross the mouth of the Potomac River. That is a good 5-7 miles wide at this point. I opted to stay in Ingram Bay for a second night to catch some better weather. While there I was able to get some wildlife pictures.
No Pretty Photos, Just a Fraud Update
I have been on the phone a lot with my two banks resolving issues related to changing all my account numbers. I have called Fidelity several times today, so the phone number is familiar to me. This evening, while making dinner, I got a call from that number. I answered because I recognized the number and the caller said they were with the Fidelity fraud department. I said that was interesting since I spent so much time talking with them recently and would prefer to call them back. They hung up immediately. I pressed the number that came into me to call it back because I was livid and it went to Fidelity. Who said they did not call. I think the bad guys see blood in the water and the sharks are circling. The point: the bad guys spoofed Fidelity’s number so I would think it was from Fidelity and it wasn’t.
Scammed
It is embarrassing to admit when you have been scammed. I used to work in computer security and thought I would not get stung. Today, I got stung. They wiped out my account. Fortunately, it was an account with only $260 in it, so I am not out that much. The consequences could have been devastating. Without getting into the details, I think the important thing to know is the scammer posed as a Fidelity person where I have my accounts. It started off with them asking about a potential fraudulant transaction so everything was plausible in the beginning of the conversation. By the time I realized something was not right and hung up, it was too late.
If you have a trusted organization call you, don’t continue the call, call back. Don’t believe they are who they say they are. Period. Call back on a trusted line with your institution. My gut told me something was not right but by the time I acted on my gut, it was too late. I was fortunate they did not get much from me. But, they successfully transferred funds from a linked account. They did not get access to those funds, perhaps because I caught things in the middle of it happening, but the link between the two banking accounts left the other one vulnerable once the first was accessed.
It appears that my personal data was obtained in a data breach and it seems most likely it was the recent AT&T data breach. The “bad guys” got enough personal information about me that they did not need much more to get into my account with my help while posing as a Fidelity rep.
I was stupid enough to be duped. I am embarrassed but want to share my story so you are not duped. If a trusted organization calls you, don’t talk with them, call back on a trusted line. These folks are very good at spoofing to be someone else. Again, if a trusted organization calls you, hang up and call them on a trusted line. You could save your life’s savings.
After having a bad day of changing account numbers and passwords on all of our bank accounts, I proceeded to make dinner and burned the garlic and oil spread. All I had to do was make a foil pocket and apparently screwed it up and nearly started a fire. I told Regis, if I turn on the oven self clean feature, I would surely start a fire and burn the house down to make a fitting end for a lousy day.
My neighbor showed up after my dinner issues like an angel to rescue me. She invited me over for a glass of wine and we talked and I forgot about the lousy day I had and I am grateful for the reprieve.
My Interesting Dogs
Some of our followers are interested in boat travel, some are interested in nature pictures, and some are interested in dog stuff. This blog post is about dog stuff.
During the cold weather, I kept a cover on the pool when I was not in it. For fear one of the dogs would think they could stand on it and enter the pool and drown, I kept a fence up to keep them away from the pool. Most of the time I remembered to close it when I was finished with water aerobics. With the warmer weather, I do not keep the cover on the pool, so I removed the fence. I use some equipment to provide resistance in my workout including some foam dumbbells and some fins I put on my ankles. When I am finished my workout, I lay them on the the side of the pool to dry out.
Clover, my little chewer, has not been chewing things lately and I let my guard down by leaving the equipment by the pool. The next day, I could not find the find the equipment. They were in the yard. Clover chewed the straps off the fins and made some indentations in the dumbbells. I decided to leave the dumbbells floating in the pool since neither dog appears to want to go for a swim. The next day, the dumbbells were missing from the pool. I found them in the yard with further chew marks. I wish I had a video of her waiting for them to float to the side of the pool so she could pull them out. If she had entered the pool, she would have been wet and I would have known.
When I take the dogs for a walk, there is a man who sometimes chats with me. When he does, the dogs start to act up and roll around on their back and make noises, especially Clover. Lately, any time we walk by the house whether the man is there or not, Clover stops. She scratches. She checks her private parts. She looks around. Eventually, she will proceed home.
About a week ago, I saw a moth in their dry food bin. For someone who used to own a Wild Birds Unlimited Store, it is unconscionable that I did not act right away. Today, I opened the bin to a bunch of moths and saw little worms everywhere. The dogs did not mind having only canned food for dinner.
Raven has never been a soft toy fan. He likes soft toys when it means tug of war or chase with Clover. A friend gave the dogs a bunch of toys a month or so ago and Raven did now show interest. Within the last few days, he has taken a liking to a particular toy and it is with him often. Interesting.
I found one of the dog’s toys floating in the pool the other day. It makes me wonder what a dog is thinking when they decide to pick up one of their toys, walk over to the pool, and drop it in.
Today, my neighbor called to let me know we have an alligator in our pond. Our property at one end abuts to a pond. I went over to look and she told me it had been there at the shore. As we were talking, an alligator started backing away from that spot. It was hidden from us at first but I am certain it heard us and backed up to check things out. It saw us, flipped around in the water and disappeared. In a nano second, it popped up in the middle of the pond. It was a reminder how fast alligators can move.
Raven and Clover have a dog friend who lives not far away. We had the opportunity to spend the evening recently with Hopper and Hopper’s mom and sister. Hopper is a sweet dog.
Norfolk to Wormley Creek VA
I have driven through Norfolk several times. I knew it was a busy place but the amount of activity on the water was incredible. Tugs going to and fro, tugs with barges going to and fro, tugs pushing and pulling a Navy ship out of dock, and then a little passenger ferry, not to forget the large container ships and a dredge keeping the channel deep. Wow.
Once I got past Norfolk and into the Chesapeake Bay I had two options, first was to go another 3 hours or so to a marina, or take the first left into Back Creek near Langley, VA. With the stress over the last couple of hours, I opted to stop as soon as possible. Back Creek it was. When the first fighter jet flew over I realized there was also an air base here. It explains all the restricted shore line. Another thing I didn’t know was how far Langley is from Washington D.C.
The next morning, I took off for Wormley Creek. I had booked some dock space and there was a grocery store sort of close. After getting to the dock, I was listening to the weather and it wasn’t looking good for the next day, so when I went to the office I asked If I could stay for an extra night. Sure, they said. I went back to the boat got the camera and went for a walk. 1 .5 miles later and nothing picture worthy. On the way back, I spotted a great blue heron carrying nesting material. I watched as he flew into a tree and tried to get a picture. Nope. I could just see him but there were branches blocking a good view. As I got back to the marina I had logged 3 miles, I decided to keep walking. Another 1.5 miles the other way and still nothing to get a picture of. Well at least I got a 6 mile walk by the time I was back on the boat.
Back on the boat, I got ready to go to the grocery store. I checked the weather again and heard that the next two days were going to be bad. I grabbed my backpack and set off, first stopping by the office to check on a third night as no one was going to be in the office over the weekend. I got my third night booked and started my 3 mile trek to get some groceries. I opted for Uber (this is near Yorktown) for the ride back as 9 miles of walking in one day is enough!
Three days sitting in one spot allows you get to take in the day to day happenings. Following are some moments.
Great Bridge to Norfolk VA
This post is all about the videos. There is no sound as I forgot to turn on the mic, except the early morning tug which I shot with my phone.
The day was calm and sunny as the second video shows. It remained sunny but the scenery changed quite a bit as I got closer to Norfolk.
Coinjock NC to Great Bridge VA
Dock space was tight in Coinjock with the cruise ship being there. Several boats needed to raft up and every one else was tied end to end almost hanging over each other. But as cruise ships often do, they have daytime land excursions and then travel at night. They had an afternoon land trip to Kittyhawk and were scheduled to castoff early evening. If the other boats wanted, they could unraft after the cruise ship left. The ship’s scheduled departure time came and went and they didn’t leave. Turns out they couldn’t. Farther along the ICW has one more canal, the Chesapeake and Albemarle. This canal has several drawbridges one of which is a double span opening. It has two sides that open to the full width of the canal. The bridge was undergoing maintenance and as such was on a schedule to only open the full span twice a day. The cruise ship had no choice but to wait overnight and catch the next full span opening mid morning.
Things started hopping the next morning early, 4:30 or so. The cruise ship was getting ready and the boats on either end of me also started to get active. As I was finishing my first latte, one of the small boats cast off, followed 10 minutes later by the cruise ship. By the time I finished my second latte, the other small boat next to me left. This worked out great, I now had plenty of room to maneuver my boat off the dock without hitting anyone. By now it was about 6 am and I took off. Over the next 30 minutes, I heard over the radio that at least 2 other boats departed as well. There were 5 small boats and a large cruise ship heading to the same place.
I caught up with the cruise ship about about 2 miles from the drawbridge. It was going very slow, I assumed to time the arrival at the bridge just as it was opening. The ship can’t stop and wait, they can’t maneuver in such a small space. I decided to take advantage of a slightly wider section and pass the ship. Once around,I saw that a tug and barge were tied to some pilings waiting for the bridge as well. Once through the drawbridge, it was an hour to the next draw bridge. I sped up a bit as I wanted to get there well ahead of the cruise ship. I wasn’t going through this bridge today, just spending the night at the free dock just before the bridge, but I wanted a cushion of time to get onto the dock before a cruise ship filled the canal.
Once tied up, I got the camera and walked around. The dock is located in a park dedicated to the first ground battle of the American Revolution in Virginia which occurred in Great Bridge.
It Took Five Years – Bears
Five years ago I went on a photography tour in Alaska with Lisa Langell on one of her Magic of Alaska tours. I got a bunch of video and never did much with it, until now. Following is the bear behavior video it took me five years to put together. You will see cubs, mating, bear drama, foraging, eating, playing, scratching, and bathing. Regis’ favorite clip is the bear bathing in the water. It is a treasure.
Today, I participated in the monthly rookery bird count at the Alligator Farm. I was responsible for counting little blue herons and tricolored herons. There has been an explosion of them since last month. For the locals, about half the little blue herons are nesting in the Land of Crocs. By the time I finished the count and started to photograph, the light was horrible. Seems to be my problem lately.
New Toys
While at the Birding and Photo Fest, I was selling my books and fortunately sold 28 of them. But, during the time when there were sessions, it was slow and I mingled with the other vendors. I learned a lot from Lens Fly and Canon but it did not save me from purchasing stuff. Yegads! I may not have enough funds if I live too long.
I got the tools to begin digiscoping and this is my first attempt. I have googled solutions to some problems and talked with a local video expert and plan to work on that for future videos.
I tried to do some portraits with Raven and Clover and got the following. I took them downtown together for the first time to get pictures in front of the Fort. It was mildly successful. They were so stimulated that it was hard to get them to pay attention. I need to take them downtown more often so it is “old hat” for them. It is clear that Raven continues to despise bicycles, skateboards, and motorcycles. When he sees them, his reptile brain kicks in and juicy steaks cannot grab his attention. Yegads!
Following is a map I have of the Chesapeake Bay. Regis is currently at the third river up from the mouth of the bay on the left in Deltaville.
I hope to join Regis when he gets near Deale, Maryland and go to St. Michaels for a couple days. When we lived in Maryland, we had a 24 foot sailboat that could not make that trek. I always wanted to do it and hope this time I can. I have a solution locally where someone is going to stay at my house and watch the beasts. If she doesn’t decide she would never do this again, she may be willing to watch them this fall so I can accompany Regis on the return trip. I have a friend with two collies who would love to watch them and I would love for her to do it, but she has an elderly dog with health issues that takes a lot of her energy and I do not want to make her life more difficult.
Belhaven to Coinjock, NC
My second night at Belhaven was not as bad as the first. The wind slowed down and shifted to a different direction and life was much nicer. I got a couple of little boat projects done while here as there is an Ace hardware store 1 block away.
I left Belhaven with mixed emotions. I hated the rollyness but got a chance to walk around a small town. As usual, I left the dock just before sunrise and continued heading up the Pungo River for about 10 miles. I had about 40 miles to go to my next stop, the Alligator River. Most of this section of the ICW was along the Alligator-Pungo river canal, a mostly straight 24 miles of very little to see. It contained large areas of swamp or marsh with the headwaters of the Alligator river zig-zagging across the canal at multiple places. After leaving the canal proper, I had about 5 miles to go to get into the bigger part Alligator River.
Where I wanted to stop the Alligator River is a large area of open water. It is about 1.5 miles wide and about 20 miles long. It is surrounded by roughly 400 square miles of wildlife refuge type land. As you might imagine, wildlife does not have much need to use cell phones. With the help of my cell phone booster, I was able to make some calls. One to Linda and one to reserve some dock space at Coinjock Marina, my next stop. I think I also got out a “real time” blog post trip summary. Since there were no pictures, I was able to upload with the cell booster. Sometime late afternoon another boater anchored here as well, I almost felt encroached upon but they were well over a half mile away. I really can’t complain about that can I?
In the morning I pulled the anchor and set off. It was going to be a long day, over 50 miles; 20 miles along the Alligator, then 15-20 miles through the Albemarle Sound. Both are large open bodies of water subject to wind driven waves. Thankfully it was a fairly nice day, and the sunrise was great.
As I got about half way down the Alligator River,I saw a cruise ship come out of the canal behind me. Great, now I have to keep a very close eye behind so I don’t get run over. Turns out they were only going slightly faster than me. They did catch up about half way across the Albemarle and then were well ahead in no time. They must have sped up.
Later in the morning I get a call from Coinjock Marina. They wanted to know If I could raft up (tie up side by side) with another boat as they had a cruise ship docking at noon and might be short of dock space. I got there about 2 pm and tied up just in front of the cruise ship.
Below are some videos I didn’t have uploaded in time for them to be in the correct post. Recorded on 4.22.2024 between Swansboro and Oriental NC.
Linda and Regis travel... 