A Month in the Bay

It has been a busy month for us in the Chesapeake.

We entered the Bay at the northern end via the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  Our first night we motored up the Sassafras River and spent the night on anchor.  Next stop was Rock Hall.  It was very hot so we decided to spend the night in a marina so we could run the air conditioning.   Since the entrance to the Rock Hall harbor was very shallow, we anchored outside for a couple of hours to wait for higher tide.  We went for a swim to cool off and when we got back on the boat I saw a huge jelly fish float by.  We did not know it at the time, but have since learned that there is quite a large population of jelly fish in the Bay and often people do not swim because of them.  Glad they did not bug us.  The tide rose and we motored into the harbor to tie up at North Point Marina.  A/C on.  All is good.

From Rock Hall we headed further south for a overnight in a bay in the Magothy River.  From here next stop Annapolis.  Entering this area was very exciting for several reasons.  First, there was more traffic than we had ever seen.  Freighters, about a thousand pleasure boats, several sailboat races, and an anchored nuclear submarine.   Second, we ran into a pretty big storm that required that we sail past Annapolis and wait for it to pass us.

When things calmed down, we headed in and picked up a mooring in the harbor.  The Annapolis area has been our home base for a month.  Since it is known as the sailing capital of the world, there is no better place to spend some time looking at boats and equipment.  One of our projects involves some changes in the rigging, so our first couple of days were spent at the marina where the work will be done.  Meetings done, we headed back out to the bay to see the sights.

We spent time in 3 little eastern shore towns: Oxford, Cambridge, and St. Michael.

Oxford is a very quiet town with a great history of ship building.

St. Michael is a pretty quiet town with a great history of ship building.

Cambridge is a quiet town with a great history of ship building.

Having seen a little of the central Bay, we returned to Annapolis and checked in to our dock for a month at Pier 7 Marina.

Katie O’Connell came by for a visit one day.  We took the boat out into the bay and almost got run over by a 70′ racing boat with about 2 dozen scowling racing guys.  I did have the right of way.  Very pleasant sailing and over night at Back Creek.

We went to a Cruiser’s convention that was very interesting.  There were many great presentations by both vendors and cruisers.  We met a bunch of people also living on their boats and learned a lot.

The high point of October for a sailor in Annapolis is, without question, the Sailboat Show.   Boats of every size to explore, every kind of equipment you could ever need, many informational seminars, and boat friends to hang with.

Our good friends and Detroit marina neighbors from summer before last Chris and Ed are living the life and here with their boat Freedom.  Our good friends and neighbors from last summer Eric and Dayna were also in town.  We ate too much sea food, drank too much rum, laughed ’till it hurt, and generally had a outstanding time.  Good to see you guys!

So, now the show is over, purchases being packed onto the boat, new equipment installed or scheduled, weather getting cold, and it is time to steer south.

We think we will be shoving off early next week towards Norfolk.