Mill Creek Solomon's Island

We got up early (6:30am) to make the 40 mile/8 hour or so run to Solomon's Island -- the conditions were not ideal -- there is a building 10-15 knot SW breeze (basically on our nose, no surprise there) and 1-2' chop and the day is young -- one can only wonder what things will be like later in the day. But the forecast still says there will be a cold front coming through tonight that will cause Thunderstorms and rain tomorrow, so today still sounds like the better day to travel -- so we decide to stick with our plan and go for it.

By the time we had breakfast and raised the anchor, it's 7:30 or so. The good news is that we had the current with us, at least for the morning -- this meant we could motor pretty consistently in the 5.5-6.5 range, a real benefit. Of course, it also means that eventually would turn on us and be a deficit. Given our departure time and the turn of the tide, we'd get the benefit for the first 5 hours or so and "pay the piper" the last 3 hours or so.

Sure enough, that's pretty much what happened -- the trip took about 8 hours, the tide turned about midday and the last few hours were a very frustrating slog through much higher seas (3-4 feet I'd day) and winds (frequent gusts in the low 20's) at much lower speeds (I saw high 2's occasionally, but mostly in the high 3's and low 4's). Decent planning gave us a good idea of what to expect but it doesn't really help much to know you are going to be slogging when you actually end up slogging :-)

One notable incident on the trip was this freighter that passed us -- it was moving fast and, as it turns out, we had chosen a "tween the markers" course that pretty much put us in its way (it was using the same deep water markers as we were). Sue was at the helm when it loomed over the horizon and we she quickly changed course to move us out of its way. Sue also thought she saw a large Sting Ray on the surface -- it was here and gone in a flash, so no pictures were possible.

The freighter as it approaches us -- note the bow wave, it isclose and moving fast !!!

A closer look at the bow wave -- it was spraying up in quite a torrent.

The entrance to Solomon's Island harbor is wide and easy to navigate ; inside is a small harbor and two substantial creeks; "Back" creek is mostly commercial and is closer to the main shopping highway; Mill creek is largely residential and a further from the shopping. We planned do some walking/shopping tomorrow, so our initial thought was to anchor out in back creek -- once we saw how commercial it was, we decided to opt for the serenity but longer dinghy ride that Mill Creek offered.

We dropped the hook in a small cove off a pretty point with a house that also had an Osprey nest on a stake a short distance offshore. A refreshing swim, some "sundowners", a light dinner and some quiet time to "shake off" the trip rounded out the day -- well, almost.

Mr. & Mrs. osprey & thier offspring; the house on the point (with a workman) in the background

As I mentioned earlier, a cold front was due to come through that evening -- sometimes a cold front can cause very gusty winds and severe thunderstorms -- gusts greater than about 30 knots and/or severe thunderstorms have the potential to break the anchor's grip on the bottom, so it pays to be vigilant when they arrive.

Sue was tired and went to bed at about 8:30, about the same time I could see the front approaching in the distant evening sky -- there was quite a "light show" of cloud to cloud lightening, some of it quite spectacular, but no bolts that hit ground; what thunder occurred was very muted and distant. The light show went on for the next couple of hours; eventually, the wind shifted west and the air cooled slightly, the front had passed us by with little to no drama, a good thing.

Rhodes River

We were awakened at 6am, rudely one might say, by the incessant chanting of the Naval Academy drill sergeant as he ran the plebes through their early morning PT exercises -- a combination of cadenced chanting, loud dance music and morale-building call-response is just plain hard to sleep through.

Our goal for this week is to get to Solomon's Island, Md -- perhaps 60 miles due south of Annapolis. There we planned to pick up Kerry (my daughter) and Jennifer (my niece) for a day sail on Saturday.  The journey to Solomon's would be complicated by two factors -- a cold front bringing rainy weather makes Thursday a preferable "down day" and a 30 mile stretch of the Annapolis side of the Chesapeake with no friendly anchorages for sailboats.

After reluctantly extracting ourselves from bed and having some breakfast, we debated our options for the day -- we could either take a long run over to the Choptank River on the Eastern Shore or we could take a short run down the Annapolis side of the Bay to the West river. The Choptank route would offer more scenery and quiet anchorages, but would require two long day trips to get to Solomon's; the West River route had just one long day to get to Solomon's, a distinct advantage given the predictions for crappy weather later in the week -- it won the debate.

Having settled on a plan, we called for the pump-out boat to clean out our holding tank and then pulled up the anchor and motored to the gas dock to fill our diesel and water tanks --  from initial call to leaving the gas dock, it was probably 1.5 hours before we were finally heading to the West River, a couple of hours south.

It was a sunny and coolish morning, with the wind out of the SE at about 10 knots -- this made the trip very pleasant, almost effortless. As we approached the entrance to the West River, it dawned on us that we would be better positioned to head South the next morning by anchoring in a bight just inside the entrance of the closer Rhodes River. So, we changed course and after carefully weaving our way through a mine field of crab pots that were "in our way", we dropped anchor in the bight at around 1:30pm.

The bight itself was very secluded and roomy -- you could have easily fit 10-15 boats in it, but it was just us and one other boat. We were surrounded by pristine wooded shores within the bight -- across the channel were a few stately homes. Very nice place for the evening.

Our only neighbor in the bight, framed by its undeveloped woodlands

A couple of "cottages" across the channel from our bight

Since it was still early in the day, I took the opportunity to look at our shower sump pump -- it had stopped working in Baltimore. Interestingly enough, the pump that was clearly marked "sump" was actually our bilge pump, a fact I discovered only after I disassembled and re-assembled it in an attempt to diagnose our sump problem. Oh well :-( Not to defeated by a little misdirection, I then disassembled the "real" sump pump, only to discover that 3 of 4 of the pump's diaphragms were clearly bad -- well, at least I found the "real" problem. Not having a rebuild kit on board, completing the repair was deferred until we could get one.

It was still sunny and nice out, so we decided to take a pre-dinner swim in the bight -- the water was the clearest we had seen on thus far, and the swim was so delightful that Susie forsook her usual "life jacket" float and did a swimming circuit around the boat. All in all, a refreshing and relaxing bit of exercise, something really appreciated when you spend a lot of time in the limited space of a boat.

Dinner, reading and blogging rounded out the day -- oh, and I spent some time on deck about 10pm -- for the first time since we left NJ, the sky was clear and the stars very visible -- fantastic -- I even saw a shooting star; afterwards while listening to the water quietly lapping on My Weigh's hull and gazing at the stars above, I marveled at our insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

Naval Academy Wall, Annapolis

Sue and I took a day off today -- we did some work/chores in the morning, had lunch and then took the water taxi into Annapolis to stretch our legs, take a walk, get haircuts (we both needed one) and do some grocery shopping.

The day was sunny and sweaty hot -- we were unable to find a barber shop or salon that was open (it was Monday), so the haircuts were deferred to another port. We did walk for a few miles (great exercise), accomplishing all our shopping tasks; we also treated ourselves to ice cream and brought back "Thai take-out" for dinner on the boat. Reading/blogging rounded out the day.

Sue in her "book nook" on My Weigh

Naval Academy Wall, Annapolis

Today it all about getting our visitors back to Annapolis.

We all slept in (8am is definitely "sleeping in" on a boat); once everyone was up, Sue was off and running cooking a big Bacon, Bagel and Egg breakfast.  We ate on deck; the food was plentiful and "delish" -- one highlight was Danny's observation that "Bacon should be its own food group" :-) Once all were sated (most of 2lbs of bacon vanished), the dishes cleaned, the mainsail and anchor pulled up, we were on our way.


The weather was overcast and there was a 5-8 knot or so breeze on our nose -- so, the first leg of our trip, up the Miles River, was motor sailing. Once we rounded the corner on Eastern Bay, we got the jib out and were able to sail for a while although, because we couldn't quite point down the bay, we eventually gave up and motored around Bloody Reef (at the bay's entrance). We tacked up the main bay for a while, but decided to turn on the motor so we could stop and swim at a quiet place on the way back.

We dropped the hook just west of the entrance channel to Lake Ogelton on the Severn River and everyone took a swim -- it was mid-afternoon, the sun was out, the air warm and the swim fabulously refreshing -- indeed, so much so, that we had to coax Liz out of the water -- it seems that swimming is her favorite "pregnant" thing to do -- the water takes the weight of the baby off her back, a welcome relief :-)

Liz & Adam & Baby Wyrick escaping the heat

Once everyone was back on board, we motored into Annapolis and dropped anchor in front of the Naval Academy wall. We then bade all the nieces & nephews farewell as they boarded the water taxi, tired but refreshed from a weekend on the water.

The weekend crew: Sue, Mike, Dan, Liz & Adam -- taken in St. Michael's

Sue and I had a light dinner and then read/blogged to complete the day.

St. Michael's Anchorage, Miles River

Today we are hosting Liz and Adam Wyrick (my niece and her husband) along with Michael and Dan Molda (my nephews). The plan is to sail to St. Michael's, stay overnight and sail back on Sunday.

The water taxi arrived with Liz and Adam about 9:15 am; Mike and Dan showed up at 9:45. We hadn't seen Liz since we heard she was pregnant -- she looked great, radiant I would say. Whatever apprehension Sue and I might have had about taking a pregnant woman on board vanished quickly as we heard that she was feeling great, had escaped most of the tribulations of pregnancy thus far and as she energetically expressed her enthusiasm for taking this weekend trip. Oh, and Adam, Mike and Dan all looked great and were ready to rock and roll (no pun intended), so after a brief lesson in using the head for all the new crew, we picked up the anchor and took off.

St. Michael's is a quaint tourist town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, mostly know for its restaurants and Bed & Breakfasts. It has a long history -- it got its name from an Episcopal Parish founded in the area in late 1600's and has been a center for shipbuilding, oystering and crabbing over the years -- it was even the scene of a battle in the War of 1812. From Annapolis, St. Michael's is reached by sailing south down the main Chesapeake Bay, turning NE up Eastern Bay to the Miles River and then heading south again for a few miles to reach the town -- all-in-all perhaps a 20 mile trip.

The skies were mostly overcast and winds light, out of the Northeast at perhaps 5-8 knots -- these were reasonable, not great, conditions for sailing down the main Bay but motoring would be required for the rest of the trip.

Since the crew was more or less completely new to sailing, all were given opportunities to experience many aspects of running the boat; for example: raising and lowering anchors, raising and lowering sails, helming under sail and power, reading charts, navigating and taking power naps -- the latter was a skill that all of these young and hard working people were particularly interested in mastering -- they all practised vigorously whenever the mood  struck them -- the captain and his first mate were delighted to offer them these opportunities to recharge themselves from their busy work lives.

Liz having fun at the helm

"Thank God don't have to scrape popcorn off the Princeton ceilings this weekend!"

Adam & Mike wrestle with the sail cover

"Hmmm, I wonder if I could talk uncle Jack into lending me the boat for a weekend?"

We arrived at St. Michael's at about 4pm, took a quick tour round the tiny harbor and rapidly concluded that the only reasonable thing to do was to drop anchor outside the harbor and start  happy hour which, like the trip down, was filled with much chatter and laughter and story telling about family, friends and travels.

Happy Hour on Deck

The evening was capped off with a water taxi ride into St. Michael's, a brief walk through the town and dinner at the Crab and Steak house. Liz, Jack and Adam shared a dozen Maryland steamed crabs -- visible proof that Liz is taking her pregnancy in stride.

At Dinner's End

Naval Academy Wall, Annapolis

The plan for today is to simply get the boat to Annapolis so we can pick up my niece, her husband and two of my nephews on Saturday morning for a weekend boat outing.

Since the distance to Annapolis was relatively small (perhaps 15 miles), we decided to spend the morning in the creek; Sue took the time to work (she has been helping her daughter Becky with her psychological assessment business) while Jack took the opportunity to complete some work for his client and do some boat chores.

We pulled up the anchor around noon -- it was a sunny, hot day and the winds were light and out of the NE -- since we were heading SW, the sailing conditions were poor (light winds on downhill run generally means lots of flopping around), so we motor sailed.

We arrived in Annapolis around three, and took a tour of the harbor to see whether we would be able to do a "touch and go" on the city dock to pick up our passengers the next day -- after seeing the position of and traffic at the city dock, we decided it would be easier for us to anchor and have our guests come out to the boat by water taxi.

We dropped our anchor off of the wall of the Naval Academy just outside the main harbor, providing ourselves with an "environmental" alarm clock, namely the drill sergeant chanting the cadence of the plebe's physical training at 6:30 am :-)

Some quiet time on deck followed by a grilled salmon dinner onboard completed the day.

Annapolis Harbor from our anchorage; the Naval SAcadey Wall is on the right

The wall just behind My Weight -- Calisthetics at 6:00am in the footbal field!

Bodkin Creek, Patapsco River

Graham is leaving us this morning, having treated himself to a ticket on the 11am Accela Express to return to NJ.

Sue started the day by preparing a big (for us) bacon and egg breakfast as a thank you gift to Graham for helping us get this far. By the time, we cooked and ate breakfast and completed some boat chores (re-arranging the refrigerator, filling water tanks, starting some laundry in the Marina, ...) it was time for Graham to leave -- we bid him farewell at the Hilton adjacent to the Marina where he caught a cab to the train.

Sue starting the "thank you" breakfast

Sue spent the rest of the morning finishing the laundry and doing some boat housekeeping while Jack took the opportunity to catch up on some work that his client had requested.

With chores and work behind us, we took a 1.5 hour walk along the Baltimore waterfront and up and down the streets of Fell's Point, relishing the sunny skies, moderate temperatures and hustle and bustle of the city's occupants on a work day when all we "had to do" was take a walk -- there's a lot to be said for being "retired" :-)

By the time we finished our walk, it was almost 2pm -- we decided to skip taking a shower at the Marina but rather move the boat down the Patapsco to Bodkin Creek, at the river's mouth. From the description in the cruising guide, we figured we would have a good chance of taking a swim in a pretty and quiet creek, something we were both wanting to do very badly.

So after replenishing our ice supply and with some help from the very careful Marina Staff, we edged My Weigh out of its slip and headed down the Patapsco. The wind was on our stern (NW) and pretty light (3-5 knots) so we made no attempt to sail, happy to simply motor our way down the river. The trip was uneventful save for passing close to a very large car carrier on its way into Baltimore (makes you feel very small).

We had to "video game" our way through some shallows and bob and weave our way through a mine-field of crab pots to get to the creek entrance, but the narrow well marked channel was straightforward to navigate and depths were never less than 8' or so. Inside, the creek divided into to branches; we took the port branch and anchored in about 10' of water in a medium sized cove not far from the entrance.

Surrounded by woods, stately homes and osprey's (there must have been a couple of nests nearby), we donned our suits, dropped the swim platform and took our first swim of the season. The water was warm (high 70's) albeit a bit murky -- we didn't care, it was heaven to be sitting in a quiet cove and swimming, one of our favorite things to do when cruising.

Cocktails on the "veranda", a light dinner, a beautiful sunset and some time to read and blog completed our first "easy" cruising day since we left N.J.

The skipper relaxing at dusk

A beautiful lady in a beautiful sunset