Wildwood, NJ to Annapolis, MD

Ship’s Log, October 9, 2009

From Monday the 28th of Sept. in Cape May, NJ to Friday, Oct 9, in Annapolis, MD

9/28, Underway at dawn to go the last 7 miles out past Cape May and the canal to the Delaware River. Back into the big water at 7:30 and a long day ahead. We had the SW wind that was to get to 10 – 15 gusts to 20 and we were going north. Shoulda taken my motion sickness tabs. Somehow we messed up tide and current and ended up slogging at 6.5 for HOURS. 48 miles run to the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. Meds finally kicked in and we practiced our surfing technique running down the faces of the 4 foot waves. What looked like the Flying Dutchman, turned out to be a lovely and large square rigger that went past us and he made a good target to follow upriver. When we reached the C. and D. Canal there was still 12 more miles to our stopping point. On the canal the sky quickly turned ominous and I urged Mark to put pedal to metal and burn some fuel. We pulled into a lovely inlet just off the canal called Chesapeake City at 4:45, dropped the anchor, the skies broke loose with a very strong torrential squall and the anchor dragged. I went back out to man the anchor, was drenched in seconds, Mark motored forward and we got it reset. I got first dibs in the shower! The remainder of the evening was delightful. Lovely sunset and quiet night.

9/29, Tuesday – A lazy morning except that we decided the anchor was still not holding well. Several more tries and a move to another area and we were once again set. Time for a larger piece of hardware. Mark went online and ordered a Manson anchor from Hamilton Marine in Portland to be delivered to his sister Joanne in Annapolis (really Eastport). That evening my niece Christine and her boyfriend Steven drove down from Newark, DE where they live and work, to meet us for dinner.

9/30, Wednesday – Avalon was the last boat out but we had the tide with us and into the Chesapeake we went. The C. is a big bay, not that wide but with lots of creeks and it is quite shallow. I picked out three possible anchorages in Middle River about 40 miles away. We got to the area @ 2:30 went up the river and into a side creek called Hog Pen. The write up was glowing but the reality was disappointing. Right away we were once again in 2 feet of water. Our nerves still frayed from NJ, we carefully worked our way out dragging through the mud the whole way. On to the second spot, Frog Mortar Creek. It had just a few more feet but we would have to have dropped hook right in the channel. The challenge is that the creeks are lined with small marinas on narrow channels all with lots of boats. Back out again. The center of Middle River actually has a marked channel so we decided to follow it to its end right by an airport, a small wooded area on one side and a small park on the other. Amazingly after three tries and the windlass misbehaving again, we got a very comfortable spot to stay.

10/1, Thursday – Beautiful morning. Quiet, still water and the leaves are just starting to turn here. We then saw lots of crabbers at work. They fish with lines draped between two buoys. Shorter lines about two feet long were dangled from that line spaced apart by 6 feet or so with bait attached. The crabs would latch onto the bait and as the crabber pulled the line into the boat he would just scoop up the crabs with a net. They fished that way and with pots – miniature versions of lobster pots. Finally we had the tide with us. 8+ knots the whole way to Annapolis. Our luck held and we were able to pick up one of the City moorings in Back Cove for $30 a night. Back Cove as are all the creeks around here is unbelievable. The boats are packed in so tightly that it is a wonder anyone can move about. They are between pilings with only a really skinny dock between every other set of poles. We had lunch, checked in, made arrangements to meet Joanne and her partner Brandy for dinner and Mark headed out with the dingy on his errands to get parts to repair the windlass. I stayed behind to rest – not. Ended up doing lots of paperwork, paying bills, follow-up emails and log catching-up-on. Mark got back with his parts and pieces and started in on the windlass. Not going well. He broke the drill bit trying to get out a broken bolt. Dinner saved us which was at Joanne’s with friends Meg and Ben. A grand time had by all, Mark got information to deal with the windlass part and we headed back to the boat.

10/2, Friday – Mark was up and out via dingy to go to a nearby boatyard to see if they could repair the windlass but the man there sent Mark to a place about 15 miles away. Joanne lent us her second car, a Miata and he headed out on his mission. That also did not go well. In the process Mark discovered a crack in the unit. Back he came and onto the internet we went. It turned out that the cost to replace the top part of the unit was the same as a whole new one, so the new one was ordered with arrival set for the following Tuesday. At 4:45, they called back to say that the credit card was declined. The bank didn’t like all those odd purchases from odd places and we had to assure them that we were indeed making those purchases. Unfortunately now we missed the shipping and it would now not arrive until Wednesday. So we hunkered in for a fun filled several days.

10/3, Saturday – Shucks we’re just going to have to play and have fun. We took the dingy to Annapolis, tied up at the head of “Ego Alley” and had a nice walk around town. Portland could use a similar place in its new plans for the waterfront. It was a beautiful day in the 70’s and turned out to be the day of the Navy / Marines game. We were honored with a “fly-by” of the Blue Angles. I’m sure it was just for us! Joanne was off on business but her friends Meg and Ben invited us to dinner at their place. They live just around the corner here in Eastport, also an easy walk. Our deal was that we dingied over to Brandy’s boat, tied up to it – it was on an end slip – and walked the two blocks to whomever’s home – they were all 2 blocks away. They in turn were all living in their alternate quarters as their main homes were rented out to Boat Show people. Everyone around here rents their homes and attached apartments. October is the moneymaker around here and everyone is set up to rent out. Joanne and Brandy got back early and joined us for another rollicking evening.

10/4, Sunday – Another beautiful day. We went back to Ego Alley and stocked up on veggies at the farmers market held there each Sunday. Then we strolled over to the Naval Academy campus. A showing of a photo ID and we were in. We looked all around the Visitor’s Center which had several nice displays of the history of the US Navy, historic battles, the uniforms over the years, the space capsule of Alan Shepherd (an Academy grad) and then there was the Rhode’s Scholar plaque of Academy grads with Ron Bancroft, class of 1965, Cumberland (ME) resident and big supporter of the PSO. We also peeked into the chapel – happened to be the end of Sunday service and the Mariner’s Hymn was playing. After getting back to the boat, Joanne and Brandy came out and we just hung out the rest of the afternoon and chilled.

10/5, Monday – We dubbed around a bit and then loaded up the golf clubs for our first day out on the course. The clubs were a bit much for the Miata so Joanne swapped cars with us so we now had her minivan. We headed about 20 minutes out of town to the Eisenhower Golf course and another lovely day for 9 holes. The first two holes were fairly awful not having swung a club for month. After that we started getting in a few (for me – more for Mark) decent swings. I did drop a 20 putt! After the game we went on a search for the Whole Foods. It was a new store in a new mall and we had the hardest time finding a) the entrance to the mall and b) the entrance to the underground parking lot. That part was nice. We could use that in Maine. However they had no bulk spices and in MD alcohol is not sold in grocery stores. Back to the boat for a quick chill-out and dress for dinner. Friends whom we have not seen in years drove down from Baltimore. We gave them the boat tour and then headed to Annapolis for dinner.

10/6, Tuesday – Up and at-em bright and early for an overcast but still comfortable day to go play tourist. We met Joanne, drove to New Carrolton to get on the train and headed to Washington D. C. First up was a wonderful botanical garden and huge green house; truly a conservatory. From there we walked up to the Capitol Building (where the Inauguration took place). It is HUGE. You don’t get a sense of it from photos. We wanted to see the visitor’s center which then allows one access to the Capitol Building, but they had tight security not allowing food, beverage and pocket knifes. Since we had all three we decided to keep that for another trip. Then it was on to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Sculpture Garden and the Natural History Museum (where the latest Night at the Museum movie takes place). All were quite amazing. Being thoroughly pooped afterwards, we stopped for a bite and drink at the café by the sculpture garden and headed back to Annapolis. We only got onto one wrong train once, were able to switch and get going again correctly.

10/7, Wednesday – It did a light rain overnight but quickly cleared. All parts and pieces were scheduled to arrive today. Before they did we took a ride up Back Creek where we had not yet gone. Seems the Gemini Cats are made up there. Just as we got back onboard, the front of a high pressure started moving through with a vengeance. The wind was gusting to 45 and I believed it! Mark was trying to fix a door that was closing poorly and I was on the computer when we realized that the boat in anchored front of us was suddenly headed our way and just a bit quickly. Because of the high winds most boats had kept one person aboard – not this one. It then turned towards a neighbor’s boat. A loud holler to them enabled them to fend it off. Very quickly there were four dingies in the water and we worked on wrangling the boat. Mark jumped onboard to see if there was a key in the ignition (many folks leave there key for just such situations – we had a charter boat once that dragged and was saved because we had left the key in the ignition). No key but by now with its drift and our pushing it we were near some pilings and Mark was able to lasso one to stop its movement. Long story short, we got it tied up, found the owner who was setting up at the boat show and all was well. All with the wind just howling. Back aboard our boat – the installation of the new windlass was still being a challenge. The through bolts were not long enough and Mark had to go in search of a 5 inch hole saw to modify the backing plate.

10/8, Thursday – Annapolis Sail Boat Show Day! One of Joanne’s tenants gave her two passes for us to go to VIP Day. We love that. Typically fewer people and you can actually move around. The wind was back to normal and it was again a spectacular day. We had fun, purchased a few parts and pieces and ogled lots of new catamarans. Back at our boat the remainder of the windlass was successfully installed and tried out. It works! And it works well! Dinner tonight was with Joanne and Brandy at their yacht club which overlooks the harbor to Annapolis. They are headed out of town so we won’t see them again.

10/9, Friday – EEK! We ran out of water. That enabled us to do the math – 220 gallons of water / 15 days is almost 15 gallons a day. Doesn’t seem possible but good to know. Mark took our two 5 gallon water jugs to a dock and got them filled. We’ll make that last and we plan to head out tomorrow and will do a complete fuel and fill. Today will be some last minute provisioning, planning routes and dinner with a Portland friend who is coming down to the boat show.