Map of last week's travels

Since my post of last night, not much new to report.  We are at Spring Cove Marina tonight.  This afternoon we did our chores - laundry, grocery shopping, etc.  Tomorrow it's off to the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake in search of crab dinners.  With luck we will  get to visit some historic sights on the Virginia western shore.  Click on the MAP to see where we have been lately.

Back at Solomons

We are anchored in Mill Creek near Solomons, MD tonight.  Tomorrow we will spend the day back at Spring Cove Marina where our car has been faithfully waiting our return.  It's now time to restock the boat and admit we are turning the corner and starting to bring Sea Breeze home.  Although from this point forward we are retracing our track toward home, we plan to visit new places; places we bypassed on our way north last summer.  Hopefully it will still feel like a new adventure, but it is sad in a way to be retracing our steps.  I'm sure exciting new challanges will face us each day.... Today for example.  We crossed the Chesapeake from Broad Creek to Solomons.  It's a 30 mile (more or less) trip across the bay on a course running from roughly NE to SW.  It was a windless day, so we made the trip under power.  Leaving at about 8:30 AM we encountered light fog with visability of about 1 mile.  Two hours later the visibility had reduced to 0.2 mile.  We know this because we used the range feature on our GPS to mark the distance to bouys that would appear out of the fog.  In the shipping lanes, freighters travel at about 20 knots.  We figured, it we encountered a freighter we would have less than 1 minute to take evasive action after seeing one come out of the fog.  Spooky feeling.  We did encounter a southbound sailboat emerging from the fog on a course parallel to ours.  By the time we saw him he was perhaps 500 yards away to port.  We decided to travel together assuming we would make a bigger target on any ship's radar if we were together vs being alone.  We were fortunate to not encounter any shipping.  Our anchorage tonight is quiet and well protected.  There are modest homes along the bluffs of both sides of the creek.  We have anchored in many places with no homes on the shoreline.  These are the anchorages I love.  In the evening we only hear the sound of the birds and the lapping of the wavelets on the side of the hull.  At night there is no sound at all when the wind is calm.  It is so peaceful to lay in our bunk and hear nothing but the sound of our own breathing.  Now, "you know who" would say the sound of me snoring.  Crabbing has been a bust so far.  The rivers we have travelled so far this spring have been mostly fresh to lightly brackish; not healthy for crabs.  As we travel south, the crabbing opportunities will improve as the water gets more salty so expect stories and photos in the near future about the exploits of crab-woman.  My internet connection is running a little slow tonight so I will post some photos and a map tomorrow when we get a little closer to civilization.

More photos

We left Baltimore on Saturday afternoon.  I’ll add a blog post with map of our route when we get settled in at Solomons this coming weekend.  Last year I promised to not send weather reports, so suffice it to say the cruising this week has been under eclectic weather conditions.  Everything from sunny 70’s with perfect winds to cold damp fog to strong gusty wind with rain.  We have taken advantage of the good days and stayed cuddled in our snug cabin on the yucky days.  It’s all good.  We are beginning to feel the need to start south.  We have decided to leave the boat somewhere in NC for a couple of months (July & August) since it gets way too hot to be living on the boat without AC.  We will return to her in September and continue south.  Right now we are thinking we will leave her somewhere in the sounds of North Carolina; Washington perhaps.   I want to send some more photos of our visit to Baltimore.  Attached are photos of:

A buy boat.  These guys were the middlemen between the fishermen and the fish houses.  It was time consuming for the fishermen to bring their catch back to a dock to sell it then return to the fishing grounds.  Thus created an opportunity for the buy boat captain to earn a living and provide a service.  The buy boat would meet the fishermen on the fishing grounds, buy his catch and allow him to keep on fishing.  The buy boat took the catch of several fishermen to market.  A Chesapeake Schooner.  These were the commercial freight haulers in the days before steam.  They carried manufactured goods to the plantations and took agricultural products to the towns and sea ports before roads were established.  A Skipjack.  These boats are still in use today.  They are used to dredge oysters from the bay.   They are sail only; no engine.  The other photo is of an egg.  Description is also in a photo.  This sucker is about the size of an orange.  This was taken at a wonderful museum called the Walters Art Museum.  It was once the private collection of a Maryland millionaire.  The museum includes oil paintings from several European countries from the 1500’s to 1800’s and some American paintings from the 1800’s.  Also some artifacts – sculpture, glassware, jewelry.  A bunch of stuff.  

Spring time on the Chesapeake

The picture says it all.

Annapolis to Baltimore

We left Annapolis under clear skies 10 days ago.  We've only travelled about 100 miles since then but the trip has been enjoyable and oh so relaxing.  Day one started with clear skies, but fog decended on us before we arrived at the bay bridge.  The photo will explain what it was like.  It was very strange to see fog decend to water level.  The bridge gradually disappeared from the top down.  At it's worst I think our visibility at times was less then 1/4 mile.  We spent 3 days in the Corsica River (a tributary of the Chester River).  Beautiful setting.  The photo of the farm house is typical of the shoreline on the Chester and Corsica.  Most shoreline is trees with gaps that show the occasional house or cultivated field.  We saw deer on the shoreline and heard turkeys occasionally.  Geese and ducks were always around along with ospreys.  We continued up the Chester River to Chestertown after the rain stopped.  We met a cruising couple from Ottawa, Ontario at the Chestertown Marina.  More about them later.  Chestertown is a faithfully restored town that dates from the 1700's.  We met my aunt Doris and cousin Susan for an afternoon walk through town and a "float" on the river.  No wind, so I can't say we really sailed.  That evening, after saying goodby to Doris and Susan, we anchored next to the Canadian couple's Bristol 38 Sea Skimmer just south of the marina.  Cocktails and story telling in the cockpit. In the morning they found themselves aground so we formed the Parish Towing and Salvage Company.  It only took a few minutes to pull them off the shoal so we motored in tandem down the river to the Corsica.  The 20th was a fantastic sailing day.  We sailed from the Chester River across the bay and up the Patapsco River to Rock Creek with a 12 knot southerly on our beam.  Best day yet.  

I'm attaching a MAP so you can see where we've been the past few days.  Also some photos.

Baltimore (or Balamer)

John Hancock, who's bold signature is on the Declaration of Independence, called Baltimore a filthy hole full of thieves and loose women.  Actually his remarks were more crude.  The city has improved since then.  We are staying at a marina tonight that is in the middle of downtown.  We are surrounded by a frenzy of human activity as the Memorial Day weekend starts.  There are hotels, restaurants, museums, street singers, jugglers, comedians, tour boats and water taxi craft all around.  The city is an exciting mix of building styles.  Modern mixed with old.  It is a colorful scene to say the least.  We found the 4th cottage light house.  Photo attached; it isn't white like the others.  This one is red!.  It was the Seven Foot Knoll Light before being moved to Baltimore as a museum and historical site.  I couldn't begin to name all the museums within walking distance of us - but for starters, the last war ship to survive Pearl Harbor, the light ship Chesapeake, the submarine USS Torsk, a replica of the US Constitution, Science Museum, Walters Art Museum, I'm out of breath.  Far too many to see in a week let alone a day.  Oh, the National Aquarium too.  And.....Rain forest under glass.

The photos are:

Seven Foot Knoll Light

Fort McHenry with downtown Baltimore in the background.

We saw a very unique aid to navigation (bouy) today as we were approaching the Inner Harbor.  There is a red/white/blue marker that identifies the spot where Francis Scott Key observed the battle at Ft. McHenry.  This battle inspired him to write the Star Spangled Banner.  We saw the original flag at the Smithsonian last month.

The waterfront neighborhoods of Federal Hill, Little Italy, Fell's Point, Vernon, and Canton were just too much to see in one day.  A small part of Vernon and Little Italy was all we could walk in an afternoon.  I guess we'll have to come back.

The crab fishing has been a bust so far.  The northern bay has a low salinity level this time of year so the crabs are further south.  That's where we are heading.  We should be in good crab fishing territory by Monday.  Stay tuned.

Annapolis

We have spent 2 days here in Annapolis and will depart for the Chester River tomorrow.  Trying to predict the spring time weather has been a challenge.  The few nice sunny days we have had provide wonderful moderate temperatures with low humidity and plenty of chances to sail or sight see.  Spring for the commercial fishermen brings newly painted crab trap bouys and fresh paint on boats.  We will send some photos of the commercial boats from time to  time when we get close enough for good shots.  The oyster season is winding down and the crabbing season is starting up in the northern bay.  The boats are truely unique.  Annapolis has a large well kept historic waterfront district.  We are fortunate to be at a mooring right in front of the historic district and a very short dinghy ride to restaurants, shops and historic buildings.  Annapolis considers itself the yachting capital of the east coast and you can find every size and type of boat imaginable.  For evening entertainment before dinner we sit on our boat and watch the action as small racing prams, class racers and large cruisers go by like so many butterflies with billowing sails.  Maryland was first settled at St. Marys (a place we will visit in a few weeks) as a business venture not as a place for those to flee religious persecution like more northern colonies.    The Maryland State House (photo) was built in the 1770's and has been the continual seat of Maryland government since pre-Revolutionary War times.  At the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington resigned his commission as general in this building and thus was positioned to become the first President of the new republic.   The Naval Academy is located here.  Each evening you see midshipmen and women in dress whites walking in town.  It makes for a stirring sight to think of all the sailors who have passed through these streets only to go on to serve our nation in war and peace.  As you walk the campus you see memorials to many of those who served and achieved greatness.  

The photos are:

Our view of the waterfront

Chapel on the Naval Academy campus

Maryland State House

3 harbor sailing scenes in the late afternoon

Ship in Delegren Hall on the Naval Academy campus

Uninvited guests on our dinghy each evening

Rhode River anchrage

OK, I'm experiementing with Google Maps and trying to figure out how to post a map on this blog.  Click on MAP and (hopefully) you will see where we are.  You can toggle between map views or satellite views and zoom in/out.  If you don't see a little bubble in a spot east of Washington DC, I screwed up.

This lighthouse photo is of New Point Comfort light near Solomons, MD.  As you can see, it was a little hazy the day I took this one.

Chesapeake Lighthouses

The docent who talked to us about Chesapeake lighthouses says there are 4 left like the elevated octagons in the pictures.  The 2nd photo is of one that is still a working lighthouse located at Thomas Point near Annapolis.  The top photo is the Drum Point light that is now a museum in Solomons, MD.  The 3rd is the Hooper Strait light that is now a museum in St. Michaels, MD.  No photo yet, but we have visited it. I haven't found the 4th one, but the chase is on.  The top level of the house is for the light.  It only contains enough room for the light and a small walkway around it for service.  The 2nd level down contains a large bell and the apparatus used to operate it.  A manual hand lever gets the bell going if there is fog.  A counter weight like a grandfather clock's is used to keep the bell's clapper going for up to two hours.  There is a bedroom on this floor.  The 3rd floor from the top is the living quarters for the lighthouse keeper and his family.  The living area is roughly a 40' circle.  Some families were as large as 11 people.  The lower 4th level is open to the air and was used to store supplies and to house small farm animals - chickens, goats and a cow.  The lighthouse keeper and family remained on duty for a month at a time before given a short relief.

We are now near Galesville, MD hiding out waiting for a strong cold front to pass tonight.  We are expecting gale force winds so the name of the town is appropriate.  We are safely tucked into a cove up next to an island with tall trees to our west which should protect us from the strongest winds which will be from the west and northwest.

More later, the batteries need a charge.

Sailors playing tourist (on land)

The rain continues.  The stationary front has been sitting on top of us for 6 days now and is expected to continue for another couple of days.  It has rained every day we have been here.  We are almost ready to go.  We need a few more provisions which we will buy tomorrow (Wed).  Thursday we will top off the water tanks, do a last batch of laundry and say goodbye to Spring Cove Marina for a few weeks.  Our car will remain here.  We will eventually come back to get it and move it further south as we move the boat further south.  Yesterday we drove to D.C. and played tourist.  We visited two of the Smithsonian Museums - American History & Natural History. We also walked the mall and gawked at some of the monuments.  We saw the WW II momorial.  It was not built when we last visited DC. It was a cold and wet day.  One of those days when it's not quite rain and not quite heavy fog.  But quite miserable.  The museums were warm...and interesting of course.  Today we went to a park near here that had a walking trail through woods along a small creek (it would be called a run in WV) that ran steeply down hill to a fresh water marsh  that emptied into the Chesapeake Bay.  On each side of the marsh were the Calvert Cliffs  The cliffs are 30+ feet high and mostly a clay/sand mix where fossels of critters from 10+ million years ago are often found as parts of the cliff crumble into the bay from time to time.  We talked to a paleontologist at Calvert Marine Museum across the street from our marina about the history of the bay.   Ten million  years ago it was a sea floor.  He showed us fossils of sharks, dolphins and some rather bizarre fish-like animals that had been excavated from the cliffs.  We found no dinasour bones on our exploritory trip but Diane did find some sharks teeth.  Here first ones in MD.  She will add these to the many shark's teeth and shells that clutter my garage.  The photos I am attaching to this post are of the marsh and cliffs I mention above.  Sorry, no photos of DC; we forgot to bring the camera!

Rain rain go away

Sea Breeze was launched Tuesday morning and we were on the boat cleaning and provisioning by Tuesday afternoon.  Anxious to get back on the water?  You bet.  It's been raining since Wednesday so we have used our time getting all the little spring cleaning projects checked off the list.  Everything seems to work - engine, lights, pumps, refrigeration, etc.  Only one loose wire and one corroded wire have needed servicing.  We have also enjoyed doing some sightseeing in the area and getting reaquainted with friends we made here in the marina last fall.  

If you click on map a link will take you to Google Maps and you can see where we are.  You can use all the Google Map features to zoom in or out, and toggle between street map view or terrain view.  One word of caution.......If you click to open the map and then want to come back to this blog, you should use the BACK or LEFT ARROW in the upper left corner of the screen.  If you use the X to close the map, it also closes the blog.