In which we do not stray very far from Annapolis.
We started October
anchored in Harness Creek, Maryland. A very pleasant spot and, as
there was no wind, we sat enjoying the view just having a daily walk
through Quiet Waters Park for a little light shopping or laundry. On
Wednesday 3rd, we picked up anchor and motored the few
miles up the South River to Liberty Yacht Club to take water (and a
little diesel for politeness sake) then into Crab Creek. We had
recently joined the Ocean Cruising Club, one of the benefits of which
is that some kind members permit the use of their private facilities
by others so, in this very sheltered spot we had a good landing spot
for the dinghy, courtesy of Port Officer Gemma Nachbar. On
Wednesday, we visited the Naval Academy – the primary training
ground for U.S. navy officers officers. All very impressive and with
an interesting museum attached. In the evening, we attended a dinner
for OCC members and met several cruisers with whom we had previously
only had electronic contact. Unfortunately our lift-giver wanted an
early departure so even we, not noted for our sociability or late
hours, left earlier than we would have chosen.
Elsie dreaming of an Oyster
It was boat show
time in Annapolis and we decided to attend 2 days – preview
Thursday and public day Friday. First priority was getting
replacement batteries for our exhausted house bank and we found a
probable supplier just inside the gate. After that, we had a grand
day wandering round the pontoons and looking round the boats. Some,
genuine interest for if we decide to upgrade: New Dufour, Elan,
Halsberg Rassey) or go ‘flat’ (Leopard, Lagoon). Others, just to
drool (Gunfleet, Oyster, Swan). Friday was more spent looking at
possible bits of kit: dinghies; outboards, including electric; water
makers etc. I also splashed out on towing insurance with BoatUS. It
seems universal to have coverage here and, as we are expecting to go
down the ICW and mudbanks may have moved with recent hurricanes it
seemed worth $99 for the re-assurance. At the end of the day, having
looked at every other supplier of batteries, we returned to our first
stop and ordered 3 AGMs.
One of the smaller exhibits at the Air and Space
Saturday, we headed
to D.C. for a long weekend at Susanne’s condo. Public transport is
not great in this country, outside cities and the nearest bus stop
for Washington was a long walk so we took an Uber. $11. The bus was
20 minutes late, giving us concern that we had missed it and then
took a further hour to New Carrolton, the nearest Metro stop. $10 pp
= $20. A further hour on 2 metro trains brought us to Bethesda and
an easy walk to our accommodation. Elsie was going to pet sit for a
few days while I made my periodic visit to Scotland and her hosts had
offered us a day out. Fred is a docent (voluntary guide) at the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, which was one of my must-sees so we
met him and Starla there at 10:00 on Sunday for a ‘highlights’
tour, then over the Potomac for an excellent Thai lunch and a further
couple of hours at the A&S at Dulles. They then took us home, on
the southern side of the city for Elsie to meet their poodles and
provide us with another great meal and, finally a lift back to the
Metro where we, by the skin of our teeth, caught the last train home.
Monday we took a bus tour of Washington, spending a couple of hours
at the Capitol (very slick tour of basement, rotunda and statues), an
hour at Arlington (including, of course JFK’s eternal flame and a
wreath laying at the unknown soldiers) and 20 minute stops at the
Washington monument and Lincoln memorial as well as a good look round
the city. We continued this into the evening, stopping at the
Vietnam memorial. I hadn’t previously realised quite how this was
sited. Are the tapered ends acknowledging Washington and Lincoln or
are they accusing fingers?
We were exhausted
after 2 days activity and had a late start back to Ruby on Tuesday.
Rather than take the bus back from New Carrolton, we took an Uber
direct to our dock ($30), saving $1 and over an hour. It was a hot
afternoon so we waited until 17:00 to go on a provisioning walk as we
were planning on having a few days sailing. On Wednesday, we
exchanged our old batteries for new ones and then, as winds were
light, decided to just relax.
After 9 days in the
same spot, Ruby’s anchor was lifted just before 09:00 on Thursday
12th and, with 2 reefs in we had a great sail down the
Chesapeake in 20 – 25 knots, just behind the beam to the Patuxent
River, anchoring in Cuchold Creek just as the rain, which had been
threatening all day, started. We intended to continue, on Friday,
down to St Mary’s at the mouth of the Potomac. On rising, however,
the promised southerlies for the following week had disappeared so,
as we needed to get back to Annapolis, we decided to stay locally and
just make the little trip to Solomons Island. Engine start and a
check on the charging current for our new house bank – 30 amps.
Not good, it should be about 70. Investigation of smart charger and
battery area showed that I had failed to connect one of the
alternator leads. Connected, re-start, still 30 amps and a check of
the smart charger -still nothing from auxiliary alternator.
Eventually found that, in my earlier investigation, I had broken one
of the control wires and, once that was connected all was well. This
only delayed us by 2 hours and we got to our new anchorage with an
hour of daylight remaining, half of which was taken up by 3 attempts
to anchor in the soupy mud. Saturday morning was spent on a little
provisioning trip and a couple of water runs. I was not overly happy
with our anchor position as the wind was forecast to change to
southerly overnight and I was concerned that we might swing a little
close to a private dock. The hope was, that with the prevailing
northerly, some of our neighbours might decide to head off but they
didn’t so, later in the afternoon, we headed ½ a mile downstream
to another anchorage.
On Sunday, we
started back north, heading across the bay towards Cambridge on the
Choptank river. Wind was forecast to gust up to 20 knots, so we left
1 reef in. As we had 10-12 knots most of the way, it was not rapid
but we got to our destination, Lecompte Bay, in time for afternoon
tea. We had chosen this for its wide space and shelter from the 30
knot southerly gusts expected overnight. I knew that the wind was
forecast to change back to northerly the following day but had failed
to appreciate how soon this was going to happen and how strong. I
woke at 0400 to appreciable wind and wave noise and a glance outside
showed that we were facing the other way. The wind was gusting to 25
knots and had a 5 mile fetch to build up swell. We were only ¼ mile
from a lee shore and anchored in soupy mud. Time for a swift exit so
Elsie got a rude awakening and we heaved up and headed into the
weather (it was, by now, also raining). There was a small, snug
anchorage about 1 ½ miles away but I didn’t fancy going there in
the dark, not knowing if others might already be there so instead we
moved from Cambridge to Oxford, 7 miles away, to anchor in another
huge bay, this time sheltered from the North. Back to bed at 6
feeling somewhat chastened. The wind continued to blow strongly from
the north and we rued that we were forced to return to Annapolis
rather than continue our voyage south. We sat Monday out and then
continued back north, with lighter winds, on Tuesday. Back down the
Choptank, then a slow beat up the Chesapeake, under full sail, into
Eastern Bay then a motor up to Shipping Creek on Kent Island for the
night. Another lovely suburban anchorage. Wednesday, we motored
anti-clockwise to, finally, complete our circumnavigation of Kent
Island, timing our passage of the bascule bridge to make the 12:30
opening. Once past the shallows, we hoisted full sail and had a
good beat back down to Annapolis, anchoring just outside the harbour
for the night.
We were here to
finally collect our new mainsail, ordered back in August. Ever since
the measurements were taken in Salem, I had been trying to find out
exactly what dimensions had been ordered. I eventually got a
response, after it had been manufactured and shipped, with all of the
main dimensions being slightly out: both luff and foot 10 cms too
short; leech 20 cms too long. The local service manager, Jeff, had
agreed to bring it out for a fitting, so we were here in hope, if not
in expectation. Jeff brought the sail out on Thursday and, as we had
feared, the boom hung too low. There were also other discrepancies
with the fittings for reefs and the batten cars. We took our old
sail back to his loft for re-measuring and it bore out my figures.
Not unreasonably, Jeff sloped his shoulders and our original salesman
in Rhode Island agreed to take charge of the adjustments. The
anchorage was pretty rolly, being exposed both to weather from the
east and all the traffic in and out of the harbour so, with no great
plans for the next few days, we elected to motor the 10 miles back to
Harness Creek, just going up ‘Ego Alley’ to top up the water
before departure. Harness Creek was even more peaceful than before,
with the inner anchorage completely deserted so we anchored right
next to the dinghy dock and scuttled ashore for a little
provisioning.
Obligatory monthly sunset shot.
On Friday, we did
our laundry and re-filled the cooking propane bottle; Saturday,
decided to take advantage of the big machines in the Laundrette and
also washed our thicker duvet (a bit smelly, having been in a locker
for the last year) and the cushion covers from the salon. We were a
bit concerned that these might not stand up to a machine wash but
some of them were distinctly grubby. Our fears proved groundless and
they came up well. Other little jobs done: replacing the tell-tales
on the genoa and fitting a step on the mast to make fitting the sail
cover easier. The Creek filled up during the day with many
individual boats and a couple of rafts: 5 Motor boats swinging on one
hook and 7 sailing boats together next to us. We assumed that this
was just for the afternoon but the beers were broken out and the
settled in for the night. They obviously had great faith in the
weather forecast, which gave light airs overnight and it proved to be
just so. Sunday, we motored back up to Annapolis, this time taking a
mooring buoy in the main harbour. We chose one close to the dock for
ease of access, figuring that it was worth putting up with the Sunday
afternoon traffic.
It was now time for
my periodic trip back to Scotland so, on Sunday afternoon, Elsie gave
me a lift to the dock and an Uber ride to Baltimore airport. I spent
the week seeing various medical people and visiting my children;
Elsie spent most of hers in Washington, dog sitting, visiting
galleries and socialising.
I returned on Monday
30th, with the news that our mainsail had been modified to
fit so we waited with bated breath on Tuesday for Jeff to arrive with
it. It was a better fit but still lacked a couple of reefing blocks,
a luff slide and a couple of other things so away it went again,
leaving us sitting on a buoy with a perfect wind to take us down the
Chesapeake blowing through the rigging. Obviously, the forecast gave
us no hope of further such wind for the foreseeable future.
Frustration!
Monthly distance:
185
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