Where are the Days?

(Warning: Very long post. With no internet on board, one must type when one can and then quickly upload once wifi can be found again.)

Many people have been wondering just where our travels have taken us thus far. Well, not far but nonetheless still enjoyable. We did not get to cruise the Chesapeake as intended 7/20-8/20 due to engine/transmission troubles and all the boat CHORES we failed to account for on our list. So, we are in the Chesapeake.

Our official departure date from Port Annapolis was Sunday, 8/23. Here’s where we’ve been so far with a little review. To follow will be a very tentative schedule on where we plan on motoring to in the future. I use the word motoring instead of sailing because we’ve been motoring quite a bit. Just no wind now unless of course a lightning and thunderstorm brew up and keep us at anchor. We are also looking into how to attach a Google map of where we are.

8/23, Sunday, Magothy River - Broad Creek - residential nook tucked back with a little island in the middle mostly wooded with a small sandy beach area - dogs loved running it, collecting sand, and shaking their bodies all over the boat. We loved it too!

8/24, Monday, Whitehall Bay - Rideout Creek - very settled with homes and private property no trespassing making it difficult to walk the dogs. Pretty spot but not a do it again. Had to walk dogs in marshy, buggy, mucky low tide spots.

8/25, Tuesday, Severn River - Weems Creek (Navy Hurricane moorings)- exposed and windy perfect for 100 degree temps and no storms. Great spot. Easy dinghy ashore to town. Also found yummy bagels at Naval Bagel in West Annapolis. Passed Naval Academy and YP (Yard Patrol) boats used to train midshipmen. Went under our first fixed bridge clearance 75 feet. Our mast is 49 feet but felt like we may not make it (see pictures). Complete silence until we glided under without a hitch. Phew! Ran into Marc (West Marine guy and cruiser of 10 years along with his wife Alison), a wealth of information. Has been kindly answering all our questions and even guided us toward FL domicile - woohoo! - no more winters baby. Hopefully, I won’t fall too in love if we make it up to Maine next summer when it’s beautiful.

8/26, Wednesday, South River - Aberdeen - a little too developed for our taste because again people don’t want an uneven tanned, young couple ridden with mosquito bites, bruises and cuts walking their peeing and pooping mutts on their perfectly manicured lawns. Not a do it again. Living on a sailboat is great but hazardous at times as we fumble our way around trying to remember where every cleat and block is even though we’ve practically ripped off toes on many previous occasions. Not to mention, having to remember when and where to duck your head and stop bashing shins on the winches as we climb up our 5’ freeboard out of the dinghy into the cockpit.

8/27-9/30, Thursday - Sunday, West River, Galesville - came here to setup for a crossing to St. Michael’s and potentially avoid Tropical Storm Danny weather. So far, no Danny but a nasty storm brewed in from the west on Friday to our surprise. VHF announced at 1:04 pm that a storm with gusts up to 50 knots was expected to hit GALESVILLE directly. It hit us at 1:36 pm just as we finished hunkering down below nervously as novices should be first time on the water in a boat bobbing around hoping the anchor would hold in 50 knots and if not reviewing procedures on what to do next as we sit off a rock wall in the harbor. What was the forecaster looking at the moving cloud mass that we also spotted which is why we turned on the VHF? They can’t accurately predict weather in the Chesapeake as we’ve learned over the past month in our secure dock. Good thing we’ve been reading books came in pretty handing with setting a proper anchor, letting out more chain, taking bearings, and securing all loose items. Oh and that big puffy building black masses in the sky mean bad weather! Not sure how strong wind hit us because tried not to go outside except to check bearings. At one point, saw 34 knots which tipped sturdy Prudence port to starboard quite a bit. But she bounced back gracefully.

8/30-9/8, Sunday-Tuesday, St. Michael's eastern shore (itinerary change-decided to stay a lot longer-love this town)

9/8-9/9, Tuesday-Wednesday, Knapps Narrows - Waterhole Cove

9/9-9/11, Wednesday-Friday, Oxford - The Strand, Town Creek, Plaindealing or may even splurge for one night of docking

9/11-9/12, Friday-Saturday, Little Choptank River - Hudson Creek

9/12-9/15, Saturday-Tuesday, Solomon Islands

9/15-9/16, Tuesday-Wednesday, Potomac River - Jutland Creek

9/16-9/19, Wednesday-Saturday, St. Mary’s City

9/19-9/21, Saturday-Monday, Potomac River - Branson Cove

9/21-9/23, Monday-Wednesday, Yeocomico River - Kinsale

9/23-9/24, Wednesday-Thursday, Cockrell Creek - Reedville

9/24-9/25, Thursday-Friday, Great Wicomico River - Sandy Point

9/25-9/27, Friday-Sunday, Piankatank River - Jackson Creek

9/27-9/29, Sunday-Tuesday, York River - Sarah Creek

9/29-9/30 Get into ICW

***We probably won’t make it to the ICW until mid-October. Planned arrival two weeks earlier to account for weather delays and us just plain liking a place so much that we stay a little longer.