Solomons to Annapolis

Day 26 Wednesday, May 11, 2017  

You can monitor my trip at the link: Little Star's Progress Live

      

This old boat is grounded and used for target practice by the Navy

We awoke this morning to a weather forecast that was not promising.  And, the weather for the rest of the week was even worse.  So last evening, we decided to make an early departure for Annapolis.  I set out all of the fixings for sausage gravy on an English muffin, prepared a pot of coffee, and dug out our rain gear for what promised to be a wet trip.

And more ship traffic

We got underway at 6:30 for what I estimated would be a ten-hour trip. The sky was overcast and threatening and the wind was blowing from the east as we headed out the Patuxant River.  The water was choppy and the air was cold. 

Once out in the main bay, I swung the boat north and set a course that was a straight line for about 30 miles.  Since the wind was from the east and we were traveling north,  I decided to raise the sails.  The wind speed was by then blowing around 15 knots and since I am not really familiar with this boat, I set the main with one reef in it and kept the jib furled a bit.  This turned out to be a great combination with the boat making about 6.5 knots average. 

It is hard to take pictures of waves and rough water

As I was traveling along, there was another sailboat about 200 yards to my port side who was sailing at the same speed as where we.  Know, I know that when ever two boats are sailing together it has to be an unofficial race.  Whatever I did adjusting the sail proved to be to no avail.  And, he could not get ahead of me either.  We sailed side by side probably 20 miles. 

Finally, he called me on the radio and we had a nice chat.  He is from Maine and has been gone for a year and a half.  He said that he was finally homesick for Maine and assumed that he would be back home by August.  I asked where we were heading and when I told him Annapolis, he said he was heading there as well and would follow us in.  At one point the winds fell to around 8 to 10 knots so I decided to shake out the reef.  While I was doing so, the suddenly got a burst of speed and left me behind.  It was then that I realized that he had started his

Our road sign: Green Pillar Buoy 17

motor.

As the day moved on, the winds began to increase and the rains became more intense.  I furled the jib to reduce the power on the boat and continued to sail along until the gusts began to approach and pass 20 knots.  At around 12:30, I started the motor again, Janine took the helm and pointed the boat head to the wind while I dropped the sails.  Once everything was stowed, I realized that my sailing partner on the other boat had done the same. 

I WAS COLD AND WET.  I has on my rain gear that proved to be ineffective along with a insulated underwear, a sweat shirt and my windbreaker coat and I still got drenched.  The temperature was in the low 50s and wind driven rain found every pore in my protect

Home and still smiling!

ive layers.

We finally pulled into Severn River which leads to Annapolis at around 2:00 and were greeted with a small fleet of tiny racing boats who were flying their spinnakers as the splashed through the choppy waters.  We watched as one boat go over and then pop back up to continue down the race course. 

At about 2:30, we pulled into the quiet little corner of Back Creek where Little Star is permanently berthed.  I slid her into her tight little slot, attached her lines, hooked up the shore power and went inside the boat where I fired up both the electric heat pump furnace and the little gas heater on the wall.  I began to peel off my layers of wet cloths and began the long process of infusing heat back into my body.  I took two naps in front of the furnace vent before I felt like leaving our warm cocoon and heading for dinner. I enjoyed a pulled beef barbeque sandwich with fries while Janine had a hunk of grilled salmon. 

Back at the boat, we began packing our stuff that will go back to Ohio.  Our plan is to spend tomorrow packing and cleaning up the boat before heading for home on Saturday. 

This will be my final edition of this springs blog.  We both have enjoyed this trip and have had a great time becoming acquainted with this boat. We look forward to more trips in the future. 

I have appreciated the comments that a number of you have sent forth.