You read correctly, we've left Solomons Island. We took off yesterday, Canada Day (we didn't even find any Canadians to celebrate with) to our next destination, Annapolis. For those who are dying to know, Annapolis is the sailing capitol of the US. As we left Solomons, there was no wind to speak of. It was so still that you could see the schools of minnows fluttering along the surface. We also saw a couple of skates (stingrays).
As we got into the bay, the wind picked up but it was directly on our nose. (Non-sailors, you cannot sail directly into the direction of the wind. It needs to fill the sails and if the same amount of wind comes of both sides of the sail, which is what happens when you put the nose or bow of the boat into the wind, your sails will flutter) All that to say.....we motored. We did have some feelings of guilt about motoring when we could have sailed. But that would have meant we would not have made to Annapolis, which translates into it would take us longer to get home. Not an option at this time. We are more than anxious to get to the lake.
As we entered the mouth of the Severn River (Annapolis is located up the Severn), I had my head down playing with the charts. Josh says to me surprisingly calmly, "Could you please look up?". As I glance up all I see is 6 BIG Navy boats during drills right where we need to go. Oh did I mention, one was heading straight for us!!! We got out of it's way quickly.
Normally, there are certain rules of the road that apply. For example, if you are under sail you have ROW (right of way) over a boat under power. The boat being overtaken has ROW. There are many more, but I won't bore you with them. However, there is one major one....do not under any circumstances come within 200yrads of a Navy vessel and they always have ROW.
Well they were across the route we needed to go....so we just waited for someone else to go before us and followed them in. That was a big mistake, we followed in a dork. We headed up the river to Weems Creek, where there was to be free mooring balls (floating balls to tie up to). Apparently the Dork was heading that way too. As we neared the creek, Josh and I headed into it. The dork passed the opening, then decided to round a buoy (on the wrong side), then head into the creek...all the while waving frantically. It turns out he sees an available mooring ball and wants us to back off. Being polite, even though we had every right to cut in front of him, we let him go....and grab the very last mooring!!!
Well it's now near 6:45pm, and our alternate anchorage involves us going under a bascule bridge, which of course doesn't open during rush hour. And we aren't even certain there will be room on the other side. Josh and I aren't exactly fully comfortable with anchoring in close quarters yet. I have no problem setting the anchor (see storm blog!) but I have a hard time visualizing exactly how much we will swing should the wind change. Because you have to keep in mind that everyone else swings too. It's a tough calculation, so normally (the 4 other times we anchored!) we hang on the outskirts a bit.
All that to say, we anchored on the outside of the Naval Academy (Annapolis is has a very large Naval base, with very buff rowers that go by...often!). Skipper Bob , an old time cruiser who wrote numerous books, claims that perticular anchorage was for "brave souls". Well I guess we're brave. Granted, we would have never stopped here had the wind been from a different direction. And the wakes (the waves the boats put off) from passing boats was quite annoying, especially while cooking dinner. But it did it's job.
We can't wait to get home to you all. We miss you tons
Josh and Roxanne
As we got into the bay, the wind picked up but it was directly on our nose. (Non-sailors, you cannot sail directly into the direction of the wind. It needs to fill the sails and if the same amount of wind comes of both sides of the sail, which is what happens when you put the nose or bow of the boat into the wind, your sails will flutter) All that to say.....we motored. We did have some feelings of guilt about motoring when we could have sailed. But that would have meant we would not have made to Annapolis, which translates into it would take us longer to get home. Not an option at this time. We are more than anxious to get to the lake.
As we entered the mouth of the Severn River (Annapolis is located up the Severn), I had my head down playing with the charts. Josh says to me surprisingly calmly, "Could you please look up?". As I glance up all I see is 6 BIG Navy boats during drills right where we need to go. Oh did I mention, one was heading straight for us!!! We got out of it's way quickly.
Normally, there are certain rules of the road that apply. For example, if you are under sail you have ROW (right of way) over a boat under power. The boat being overtaken has ROW. There are many more, but I won't bore you with them. However, there is one major one....do not under any circumstances come within 200yrads of a Navy vessel and they always have ROW.
Well they were across the route we needed to go....so we just waited for someone else to go before us and followed them in. That was a big mistake, we followed in a dork. We headed up the river to Weems Creek, where there was to be free mooring balls (floating balls to tie up to). Apparently the Dork was heading that way too. As we neared the creek, Josh and I headed into it. The dork passed the opening, then decided to round a buoy (on the wrong side), then head into the creek...all the while waving frantically. It turns out he sees an available mooring ball and wants us to back off. Being polite, even though we had every right to cut in front of him, we let him go....and grab the very last mooring!!!
Well it's now near 6:45pm, and our alternate anchorage involves us going under a bascule bridge, which of course doesn't open during rush hour. And we aren't even certain there will be room on the other side. Josh and I aren't exactly fully comfortable with anchoring in close quarters yet. I have no problem setting the anchor (see storm blog!) but I have a hard time visualizing exactly how much we will swing should the wind change. Because you have to keep in mind that everyone else swings too. It's a tough calculation, so normally (the 4 other times we anchored!) we hang on the outskirts a bit.
All that to say, we anchored on the outside of the Naval Academy (Annapolis is has a very large Naval base, with very buff rowers that go by...often!). Skipper Bob , an old time cruiser who wrote numerous books, claims that perticular anchorage was for "brave souls". Well I guess we're brave. Granted, we would have never stopped here had the wind been from a different direction. And the wakes (the waves the boats put off) from passing boats was quite annoying, especially while cooking dinner. But it did it's job.
We can't wait to get home to you all. We miss you tons
Josh and Roxanne
1 comment:
So great to hear from you again.
When do you expect to arrive on the lake?
Luv ya both!
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