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From our anchorage at Still Pond, Chesapeake City is about twenty one miles away. It only took us a little over two hours. The big deal about this trip is the canal. “The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal is a 14-mile-long, 450-foot-wide and 35-foot-deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland .” It also has a strong two knot current that we must time correctly or we would have a long slow day. I used my tide and pilot book and figured if we left by 9am we would get the two knot push. Our plan is to stop about three miles into the canal at Chesapeake City docks.

We had no issues with our trip and as we came close to the dock, I called the dock master to inquire if there was room and where we should go. He told me to pick a spot along the wall and yes there is room. We came in and tied up at the only spot available for our size between some smaller boats just hanging out for the day. There was a steady flow of small boats coming and going a round us, as well as to the private marina in the small harbor. Once we were secured, I saw a sign that there is a $15 charge for power, and a $5 charge for water. So much for free. We could have not used the power, but we needed water since we have been at anchor for some time now. I figured since we were here I might as well hook up to the power too. The power pedestal next to us only had thirty amp power, and we use fifty amps. Not to worry though- I have a twin thirty amp adapter to convert to the fifty. I plugged it in and the breaker tripped immediately. Ughh. The pedestals look new, and the new systems have super sensitive ground faults. This basically means we can’t use any new power pedestals (until I figure out where the ground ‘leak’ is on our boat) and we found this out months ago when we were still in Michigan. This has happened only a couple of times in the past eleven months. Oh well- we just won’t use or have to pay for shore power.

We took Frank for a walk around the downtown and figured it was time for lunch. There is a restaurant across the canal at another marina- Schaefer’s Canal House– which Lauren had scoped out and the menu looked good. It was decided we would order and I would go across and pick it up. Our order was placed and off I went. As I was crossing and coming close to the dock I noticed a pontoon boat floating in the middle of the canal. The current was slack, which means It wasn’t moving fast in either direction, so he was just floating there. I also noticed a dock hand with a line in his hand somewhat even with the boat, but the boat was out in the middle of the canal. “Does he need help?” I asked. “Yes- could you take this line out to him?” Of course I wasn’t going to let them float helpless, but the line wasn’t going to reach him. I took the line with me and motored up the the pontoon. “I’m dead in the water!” the captain told me. He already had a line and handed it to me to see if I could pull him in. Unfortunately my engine isn’t strong enough and the draft isn’t deep enough to pull a boat straight so that wasn’t going to work. I did know I could side tie to him though and that would work. I got beside him and was making headway toward the dock when another power boat pulled up and offered to help. Before I could respond, the captain of the pontoon tossed him a line and he was now pulling the pontoon and me! I quickly disengaged and hung back a bit to make sure they were getting in okay. The power boat now helping could not get the pontoon to come up to the dock as the current was slowly picking up. I posititioned the bow of the dinghy on the side and pushed the pontoon to the dock. They were close enough now that the dock hands were able to get the lines and pull them in. My job was done here, so I tied up and went to pick up our lunch. Upon returning to the dinghy the dock hand was super thankful and offered some complimentary fuel for the dinghy, but I declined. I didn’t have the necessary oil with me to mix and I wanted to get back and eat lunch! I made my way back and related the story to Lauren as we ate. The pontoon captain did thank me, but the dock hand showed the most gratitude. After lunch we took the bikes and rode around the small historic downtown. We pretty much saw it all on our walk, so we thought we could ride to a store to get some supplies. Once we got out of the historic part, we found ourselves on a major highway. We rode a little bit then decided this wasn’t worth it so we turned around and went back. When we got back to the boat we noticed we had new neighbors in a small sailboat. They were having trouble with their power too, so I told them they could try the pedestal next to us. He mentioned that they had a fifty amp on their pedestal and he needed a thirty amp. This clicked in my head and I felt silly I didn’t even look there earlier. I took our power cord and ran it down the dock, plugged it in and it worked! Now we have power for the rest of the night to make dinner and charge the batteries without bothering our neighbors with the generator. The marina next to us had the patio open and live music and people partying like they’ve been cooped up for too long. Boats were coming and going and it was a lively evening watching and listening to the party.

We are now at the point we have to make a decision- New Jersey is next and we have to decide to take the ‘outside’ ocean route or take the notoriously shallow ‘inside’ route. We had pretty much decided we will be doing the inside route but there isn’t much information on where to stop. All of our guide books say to take the outside route unless you have a shallow draft boat- which we don’t- but we want to ‘see’ New Jersey and don’t want to sail on the ocean if we don’t have to. We reached out to our Great Loop Forum for suggestions…

Todays trip was about thirty two miles in about five hours. We had crossed the bay for the fifth or sixth time, but who’s counting? All of our trips across have been fairly smooth and uneventful and this trip was the same. I followed the marked commercial channel and finally came to Still Pond. There are two anchorages listed- one just off the channel in the pond, and the second one was back into the creek which opens into a large, shallow but well protected area. As we made our way in I consulted with Lauren and we decided we would try to go back to the more protected spot. It got real shallow real quick as we made our way toward the channel markers to go to the back area. The depth finder went from thirty feet in the channel to showing eight feet as we worked deeper into the pond. I was looking at the channel markers and the first set were pilings, not floating markers, and they were about eighteen feet apart- we are about thirteen feet wide! I slowed down and continued on through them to the next set of floating markers which weren’t much wider. The depths would fluctuate from eight to twenty feet deep and we held our breath as we zig zagged around a bend to the back anchorage. As we came around the corner we could see there were about twenty other smaller boats anchored around, with many people standing in the water next to their boats in knee deep water! Holy crap! I continued to hug the edge where the chart showed the deepest water of about ten feet and continued on a little farther back. There was one guy on his boat watching us with his mouth hanging open- I guess bigger boats don’t usually come back here? I continued to watch the depths and when it started to drop a bit I told Lauren this was as far as we were going to go. I circled around to turn us into the wind, but had to maneuver us in place a bit as I was afraid to try to make a complete circle. Once we were positioned to the wind we dropped anchor and let out our anchor line. I made sure we were secured and shut the engine down. Whew. Here we are!

The day was a hot one and the pond was an awesome swimming hole. I got out the rafts and we floated around chilling in the refreshing fresh water- the pond is fed by a fresh water creek so it was nice to be in fresh/ not salty water. The other boats in the anchorage slowly cleared out and by night fall there were only two other boats left. We took Frank to a small beach we passed on the way in and he got to run around off leash and play and eat weird stuff/ dead fish/crabs, even though we would yell at him and try to stop him from doing it. I’m glad he’s not a licker! The evening was uneventful and calm back there.

We determined our next stop which will be Chesapeake City. There is a free dock available there and it is half way through the C&D Canal, which we have to travel through to get to New Jersey.

From Rock Hall to Baltimore was about twenty three miles, so we slept in and departed around 10am. It took us about three and a half hours to make it to the anchorage, but the last hour was spent coming up the Patapsco River. We took our time and marveled at the bridges, industrial ports and traffic. We also passed Fort McHenry, which “was built on the site of the former Fort Whetstone, which had defended Baltimore from 1776 to 1797… Beginning at 6:00 a.m. on September 13, 1814, British warships under the command of Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane continuously bombarded Fort McHenry for 25 hours… Francis Scott Key observed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814 during the War of 1812. He was inspired upon seeing the American flag still flying over the fort at dawn and wrote the poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry”; it was published within a week with the suggested tune of the popular song “To Anacreon in Heaven”. The song with Key’s lyrics became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and slowly gained in popularity as an unofficial anthem, finally achieving official status more than a century later under President Herbert Hoover as the national anthem. The national motto “In God We Trust” derives from a line in “The Star-Spangled Banner”… and there is some American history for you.

We wound our way up to the Inner Harbor and found there were no boats anchored there, so there was plenty of room. I wasn’t exactly sure of where we were allowed to anchor so I called the marina across the harbor. The harbor master told me we could anchor between the buoys that were there and we should be fine. Unfortunately Baltimore does not have dinghy docks accessible to boaters, but she said I could come use their dock. We dropped anchor and hung out while making sure the anchor was secured. We were right in front of a submarine museum the USS Torsk, USCG Lightship Chesapeake and the Baltimore National Aquarium. There were restaurants all around and it was pretty cool to be right downtown. There was a little bit of small boat traffic cruising around as it was a Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful weather. We heard sirens and helicopters flying above the city and over us at times and found out there was a protest march going on in the city, but we were in the middle of the harbor so we didn’t worry about it.

Lauren has found a Whole Foods nearby so I took her and dropped her off at a water taxi dock that was nearby. The water taxis were not operating yet still due to COVID, so I docked and took Frank for a short walk while she did her shopping. I then went over to the marina and filled the dinghy fuel tank. As I was finishing this up Lauren called me and was ready to be picked up. Perfect timing. Frank and I picked her up and we all returned to the boat to relax for a bit. We had lunch and later decided to go back to the water taxi dock so we could walk around some more around town. We took Frank with us and walked a couple of the downtown neighborhoods. We found a Little Italy neighborhood close by and circled around there, then back through downtown and back to the dinghy. We had had enough walking for the day and went back to the boat for the night. I watched a Police and Coast Guard boats circle around near us, but they never bothered us or asked us to move. Dinner was made and we listened to the commotion of the city going on around us. The cityscape and light were cool to see at night.

We retired for the evening after deciding on our next stop: Still Pond Creek anchorage, which is on the other side of the Chesapeake again, but we are getting toward the end of Chesapeake Bay. Lauren has done a little more research on Long Island Sound and is warming up to the idea of going there, but first we will have to get through New Jersey…

According to our charts there is a free dock at Rock Hall. We set off by 7am as the wind was forecast to be light early and pick later in the day. Our crossing was uneventful and it was a nice day for a boat ride. We traveled a little over eighteen miles in about three hours. We came to the harbor and saw a dock, but we weren’t sure if we could use the dock or if we had to tie up the the wall. The dock was big enough for two large boats, and according to our research the very active fishing vessels unload from here too. We circled around once debating, then decided to tie up to the end of the dock leaving plenty of room behind us, just in case. I didn’t see anyone around to ask, so we hoped we were fine. Lauren took Frank for a walk and upon returning told me about a sign in the parking lot which said no overnight docking permitted. Uh oh. Since it was early, I wasn’t too worried about it yet. I did eventually see some guys working on a boat in a marina close to where we were so I walked over to ask how strict they were about enforcing this. All of our guide books list this as a stop and they all mention the free dock too. The guys told me we would be fine for a night- they don’t want people ‘moving in’ and living on their boats here for free. We got the bikes off and rode to a grocery store, Dollar General and a West Marine. They were all on close proximity. I picked up a copy of Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book which Mick had told me about. It lists all the tides and current times on the east coast from Nova Scotia to Key West. Once our shopping was done we returned to the boat to put everything away, then took Frank for a walk to find the beach. We found the beach but it had signs saying ’No Dogs’ so we sat off to the side at a picnic table that wasn’t roped off.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around and figuring out our next port of call. We decided we would cross the Chesapeake yet again and head to Baltimore. We had hoped to meet some family there on Sunday, but with all the protests and uncertainty of reopening of hotels, that idea was scrapped so we will get there a couple of days ahead of schedule. There are a couple of anchorages there that look promising, including one anchorage in the middle of the Inner Harbor…

We woke up and noticed the sailboat that was anchored close to us was now in a different spot in front of us, and now he was sitting pretty much right over our anchor. Hmmm… He must have moved overnight. Our destination today is Annapolis, Maryland which is only about twelve miles away. We seem to be working our way up the Chesapeake at a good clip but were not trying to. I took Frank to shore and returned. On the way back I saw our neighbor sitting out on his boat enjoying his coffee. I asked why he had moved and he explained he felt a log under his boat and he was really close to shore so he moved around midnight. I am surprised I didn’t hear him. He asked if we were leaving right now as he realized he was over our anchor. I told him we weren’t in a hurry and was going to make our coffee now too, so we’d wait for him to leave first. We had our coffee and waited. And waited. He didn’t get going until almost 10am; We weren’t in a hurry, but it was a little frustrating having to wait. Oh well- it’s not like we have anywhere we have to be! We finally pulled our anchor up around 10:15am and followed him out to the bay. We followed the coast up and around and soon had Annapolis in our sights.

Annapolis is Maryland’s capital city. Its historic district includes 18th-century brick houses and the domed 1700s Maryland State House. On Church Circle, the Romanesque-style St. Anne’s Episcopal Church has Tiffany glass windows and a historic cemetery. The sprawling waterfront grounds of the United States Naval Academy feature beaux arts architecture, monuments and a naval history museum and a lot of this is seen upon entering the harbor. Our research showed us that the city mooring balls are located in several areas through the harbor and up Spa Creek. We continued through the harbor and up the creek for more protection from the winds and waves. We passed two mooring fields and decided to take a ball at the third one we came to, which only had one boat at the seven moorings available. We tied up and called the office to check in. Once that was completed, it was time to go explore the city. The beautiful thing about Annapolis is they have dinghy docks at the end of every street that ends at the water. Our first trip to shore we took the dinghy over to what is called ‘Ego Alley’. This is the best description of this area: “Ego Alley is not an alley in the traditional sense of the word; rather than a walkway, it’s a narrow waterway that spills out into Spa Creek. The name “Ego Alley” comes from the queue of expensive boats that parade through the waterway on evenings and weekends. But it does make for an interesting place to meander. Recent visitors described it as a must-see; the benches along Dock Street are the perfect place to sit, relax and watch the boats and people go by.” We walked around town with Frank and checked out the sights. We walked down Main Street which has a ton of shops and restaurants, so we stopped and had a late lunch at Chick and Ruth’s which is known for their crab cakes. We shared a crab cake sandwich and crab Mac and cheese with a local brew to wash it down. We then walked around the Statehouse grounds and worked our way around some neighborhoods and finally back to the dinghy for our return. We hung out on the boat for a while before we went back to town to check out what was happening on Main Street again. Earlier they were blocking off the road so it would be pedestrian only and restaurants were putting tables out in the street. We thought it looked like it would be cool to check out, so we did. Our first stop was at Dry 85 which is a bourbon bar. We got some bourbon to go and sat at a table in the street and listened to a band that was playing while people kept coming up to pet Frank. Definitely a cool atmosphere after being locked down for so long. We enjoyed our beverages and walked around some more before returning and retiring for the evening.

Day 2- We wanted to see if we could get into the Naval Academy to tour the grounds, but first we stopped for lunch. We ate at Reynolds Tavern and 1747 Pub which had their beer garden open for outdoor seating. We enjoyed our lunch and walked over to the Academy. We were able to walk into the grounds, but at the check in checkpoint they told us they were still closed to visitors. Damn. We walked around town some more and returned to the boat. As I was sitting on the back deck a dinghy pulled up with a guy who had noticed our Great Loop flag. We introduced ourselves and he told me he has completed The Loop four times! He does it unintentionally he said, but he likes the route and prefers to go south for the winter down the rivers instead of fighting the Atlantic currents , then comes north up the coast for the summer. We continued chatting for a bit and Mick told us we really have to check out Long Island Sound and all it has to offer. He told me about stops in Connecticut and even told me he was going to email me his log from last year so I could look at his stops. He too is trying to get through the Erie Canal and knows we have time to kill. He made a good case for us to go there, including all of the free anchorages. He left and I told Lauren about our conversation about Long Island Sound, which she seemed a little intrigued by. Lauren wanted to take the dinghy farther up Spa Creek to see what was back there. We loaded up and headed out. At the end of the creek was a park: Truxton Park. We walked around there a bit and figured we needed to get back before the rain came. We made a short detour so I could grab a lobster roll from Masons Famous Lobster Rolls. I had a craving for this since we passed the shop the day before. Lauren and Frank waited while I ran and picked one up and we finally got back to the boat just as the wind was picking up. The rain soon followed and we were happy we were secured to the mooring ball. The storm rolled through and we stayed tucked inside for the night.

Tomorrow we plan on crossing the Chesapeake Bay again- this is the fourth time we have criss crossed (and not the last time!)- heading to Rock Hall, Maryland…

since we didn’t have a set plan, we weren’t worried about getting an early start. I started calling around to some outboard engine repair places I found online and was told by several places they don’t work on small engines or on Johnson brands. I kept calling and found a guy who said “I only work on small engines and I can take a look at it if you bring it to me.” Great! Now I had to figure this out- his shop was at a marina about seven miles ‘around the corner’ on the other side of the peninsula we were anchored in. I told Lauren the news and we decided we would go over there and anchor as close as possible to the marina but not be in the way. I took Frank to shore before we left, but a bit farther away as I didn’t want to go back to the island that says ‘Keep Off’. We pulled anchor around 11am and made our way. It only took us about an hour to get there, and we dropped anchor in about nine feet of water, making sure to stay out of the channel and away from the working barge that was coming and going from a dock next to the marina. It was a fairly exposed area, but the weather didn’t look too bad overnight. I called the guy on the phone to let him know I was there and got no answer, so I decided to go in on the dinghy and see what he thought. I made my way to his shop and introduced myself. He had just come out of the back room and was putting on latex gloves- “wow- you got here quick!” He said. “You got me just in time- I was about to start a project and once I start it will take a few hours and I can’t stop; Let’s go take a look at this engine” he explained. We walked down to where I docked the dinghy and he jumped in to get a closer look. As he was turning the throttle, the toothed piece that turns fell off. “Looks like this is the issue! This engine is old; they don’t make these anymore and it’s hard to find parts, but I have a few in the shop. Maybe I can take one and swap out the parts.” It sounded like he was talking to himself more than me. “Let’s get this up to the shop and I’ll see what we can do”. Great! At least there was some hope. I told him I could get if off and up to him and he showed me a dock cart I could use to transport it so I didn’t have to carry it. I went to work and got it off the dinghy which was not a super easy task to do by myself, but I made it happen without falling in the water. I brought it up to the shop and he appeared from the back once again to tell me that he actually has the exact same engine back there, and he would be able to get the parts swapped. Woohoo! He then told me I could go back to the boat and hang out and he would call when it’s done. He did inquire how long we were here and I told him we were anchored out in the bay and would wait as long as it takes. I returned to the boat and told Lauren the news. We were hanging out and was making lunch when the phone rang about two hours later. “your engine is done- you can come pick it up- we leave at 4pm today.” Lauren and I looked at each other in disbelief- what luck! I excused myself from lunch and went right to rowing back to the marina. I got there and saw the assistant who he had directed to do the work as I was leaving and thanked him profusely, as well as handing him some cash for the work. He was thankful and gracious and told me to settle up with the owner. I found the owner and again thanked him profusely. He told me if I wanted I could give the technician a tip to which I told him I already had. He seemed pleased with this and then told me it was $800.00- He then laughed and said since you took care of him, it is $100.00. Parts and one hour of labor. I again thanked him and took the engine back to the dinghy and got it mounted up. They had also replaced the pull cord and it started right up and ran like a champ. I returned to the boat and told Lauren the great news. We were both still in disbelief that they got it done so quick. If anyone is ever in a bind in Selby Bay, Gunther Marine deserves your business!

Now that we had the dinghy back, we weren’t sure we wanted to stay where we were anchored. Lauren has researched a bit while I was gone and found an anchorage across the bay in Harness Creek. It was only a few miles away and here is the description: “A perfect hurricane hole can hold 2 boats. High banks all around. Walk dog at Quiet Waters Park.”. That sounded good to me, as long as there weren’t two boat there already. We pulled out the anchor and cruised over there. We found the spot and there was already one boat anchored in ‘the hole’, but there was plenty of room just outside of it so we found a good spot away from the only other boat anchored outside the hole and dropped anchor. We hung out on the deck for a while, again making sure the anchor had set securely and we weren’t moving. Once we were sure we were secure, we took Frank to shore to explore the large park we were next to. They had a nice dinghy dock to use, which was nice. We walked around the park trails for a couple of hours before returning back to Klondike. As we came back we noticed a sailboat had anchored next to us. They were fairly close, but what could we do? I noticed the boat looked familiar- it was our friend from St. Michaels that stopped to look at our dinghy engine! He had taken his wife home and came back out for a few more days. We chatted a bit and then retired inside for dinner.

Tomorrow we plan on going to Annapolis, Maryland which is only about twelve miles away, so we won’t have to leave too early. We researched it a bit and found that have mooring balls available for $30/day. We are expecting some high winds again so a mooring ball sounded good to me…

today’s trip was about thirty six miles in six hours, with an hour pit stop. We left San Domingo Creek by 7:30am and cut through Tilghman Island at a place called ‘the narrows’. This saved us some time so we didn’t have to go all the way back down and around the island. From the narrows to Herrington Harbor Marina is about ten miles. We had a fairly comfortable ride across and called the marina when we got close. We had to wait for a bit while other boats at the fuel dock finished, then they called us in. We docked behind another large yacht and commenced with filling our water tank, getting a pump out and topping off our tanks. The reason for stopping here was the price- it was $1.59/gallon, plus we got .10 cents off for a volume discount. We got just over three hundred gallons of diesel. We have had an issue, and I told the marina about it before we arrived, that we have to let the engine cool down before it will re-start. After doing all of the tank filling, I was hoping it had been long enough. Nope. It starts to turn over, then nothing, so we waited. I kept trying and it got a little better, but still wouldn’t start. I started the generator to see if the extra battery charge would help. Nope. We waited a little while longer, with the generator going and it eventually started right up. Whew. We shoved off and continued on our journey to find our anchorage. From the marina it was another fourteen miles or so to the anchorage. As we were following the channel to get there I called a sailboat that was in front of us and asked if he was familiar with the area. He responded ‘yes’ and I inquired about the anchorage. He said he was going there too and to follow him in. He told us about an island we could take the dog to and I was happy to have some local information. We made our way in and they veered off and anchored on one side, and we continued in a little deeper to get close to the island. There were a few other boats anchored around, but everyone was spread out. I wanted to be as close as possible as the dinghy engine is still broken. We found a spot and dropped anchor as close as we felt comfortable to the island. We hung out for a bit making sure the anchor was secured and noticed there were some people on the island hanging out. Since we didn’t want to be close to anyone, we decided to take Frank to the opposite side where we saw a small beach. I got in the dinghy and rowed us over. The beach was super small and not much room to walk or run. The island was covered in thorny bushes, so we were stuck there. After a short time, we got back in the dinghy and I rowed us to the other side where the people on the jet skies were. They were getting ready to leave and told us to be careful about the bird nest with eggs on the shore. That’s when we noticed a sign saying ‘Keep Off Island’. Shit. We let Frank do his business and retreated back to the boat. I started looking for outboard engine mechanics around and found some, but none were close to where we were. Hmmm. We made dinner and thought about what we could do to get the outboard fixed. We decided we would call around in the morning and see if there was anyone close enough or willing to pick it up…

We departed Solomon’s around 9am and crossed back to the east side of the Chesapeake Bay, again. We keep cross crossing the bay to see the ports we want, which happens to keep us on this back and forth route. The weather was in the mid seventies, and it was a nice day for a boat ride. There was a storm forecast for overnight, but right now it was nice. We made our way to the creek, avoiding the crab traps and shallow areas. As we approached the anchorage we found a couple of boats anchored, as well a a nice big catamaran on a private mooring ball. We dropped anchor between the two anchored boats and a fair distance from the catamaran and let out plenty of rode . There were beautiful homes all around us, and we hung out for a while making sure we were securely anchored. Eventually we loaded into the dinghy to take Frank into town and explore what we could. I started the motor and went to turn the throttle and nothing happened. WTF. Not only is the starter cord broken, but now the throttle? I looked it over and couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong, but I could make it go (barely) enough to get us to shore. We found our way to the dinghy dock, located in a small park, and walked around town. Right at the entrance to the park was a colorful home with amazing gardens all around it. At the gate was a sign that read “open garden visitors are welcome to come in and enjoy “.

It was such a sweet gesture. We walked up the main street, Talbot Street, and checked out the shops and such. Stores were just starting to open and this being a weekend there were plenty of people out and about. We stopped for some ice cream at Justines Ice Cream Parlour to cool off. We continued on down the street and found our first brewery that was open with outdoor seating since Florida! We found a table at Eastern Shores Brewery and Frank sprawled out in the middle of the aisle, making himself comfortable. We enjoyed some beers and finally decided we should head back to the boat. We made our way back to the dinghy and I tried heading back. The throttle wasn’t working very well and we were putting our way back and that wasn’t working, so I started to row us back. Another couple in their dinghy pulled up close and inquired what was wrong? I explained how the throttle wasn’t working and he offered to take a quick look. He couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong, but he did show me how to make it kind of work by using something to manipulate the throttle, which is under the spinning flywheel and behind something else, so the only way to reach it is by using a screwdriver or else I’d lose my finger. He told me they had anchored behind us and were neighbors for the night. I didn’t have a screwdriver onboard the dinghy at this time, so I ended up rowing us back the rest of the way (Lauren thought it was funny and took pics of me rowing!). As we came back we saw there were two sailboats anchored and rafted together in front of us as well as our neighbor we had met behind us. We settled in for the night, enjoyed a spectacular sunset, and I let out a little more anchor line, again due to the weather we were expecting overnight.

Around 2am I was awoken by the sound and the rocking of the wind. I went out to the deck to check things out. As I came out it was raining and the wind was howling! I looked around and saw there was some commotion going on. We were holding tight on our anchor, but the two sailboats that were ahead of us were now behind us! I could see flashlights and hear voices, but I couldn’t clearly make anything out over the wind and rain. It appeared to me they had drug their anchor and ended up getting tangled up into the sailboat behind us… I’m not sure how they missed us! I sat on the back deck and watched what was going on, while making periodic trips to the bow to make check on the anchor and make sure we were still secure. The waves were bouncing us a bit and the wind was still howling but we seemed to be not moving. I watched the one other sailboat that was in front of us come by and pass us, but they seemed to be in control. There was not way I could talk to them except on the radio, but I didn’t want to attempt a conversation in the middle of this craziness- been there, done that. I watched them turn off into a small creek/ off shoot and eventually drop anchor there. I turned my attention back to the three boats that were tangled up; they seemed to have disengaged from each other and two of the boats were heading out the creek. I’m not sure where they were going and didn’t watch too long as I was still concerned about our anchor situation. The wind and rain continued to blow and I eventually went inside to get out of the weather. I continued to monitor our situation and the wind eventually started to settle down a bit. At this point it was after 4am, but at least I was feeling better about our state of affairs. Eventually I retired to the cabin and fell asleep.

Day 2- In the morning I was telling Lauren about the boats dragging, and she said she didn’t even wake up! I recounted the story over breakfast then we headed into town. Before we left I saw our neighbor coming past in their dinghy and they stopped to chat- they told me they were woken up by the collision of the two sailboats, and the other guys came out and said he had hit them! He told them to look around, then they realized it was their fault. They did get tangled up, but once free the other two went to another protected channel. Our friend said there wasn’t much/any damage, so all was good. They were leaving and heading back home. We loaded into the dinghy and went in to town. We stopped for lunch at Crepes by the Bay where they gave Frank his own complimentary order of bacon! We had some delicious crepes and continued walking around town. We walked through the harbor area and along the bike paths they have around town. We tried going to the distillery, but it was closed. We were killing some time before heading back for the night and I saw a cool garage behind a home but couldn’t figure out how they got the car in it as it didn’t have a driveway. I noticed the homeowner outside so I asked him- he explained they drive over the lawn (which was immaculate; no tire tracks) and how he had to get approval for a ‘shed’, which he slyly converted into said garage. We got to chatting about our trip and exchanged information, and boy does he have some great stories of his boat travels! It was finally time to head back before it got dark, so we loaded back up and took the long, slow trek back. Dinner was made and we decided on our next destination- we were going to go back across the Chesapeake Bay and fill up our fuel tanks at a marina known for cheap diesel, then continue to an anchorage for the night.

We had looked at the weather and though it would be best if we leave early in the morning, before more rain and high winds came, so we couldn’t make another bakery order. We got up early and had to take Frank to shore before we left. I loaded into the dinghy and pulled the cord to start the engine and… the cord snapped. Fu$k. I wasn’t fully surprised because I had noticed the cord was fraying about a week or so before. Before we had left for this trip, I had tried replacing the pull cord and failed, so a day before we departed I had to take it to a shop in Cleveland and was lucky to find a guy to fix it quickly. This is slightly annoying because there is a how-to YouTube video of a ten year old fixing one, yet I cannot figure it out! Oh well- I was prepared enough to have a back up cord which I can use to wrap around the fly-wheel and still start the engine. I was able to do this and get Frank to shore and back with no issues.

We finally departed St. Mary’s and headed for Solomon’s Island, which is about thirty eight miles. We left at 7:15am and arrived around 1pm. Our plan was to try to anchor, but we had a backup plan of a mooring ball if one was available. I was concerned about the forecast winds, so I was leaning toward the mooring. We made our way up the harbor and scouted our the anchorages. I kept checking the weather and was uncomfortable with the anchorage, so we returned to the marina for a mooring ball. I called the marina and they told me to take which ever one we wanted. We found one close to shore and secured the ship. Once settled, we took Frank to shore for a walk. At this point we were hungry as we hadn’t had lunch, so we ordered some takeout from The CD Cafe. We took our food and sat on a bench and ate across from the boardwalk. After lunch we continued on down the boardwalk to the end and turned around to come back. We returned to the boat and aside from taking Frank to shore once again, we stayed on the boat. The wind never materialized like it was forecast, and as Lauren has said “it is better to be prepared and not have it happen than be surprised!” Words to live by!

Tomorrow we plan to go to St. Michaels, but looking at the charts, I noticed there is a ‘back’ entrance. There is an anchorage in San Domingo Creek, “this anchorage is known as the back door to St. Michaels. There is a town dock at the north end of the creek; from the landing it is about a 3 block walk into St. Michael’s” per the Waterway Guide. This will save us from having to go all the way around the peninsula into the Eastern Bay, and there is good town access with a dinghy dock available according to the charts. Since we are only going about thirty four miles, we didn’t have to leave too early…

We were up and ready to go fairly early. We pulled anchor and we were on our way by 8:30am. We went forty miles, crossing from the east side of the Chesapeake Bay to the west side, making a slight detour around Smith Island because it was in our way. Our trip took us about five and a half hours, and it was a pleasant ride, with our arrival around 2pm.

We made our way up the Potomac River, which would lead to Washington D.C. if we followed it all the way, but we turned off into St. Mary’s River to find our selected anchorage. We had read it has countryside scenery, protected waters and fabulous sunsets. We followed the chart and eventually came to our spot. We noticed another boat was anchored here already, but the bay was quite large so we could stay far away from them. We tucked up behind a piece of land sticking out and close to shore and the dinghy dock. We dropped anchor and had a beer making sure we were secure. We were looking at St. Mary’s College, a liberal arts college established in 1840. They have docks along the water not far from where we anchored, so that was nice to get Frank in to shore. After making sure we were secured, we took the dinghy to the docks.

“St. Mary’s College of Maryland is located on the original site of Maryland’s first colony, St. Mary’s City, which was also the first capital of Maryland and is considered to be the birthplace of religious freedom in America. Colonial St. Mary’s City was actually only a town and at its peak had between 500 and 600 residents. However, as the colony quickly expanded and settlements spread throughout the Eastern part of what is now Maryland, the town remained the capital and representatives would travel from all over the colony to participate in the Maryland General Assembly, the colony’s first legislative body. The Colony was founded under a mandate by the colonial proprietor, Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore of England, that the new settlers engage in religious tolerance of each other. The first settlers were both Protestant and Catholic during a time of persecution of Catholics. This mandate was unprecedented at the time, as England had been wracked by religious conflict for centuries.” So yeah, there is some history here…. we learned a lot of them while exploring the “historic St. Mary’s City, which sits next to the college, is a State-run archaeological research, historical research, preservation and interpretation center and an indoor and outdoor museum complex. The area managed by the commission also includes a reconstructed colonial town and sailing ship, located on the historic site of Maryland’s first colony.” We walked around the archeological areas and walked for miles. Frank was even tuckered out after our walk. We saw there was a bakery on site as well, which Lauren looked up and placed an order for tomorrow, as they only are doing online ordering at this point due to COVID. We returned to the boat and relaxed the rest of the evening, looking at tomorrow’s weather and destination, but nothing was firm due to the forecast.

Day 2- I woke up early and checked the weather. It was not looking good for traveling. I still had to take Frank to shore and pick up our fresh bread that Lauren has ordered. Frank and I were waiting at the bakery for them to open, but we were too early so we walked around the grounds a bit longer. We made our way back and picked up our order, then retreated back to the boat. The weather was not looking good, so Lauren and I discussed our options- we decided that we would stay here another day and wait out the weather. The rest of the day was mostly spent inside, with occasional runs to shore to walk Frank. We explored the campus area of the college and decided tomorrow we would head around the corner to Solomons Island, Maryland…