So, this entire week was spent in Annapolis, MD; going to the Sailboat Show, having Painkillers on the Pussers rooftop at the boat show, wandering Annapolis, hitting up Bacon Sails, eating outdoors in good restaurants, doing boat projects, doing laundry, and restocking provisions.

Annapolis Sailboat Show. With trepidation we decided to attend this years show due to the ever presence of Covid. 80% of it’s outside, tours of exhibited boats were limited in numbers, tent pavilions “had extra ventilation added”, and we wore masks all the time except when ‘truly’ outside. Did most people – no! Sigh! We attended the first 2 days when typically there are fewer people before the weekend comes around. This year not so much. Pent up demand to see new boats, get stuff for existing boats was rampant. Due to last years Covid round people bought sailboats left and right to do something new yet ‘self-isolate’. And now they were trying to outfit them and figure out what to do w/them. When asking boat vendors when one could take delivery of a new boat, the earliest date was 1 year out, the latest was 3 years out. Boats toured: Passport, Outbound, Allure, Tartan, Bluewater Yacht, and D’s favorite pictured below-an Amel 50. We even went to the dark side and toured a catamaran-not for us just yet.

Pusser’s rooftop bar. No trip is complete to the boat show w/out having a painkiller drink on the rooftop. Comparing notes about what one has seen/bought/”did you see that” while drinking a #1, 2, or 3(#shots rum) painkiller. We met up w/some dear friends from the Pepin marina from times past, Tim & Carole B, and also met some new ones Brett & Sheila. We ate at the Iron Rooster one evening which featured fried chicken on waffles, yep really. Another nite was spent at the Federal House. After each meal an incredible tug towards either an ice cream or cookie shop was felt; good thing we were walking!

Bacon Sails. They make new sails but are best known for their used sail inventory, over 10,000 to be exact. Thought we could find a backup genoa, but no dice. They also have a HUGE selection of new and used boat parts. If you need a dohicky or thingamabob for your boat, you will find it there. You just have to be willing to look for it.

An excellent mural on our walk back from Bacon Sails.

Boat Projects. AC meter broke, tachometer broke, sea gull water filter for drinking water plugged up way too fast being the most urgent. We also procured a watermaker via the boat show so we’ll be able to have fresh water from salt water when needed. AC meter fix below.

Tachometer fix. Old to new. Have to go into the pedestal cavity under the compass to get to the wiring.

New pre-filter for the sea gull filter under the sink. Will take out most of the sediment-type stuff.

Boxing for water maker. Excited to try it out; probably won’t do so until we get to Florida to make sure it actually works.

Come to find out that there are 5 Tartan 4400’s (like Rory) in the Annapolis area and 1 on Solomon’s Island. One quarter of those in existence. We got together for breakfast w/2 of the couples and exchanged information on ‘what did you do w/this’, ‘how come you have a bow sprit’, etc. Comparing notes is always helpful.

Last but not least laundry and provisioning. Pictures of laundry are boring but it was free at our marina and I managed to do 7 loads. Just about everything was washed. Below the ultimate in bag ladies. (One was on my back as well.)

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Yeah, I know I’m a slacker and this is a bit late; time seems to be slipping by so fast.

We picked up our friends David & Jerilyn in Rock Creek courtesy of the ‘water taxi’ Bo. They settled in and we were off to grab some supper at Mike’s Crab House. It’s helpful that the weather has been so nice that sitting outside is still an option.

The winds were supposed to be ripping from the NNE the next couple of days so we opted to set sail early the next morning heading 18nm south to the Magothy River and a very protected anchorage. Would’ve never known that the wind was blowing 18-25 knots that evening. After a lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of venturing further south the next day in heavier winds we all decided to give it a go. Figured we could always come back if need be. With 2 reefs in the main and a ‘handkerchief’ out for the headsail the trip started out a bit on the raucous side as we headed east w/the wind and waves being a bit discordant. Things calmed down as we turned to the southeast and headed 34nm to the Wye River. It was an absolutely beautiful sail. Found a protected anchorage on the river tucked in from the NE winds.

Sailed 7nm further south the next morning to St Michael’s MD on the Miles River. 2nd time for K&D new to D&J. First meal in town involved David acquiring ‘crab eatin’ lessons. Jerilyn opted for the crab cakes. We all decided that even though the crab cakes were more expensive, picking/cleaning the crabs just wasn’t worth the effort!

We packed all that we could into the next day in St Michaels. We toured the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum a wonderful exhibit; featuring model skipjack races, history of watermen crabbing, wooden boat restoration, and the history of boating on the Chesapeake as it transitioned from working to recreational boating. We ate at a WONDERFUL (best of trip so far) restaurant, Limoncello, featuring Italian pastas. Tasted fresh, melded flavors and incredible presentation. Pictures of food? Sorry, should have but sometimes you just have to savor the meal. Checked out some of the quaint shops in town, went on a hike behind the town which ended conveniently at a brewery.

Left the following day en route 25nm back north to Annapolis, supposedly the sailing capital of the US. Yes there are a lot of sailboats there, and more so at this time due to the Annapolis Sailboat Show, the first in 2 years but the 51st since 1970. Wound up at the South Annapolis Yacht Centre marina, Rory’s home for the next week.

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Wow, I’d like to try to keep this weeks version a bit on the lite side; hah, I’ll try. We are currently primping Rory out for the impending visit of David & Jerilyn E on Oct 8th. We met these guys in 2012 after coercing them into buying our Tartan 31 ‘Inside the Wind’, in Pepin, WI. That was when we had ‘given’ up on having a sailboat there – been there done that – type of thing. We then surreptitiously ended up chartering a sailboat w/them and another couple in Grenada. What an absolute grand time! David then helped us move Rory from Waukegan, IL to Manitowoc, WI on our maiden voyage w/her. We’ve also gone to two Annapolis Boat shows w/them and countless other shenanigans. Very excited to have them aboard. (One never realizes how dirty one’s boat is until impending guests lurk.)

SO, lite side – We hit the town of St.Michael’s to scope out a potential spot to take D & J. Great town, great maritime museum, if the winds blow accordingly a definite possibility. Next up we anchored by Wye Island, a 2,800 acre park managed for agricultural, waterfowl populations, and wildlife. We hiked the Old Schoolhouse trail, which goes thru an old growth forest; the Holly trail which focuses on a 275+ year old holly tree; and the Osage Orange trail that makes you feel that you are going thru a tunneled Hobbit forest. Pictures below. One thing learned from this: iOS update to version 15 includes a plant identification search from your photos. I used it to ID the orange fruit (which I already knew but) it actually worked!! Persimmon.

At this point in time D & I had been at anchor for 17 days straight, yes 17 days. We however wanted fuel, needed water, and provisions. And yes, showers; not the just the back of the boat versions but full on hour-long versions. We headed back north to Rock Hall and the North Point Marina. We decided to cheat (saved 10nm) and go thru the Kent Narrows, a stressful process involving going thru a very narrow lift bridge against a hefty current followed by going under a bridge w/a ‘reported’ height of either 65ft or 75ft depending on what you read. Called the bridge tender to query his opinion – ’70ft’. We calculated that our mast height is 64ft-9 inches. Close. Nerve racking but made it thru w/no issues. Pictures below. Past the bridges and the narrow channel we sailed to Rock Hall. We had a lite downwind sail putting up only the headsail, the main would have made the headsail flop too much by stealing it’s wind. We were passed by a pod of 10 or so dolphins and encouraged them to play at the bow. They scoffed in our general direction; going 2.3 knots, you’ve got to be kidding!

North Point Marina, Rock Hall. Lori runs a fabulous place; fueled up, good water, laundry facilities, great showers AND she loaned us her car to do our provision run which included a stop at West Marine, a hardware store, a great market and a place for lunch.

Left Rock Hall after 2 days and passed Mark & Rose L on Painkiller. We both left Manitowoc, WI on June 16th and we’re now just ‘passing’ each other. Will meet up w/them somewhere down the line. ‘Planned’ to go to Bodkin Creek to anchor and hit a marina to pick up D & J. The inlet to the creek was extremely narrow, shallow on either side; but doable according to guides. Well, we scraped bottom 3 times and decided that was not the place for us to be. The second time of the day hitting the bottom (the first while leaving the dock at Rock Hall), and I am sure not the last of the trip. So we’re one creek north and anchored out yet again to wait for D & J.

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We stayed 3 nites anchored in the Sassafras River on the North end of the Chesapeake; 2 to enjoy the scenery, 1 to enjoy a downpour accompanied by some gusty winds. That is one way to wash the saltwater off of a boat.

After the rainstorm we decide to take Bo to town and grab some take-out pizza; think dinghy = car.

We were then presented w/now ‘the best’ sunset of the trip. Sorry, this probably will go on the entire trip…

The Chesapeake Bay is where we plan to spend the next month or so; at least until November 1, the theoretical ‘end’ to hurricane season. There are so many places to explore one could spend years here. Plus there are equally as many places to anchor. Quite excited to begin this segment of the trip. To find places to go and to anchor we’ve been relying heavily on an app, referred to us from our friends Mark & Rose L on Painkiller, called Aqua Map which includes Active Captain, a crowd sourced review of marinas and anchorages, plus it gives tide and current data, bridge heights – you name it.

We move on by picking out a spot where we could do a bit of provisioning and the Middle River on the northwestern end of the Chesapeake seemed like a good fit; hey, it had a walkable Aldi’s-D’s favorite spot! We left Sassafras River and proceeded to sail 1 1/2 hours to get back to where we started. We were blaming the winds, blaming the currents, blaming the tides, blaming each other, it just sucked! It was just very flukey winds; 60 degree wind shifts every few seconds. We managed to get the current w/us and made really good time Our anchorage was in a bay on the river next to many houses and 2 waterfront bars which seemed to think competing bands every nite was a great idea. Oh well, have a cocktail and listen to the cacophony!

Which boat would have Mark M docked?

If you guessed the one on the left you would be correct. Loosely quoting him one time “The only time I will back a boat into a dock if someone puts a gun to my head”. This comes from a guy who has been sailing his whole life! We have yet to go into a marina on the Chesapeake and we’re not looking forward to it. The fingers on the dock only extend a few feet, meaning if you want to ‘gracefully’ get off your boat you will have to back in. Below an example:

This next picture precipitated into a wonderful experience, ones we can only hope for on our sailing journey .

That my friends is a marker for a crab pot. And it is quite close to Rory’s aft end. (The Chesapeake’s inlets and rivers are FULL of crab pots.) However this one was just placed by 2 gentlemen in addition to 30 more in the middle of the anchorage. We stated, once they came back around, “Ya know, if our boat swings, we’ll take out that marked pot and maybe a couple more”. Incredibly friendly, they replied “no, problem”, and moved them. Thus ensued a conversation on how, when, where, and why one harvests blue crab. And better yet an invitation to go to their house the next day to watch them prepare, steam and learn how to eat blue crab.

As succinctly as I can (some will say not possible) here is the process: Tom & Bob are not commercial crabbers, just good buddies, but the process is similar except for the scale. 1) place baited (chicken necks) pots-wire box/baskets-w/line and marker in water on bottom. 2) Go from pot to pot for a couple of hours; pulling each up by the lines quickly so the crabs can’t climb out. 3) Remove any crabs from the pot carefully; if they latch onto you it hurts a LOT and you have to remove the claw. Put pots back in water until you have an amount of crab you wish. 4) Place your harvest into a live well until ready to steam, time is of the essence because the crab will become cannibalistic. 5) Bring a large pot of water to a steady boil (water below a steam shelf). 6) Place a few crab in pot douse generously with Old Bay Seasoning; repeat until all crab are in pot. 7) Sit around and talk for 20-25 minutes. 8) Remove the crab which have turned orange to indicate doneness, let cool a bit. 9) EAT crab! D says he gets hungrier the more he eats because it takes so much effort to ‘eat’ them. VERY delicious! One of the photos shows a box. Tom goes thru up to 3 – 50 pound boxes of Old Bay Seasoning a season!

Moving on the next day to take advantage of favorable winds, we traveled south 27nm to a very protective anchorage on the Magothy River called the ‘horse farm’. No flukey winds and a wonderful sail.

The next morning we headed off to Kent Island on the eastern side a stopover on our way to Wye Island and the town of St Michael’s. Sailed out of the Magothy River after which the wind promptly died out.

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