La Trappe Creek (heading to Cambridge)

No. Not that Cambridge. 

Russ made an appointment almost a month ago at a reputable company in Cambridge that does electric systems on boats. At the time we were having all sorts of issues. Now we're down to just a few. Additionally, Russ wants some new whistles and bells, and basically have pros look over everything we'd done thus far.*

We're due in Cambridge on Monday. But we decided to anchor out for a couple of days first.

The trip over was a little long but mostly uneventful. Lots of wakes and bouncing from the many boats on the bay. It wasn't quite as bad as the Sunday after the 4th of July, but the water was quite populated.

All those boats are fishing. All of them!

We passed big, big boats...

...and littler sail boats!

Our only excitement was when I realized that one of our bridle lines was missing. It wasn't missing like gone, but it was missing in that it had come untied and was in the water, being dragged under the boat. These lines are attached to the front of our two hulls and, once we set an anchor, we tie these to the chain so the boat rests on the bridle, and not the windlass. Important in bad weather. You don't want the boat pulling on the anchor motor. We cleverly made them short enough so, in this kind of situation, they couldn't get wrapped in our props. Yep, we're feeling pretty smart now! I stopped the boat, Russ got out a boat hook and fished the thing out. Then we were on our way.

Sunset on the creek

No issues anchoring. Other than the 90+ temps. (see footnote!)

In other, non-boat, exciting news it looks like our condo in New Orleans might be rented. On the bummer side of that, it might need to emptied by August 1st, giving us about 2 weeks to get that done. And, oh, the entire building is being tented for 1 of those weeks starting Monday.

Ah, life. Never gets dull.

*We just discovered that out AC doesn't work, even with the generator running. Yes. Never dull...

...and back to Baltimore

The blue blip in the center
was our MOB exercise

The anchorage last night was dandy. Due to the tides we were in pretty shallow water at the lowest point, sub 2 feet. That's below our keel, so around 5.5 feet if you were to jump off the boat. It was dark enough that we (finally!) saw Neowise, the comet. 

We left in the morning around 8am, after coffee, breakfast, and quick dinghy ride to walk the dog.

Local kids at the anchorage
had some fouled lines on their
sailboat. You can see one of them
climbing the mast to fix it.

Getting back was a simple matter of following our "bread crumbs." We have a number of GPS software apps we use while underway, Navionics and AquaMaps being our 2 primary navigational aids. Both of them offer tracking, so we can see where we've been and how we got around. Handy when you just want to go back home.

Navionics is our primary app. We search for a destination and it plots a course, taking into account our draft and our size. It isn't 100% accurate, since it fails to take our height into consideration. We've had to turn around because that bridge up ahead won't open and we can get under it. 

AquaMaps is great for depth information. Russ keeps it updated with the latest Army Corp of Engineers scans. It's invaluable in much of the south on the ICW, where depths can be seriously lacking.

The boat also has a Garmin navigation system, but we use that more for an additional map. It does display AIS information (if a boat has it, like we do, we can see them, their speed, and direction on the map), which is useful. I'm a fan of redundancy. I like many things to agree "this is where you are," "this is what's around you," and "this is where you're going." 

Fort McHenry in the foreground of the Baltimore skyline.

And the flag IS still there. Moreover, it's the same flag.
Well, okay, not the same flag, but the flag of 1814 when the song was written.
Count the stars.

Blue Bob, recovering from his ordeal.

A little over a week ago we assisted some boaters, if you recall. We'd decided that we need to do something like that on occasion, so our reactions aren't so "Ahhh! What do we doooo??!!" On a side note, occasionally while traveling you see things that just shouldn't be on the water; mylar balloons are an example. We agreed that, if the circumstances allowed us (we inconvenience no one and it's safe to do so) we'd combine these two things; clean up the water and practice our MOB (or, Man Over Board) maneuvers. As luck would have it, today we passed a blue mylar balloon. With Russ at the helm, headsets on, and me on the swim platform with a net, we "rescued" Blue Bob. Okay, I just made that up. It was a little tricky but we got it done.

That little experience under our belt Russ piloted us up the Patapsco River, into the marina, and docked us. 

Strawberry Crumble.... Mmmmmm

All in all a great couple of days. No new issues, everything worked as it should. We celebrated with pie.

Rock Hall

There's a big shoal just south of Rock Hall
which is why you go around, then up.

To test out the newly updated displays for the engines we took a trip across the bay to the small town of Rock Hall. We were here last year and remembered there was a restaurant that had dockage... and good crab cakes. Not a long travel, just around 3 hours. We left around 9 am.

You can see the opening on the side where
they lower the rope ladder for the pilot.

Weather was perfect with clear skies and just a slight breeze, so the crossing was free of drama. Should be equally good heading back tomorrow. The only excitement was a car carrier that was coming into Baltimore as we were leaving. It was being met by a pilot boat as we passed it. It's not uncommon for large ships to require a pilot when entering harbors. It's also not uncommon that those pilots have to board the moving container ship by way of ladder. I noticed a ladder ready on the side of the ship. If our timing was better we could have seen the guy climbing the ladder -- sounds so very 1700s but it turns out that's still the best way to get a single person onto another boat.

Docked at Waterman's Crab House.

When we first started the boating thing we believed we'd frequently take the boat to some restaurant, dock, eat, and leave. But on the entire loop we did that only twice; once to get some groceries (in Kent Narrows, just south of Rock Hall, as a matter of fact) and the other up in Canada at Henry's Fish House. So it was kind of novel to be doing it today. 

Getting to the restaurant required careful navigating since the waters in that bay were extremely shallow. Staying in the narrow channel was key, and a little tricky. We docked with ease with a number of lunching people watching the big boat come in. (There's a saying in the boat world: Sometimes there is a show, and sometimes you are the show. If you have a fear of performing, boating is not for you!) We docked without issue. After eating a wonderful meal we took a nap on the boat, walked the dog, then headed just around the corner to an anchorage. We'll spend the night here.

In case you were wondering, the new panels work great. So... yay!

This is the channel across the bay, west to east.
If you zoom the picture you'll see a distant red and white light. These are range markers.
The two lights are separated by quite a distance so when you line them up, one on top of the other, you are in the channel.

Hanging out for a week

Fay. Looks like it
was going to slam us.
Got nothin'.

I've never been to Baltimore prior to this visit, and I gotta say I am really impressed. Our marina is between two areas of Baltimore that have make great strides in revitalization, Fells Point and Canton. Right across the street is a Safeway, Ace Hardware, and my personal favorite, Original Pancake House (been there twice already -- hey, no judging!). Just down the road a bit is a West Marine (every boaters favorite store), and beyond that a large shopping complex with the usuals: Target, PetCo, Ulta, and other big box stores.

But more importantly is that both Fells Point and Canton have wonderful little neighborhoods, with nifty row houses (all new, some restored), restaurants, and pubs. We stumbled onto an Indian restaurant which was one of the best we've had in years (since living in Sunnyvale). Today we took a walk to Fells Point and saw amazing restaurants we want to try while here. Assuming everything doesn't shut down in the next week or so.

Good morning, Baltimore

We're continuing to repair the boat, mostly the water tank. Russ filled and drained it a number of times. He even used it for the first time today, taking a shower with that tank's water. He has an incredibly sensitive nose, so if there's even one molecule of diesel left in it, he'd know. His only complaint was that the Baltimore city water isn't as good as other cities we've been in recently. It has that "bug spray" smell.

Standard OPH order. 49er Flapjacks!

Also we're still tinkering with our electronics. We have never been happy with the little panels that are supposed to give us engine status. They have always read the battery and oil levels incorrectly. After contacting the manufacturer he wanted to reset them, a task requiring them to be in his hands. In the interim he sent us a single panel that would work. We've had a 60-cycle hum for a while, nothing major, but the new panel made it very obvious. Russ spent a bunch of time this week trying to track that down. He thinks he fixed it, but we need a ride to know.

... and goodnight!

We tried for the last 2 nights to see the comet, Neowise. This morning was pristine but we still didn't see it. Someone posted a picture of it they'd taken in Annapolis this very morning. Turns out we weren't getting up early enough. I'm gonna try again tomorrow. Up at 4 am!

To shake out our systems, and just enjoy what we can of the bay, we're taking a trip to Rockhall for an overnight, then back again. Later in the week we'll go to Cambridge. There's a well-known electronics place there and we made an appointment weeks ago. With any luck, though, we might just cancel that. One of our favorite towns is near it, Oxford (I know, right?!) so I'm looking forward to stopping there.

Russ working on the new water line (he replaced the
old one, just in case). He's laying on the engine.

The Litter Bug. This sits at the mouth a tributary and gobbles 
up all the litter before it gets into the river. It's solar powered
and only runs when the tide is going out. Very clever.

Daaaaaaw, it's so cute!

Ducks have made a swim platform off the back of this boat.

Our neighbors across the river.

Baltimore

We didn't have to travel all the way to Baltimore today. It definitely made for a long voyage. Even yesterday we talked about stopping in Annapolis for one night. But, for some reason, we were antsy. We have a month long reservation there that will probably turn into a 2 month stay. And, given we could leave very early (which we tend to do), we'd still arrive by 2:30. Afternoon thunderstorms, like always, remain a slim possibility. But, you know. Us.

The first 4 hours of travel were almost boring. Flat seas, calm winds, and sunny. Then right around 10 am the seas started to churn. Not from weather or wind or storms, but boats. Lots and lots of boats. Zipping this-a-way and that-a-way, they got this huge body of water swishing and splashing. For the next 3 hours we were rocked, socked, and smacked in all sorts of directions. To add to that, the further north you go the narrower the bay gets, so the out-going tide slowed our progress to around 6 knots -- pretty darn slow for us.

Easterly travel into the Bay from Solomons 

We made the turn into the Baltimore area and just passed some dredging equipment. Russ was at the helm so I sat in the copilot seat keeping an eye out for crazy boaters. Something in the distance, just off our port caught my eye. It looked like people sitting on a small island. I got out the binoculars to see 4 people sitting on top of a boat... that was upside down. I pointed it out to Russ and we switched positions. He asked me to turn and get closer. As our boat turned toward them, they all began to wave for help.

Lots of lighthouses mark shoals

We got close enough to see they were, in fact, capsized. Russ hailed the Coast Guard. In such events they ask a bunch of questions, where are you, are there children involved, is anyone in need of assistance, do they have life vests. We told them what we could, getting close enough to talk to the folks. No injuries. But 2 needed vests. We carry spares. The first thing we did was toss them a couple. Then Russ could get a rope to them as I inched inQuest close enough that they could get off the hull of their boat. Pretty quickly after TowBoatUS showed up, asking if we needed help. Then the Coast Guard came, then the Baltimore Fireboat. It was quite the scene.

I couldn't believe with all the boats zipping
around WE were the ones who spotted them.
At this point they have our line.

After discussions with the 2 adults (it was a father and his 2 adolescent sons, and their friend who apparently owned the boat) they boarded the fireboat and were taken to the dock where their adventurous day began. Once everyone untied from us, we were on our way.

We docked around 3:30, about an hour later than we'd planned. Originally they wanted to put us in a slip, but we are a 16 ft wide vessel, and the slips are maybe 17 feet. Between the lack of space the wind that came up, it wasn't going to happen. They put us on a T-head, which was just perfect.

Once all the lines were on we took the dog for a walk. Minutes after returning to the boat, this happened:

Russ and I had just had a conversation that we needed to practice our "MOB" (Man Over Board) maneuvers. Never know when you'll need to use them. And then... Good gravy, what a day! 

The Coast Guard tied up to us. Eventually so did the fireboat.

Baltimore Fire Boat, waiting to get the stranded people to their dock.

Our "detour"

Baltimore in the distance.

After the rescue we had to move aside to let this car
carrier through the channel.

Pics for the holiday

Our first night in Solomons we ate at the Lighthouse Restaurant.
Seated outside, this is the view. You can see inQuest.

Glorious sunset.

Jelly fish are everywhere in the marina.

Russ made us burgers. Beyond Burgers, of course.
They were sooooooo good! 

There's a tiny island in the harbor here. Currently
it's hiding the sunrise.

Key Lime Pie on the 4th of July!
For those who know us, this was "2nd breakfast."

Nothing says "It's the 4th" like bagpipes!

Oh, yeah. Gonna be a bangin' holiday!
Yes, it works. Yes, it's loud!

The calm before the storm tonight
(see canon above)

Solomons

The weather looked perfect for travel today. No rain or storms were predicted. The trip to Solomons was longer though, so we didn't dawdle. Another up early and out... just in case.

When we hit the Chesapeake again the breeze (couldn't really call it a wind since it was around 5 knots) was coming from the north. For a few hours in the morning that gave us 1 foot chop on the nose. Not bad, but bouncy. Then things got smooth for a few hours. We took that opportunity to do our "Jumpy Things" which is what we call our HIIT Tabata routines. Tryin' to stay in shape!

The last couple of days have been very nature-centric. Yesterday, we noticed patches of activity in the water. Turned out they were clusters of fish schools, all over the bay.

That dark spot is a school of fish.
We saw tens of these throughout the day.

Today it was rays. We think they are cownose rays, and they were everywhere, largely hanging out at the surface. As we went by them they'd stare at us passing. Kinda funny.

Cownose Rays. We heard they travel in "fevers."

The only adventure of the day happened in the very last hour of travel, when a massive power boat raced by us at 19 knots, and we rocked like wild. Bozo.

Traveled across the mouth of the Potomac.
This lighthouse marks the port-side
when entering.

Of course as we starting calling marinas up ahead it became clear that, Covid be damned, folks were gonna to out an do the 4th of July thing. Meaning, all the marinas were full for the weekend. Thankfully, Solomons has room for us. Poor planning on our part, but this is a good place to spend some time.

Deltaville

We spent a couple of days in Norfolk while Russ got a root canal. All good, by the way. But we noticed a distinct pattern in the weather. Storm clouds formed around 2 pm. While they didn't result in storms near us, we don't like to push things, especially after the event in Belhaven. Given the length of the ride to Deltaville, we wanted to get a very early start and be docked around 1 pm. We got up at 5:30, fed and walked the dog, had coffee and headed out. We were underway by 6:45am.

The water was insanely calm. Our ride could not have been better. In fact, it was so calm we decided to do something we'd been planning on doing once we hit open waters. Recalibrate our ship's autopilot.

Having used the system a while now we were never impressed with our autopilot. It ambles, swaying back and forth like a drunken sailor! Seriously messed up. Up until now, as a result, we've been driving. Which is pretty easy given the cockpit setup. It's like driving a big bus. But occasionally, when the water is churned, it can be tough to steer and you'd rather have an autopilot make those micro adjustments to keep her straight.

A bunch of furloughed cruise ships

After some research our autopilot has a little song-n-dance it has to go through, called a Sea Trial. We knew it was a set of tasks we or the autopilot had to perform and that ideally you want to do it in calm waters with calm winds. But we didn't know how long it was going to take. Answer: about 15 minutes. 

It was a series of 4 tasks. First, run the engines wide open and see how fast the boat goes. (About 16 knots). Next, do some donuts while it resets the compass (we did about 2 complete circles). Then point the boat into open waters without any obstacles, get to cruising speed, and the autopilot takes over, swaying back and forth a bit until it (apparently) gets the feel of the boat. Lastly, point her straight for a "true north" calibration. 

Hello Chesapeake Bay! Look at that water.

The result was amazing. We have a usable autopilot. Which is going to be very useful on the wide open waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

By noon, however, clouds began to form. Our ETA was still around 1 pm but we kept a very close eye out. Storms began popping up around us. And our radio announced severe thunderstorms in the area, with strong winds and hail.

By 12:30 the water started to swell. Not bad, but we had it on our beam so we tottered a bit. Once we got off the bay the water settled, and docking was pretty easy.

About and hour after docking...

An hour later, lightning flashed around us, winds kicked up to 30 mph, rain and hail came down, waves 2-3 feet raced down the marina's channel, and thunder rocked the boat. 

It was awesome!