Fleet 10, Day 8

Dawn, looking north up the Chester River

June 25, 2022

From Captain Sean:

Chesapeake Day 8:  We had a record departure time for a South Paw or Hakuna Matata crew by getting underway before 0530. 

 

We were up around 0430 to watch the planetary parade of five planets and the moon all line up in the sky.  Planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, plus the moon. We couldn't see mercury in the sunrise. We probably needed to be up earlier. It was cool to see them lined up with the naked eye.

We had the longest route of the trip of over 35 nm (7+ hours) and Anita Miller was headed to Port Annapolis for the weekend.

A beautiful morning, the deer were feeding
along the shoreline. 

 

We motored the first couple still hours out of the Chester River and then started sailing as we turned northwest passing the northern end of Kent Narrows. 

 

Sailing on a deep reach between Kent Narrows and Love Point.

Once we got close hauled after rounding Love Point we started out pointing at the Baltimore light, but the wind kept lifting, helping us to point near the western base of the Bay Bridge. 

 

It was a great day to sail! 

Captain Sean steers South Paw towards Annapolis.

As we neared Annapolis, the bay was littered with sailboats enjoying the nice day and Regatta racing. 

South Paw heads into Port Annapolis,
her home marina.

We made it back to home port around 1440. 

The official crew photo after a terrific and successful cruise!
John, Murph, Cameron, Captain Sean, Wes.

Our route from
Chestertown to
Annapolis.

John headed home for Cape Cod and Murph went to catch up with some Eastport friends. Anita, Cameron, Wesley and I swam, got cleaned up, and had a nice dinner at Carol's Creek Cafe.

Our wake carved through the Chesapeake over the entire cruise.

Fleet 10, Day 7

South Paw in her slip at Chestertown

June 24, 2022

From Captain Sean:

Chesapeake Day 7:  This was the last official day of the cruise. It was a hot day and we started off with a swim at anchor. 

 

This was the only day that we didn't even attempt to sail as we motored up the winding river to Chestertown. 

Also at our marina in Chestertown, a skipjack.

Once in town, Cam and I took the marina 'hogs' out that we called trikes, but Annie, the marina girl, called tricycles.  

We cooked up some shrimp and veggies for the Fleet 10 pot luck. 

It was good to hang out with the Fleet 10 members before we all scatter throughout the bay to our home ports.

South Paw crew hanging out at the end of the final night.

Our route from the
Corsica River to Chestertown.

Fleet 10, Day 6

Fleet 10 Group Photo, 2022

June 23, 2022

From Captain Sean:

Chesapeake Day 6:  It was still raining in the morning, so we motored off the mooring ball and into a slip right behind us that had been empty all night. 

The empty slip now filled with South Paw.

While waiting for everyone to arrive for the 

Fleet 10 photo we played a game of 

giant Jenga in Haven Harbor's nice 

covered outdoor lounge area. 

The rain cleared around 1100 and since the rain the night before kept us from doing anything in Rock Hall, we decided to hike over to the Harbor Shack for lunch. 

Fun displays at the Harbor Shack

On display at the Harbor Shack

The trip out of Swan Creek was better with a little tide water under us. We sailed south in light air for about an hour, but when it started to die, we had to motor to make the anchorage before dark. 

David and Mike aboard Falcon

South Paw's crew enjoy a terrific dinner.

South Paw's salmon dinner

It turned out to be a great night at anchor. We rafted up with Papi G (Chuck and Floy Marie Pease) and Falcon (David MacDonald and Mike).  

Our salmon dinner turned out well and we all enjoyed a nice sunset in the Corsica River.

For the panorama, Click Here

Our route to Corsica Creek,
Wash Point anchorage.

Fleet 10, Day 5

The full crew sails from Annapolis to Swan Creek.
Capt. Sean, Wes, Cameron, John, Murph.

June 22, 2022

From Captain Sean:

Chesapeake Day 5:  Today was the 'formal' dining room brunch of the cruise. We had already decided that the best wind was in the afternoon, so we were going to wait to leave until 1300 (ok, so it was 1400).  

Breakfast aboard was grand!

Our plan worked perfectly and we had some of the best sailing of the trip with steady winds, flat water, and a wind angle that let us point all the way to Love Point. 

 

Heading north towards Swan Creek
under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

A favorite view of the bridge.

The visibility was poor, the rain heavy at times.

The downside of the plan is that we did get in some rain, but the original forecast had us motoring in the rain all day, so this was much better.  The rain cleared enough for us to navigate the shallow waters of Swan Creek, but then pounded again while Allen Murphy was catching the mooring ball. We were originally going to convert my mooring ball reservation (a mistake) to a dock slip, but with the rain and the office being closed we just stayed on the ball. We had some dinner and then Cameron Kasey Stull absolutely destroyed Murph and I in a game of Dominion.

Our route, Annapolis to Swan Creek.

Fleet 10, Day 4

Just before sunrise, St. Michaels, MD

June 21, 2022

From Captain Sean:

Chesapeake Day 4:  We thought we would be the first of Fleet 10 out of the marina, but it still may have been a record that we weren't last. Cameron was joining the crew today in Annapolis and we didn't want to keep him waiting too long. He stayed on Murph's RV in the marina lot so we could meet up at the end of today's leg. 

I woke up around 5am and was able to get a bunch of great sunrise pics and vids. 

It was light air again, but after we rounded the marks at Tilghman Point we were able to go 3-4 knots with full sails. After several tacks we had to return to motoring and motor sailing so our ETA didn't slip to the next day. 

South Paw before her departure, St. Michaels

 

Dave and Mike caught up to us at the Bloody Point light.

 

The abandoned Bloody Point Lighthouse

A Catalina passing Thomas Point light.

We dodged all of the races going on coming back to Port A and had a smooth docking. Cam had already done our resupply provisioning to save time. 

5 dinghies in a 4-man dinghy.

At the Eastport Fourth St. dinghy dock.

The Boatyard in Eastport

After swimming at the pool we dinghied over to Eastport proper to meet the LASC gang for dinner at The Boatyard. We hiked around town a bit and got some ice cream. Another good day on the bay.

Our route, St. Michaels to
Annapolis.

Fleet 10, Day 3

The Maryland Dove, replica of a
late 17th-century trading ship,
built at the CBMM shipyard.

June 20, 2022

From Captain Sean:

Chesapeake Day 3:  Last night I notice that the bilge was running way too often, about once per minute.  I held the float switch down and could confirm that water was actually coming into the bilge. We checked around the water pump and heater, the sinks, and they were all dry. I checked around the prop shaft packing and saw a tiny stream coming from above that. It looked like from the exhaust muffler. Allen Murphy  said that the water was too clean to be from the muffler, that it would be rusty.  Then I had a possible cause that I couldn't confirm until morning. I turned off the main fresh water valve from the tank and within a couple minutes the bilge pump stopped.  It ended up being my user error from not completely shutting off the swim deck shower. It was trickling down the hose, into the stern and working its way to the bilge. This trip has now thrown us two soft ball (and free) problems, so we are being extra vigilant for an iceberg on the horizon.  

You can just see the wing tips of the cownose ray in the above video.

From our anchorage in the Wye River at the mouth of Granary Creek we saw what we think is a cownose ray.  We had seen several in this area, but I got some video of this one.  

Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum,
St. Michaels, MD.

After a pancake breakfast we motored out of the Wye.  In sight of the Bennett Point light we thought we could sail, but after unfurling the main and registering a speed of 0.0, we wrapped up the main and motored the short distance to St. Michaels.  Aside from the lack of wind it was a beautiful day.  We arrived by 2p, so after getting cleaned up, we had plenty of time to check out the town. 

The Hooper Strait Lighthouse, and the
Winnie Estelle, major displays at the CBMM.

We got ice cream, went to the maritime museum, caught the tail end of the wine tasting at Simpatico, and had dinner with the LASC crew at Blu Miles restaurant.

Just before departure from Granary Creek.

A Fresnel lens on display at the CBMM.
This design enabled kerosene lamps to
be seen miles away at sea.

Several members of the Lake Arthur Sailing Club shared 
dinner together at the Blu Miles restaurant. 

A beautiful evening in the harbor at St. Michaels.

Our route from
the Wye River to St. Michaels.