Oliver showed up in Annapolis at the
marina after work early Friday evening. After provisioning we
motored over to Spa Creek and picked up a mooring for the night, then
dinghied up Ego Alley for a short walk through the ancient and
wonderful streets of Annapolis. The evening was appropriate for my
Irish friend as we enjoyed a terrific dinner at Galway Bay, the site
of a great vacation with my wife in 2007, but this time the local
Irish pub of note, here in Annapolis. The light rain that fell
during our walk back to the dinghy foretold a great weekend of
sunshine and easy breezes.
After breakfast on board we slipped the
mooring and headed out into the Severn River with the wind behind us.
That meant we could quickly raise sails and kill the engine.
Although the breeze was light, it was still a wonderful sail until we
were withing about 100 yards of Thomas Point Lighthouse.
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| Thomas Point Lighthouse |
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| Thomas Point Lighthouse beyond Ollie |
Soon we reached the breeze and actually sailed the entire way southwest then west into the West River, then north up the Rhode River, turning west again into the anchorage. All under sail. We would have dropped the anchor under sail, but we had to pass close by “High Island” which is not an island any more, but merely a very shallow spot in the middle of an otherwise safe and terrific anchorage. I ran the motor just to keep very tight control of our position as we passed the shoal area. Actually I should say Ollie kept tight control as he had the helm while I prepared the anchor on the foredeck.
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| Oliver |
The CQR bit into the shallow, muddy
bottom and we were set for the night. Although the breeze was a bit
cool with temps in the low 60s, then 50s, we grilled steaks on the
barbie and had a terrific dinner in the cockpit. The dodger kept
most of the cooling breeze away so we ate in warmth and comfort. At
sundown, the cooler temperatures drove us below.
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| Rhode River sunset |
During the morning we each saw an
Osprey diving for its breakfast, my Osprey failed to catch any, but
Ollie's caught a fish and flew off to feed it's family. If only we'd
been fast enough to catch a photo or two.
We raised sails as soon as the anchor
was stowed, the engine was silenced and we sailed out of the Rhode
and headed for Thomas Point Light and the way home. The wind was
rather flukey, starting, stopping, heading us, lifting us, leaving us
with nothing. All within minutes. We would no sooner sheet the
sails in tight to sail close hauled than the wind would clock around
and we'd have to gybe and sail downwind, immediately followed by
another gybe as the wind moved 100 degrees across our stern. We'd
see fellow sailors sailing close hauled just a hundred yards away
while we sat becalmed, then 5 minutes later we'd fly by them on a
broad reach as they were stuck with no breeze at all. It took us 3
hours to get past Thomas Point Light, just 6 nautical miles from our
anchorage.
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| Thomas Point Lighthouse off Kelly IV's starboard bow |
Once past Thomas Point, the breeze
steadied, but was still light from the southeast, so we sailed for
another hour on a broad reach. It was nice but slow enough that we
finally had to fire up the iron genny to be certain Ollie made it
home in time for a good night's sleep and work in the morning.
Thanks to some great neighbors in
Annapolis Landing Marina, we settled Kelly IV into her home and bid
farewell to our crew for the weekend, Oliver, a great sailor, fiddler
and conversationalist. Very true to the Irish breed.
