Fleet 10, Day 9

From Captain Sean's FB post, Day 9:

"Fleet 10 Cruise Day 9:  Although the cruise ended at Herrington Harbor South, we still had to get South Paw back to Port Annapolis Saturday. Yes II, TSF, and August Moon were heading to Hudson Creek in The Little Choptank. No Stress picked up Keith at 0700 for an early start since they were driving home that night. We enjoyed the marina for as long as we could. I hiked all the way around the nature trail and met up with most of the gang getting coffee in the captain's lounge. The cruise back was just our original crew of Allen Murphy , Mason Rosier and I. Mason cooked up some breakfast underway.  I finally got a clear view of a dolphin breach about two boat-lengths behind us near Horseshoe Point. We hit ALM for fuel and pumpout, then put South Paw in her slip to rest after a busy week. The music of the ice cream truck had us racing down to the pool. Later, we dinghied over to Davis' Pub for dinner.  That's a wrap on another great Fleet 10 National Cruise. This was my eighth straight (3 on Hakuna Matata and 5 on South Paw). We drove back home Sunday morning."

"South Paw" is centered between the catamarans
and two other sailboats.

At Herrington Harbor South

"No Stress" departs early

Charted routes for the entire cruise.

Fleet 10, Day 8

"South Paw" crew on Day 9
Keith, Murph, Captain Sean, Mason

From Captain Sean's FB post, Day 8:

"Fleet 10 Cruise Day 8:  The final official day of the cruise, we had the longest sail of the week. We put full sail out just outside of Back Creek and sailed mostly on broad reaches the whole way nearly to the Herrington Harbor South jetty. I took the Tolly Point mark a little too close- Murph could have reached out and touched the barnacles. It was a dreary, cool day, but the wind was perfect. We were hitting over 7 knots. We finally passed Yes II, then August Moon caught and passed us.  The marina put a few of us inside the jetty with a couple of the big cats. I heard a splash outside the boat and Diana Gutierrez was attempting to 'watermelon' us and she fell in when South Paw drifted out from the dock. She climbed back onto our swim deck and was a little bruised up but otherwise OK. We had a couple of Anita Miller's meals left, so we grilled them up for the final pot luck. Not all boats in the fleet made it to this final stop, but we still had a good turnout. We had good food, lots of stories, and started to plan out the 2026 cruise."

"August Moon" passes "South Paw"

"August Moon"

"South Paw" tied alongside in Herrington Harbor

The grounds at Herrington are beautiful.

Captain Bill on his way to "watermelon"
a fellow sailor.

Enjoying an evening brew

Captain Sean relaxes at last.
He was the Commodore for the planning of this terrific cruise.

Fleet 10, Day 7

Fellow cruisers gave Captain Sean
this photo of "South Paw"
at Thomas Point Light.

From Captain Sean's FB post, Day 7:

"Fleet 10 Cruise Day 7:  Thursday morning, we broke up the raftup in Harness Creek of South River and motored north around Thomas Point Light, Tolly Point and headed into the Severn River. South Paw returned to Port Annapolis, while most of the fleet went to Annapolis Maryland Capital Yacht Club on the end of Eastport. Our crew went for a swim, then Allen Murphy drove Ryan Cummings back to his vehicle in Baltimore to head home. Mason and I dinghied over to meet everyone at the other marina.  We split up between Adam's on Fourth and The Boatyard for dinner, hit Storm Brothers for ice cream, then went to Annapolis Summer Garden Theater to see opening night of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Unfortunately, a storm rolled in near the end of the first act.  Some of us went over to the Marriott lobby to ride it out, but the show was soon canceled. Mason Rosier and I waded our way back to my car, which Murph had parked in Eastport and then I started shuttling people back to AMCYC. Mason and I drove back to South Paw and Murph and Keith came back in the dinghy."

"No Stress" cruises the South River towards Annapolis

Fleet 10 cruisers pass a dredger headed up the South River.

Great day cruising past the Thomas Point Light.

Fleet 10 passes the Tolley Point mark, AH1.

At dinner in Annapolis.

Signs at "The Boatyard" in Annapolis

Fleet 10, Day 6

"No Stress" travelling southbound from the Bay Bridge

From Captain Sean's FB post, Day 6:

"Fleet 10 Cruise Day 6:  Ryan Cummings joined South Paw in the Magothy and Keith went back to No Stress.  Thursday morning, we got an early start to make it in time for the London Town tour. Ryan had the helm as we motored out of the Magothy, under the Bay Bridge, and around Thomas Point Light. We were making great time from a favorable current the whole way, so we put the sails up for a very, very slow sail toward the South River entrance. We motored the rest of the way into Harness Creek where the raft up was forming.  South Paw ferried eleven of us across the river to Historic London Town and Gardens. They modified the tour for us and their guide due to the extreme heat, so we were mostly in the two air conditioned buildings.  The highlight for me was when Aldo and Danny rigged up the 1800's lathe and actually had wood chips flinging off of the table leg. Because of the heat, there was no adult supervision in the carpentry building. A storm was threatening, so we raced back to get everyone on their boats before the rain. The storm just glanced Harness Creek, but South Paw had to circle around and wait for the rain to stop to reset the nine-boat raftup. We had a great pot luck dinner and swam off the boats."

One of the Fleet 10 vessels

Ryan steers by the Sandy Point Light

"South Paw" tied up at the Londontowne pier

Danny and Aldo get the ancient lathe running!
For info on Londontowne, Click Here.

Then the storm cloudds rolled in!

"South Paw's" track from
Londontowne to Harness Creek

Guy checks the rig on "No Stress" to be certain
the spreaders are clear of her neighbors.

Successful raft-up!

The track laid down by
"South Paw" while
waiting out the storm.

Fleet 10, Day 5

"No Stress" departs Baltimore Harbor

From Captain Sean's FB post, Day 5:

"Fleet 10 Cruise Day 5:  Tuesday, we left Baltimore for the longest leg of the trip. Keith Otto joined the crew the night before. No Stress needed to fuel up by the Rusty Scupper, so we took a detour into Inner Harbor and decided to sail our way out. We made way, but it was slow going with only moments of actual sailing. Keith took the helm and ended up taking us all the way to Dobbins. We motorsailed after Fort McHenry and just motored once out of the Patapsco River. We saw several cownose rays swimming up the bay. We anchored off Dobbins Island to swim for a couple hours. Then we headed across the Magothy to the Ulmstead dock in Forked Creek where Ed "EG" and Karin Gipple had graciously invited us to dock with power at their community slips and hang out in their beautiful home for dinner. Those without AC onboard stayed overnight in their house to beat the heat. This was an unexpected and great addition to this year's cruise. They had a pizza party for Paul Fetter's birthday."

Keith helms "South Paw" down the Patapsco River

Anchored at Dobbins Island in the Magothy River

Keith after a successful trip to the Magothy River.

Murph relaxing in the Magothy

"No Stress" docks at our gracious hosts' marina.