We spent June 24 at anchor in Solomons, MD in order to make an overdue trip to the grocery store. For those who are not familiar with the cruising lifestyle (and believe me, I was not among the knowledgeable before starting this trip), grocery shopping is an all-day affair…15 minutes to lower the dinghy from the davits, half an hour to row ashore, 30-60 minutes to walk to the grocery store, an hour or more to shop in an unfamiliar store, 30-60 minutes to walk back to the dock pushing the card filled with groceries, half an hour to row, half an hour to move the groceries to the boat and tie up the dinghy to the davits, and 15-30 minutes to find someplace to store the food, which includes removing all cardboard boxes and putting food into plastic bags, etc…usually 5 hours total.
The photo below shows a typical haul. And, yes, we managed to get all that stuff in the Pudgy (dinghy), including the cart and ourselves, without sinking it, while still leaving the middle open for rowing!
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| Grocery shopping |
We departed Solomons at 6am the next morning (June 25) because the forecast was calling for 20+ knots of wind in the afternoon. The photo below shows a family of ducks swimming near the boat. The reflections in the water were picturesque.
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| Early morning at Solomons |
We had a wonderful 9-hour trip up the Chesapeake Bay. My family and friends from Maryland might recognize the Cove Point Lighthouse at Calvert Cliffs and the Calvert Cliffs liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the photos below.
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| Cove Point Lighthouse at Calvert Cliffs |
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| Calvert Cliffs liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal |
As it turns out, the forecast for 20+ knots was completely wrong…there was no wind and we motored the entire way to Annapolis. On the other hand, the water, which was smooth as glass, presented a gorgeous view (see photo below).
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| The Chesapeake Bay smooth as glass |
We saw another RORO, approaching Bloody Point Lighthouse.
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RORO approaching Bloody Point Lighthouse |
And I just had to include a photo of the famous Thomas Point Lighthouse, a well-known fixture on the Chesapeake Bay and one of the few remaining operational screw pile lighthouses. (The Drum Point Lighthouse shown in the last trip report is also a screw pile design, but it is no longer operational.)
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| Thomas Point Lighthouse |
As we got closer to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, we saw the familiar sight of freighters lined up at anchor, waiting for the go-ahead to proceed to Baltimore.
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| Freighters waiting at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge |
I wanted to include a photo showing the 5-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge structure. Of course, it is difficult to capture that in a single photo. The photo below, which was taken from over 5 miles away and has those large freighters in the foreground, might give some sense of the length of this amazing bridge.
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| 5-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge |
We arrived at the Horn Point Marina in Annapolis mid-afternoon. We had traveled 997 nautical miles (1,147 statute miles) since leaving Titusville on April 27!
Shortly after docking, as we were surveying the surrounding waters from the cockpit, we saw several groups of boats on the Bay. Some groups were sailing classes, some were boat races. The photo below captures one of the groups.
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| Group of sailboats on the Chesapeake |
We also observed “The Woodwinds” sailing vessel on one of its tours. “The Woodwinds” is a 74-foot schooner that provides 2-hour public sailing cruises, including sunset cruises, in the Annapolis Harbor, Chesapeake Bay, and nearby Severn River. I took a cruise on “The Woodwinds” years ago, and really enjoyed it. If you are ever in Annapolis, I highly recommend it.
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“The Woodwinds”
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| “The Woodwinds” |
The next day (June 26, our first full day in Annapolis) was laundry day. No rest for the weary…I know, with such a great adventure, there is no room for whining, and actually, even doing the laundry is fun :-). The photo below shows our departure from the docks, which was followed by a 2.1-mile walk pushing the cart to the laundromat, access to Wi-Fi at McDonald’s while the laundry was washing/drying, and a 2.1-mile walk back, all in all a 5-hour event. It’s amazing how excited one can get when one has good access to Wi-Fi…it’s the little things in life. :-)
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| Laundry day at Horn Point Marina in Annapolis |
During the next two months in Annapolis, we plan to sail as much as the weather will allow, taking day trips or overnights to various ports and adjacent waterways along the Bay. Hopefully, this will include many of the following: Baltimore, Rock Hall, St. Michaels, Oxford, Cambridge, Kent Narrows, Galesville, Sassafras River, South River, Severn River, White Hall Bay, Patapsco River, etc. Too many to mention.
Here's a chart of our entire northbound trip.
