Thursday

Chesapeake Bay 2014

Monday (May 5th)

Headed north to Pasadena, MD, to the Fairview Marina on the Patapsco River. It was a five hour drive but we launched SunShower and had her secure in her slip by Happy Hour. We had a great seafood sampler at Fifer's Restaurant on Fort Smallwood Road. Fort Smallwood was the fort on the south shore of the river guarding the approach to Baltimore in Revolutuionary times. Fairview Marina is a friendly place with easy access to the Bay and to Baltimore. ( Ramp was in poor shape)

Tuesday

We left the Marina about 10 a.m. expecting light winds from the north and west with Kent Narrows on the Chester River as our destination. But the wind filled in steady at 10 mph from the south east....the direction we were heading. So a day of tacking ensued, and subsequently, brought about a change in plans. At day's end we found ourselves in a beautiful anchorage behind Dobbins Island on the Magothy River. It was a grand day of sailing with warm spring sun and blue, white cloud dotted skies! Check out the house behind our anchorage tonight....it's on an island!

Wednesday

Shortly after midnight, the wind rocked SunShower as it changed direction from the south on the other side of the island to the north east on the side of the island. But the waves were small and lulled us back to sleep....however, it was the strongest wind I have experienced at anchor in SunShower. In the morning, the weather called for the wind to continue from the north east so we headed for Annapolis hoping to arrive before storms materialized at one p.m. We didn't... but only got doused by a few showers before taking a slip in our favorite marina (Mears in Eastport). After drying out and hot shower we ate at The Boatyard, took a walk around town, and viewed the end of the Wednesday night races at the AYC.

Thursday

Northeast wind again so we set course to Bloody Point Bar Lighthouse enroute to Knapp's Narrows. This is the first time we will sail into this destination which gets good reviews in the guides. It was a delightful day on the water with a cool breeze providing steady progress. We saw many fishing boats just north of the Lighthouse. We sailed between Poplar Island and the Eastern Shore. The Island had eroded from over 1000 acres in the 1800s to 10 acres in the 1990s. It is being restored by using fill from the dredging of the Baltimore Shipping Channel. Currently it encompasses 1,100 acres of the planned 1600 acres it will be when the project is finished. It will be maintained in a natural state as close to its original as possible. We arrived mid afternoon at the Knapp's Narrows Marina and Inn.

Sunset Knapp's Narrows

We rented a room (really nice), took a bike ride around the town and ate a delightful stuffed rock fish dinner at the Character's Bridge Restaurant. We were surprised to learn that over 1000 people live in the town! Neither Gretchen nor I are missing sleeping in the boat tonight!

Knapp's Narrows draw bridge

Friday

Kent Narrows is the destination today. We want to be in position to cross the Bay and be back at Fairview Marina on Sunday so we can sail into Baltimore on Monday. The weather has Small Craft Warnings with rain on Saturday so we will not be sailing tomorrow. When we left Knapp's Narrows this morning we motored by Poplar Island and then raised the sails heading into the Eastern Bay. We were sailing at 3 mph for quite awhile until it became apparent we were not making enough headway to windward to get to our destination. So, we cranked up the motor and shortly, the wind dropped to dead calm. Today was 80% motoring but we are in the Wells Cove Marina tonight and had a good dinner at the Jetty Tiki Bar. We had the Troegenator® Double Bock (Troeg Brewery, Hersey, PA) that Jon Olmes likes; he says it tastes like Shoo Fly Pie! We agree, and it is mighty good!

Saturday

Since the weather forecast was for rain all day, we got a room at the Hilton next to the marina. Turns out the weather as of this writing (4:30 p.m.) has not been anything like predicted but we are not complaining. The room is great and we got the Romance Package....20 bucks for wine tonight in the room and breakfast tomorrow. Yea, someone has to do it! On a walk this morning we discovered the Chesapeake Bay Heritage Center. They had some nice exhibits telling about local waterman, the opening of the Bay Bridge in 1952, the area heritage, and an exhibit of local artists. The Center also serves as a tourist information center. One thing we found out is that Queen Anne County has a bunch of bicycle routes mapped out north of the Bridge ranging from 17 to 58 miles. I imagine it would be flat riding through rural countryside.

Largest oyster plate collection on Eastern Shore!

Sunday

Sailed through the Kent Narrows Bridge on its 9:30 opening, got gas and headed out of the Chester River. We sailed into the wind making steady progress but soon determined that the Patapsco River was not a viable destination. So we headed for Rock Hall. Secured dockside at the Rock Hall Landing Marina by mid afternoon, we headed out for a stroll around town. We got Gretchen an ice cream fix, picked up a few groceries and checked out the marinas on Swan Creek. Osprey Point is a huge resort marina on the Creek. We could stay there but SunShower would definitely be the smallest boat in a slip!

Waterman's Dockside Bar, Rock Hall

Monday

Arose to a beautiful day with winds out of the south at 10 mph. It was a lovely day sailing across the Bay to the Fairview Marina on the Patapsco River where we put in. The kind of day a sailor longs for on the Chesapeake Bay!

SunShower in slip at Fairview Marina.

Tuesday

We checked the weather during breakfast and found the weather would deteriorate by week's end. That added to the fact that our 65 year old bodies were sore and very tired prompted the following decision. Eight days on a small sailboat was all we could handle. We made the decision to pull SunShower from the water and head home! We'll plan week trips in the future! But we had a really great cruise. I got to the Magothy River, Knapp's Narrows and the Patapsco River, all new sailing spots for me and Gretchen, plus Kent Narrows and Rock Hall were new for Gretchen. We did not sail into Baltimore Harbor, but then, that gives us an excuse to sail north of the Bay Bridge another time!

Gretchen's first sail under Bay Bridge.

 

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