Sep/Oct 2018: From Baltimore to Oriental

Passing Fort McHenry Just South of Baltimore Harbor....Where During the
War of 1812 the British Navy Was Repulsed & Francis Scott Key
Penned the Words for Our National Anthem

It was time to say goodbye to Baltimore and begin our trek back to our Florida home, so on the morning of Sunday, 30-September, we got back underway.  It was a cool (60F), and cloudy but dry morning, requiring jackets, but winds were generally light, and by 0930 we were off the dock and underway once again.  We encountered plenty of floating debris in the muddy Patapsco River, with a few floaters bigger than telephone poles, but we managed to avoid all that.  Vessel traffic was moderately heavy, as plenty of folks were anxious to take advantage of a dry weekend.

By early afternoon the clouds had cleared and we were treated to another very pleasant day for cruising…..bright sun, light breezes, temps hovering around 80F.  Once we reached Chesapeake Bay and got south of Annapolis the vessel traffic lightened considerably.

A View from Our Anchorage in Broad Creek Looking Back South
Towards Its Entrance at Chesapeake Bay

The trek south to Broad Creek on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake took us about six hours and then at least another hour to backtrack to the northeast and up to the St. Michael’s anchorage area.  But it was worth the detour….the big creek was twisting but wide and with adequate depth, and very quiet, even on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  We dropped the hook about ¾ of a mile south of St. Michaels in a wide curve of the creek in about 10 feet of water, and got a good set on the anchor.  After the sun had set the cool temps allowed us to open up the boat and spend a very pleasant night without running the generator.

Departing Ghost Rider and Heading to St. Michaels

The first day of October greeted us the next morning with more fabulous weather – upper 60’s, clear and sunny, a moderate southerly breeze around 14 knots.  We cranked up the genset to put some juice back into the house batts and Rick took care of some minor boat chores while Chelle went on a scouting mission in the dinghy.

That afternoon we took another dinghy ride up to St. Michaels and walked into town.  We stopped at The Galley for lunch and on their shaded outdoor dining deck munched on a (very good) BLT and some quesadillas accompanied by a Bloody Mary and a white Sangria.  It’s one of those family owned and operated eateries open only for breakfast and lunch, and where you can sense the pride in the preparation and presentation.

Originally settled back in the mid 1600’s this small (population under 2,000) charming harbor town has preserved it history and architecture over the centuries, and beckons many Bay area visitors.  St. Michael's red brick sidewalks are lined with numerous shops and restaurants where just about any type of food fare is available, but of course the locally caught fresh fish, crabs and oysters are featured.

All Residences in St. Michaels are Well-Kept.....and This One Invites All Passersby to Tour Their Back Yard
Garden.  Note the Signage.

Shipbuilding was the town’s first industry and remains a central theme along the waterfront where the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum occupies 15 acres adjacent to the town’s top notch marina.  Straddling Broad Creek on its western side and the Miles River on its eastern side, both providing excellent deep water access to Chesapeake Bay, life on and near the water has always defined and shaped this place.  It still looks a lot like a 19^th century seaport.

Just Walking the Streets of Picturesque St. Michael's Can Occupy An Entire Day

The museum grounds can be an all-day experience, although we limited ourselves to a few hours.  From the shipyard – where they are working on restoring several older wooden boats – to the Hooper Strait Lighthouse – another screwpile structure very similar to one we had seen at Solomons – to the extensive displays dedicated to documenting the storied oyster industry, as well as the more recent explosion of recreational uses of the Bay – the museum does a fine job of giving its visitors a real feel for the long and storied history of St. Michaels and its symbiotic connection to this country’s largest estuary.

The Boat Shop Barn at the Maritime Museum Where Numerous Build and Restoration
Projects Are Always Underway

The Hooper Straight Lighthouse Restored & Relocated to the Maritime Museum

By late afternoon we were tiring – especially after stopping for a Margarita and a Chardonnay at The Crab Claw – so we hiked back through town and back to the dinghy dock, returning to Ghost Rider to spend a relaxing evening. We ran the genset for a few hours to recharge the house batteries, then after an excellent steak dinner shut it down and opened up the boat again.  We completed the day on the fly bridge with a drink under a clear and starry sky (and a cigar for Rick), followed by a peaceful and comfortable night’s sleep.

Our excellent weather continued on Tuesday, 02-October, with a perfectly clear and sunny sky, temps in the low 70’s and a light southerly breeze.  After coffee and breakfast Chelle was gone for the day, taking the dinghy back into St. Michaels for a day of browsing and shopping.  Rick stayed aboard, partly to avoid the shopping expedition, but also to tend to various small chores – recharging the batts, updating the blog, and placing orders for some supplies to be delivered at one of our upcoming ports-of-call.  He also spent some time transferring fuel from our two aft fuel tanks to the forward tanks – a slow process given the rather weak flow rate of our fuel transfer pump, so that took most of the afternoon.

Our Final Evening at Anchor Near St. Michaels

Chelle returned to the boat around 1530 – tired but pleased with her shopping finds, one of those being a very nice bottle of dark rum from one of the local St. Michael's distilleries.  Around 1700 we cranked up the generator again, mainly to power up the davit crane so we could retrieve the dinghy and park it back on its boat deck berth, but also to top off the house batts for another night at anchor without running the generator.  We enjoyed another quiet dinner and peaceful night on the hook, but were ready to move on.

The morning of Wednesday, 03-October greeted us with perfect weather – clear skies, pleasant temps in the low 70’s with light and variable breezes.  We retrieved the anchor and by 0915 we were underway once again, headed to the other side of the Bay and a bit further south to the St. Mary’s River.  The Bay waters were glass-flat….one could have gone water skiing out there.  It was a fine day to take helm duties on the fly bridge, it couldn’t have been a smoother ride.

Another Nice Sunset, This One in a Protected Bay
Just to the West of the St. Marys River

We ran the water maker for several hours as we had depleted the tanks quite a bit, using an unusual amount to wash off the mud from the chain and anchor as we retrieved it – we probably should have had a dredging permit given the amount of muck that came up stuck to our ground tackle.  During one of our engine room checks Rick noted that one of the water maker’s small hoses was dripping water in the area of its quick-connector; we couldn’t thwart the minor leak with any of our adjustments, so Rick wrapped it with some Rescue Tape as a temporary measure.

We reached the entrance to St. Mary’s River around 1600, had the anchor set by 1630 and the dinghy splashed by 1700.  Chelle went to shore for some walking exercise while Rick handled the usual engine room and lazarette post-flight checks.  Around 1900 we jumped in the tender and zipped across St. George Creek to the nearby Ruddy Duck Brewery and Grill for a casual dinner ashore.

A View of Ghost Rider at Anchor Just After Sunset as We Departed in the
Dinghy to Grab a Meal at the Ruddy Duck Restaurant

When we returned to the boat we ran the genset and kept Ghost Rider closed up for a while….temps were mild enough, but we had bugs in droves – gnats, flies, noseeums and mosquitos.  We’re not campers, so we turned on the A/C and stayed comfy.  A couple of hours later as temps lowered a bit more we powered down but only opened windows and portals that had screens, and had a mostly bug-less experience.  Rick fell asleep watching the MLB wildcard game between the Yanks and the A’s….it was a good night.

We slept in a bit the morning of Thursday, 04-October since we had a fairly short run to make – under 50 nautical miles.  After Chelle returned from another trip to shore for her morning walk we winched the dinghy back up to the boat deck, retrieved the anchor (much cleaner than the previous day) and got underway around 1030.  We had starting weather and sea conditions identical to the day before – just about perfect.  It was a bit humid but nothing to complain about once we got the boat-induced sea breeze going. 

The southerly breeze picked up to around 12 knots later in the afternoon giving us a one to two foot chop on the nose with the attendant whitecaps, but the ride remained comfortable.  And the air temps continued to warm as well, finally getting back into the low 90’s by day’s end.

Our Peaceful Anchorage Site Near Cherry Point

We entered the mouth of the Piankatak River just before 1600, turned south around Cherry Point and dropped the anchor in Hills Bay.  By 1630 we had Ghost Rider secured for the evening.  It was quite warm down below so we cranked up the generator and A/C and closed up the boat to cool things down.  With a decent breeze the bugs were at a minimum so we slept comfortably without the A/C.

Friday, 05-October brought us another good weather morning….clear with a northeast breeze and temperature in the mid 70’s.  We had a longer day in front of us for the run to Atlantic Yacht Basin, along with a couple of bridges and a lock to negotiate, so we got an earlier start, pulling up the anchor by 0830 (fairly clean this time) and pointing Ghost Rider south once again.

Passing Through the Norfolk Area....Quite a Few Arleigh Burke Class
Guided Missile Destroyers Moored Along This Stretch

Bay waters presented only a light wind chop to our stern so it was a smooth ride in the open waters.  Unfortunately our forward speed matched the following wind velocity, so we did not have much of a comforting breeze as the temps climbed back into the 80’s.  Likewise that dead zone on and in the boat created a favored gathering place for flies – lots of them, and the kind that bite.  And none of our bug sprays seemed to be any deterrent.

Eventually we departed Chesapeake Bay turning to the west into the James River and then down towards Norfolk and the beginning of the AICW, getting a bit more breeze going over the boat in the process….and somewhat fewer flying bugs as the winds clocked around to the east. 

Locking Through Great Bridge

Eventually we came to the Great Bridge lock and bridge and managed – with a long and fairly aggressive wide open throttle run – to hit the next lock-through at exactly the right time so we didn’t have to dawdle in a holding pattern.  After passing through the lock and then under the opened bascule bridge we arrived at Atlantic Yacht Basin at 1630, then docked up, cleaned up, and retrieved packages from the AYB office.  Chelle rode her e-bike into town to pick up a few needed provisions while Rick completed the wash-down and post-flight checklists.  And then we relaxed with a quiet dinner aboard Ghost Rider.

We had a short run the next day, Saturday, 06-October, so we weren’t in a big hurry to get moving.  The day started with clear skies, mild but humid, and a light northeast breeze.  Rick took advantage of the AYB marina’s nearby fuel dock and good prices to fill the dinghy’s two five gallon reserve gas cans, while Chelle hauled one of our empty LPG tanks up the road to get that refilled.

At high noon we pushed off from the dock and continued the trek down the ICW towards Coinjock, NC.  We had two bridges to negotiate in the first hour but timed those fairly well, encountering only nominal loiter time.  By midafternoon the temps were in the low 80’s, still humid, and we had a broken cloud cover that filtered the sun with only occasional glimpses of blue patches.  But it was a comfortable day on the fly bridge.

Chelle at the Fly Bridge Helm Taking Ghost Rider Through One of the Bridges Between AYB and Coinjock

Chelle handled most of the helm duties this day, taking Ghost Rider away from the dock at AYB and docking us up at Coinjock, all of which went without any stress.  By 1640 we were all tucked in.  We enjoyed a variety of shrimp, clams and fresh Tilefish for dinner at the marina’s restaurant, watched some playoff baseball and called it a night. 

Our planned route for Sunday, 07-October would take us further south into the Alligator River for another night at anchor.  We started out with broken cloud cover again but no precipitation and a pleasant breeze from the east with temps in the low 80’s.  After Chelle returned from her walk and Rick had replaced some burned out deck courtesy lights we got underway, thrusting away from the dock just before 1030. 

Our Alligator River Anchorage Looking at the Eastern Shoreline.  That
Black Ball on the Bow Pulpit is Our Anchor Day Shape.

We had only one bridge to wait on and saw very little ICW vessel traffic along the way.  By 1630 we had reached our planned anchorage, set the hook, engaged the snubber, and cranked up the generator and A/C units.  It had warmed into the mid-to-upper 80’s as the cloud cover broke up some and it was humid, so the air conditioning felt good.  Our chosen anchorage site in a bend of the Alligator River was in the lee of the eastern shoreline, so even with the stiffening breeze we rode smoothly on the anchor – and there was little to no passing traffic on the nearby ICW.

We enjoyed an evening winding down on the fly bridge with our favorite drinks (and a cigar for Rick), bid adieu to the sun as it set behind a low line of low clouds to the west, then went below for a quiet dinner and some book / TV time.

Sunset Was a Bit Obscured at the Alligator River Anchorage But Still Picturesque from Our Fly Bridge Perch

The morning of Monday, 08-October, dawned clear, humid and with temps in the mid 70’s with a light breeze out of the east, and we were actually awake and already in the pilot house to see the sunrise.  We wanted to get an early start for the longer run to River Dunes in Oriental.  We had enjoyed a very calm night hanging on the hook with the boat open to the outside air, and Ghost Rider had remained firmly planted, swinging only slightly.

By 0800 we had completed pre-flights, had our wake up coffee and had pulled up the anchor and were underway.  We continued to keep a close eye on a tropical system spooling up in the Caribbean and heading for the Gulf of Mexico….destined to be Hurricane Michael.  The forecast track wasn’t looking good for the panhandle of Florida, where they were looking at the distinct probability of being whacked by a Cat-4 storm.  Our attention was on the forecast for the days following landfall, where NHC was predicting a path right over us and winds still at tropical storm strength.  We had certainly been though worse, but we still wanted to be in a sheltered place, and River Dunes fit the bill well with its inland location, enclosed basin and floating docks.

The USCG Station on the ICW at Hobucken, NC....Gives You An Idea
of Just How Boring This Stretch of Water Is

Likewise, by the time we would make Oriental, Ghost Rider would be due for some scheduled care and feeding – primarily oil and filter changes on both the main engine and the generator.  That’s always less of a hassle when docked up in a secure area where we could take our time and also dispose of the waste oil.

The ride down this stretch of the ICW was as expected….smooth, comfy, boring.  For our boating friends in Florida, this ribbon of water is very much like transiting Lake Okeechobee and the ditch on either side of that pond…..mostly canal-like straightaways interrupted by occasional river bends and intermittent lake-like expanses.  And the water depths are similar, too.  We did start to encounter some of the debris expected from the Hurricane Florence flooding and runoff, but most were easy to spot and it certainly wasn’t a case of numerous dodges.

Becky, Billy & Rick at the Toucan Grill

About the time we hit the wide expanse of the Pamlico River the winds had picked up to around 15-20 knots out of the southeast, and with its 35 mile exposure to the fetch we suddenly went from a smooth and protected ride to punching into three foot rollers at one second intervals quartering on the bow.  In a smaller boat it was the kind of washboard surface that would make your eyeballs juggle and teeth rattle.  Ghost Rider didn’t much care but we did take considerable spray.  When we finally turned in towards Cedar Point and the entrance to River Dunes around 1615 we were able to put the chop to our stern.

Chelle handled the docking duties at the helm again and brought us in to the alongside tie at the transient floating t-head dock around 1630.  After our post-flight checks the boat got a much needed wash down and so did we.  Then it was social and relaxation time with our good friends, Billy and Becky Edge, who had driven down from Raleigh for a visit.  We piled into their car and had a casual dinner on the outside deck at the Toucan Grill, then enjoyed a late happy hour at the cabin they had rented at River Dunes. 

Mike, Rick, Mari, Chelle, Becky & Billy at The Silos Pizza Joint

Most of the day Tuesday, 09-October, was boat chore day.  In addition to A/C and water maker strainer cleaning, both the generator and the main engine were due for their respective 200 and 250 hour oil and filter changes.  Billy came over to assist and that certainly made it easier, but those along with the genset Racor filter change still took us until 1400 to complete.  Afterwards Billy, Becky and Chelle drove into town to check out storm damage from the previous hurricane (Florence) while Rick continued to finish some more boat chores – cleaning throttle linkages and transferring more fuel from the aft tanks to the forward tanks. 

That evening we got back together with Billy and Becky and joined Mike and Mari Zimet, owners of the Nordhavn 47 Mari Mi, for a pizza party at The Silos restaurant.  Afterwards we all headed back to Ghost Rider for drinks, watched the Red Sox eliminate the Yankees, and ended up partying until just past midnight as the alcohol flowed freely.

Mari, Chelle and Becky Partying on Ghost Rider

We started off Wednesday, 10-October with breakfast at the marina’s Yawl’s Café, where the coffee, French toast and omelets helped everyone recover from the night before.  Afterwards it was time for Billy and Becky to return to their home in Raleigh so they could prepare their place for the coming storm.  Mike and Mari, having just completed cleanups to their boat and home after Hurricane Florence had recently pounded and flooded this area, needed to do the same for their home.

Ghost Rider at the Transient T-Head with All Storm Preps Completed

We returned to the boat to make our own storm preps.  While we were expecting only tropical storm wind speeds, we still doubled up our lines, put out extra fenders, rolled up and taped the Bimini top, covered the fly bridge and dinghy, then lowered and secured all the antennae.  After stowing and securing all other loose deck items, we were ready to deal with whatever came our way courtesy of Hurricane Michael.  

Late that afternoon Rick and Chelle hopped aboard N47 Mari Mi to help Mike move his boat to a more secure dock; one of the pilings at his original slip had been damaged in Hurricane Florence, and nobody wanted to test its holding power in this next blow.  After helping Mike double-tie and fender his boat we retreated back to Ghost Rider for a quiet evening and to watch more of the storm coverage.  The GFS and Euro weather models were coming into agreement and predicting arrival here Thursday afternoon, so we still had the next morning to make any final adjustments.  We'll tack on an update to this blog posting once the storm passes.

Our Track Capture From Baltimore, MD South to Oriental, NC

One of the Tasks Billy & Becky Had in Preparing Their Home for the Storm was Securing Halloween
Decorations....Here Their Skeleton is a Bit More Secure Sitting in the Audi

September 2018: From DC to Annapolis

Fort Washington Sits on the East Bank of the Potomac
Just a Few Miles South of the DC Area

We departed National Harbor just before 0900 on Saturday, 15-September, and pointed Ghost Rider south down the Potomac River.  The weather was a rerun of the previous week’s humid gloominess, with air temperature at the 70F mark and a northeast breeze of about 8 knots.  Up on the fly bridge it felt a bit chilly and we both wore light jackets for most of the day. 

By early afternoon the winds had clocked around to the east giving us an apparent wind speed near 20 knots on some headings, along with a healthy wind chop at times.  It wasn’t a particularly relaxing cruise as constant vigilance was required to avoid all the flotsam floating in the river – mostly tree branches but there was the occasional entire tree as well.  In the northern half of the river the water was the color of chocolate milk, although once we got below Quantico we saw less debris and the water color was more its normal greenish-brown.  We saw only four or five boats the entire day.

Some of the Big Homes (Estates) on the West (Virginia) Side
of the Potomac River

Towards the end of the day’s sortie we encountered some light rain showers and the strong easterly breeze also provided some increased two-to-three foot chop.  We chugged 60 nautical miles down the Potomac and then turned north into the Wicomico River around 1630 as the rain stopped.  A couple miles upstream from there we dropped the hook just off the eastern shoreline in 15 feet of water, let out 150 feet of chain and got a good anchor set on the first try.

Temps had warmed slightly to around 80, and we actually got an occasional glimpse of blue sky and a hint of sun in the early evening.  We ran on batteries/inverter for a few hours, but cranked up the generator and closed up the boat before we retired as rain was likely overnight.

Our Anchorage on the Wicomico River Looking to the West....There
Would Be No Sunset Glamour Shot On This Leg

The weather forecast for Sunday, 16-September wasn’t stellar – NWS was calling for a 70% chance of thunderstorms and stout winds from the east.  We weren’t buying into the TRW predictions, and regardless this was still going to be the best window for making the next marina before the remnants of Florence reached us.  So we yanked the anchor around 0915 and got back underway, heading down the Potomac and back into Chesapeake Bay.

The prognosticators definitely got the wind prediction right….we had 15 to 20 knots out of the east and the mouth of the Potomac was an absolute mess with an outgoing current bashing into the bay’s wind-driven waves.  We saw three to four footers for a while and took a lot of spray, some of it up to the fly bridge.  Conditions improved when we finally turned north and put the short interval square waves on the beam, letting the stabilizers smooth it out somewhat.  But it was still lumpy and rolly, and a day to steer from the comfort of the pilot house for most of the sortie.

Zahniser's Yachting Center is Big and Busy -- Good Service Yard, Too.
You Can Also See How High the Water Has Been Getting Here.

Around mid-day Rick pulled a bona fide bone-head move after completing an engine room check.  As he was sizing a socket to be used later for motor mount tightening he dropped the ratchet wrench and, per Murphy’s Law, one end found the positive stud on the #2 alternator and the other end found a ground via the engine block.  That made for a very unhealthy short circuit and a fairly spectacular shower of sparks.  Pyrotechnics can be fun, but not in the engine room.  And as one would expect, the output of that alternator promptly went to zero.  The #1 alternator picked up the load and kept the batteries charged, but that did not soften Rick’s curse words any.

A while later we were getting concerned with the remaining alternator’s operating temperature – it was working hard as a solo act – so we cranked up the generator for the last few hours of the leg and let it handle the charging duties until we got into port.  Having the A/C available didn’t hurt either, as we had closed most doors and hatches to keep the spray from the bay out of the boat's interior.

Ghost Rider Tied Up to Zahniser's T-Head

Around 1600 we departed the Chesapeake Bay and turned up the Patuxent River, and by 1630 we entered the protected channel for Solomons Island and Zahniser’s Marina.  It was good to get into the lee of a protected shoreline, and while it involved a bit of a zig-zag maneuver to reach our assigned t-head dock and avoid a shoal area, it all went smoothly.  We got Ghost Rider tied up, hooked up and washed down in short order.  The skies has mostly cleared by this point – no thunderstorms anywhere in sight the entire day – although we knew the weather would turn nasty again soon enough as Florence made its northeast turn.

Before we called it a day Rick went down to the engine room to troubleshoot the alternator issue; thankfully the solution turned out to be simple, replacing a blown Class-T 300 amp fuse with an on-hand spare.  Yay! 

The Class-T 300 Amp Fuse for the #2 Alternator....Always Carry Spares

The early morning weather on Monday, 17-September actually wasn’t too bad….high scattered clouds and some sun peeking through; but that did not last long.  By early afternoon the radar display was getting messy….the low pressure system that had been Hurricane Florence had made its northeast turn and was dragging plenty of precipitation with it. 

We had pretty much planned on that and just tinkering with the boat while waiting out the weather, so we got to work…..topping off the water tanks but also addressing a list of routine preventive maintenance items that were due.  The boat’s bottom and running gear were due for a cleaning, but we could not find a diver in the short term, so that got deferred – we would readdress at Annapolis or Baltimore.  (And as it turns out, Zahniser's doesn't allow bottom cleaning, only running gear can be serviced there....supposedly because it's a "clean marina."  Odd.)  We cleaned A/C filters, checked motor mounts and thruster apparatus and scrubbed some ugly rain stains on the exterior.  Rick also called out an A/C technician to take a look at the pilot house A/C compressor – it had been intermittently misbehaving over the past two weeks. The diagnosis was a thermal breaker trip resulting from an internal compressor malfunction – likely requiring a replacement of the entire unit.  Given its age the process of finding such a thing was going to take a while.

The Remnants of Florence Made Their Way Into Our Area as Predicted

That evening – in between rain showers – we walked over to the marina’s restaurant, The Dry Dock, for a late dinner.  Service and food there were excellent; we can highly recommend their beef tenderloin and the baked crab & scallop dishes.  The single malt scotch, which goes with everything, wasn’t bad either.

We weren’t expecting any kind of weather break for Tuesday, 18-September, but we got a little lucky, with the last rain bands of Florence holding off until late afternoon and early evening.  So we were able to walk the mile or so to the local maritime museum to enjoy a tour of their historic lighthouse (LINK) and stroll through the informative displays depicting the long seafaring history of this area.  Boat building has also been in the bloodlines here for a long time, and we were fortunate to get an impromptu tour of the Patuxent Small Craft Guild.  The small wooden vessels they restore and build there are works of love, art and skill.

The Drum Point Lighthouse.  It Was in Service from the 1880's Until 1962 and Was Originally Located in the
Middle of the Patuxent River.  It Was Rescued and Relocated to this Museum Location in 1975.  The Two
Story Cottage Structure Above the Screw Piles and Below the Lens at One Time Housed a Family of Five.

The Calvert Marine Museum on Solomons Island Documents This Area's Long History.  Its Modernization Started
With the Outbreak of World War II....When It Became a Strategic Training Ground for the U.S. Military,
Especially As Regards the Critical Capability for Landing Amphibious Forces and Establishing Beachheads.

Touring the Patuxent Small Craft Guild.  The Art of Wooden Boat Building & Restoration is a Passion Here.

Afterwards we grabbed a late lunch at the nearby Angler’s Seafood Bar & Grill, where Rick discovered their crab sandwich is made with a whole softshell blue crab…which can still be a bit crunchy despite its name.  Chelle stuck with the calamari.  By the time we walked our way back to the boat the rain had kicked in again, but only for a few hours.  Just after sunset the rain stopped and the skies began to clear.  Florence was finally gone.

For the first time in ten days we had the pleasure of waking to a fair weather morning on Wednesday, 19-September…winds were light and had clocked around to the north, with clear and sunny skies and temps in the lower 70’s.  It was a welcome change and the forecast looked good for the next few days.  Around 0930 we untied Ghost Rider from Zahniser’s dock and negotiated the tight quarters to get back into the channel and back out into the Pax River.  Our destination was Annapolis.

Departing the Solomons Island Inlet

Shortly thereafter we were out in Chesapeake Bay and motoring north.  It didn’t take long for the winds to pick up to around 15 knots and we found ourselves punching into two foot waves at one second intervals, with the occasional three footer….the proverbial washboard ride.  But the sunny skies and pleasant temps made it quite bearable. 

We had another Nordhavn sighting along the way, passing N40 Uno Mas as she was making her way south, and had a pleasant chat with them on the VHF.  By early afternoon the winds dropped to below white cap velocities and the seas calmed considerably.  Overall it was a decent ride up the bay to the Severn River, where around 1500 we turned Ghost Rider to the northwest.  A short while later we approached the Annapolis entry channel and there was a lot of boat traffic to negotiate…we weren’t the only ones enjoying the overdue good weather, even if it was mid-week.  The vast majority were sailing vessels (of all sizes and hull forms) and that situation required considerable jinking and throttle work to maintain safe clearance.

A View from Annapolis Harbor Back Towards the Entry Channel
We Had Just Negotiated....They Don't Call This the "Sailing Capital of
the U.S." for Nothing.

Finally, with Chelle at the fly bridge helm, we got past most of the traffic and around a small craft sailing regatta and into the Annapolis harbor.  She nosed us up to a mooring ball and Rick grabbed its pennant with a boat hook, ran two bow lines through it, and by 1540 we were securely tied off.  Shortly thereafter we completed our postflight checklists, cranked up the genset and A/C, and lowered the dinghy.

While Rick tended to squaring away the boat (and himself) for the evening, Chelle took the tender to explore the area.  Her scouting report confirmed what we had heard previously….a plethora of dinghy docks surrounding the harbor area, numerous restaurants, bars and taverns nearby, along with a couple of museums and of course the U.S. Naval Academy.  Another couple in their tender stopped by that evening to introduce themselves – they were also moored nearby in their Hatteras and coincidentally also called Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers their home port. We planned a get together.

Given the pleasant temperatures and dry forecast we shut down the generator and slept comfortably with the boat open to the night breeze.

Looking Southeast from Our Mooring Ball Across the Harbor

Looking Northwest from Our Mooring Ball....Some of the Naval Academy Facilities, in This Case
the Visitor's Center and Lejeune Hall

Our plan to sleep a little late the morning of Thursday, 20-September got interrupted by construction noises at the nearby Naval Academy – it appeared they were adding on to their athletic facilities.  But it was still quite pleasant if a little cloudy.  After troubleshooting a generator start issue (as in it wouldn’t even crank, but somehow mysteriously fixed itself 10 minutes later) we jumped in the tender and went ashore.

Looking Up Main Street in Downtown Annapolis

First we walked up historic Main Street, a one-way and brick-paved avenue loaded with landmarks, shops, pubs and restaurants, all with a charmingly uniform architecture reminiscent of colonial days.  From there we hoofed it a bit further to the visitor’s center and hopped their 1 ½ hour trolley tour, a great way to put all the interesting sites into a broader context and see a great deal in a short amount of time. 

We got to see much of old town Annapolis, as well as Eastport just across Spa Creek, a side trip that got more interesting when they started closing down roads due to high tide water incursion from the bay, including the only bridge that goes back to Annapolis.  At one point Rick got off the trolley and moved the traffic cones off to the side of the road so we could continue; the police were not amused.  (What little water we saw on the road was only a few inches deep.) On the walk back to the harbor we stopped at O’Brien’s Oyster bar for a drink and some of their hot crab dip – some of the best we’ve ever had.

That's the US Naval Academy Campus on the Other Side of the
Severn River....Shot Taken from the World War II Memorial

We went back to the boat to take a short break, and then around 1730 dinghied over to visit with Jim and Joanne aboard their 53 Hatteras, Ocean Spirit.  They are now full time live-aboards and it was fun to hear their boat stories and see how they’ve renovated their vintage 1971 vessel.  It was a beautiful evening so around sunset we took our tenders to shore to enjoy dinner at Pusser’s Caribbean Grille on their outdoor deck.

Both we and the forecasters got surprised by the weather the morning of Friday, 21-September….instead of sunny and dry we saw overcast and light rain.  Although that didn’t stop Chelle from taking the tender to shore for her daily walking exercise.  But by early afternoon the showers had moved on, so under cloudy skies we dinghied back to shore and walked over to the U.S. Naval Academy’s visitor center to sign up for their afternoon guided tour.  Bottom line: this is a couple of hours well spent.

Bancroft Hall, the Largest Single Dormitory Structure in the World,
Houses 4,500 Midshipman at the US Naval Academy.

Our tour guide (Diane) was extremely informative and knowledgeable, amiably relaying not just many interesting facts, but also conveying a very real and believable picture of life as a midshipman at the Naval Academy.  Enrollment at the USNA hovers around 4,500 annually, and like the other military academies, their applicant qualification criteria and acceptance rate properly define a warrior elite.  The institution was founded in 1845 with the mission of developing the best naval officers in the world, and largely has succeeded at that.  The campus is expansive, covering 340 acres and packed with uniformly immaculately kept granite buildings, built in a Beaux Arts architecture, all very precise and symmetrical.  The largest of those is Bancroft Hall, which is the (only) dormitory where all 4,500 midshipmen live during their undergraduate tenure here.

The Crypt of John Paul Jones Below the USNA Chapel

Of special note is the Naval Academy Chapel, a beautiful domed structure that hosts multi-denomination services, but also is home to the crypt of John Paul Jones, generally accepted as the “Father of the American Navy” based on his daring and successful naval exploits during the Revolutionary War.  (When asked during one battle to surrender, his infamous reply was “I have not yet begun to fight”….which, to the Brit’s dismay, turned out to be quite accurate – they got waxed.)

By the time our USNA tour concluded we were tired and hungry….we walked a mile or so back down Main Street to the waterfront for a very late lunch at The Middleton Tavern, a famous pub initially established in 1750 and patronized by the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin…and now, us.  We returned to the boat around 1700, and found once again the generator refused to start.  Nuts.  

The Middleton Tavern....Good Food, Drinks....and History

Rick messed with various troubleshooting activities, taking voltage readings at numerous wiring junctions, loosening and re-tightening those along the way, eventually stumbling across a blade connector on the starter solenoid (not documented in any of the wiring diagrams we studied) that seemed to provide the solution – disconnecting then reconnecting it resulted in a generator start.  We were not at all certain that was the final fix, but for now we were content that we were able to recharge the batteries and call it a done day.

That evening on the mooring ball was a bit rolly…we had swells invading the harbor and variable winds that caused continuous swinging and a lot of bobbing going on – we could have used a flopper-stopper this night.  Nonetheless, the constant movement was gentle and after shutting down the generator with a full charge back into the batts, we slept quite well in the unsettled conditions.

Ghost Rider on Her Mooring Ball in Annapolis Harbor

The U.S. Naval Academy Swimming Facility....It's Not a Requirement to be Able to Swim to Enter the Academy,
But It IS a Requirement to Graduate.  You Can Imagine the Drills Conducted Here.

This is "Captain's Row" at the Naval Academy....On-Campus Housing That is Reserved for Faculty & Staff,
Occupants Must be at the Rank of Navy Captain or Higher to Be Billeted Here.

This is "Dahlgren Hall" at the US Naval Academy,,,,That is an Early Wright Brothers Biplane Hanging
From the Rafters, the First Flown by a US Naval Aviator.

The morning of Saturday, 22-September dawned dry with a broken cloud cover, temps and humidity in the mid-70’s and a very light easterly breeze.  The bouncy waters had settled down and the genset fired up on the first crank, so we were off to a good start.  A cold front was close by and would be moving in overnight, likely bringing rain showers and cooler temperatures with it, but by late morning the clouds were dissipating and for now it was quite pleasant.

We planned to depart the next morning for Baltimore so Rick spent some time on our usual preflight tasks and also gave the water maker a workout.  (That turned out to be unwise….the raw water filter fouled fast enough to verify that this is a harbor in which you don’t want to swim.)  Chelle took the tender into town for her daily walking exercise and to run a few errands, but otherwise is was a lazy final day in Annapolis. 

A few more pics from the Naval Academy tour are below. Next stop is Baltimore and the Trawler Fest gathering there.

The Front of the Navy Chapel...This Stained Glass is Tiffany.

Another Shot of the Chapel (Right Side)

The Entrance to Memorial Hall

Inside Memorial Hall is This Tribute....Every Midshipman That Has
Been KIA is Honored and Listed in the Case at the Base of the Plaque.

By Saturday Evening the Annapolis Mooring Field Was Fairly Full....the Maximum
Allowable Boat Length Here is 55 Feet.