New Moto "No more Drama Just Fun"

With the vet and US customs and immigration issues behind us, it was time to start to just have fun. No more drama. Of course, you know the second the words come out of your mouth that you have probably jinxed yourself but we are determined to keep moving forward. Zorro is healthy and that was all we cared about at this point. Now we could start to plan the trip with the Salty Dawgs from Hampton, VA to English Harbour, Antigua in November. 

But for now, let’s enjoy the Chesapeake Bay. Our first destination is the Magothy River we wanted to check out two anchorages, Eagle Cove and Little Dobbs Island. We didn't have to rush as it was only a short distance and there was no wind so we were off the mooring ball in Annapolis by noon and had the anchor down by 3:00 pm. Eagle Cove is a cute shallow bay that is only about 10 feet deep. It gave Barry a chance to get in the water to scrub the bottom of the boat. After 11 days in Annapolis harbour, it was starting to get a little fuzzy. The Chesapeake Bay is a very nutrient-rich bay and the growth on the bottom of the boat happens quickly. The other thing about the bay is in July and August there are tons of jellyfish, the stinging kind, due to the warmer water temperatures and low wind. Barry toughed it out thinking it was not too bad but he did come up with a couple of welts. It meant swimming in this bay was not going to happen so Nikki sat in the Hammock with just her toes in the water. The next day we did a quick 20-minute motor to Little Dobbs Island to meet up with some friends we met in the Bahamas, they live in the area so it was going to mean that we could get some beta for our time in the Chesapeake. 

It’s always nice to hook up with friends, especially when they have a house with air conditioning! They were prepping their boat to head North to sail around the Maine area. They also delivered some news that we were starting to understand. The best time to sail the Chesapeake Bay is September and October not July and August which is what we were doing. The reasons... There is little to no wind - CHECK and the water is not swimmable due to the jellyfish - DOUBLE CHECK. It was too late to head north with the boat as we had a haul out scheduled for early August in Virginia before we headed to Nova Scotia and the East Coast of Canada to visit family and friends. Time to make the most out of the situation we were in! 

Our next anchorage was Swan Mill Creek, a lovely bay with several marinas and restaurants with a pleasant town walk. We got Zorro some ice cream so he would forgive us for not being able to swim, all was forgiven and the addiction is real.

We cruised over to the South River where we had good beach access. We managed to give Zorro a play and swim, as well as a hike in the shaded forest, we were all very happy.

We had been in touch with a couple of other cruising boats SV EDEN and SV OYA and both of them were in the area at St Michaels, a very popular sailing area and destination so we decided to join them. We hauled anchor and managed a couple of hours of sailing getting into the anchorage late at around 6:30 pm. We walked around town and met SV EDEN for ice cream, again making Zorro’s day. SV EDEN was also kind enough to come over to our boat to assist us with a davit issue we were having. Our davit winch would no longer lift our tender so for the past couple of days we were pulling it behind us. Unfortunately, we could not get this sorted out but we did order a new motor. The next day we met up with SV OYA, who were there to turn their boat over to the new owners. The family was done with their cruising sabbatical and it was time to get the kids back home to see friends and family and start thinking about returning to school and work. We had a nice lunch at a local coffee shop. St Micheals is a beautiful town with so many sights. They have a museum, restaurants, theatre, and even a brewery. We walked the bike paths with Zorro, ate local pizza, and caught an outdoor theatre group putting on a play. Very entertaining. The next day we hit the farmers market and brewery followed by game night on SV EDEN. On Monday Nikki and I walked around the museum before pulling up anchor and leaving St Micheals. 

SO MUCH TO SEE!

Just a short motor away on the Wye River we found a nice anchorage at Drum Point. I needed to jump in and do a little more bottom cleaning. This time it was jellyfish free so no stingers. However, when he came back on board Nikki told me to stop and stay on the transom. I was covered in baby shrimp. Nikki was not allowing me off the transom until I was stripped down and rinsed off. I think she just wanted me stripped down. 

The next day we headed to Oxford, for a couple of nights before heading back to Solomon Island there are tons of little museums and so much boating history in this area and we tried to take in as much as we could. There were also a few shady hikes we found so we enjoyed a bit of time in nature as well as all the culture.

It was only a 4-hour trip but we managed to split the time between sailing and motoring. We got to use our parasail again with light wind at 7-8 knots, we managed 5 knots of boat speed so it was a good day on the water. Same for our trip back to Solomon Island with about three hours of sailing.

We stopped back in Solomon Island because we had decided to head up the Potomac River and into Washington DC. It was getting stinking hot in the bay and we could not swim and there was no wind so we might as well just motor or motor sail up the Potomac and spend a week or so in DC at a marina where we could plug the boat in and run as much air conditioning as we wanted.

It was now July 22, 2023, and we needed to be at Zimmerman’s Marina to haul out on August 8th. This left us with just over two weeks to get up the Potomac to DC and then back down to Zimmerman’s, which is a 270-nautical mile trip and a ton of motoring. But we feel it will be well worth it as there is so much to do in DC.