Washington, What a City!

We took our time leaving Solomon Island, got Zorro a good walk, and hit the fuel dock before lifting anchor and attempting to sail (no wind) to the mouth of the Potomac at the historic town of St Mary's. Horseshoe Bend was a nice spot with a free dinghy dock at St Mary's College. We went to shore the next day and had a good two-hour hike in the trails. 

The next day we explored Historic St Mary’s City, the outdoor living history museum commemorates the 4th permanent English Settlement in North America, Maryland’s first city and the capital of Maryland for over 60 years. The Maryland Dove a historic replica (launched in 2022) of the ship that was part of the original settlement of Maryland was here so we got to explore this boat and how things were aboard in 1633 when she left England. The Ark and the Dove were the two ships that began the Maryland Colony. Dove was a small, 40-ton capacity cargo ship purchased by Cecil Calvert and investors so that the colonists would have their own ship to use once Ark had sailed back to England.

Raising anchor at 9:00 am, we set off on our journey. Despite the forecast predicting light winds, we were uncertain about our ability to sail. Initially using the screecher and mainsail, we eventually switched to the parasail and enjoyed a good sail for 4 and a half hours. At times, our speed was slow enough for the dinghy, which we were still towing, to catch up with the boat. Excitingly, we had a new winch motor on order, scheduled to arrive in DC by the time we reached there, allowing us to hoist the dinghy once more. Our first stop was Swan Point, where we managed to take Zorro ashore for a brief walk.

The next two days were characterized by calm, windless conditions until we passed an intriguing old fort along the river, later identified as Fort Washington, built in 1809. Positioned at a 90-degree bend in the Potomac leading directly to DC, it served as the primary fortification for the capital for many years. As we continued, we encountered an increasing number of homes and businesses lining the waterfront.

An hour after passing Fort Washington, we navigated under the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, an exhilarating experience even though we had at least 10 feet of clearance. Another hour later, we arrived at one of our favorite stops on the journey.

The Capital City Yacht Club is situated up the Washington Channel and is only a 20-minute walk to the Washington Monument meaning that we could walk from the dock to several Smithsonian museums, the National Mall, the White House, as well as the Lincoln, Roosevelt and Martin Luther King memorials. We spent 8 days here and we could have used another week to truly take it all in. Being at the Yacht Club allowed us to take Zorro out in the morning and leave him on the boat in air conditioning while Nikki and I explored this fantastic city. It took us a day to finish our tour of the National Museum of Natural History that we started back in July when Zorro was at the vet. Over the next few days, we took in several museums including the National Museum of African American History, The Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American Indian, the Lincoln Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum as well as several monuments, the White House and the botanical gardens. It was a packed 8 days.

We also got to meet with our future crew that would assist us in sailing Momentum 42 from Hampton to Antigua in November. It was just a coincidence that Johnny and Jill were in DC at the same time. It was nice to be able to meet them in person instead of just a Zoom meeting after all we would end up spending a few weeks together in a small space. Even with all this, we managed to clean the boat, fix our davit, and get ready to haul out at Zimmerman’s Marina.

There is no way with one blog post we could share all the inspiring and humbling experiences we had in DC. We hope that the pictures that we have taken will inspire you to take a visit there one day yourself. Although uncertain about the timing, Nikki and I plan to return to DC one day.

Our next destination is Zimmerman’s Marina for haul out before embarking on our journey to the Maritimes on the East Coast of Canada. Stay tuned for haul-out and a road trip.