Home Sweet Home

We made another overnight jump all the way from Portsmouth to Annapolis. The current was with us, the wind was favorable, and the allure of being in a marina was too good to pass up. It is chilly up here and having shore power allows us to turn on the heater. It was so chilly last night that we ran an extension cord out to the driving station and ran our portable heater in the tent-like enclosure. It was 47 degrees so that made a huge difference.

If you’re looking for excitement and things to focus on, a trip up the bay at night has it all. First, you face a dilemma where you must pick your poison. The current is strongest out in the middle and if it’s in your favor that sounds like an easy route. But, that’s where the shipping channel is and out there, the cargo ships rule. They are deceptively fast and seemingly indifferent to your existence. There is the shallower water along the edges but that can be riddled with crab pots and fish traps. Those can get mangled in your propellors and no one wants to go in the water and untangle that mess. Plus, following the edges makes for a much longer trip. If you’re into weaving through obstacles, that’s a recipe for a daylight trip. Then there’s the in–between areas. That’s were you’ll find the most tug boat traffic and there are a lot of those. This is what I picked. All commercial traffic seems more menacing at night. I found its better to hail them on the radio and find out what they have planned than trying to guess. They are happy to tell you how to stay out of their way. They’re terse but quite professional.

As I mentioned, we started later in the day on purpose to catch the flood tide up the bay. It does feel odd to simply wait at anchor. We weren’t really welcome to come ashore anywhere, so we sat. After lunch, a couple of ducks took up residence on the back of the boat. I guess they didn’t feel welcome ashore either. They let me sit near them but decided not to take the trip up the bay with us. I guess they heard about the ill-fate of our other hitchhikers.

We were greeted around 7:30am by some very nice policemen on a very fast boat as we approached Annapolis. This is becoming a trend for us. There is a ban on recreational boating in MD right now due to Covid–19 concerns. They wanted to know what we were up to. (As if we’d choose to go on a sailing spree at dawn while it was 47 degrees.) ‘Just trying to return home to our slip officer.’ I think my three layers of coats and unwashed hair convinced them that this wasn’t a regular pleasure cruise.

Back in our slip, the marina looks empty. Folks haven’t pulled their boats out of winter storage yet and no one is allowed to go recreational boating. It’s quiet but we have the heat on!