From St. Mary's City, I jumped to Solomons, MD. That was one of the roughest days I've had on the water. It was pretty choppy cruising down the St. Mary's river. I was getting hit head on by some fair sized waves, water breaking over the bow. I put on my life vest and clipped my radio to my belt.
About halfway to Solomons, the USCG broadcast a small craft warning (wind 25 to 33 knots and/or waves 5 to 7 feet). I was too far out to turn back.
I had to make a port turn to stay on course. That meant that the waves were bashing me on the starboard beam. Fortunately, that only lasted about an hour. Another starboard turn put the wave to my stern. Keeping a steady course with those waves was a real challenge.
So, it was a scary day, but I made it to Solomons and tied up for the night. The bad weather was forecast to continue, so I stayed at the marina for another night. Glad to say that it was a relatively inexpensive marina.
We got rocked by some huge thunderstorms that night and wind and rain the next day. I was able to get out and go shopping.
From Solomons, I cruised out to an anchorage just about 20 miles shy of Annapolis. One reason I wanted to get to Annapolis was to get my inflatable boat repaired. While I was at St. Mary's, I noticed that all their inflatables came from Annapolis Inflatables (sailing and crew are big at SMCM). Anyway, I spent a quiet night on anchor. I watched Master and Commander, again. I love that movie.
And a 4 hour cruise got me to Annapolis Landing Marina. I arranged to have the inflatable picked up (I hope that they are working on it right now). My daughters brought the grandchildren out for a visit and a quick tour of the boat. We all went out to dinner.
Tomorrow may be my last day in Maryland. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is only a day's cruise away.
Waiting on the inflatable.
About halfway to Solomons, the USCG broadcast a small craft warning (wind 25 to 33 knots and/or waves 5 to 7 feet). I was too far out to turn back.
I had to make a port turn to stay on course. That meant that the waves were bashing me on the starboard beam. Fortunately, that only lasted about an hour. Another starboard turn put the wave to my stern. Keeping a steady course with those waves was a real challenge.
So, it was a scary day, but I made it to Solomons and tied up for the night. The bad weather was forecast to continue, so I stayed at the marina for another night. Glad to say that it was a relatively inexpensive marina.
We got rocked by some huge thunderstorms that night and wind and rain the next day. I was able to get out and go shopping.
From Solomons, I cruised out to an anchorage just about 20 miles shy of Annapolis. One reason I wanted to get to Annapolis was to get my inflatable boat repaired. While I was at St. Mary's, I noticed that all their inflatables came from Annapolis Inflatables (sailing and crew are big at SMCM). Anyway, I spent a quiet night on anchor. I watched Master and Commander, again. I love that movie.
And a 4 hour cruise got me to Annapolis Landing Marina. I arranged to have the inflatable picked up (I hope that they are working on it right now). My daughters brought the grandchildren out for a visit and a quick tour of the boat. We all went out to dinner.
Tomorrow may be my last day in Maryland. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is only a day's cruise away.
Waiting on the inflatable.
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