And we thought the Chesapeake was mild!!!

Last night we were anchored along the Naval Academy playing field seawall, an anchorage we’ve been in many times before while Elliott was attending the academy.  About 2PM we had just returned from a dentist appointment to repair a chipped tooth and we were preparing lunch. The wind was up – very up -  blowing like crazy….and Greg was looking for signs that our anchor was holding. If it wasn’t we’d be dragging the anchor in the direction the wind was blowing – toward the granite and cement seawall 100 yards away.

We seemed a little closer to one boat that was about 60 feet behind us earlier  but we weren't sure if it was reality or paranoia.

Perusing the scene, a guy on another boat pointed upwind, in front of our boat.

An old 40 foot sailboat was dragging anchor and had come several hundred yards from the other side of the harbor directly toward us. Greg, always alert and safety conscious, blew the air horn several times trying to get the attention of anyone who might be on board, to no avail. Sharon came up into the cockpit. We got the engine going, pulled our anchor just in time to see thatthat boat slowly continue past us. Greg wanted to jump aboard and bring a line to pull them away from sure disaster  but the waves and wind were daunting, and the legal implications could have been more serious. Three other boats were nearby and we all wanted to help, but couldn’t. We headed inside toward the inner harbor looking for safer ground. But, it was far too crowded with other boats. We went to Back Creek, a mile away and anchored way up that creek, but we were too close to others and one said that they had dragged 100 feet over night. The anchoring was poor. We were finally able to get a slip in a marina in Back Creek for a couple of days until the wind subsides. The holding ground all around here is very poor. So, when the wind is this high it gets dangerous. We heard on the radio that two boats hit the headwall today. Very, very sad. They'll be wrecked. We're very glad it was not us!  We are still rocking and straining against the dock lines here, but will rest much easier tonight.