Quick Trip to Annapolis

We pulled out of the slip at Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina on the ebb tide at 7am Sunday morning, May 7th.  With the main sail raised and double reefed (expecting moderate to heavy wind) we motor sailed out of the harbor and turned northeast before then setting the genoa.  It was a beautiful day and the wind that had been raging all week dissipated for a few hours.  Our passage was calmer and quieter than the trip to Charleston.  When the wind subsided Monday morning we doused the sails and motored the rest of the way into Beaufort, North Carolina.  Once tied up at Beaufort Docks, we filled the fuel and water tanks to be ready for the next leg of our journey.  Then we enjoyed a nice meal at Beaufort Grocery Company.

A relatively calm sea

Early the next morning, we strategically and hurriedly pulled away from the dock and began our three day motor up the waterway.  The current in this marina runs over two knots, so we were lucky to leave near enough to slack tide and with little wind, to assure our exit from the tight marina went without mishaps.

We made good time, enjoyed some of our favorite, quiet anchorages at the Pungo River, the North River (just south of Buck Island), then on up and into Hampton, Virginia.  The last day was rainy and windy and we were happy to be heading to a marina as we crossed the harbor channel from the Bay to the Elizabeth River in a heavy chop, dodging large container ships and tugboats pushing barges.

Dredging equipment in the Beaufort Harbor

Scene along the waterway

With rain and high winds predicted for the next few days, we tied up at lovely Bluewater Yachting Center and had a good rest.  Friday we took an Uber over to Norfolk and visited the USS Wisconsin and the Naval Museum.  Very interesting.

On the foredeck of the USS Wisconsin, Norfolk, VA

In the armament "room"

The gun lockers where crewmen control the firing

One of the berth areas - 100's of these throughout lower decks

We are now back in good crab cake country.  Sharon is pretty picky about her crab cakes and we are finally back in the spot where they meet her standards.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at a new hotel The Main at their seafood restaurant Saltine.  It was a warm and dry spot out of the drippy day.

On the second day we hung around the boat, walked to the grocery and checked the weather about 50 times.  The wind was supposed to switch to the north and west (just the direction we were planning to travel up the Chesapeake Bay) and grow stronger.  But the more we looked, we found that we might have a little window to make some tracks.  Sunday (one week after leaving Charleston) the sun shone brightly and we pulled away from the dock by 6:30am.  We love these days of long daylight.  There was no real wind for sailing, so we motored our way north, deciding to go as far as we could in the daylight we had.  We even contemplated overnighting all the way to Annapolis.  But, the wind came up rather strongly by mid-afternoon and even motoring would have had us arriving at Annapolis in the middle of the night.  So, we anchored in one of our favorite spots in Solomons, MD on Mill Creek.  It is a beautiful, protected and peaceful spot.  This was a 90 mile day - a record-breaker for us for one "daylight" day of travel.

Sunset on Mill Creek, Solomons, Maryland

The next morning the wind was NNW 15-20 knots.  Our intended course was North.  But, predictions had the wind backing to West by mid-day and dropping.  Since we had only about 45 miles to make Annapolis, we decided to wait a bit, hoping to enter the Bay as these conditions began to change, allowing us to make our way North without having the wind so much on the nose.  We hauled anchor at 10:30am.

While raising the sail, we discovered a tear on the luff of the main (that is the trailing edge for you non-sailors) and when Greg pulled on it, it just kept tearing.  This is the second tear we have discovered since leaving Charleston.  We did a temporary repair with sail tape on the first tear until we were able to get it to a sailmaker.  We have known that new sails were in our near-term future for awhile.  The current sails have been with us since we bought the boat in 2005, and they weren't new then.  So, we dropped the main sail again, covered it up with the sail cover and motored our way out of the creek.  

The wind speed and direction didn't change.  For the first four hours we had wind on our nose at a steady 16 knots with gusts up to 22.  This means lots of water splashing over the deck and very slow going.  At one point, we were making a blistering 3.5 knots speed over ground.  The wind creates waves, and they either push the boat forward or to one side, depending on their relative direction.  In this case they pushed us back a step for every two we took forward.  We felt that at this rate we weren't going to make Annapolis by day's end.  As the day went on, however, the wind diminished a bit and we turned more northeast, so our speed picked up to 5 knots, sometimes a bit more.  We finally pulled into Bert Jabin Yacht Yard in Annapolis at 7:30pm where our friends Pat and Eric of Cutter Loose grabbed our dock lines and welcomed us to town.  We are very happy to be back in Annapolis for the next several weeks.  

Table side Caesar by Quenton at Carrol's Creek 

Crab and Shrimp Cocktail at Carrol's Creek

Tuna Tartar at Carrol's Creek

We have just placed our order for a complete set of sails (3) with Scott Allan at North Sails.  We purchased a spinnaker from these folks four years ago.  Even so, Greg researched sailmakers in town and found Scott to be the one every other sailmaker turns to with questions.  Scott has done a great job working with us to assure we get exactly what we need and want.  The details are truly amazing. An analogy might be ordering a new, custom designed and sewn, three piece suit, but each piece is between 25 and 55 feet tall, including nearly 1,000 square feet of high-tech material.  Pockets, zippers, lines, grommets, reinforcement patches, webbing reinforcement at corners, 18" Sunbrella strips (themselves as long as each sail), and so many other elements, are included.  Every detail must be measured just right for the sail to fit and perform properly.  Greg and Scott have met twice, and exchanged dozens of emails - most related to taking more measurements and choosing small, but important features, and sending diagrams to each other.

A sketch of Dream Catcher's rig and sails, including dimensions. Click to enlarge.

Shows the mainsail's "Single Line Reefing" system within the boom, allowing us to lower 

the main from the cockpit - but, then still we must go forward to tie it down.

Delivery should be the end of June, just in time for us to make our way north to New England.  The new sails should enable Dream Catcher to sail to windward much more efficiently, as the sails will be flatter.  And in general, they'll allow better control and smoother sailing.  We are very excited!

We have already spent time in Fenwick Island, Delaware (at Sharon's family beach house) and look forward to visits with family and friends over the coming weeks.  For those of you who follow us on SPOT, you won't see any activity until we are on the move again, early July.  

'Til next time -