A Nice September Weekend (Sailing with Jim & Xiaosheng)

 

After skipping sailing last weekend for some theater organ events, we headed back down to Rock Hall on Saturday morning and headed right out onto the bay.  It was much cooler than during our Labor Day vacation and shorts and polo shirts have given way to sweat jackets and long pants.

But it was a beautiful sunny day and we set out right after our arrival.  Winds were light and the bay was flat.  There were a lot of boat out on the bay but few were actually sailing (and those that were sailing weren't really moving much).  Still it was a nice brisk day and a welcome respite from the heat of recent months.

We motored around for a while and then headed in.  

Following the excursion, Vicky worked on cleaning her boat and then cooked one of her blue apron meals which we enjoyed right after sunset.  Following that we hung out in the cockpit and enjoyed a very pleasant evening.

Sunday morning started with a sunrise walk.  For some reason, my knee was a bit stiff but it seemed to loosen up with the stroll.

I caught "Killer" in mid stroke practicing her fly zapping skills.

Mid-morning, Jim and Xiaosheng arrived with Anan and MeiMei for a day on the water followed by a crab/cookout feast.

The day was a bit cloudy.  Winds were expected to be steady at the 12 knots and I was hopeful that we could get some sailing in, but for some reason the sea state was a bit rough.  (There was a small craft advisory starting later in the day, but we were hopeful to get out and back before that began.)

Xiaosheng's photo

Vicky had fun with MeiMei.

Jim happens to be my boss and I always enjoy putting him to work for a brief change of pace.

Once we set sail, we did feel "the motion of the ocean" a bit more.  We sailed out into the bay for a bit until I suddenly decided to turn back and head home.

Vicky has insisted that I not relay what has happened between these two photos to avoid any embarrassment, so I'll let it suffice to say that I was reminded of the time Aerosmith visited Wayne's World... especially about 5:25 into the clip in the link.

(Hint for next time, carefully consider your line of sight during times like this.)

We floored it (reaching a top speed of 8 kts... a little under 10 mph) on the way home and then immediately headed to the picnic tables.

Xiaosheng's photo

Jim and I went to get a dozen crabs from Chester River Seafood, and we had a mini-crab feast.  Added some hot dogs, dumplings and corn on the cob.  The sun came out and we were able to squeeze in a nice time for enjoying food and each other.

"I don't like crabs" were the first words out of her mouth.  That changed.

We knew there was a bad storm coming, so I headed back to Seas The Day to begin to batten down as they finished the remaining crabs.  While there, I slipped on the companionway steps and over-extended my bad knee.  (Note, see addendum below for more details.)  Fortunately with all the help (special thanks to Anan for helping to schlep everything) we were able to quickly load and go... getting in the car just as the first raindrops were falling in Rock Hall.

As we motored out of Rock Hall and through Chestertown, we were aware that we where heading straight towards this huge thunderhead.  Fortunately, we only had a few minutes of intense rain followed by a few nice rainbows!

ADDENDUM

Well, it turns out the over extended knee from my slip and fall wasn't the only issue.  While slipping down the companionway steps, I banged the back of my head.  Vicky noticed some bruising the following (Monday) morning and since I'm on certain meds, that prompted a trip to the Middletown ER to confirm that everything was alright (it was).  So I now have a 3D study proving conclusively that I do have a brain - even if there isn't always outwardly visible evidence of that fact. 

Labor Day 2022 Vacation - Day 13 & 14 - Back to Rock Hall, Then Home

Back at home 

There are no photos of sunrise Thursday... I woke up in time and stuck my head out of the companionway, but with the heavy clouds and being in the city, it just wasn't worth it.

The morning was spent using the facilities of the marina.  Harbor East has slips with finger piers on both sides and Vicky wanted me to move Seas The Day from one side of the slip to the other so she could scrub down both sides.  (In fairness, there may have been a few skid marks on her hull from my various docking attempts.)

We departed around 11:00 after taking a quick turn around Inner Harbour.  There were several military vessels in place for Fleet Week - I won't make any attempt to identify them.

Coming out of Inner Harbor, I finally located (and got a little close to) Annie's pier at Fells Point (from the movie, Sleepless in Seattle).  Today a military ship was tied up to that pier.

Annie's pier (from Sleepless in Seattle)

The winds were light and indeed the garrison flag was flying at Fort McHenry.  This flag is the same dimensions as the real Star Spangled Banner that flew during that night in the war of 1812.

After passing the fort, we simply followed the green side of the channel out past the Key Bridge.

I'm being watched by a resident of the Fort McHenry buoy

When the channel turned after the Key Bridge, we aimed straight for Rock Hall.  We had a bit of traffic as we crossed the channel, but then it was smooth motoring across the bay.

A fair questions might be... why motoring?  Well, it was a perfect day and winds were just right at 12 knots or so, but they were coming right from the direction we were traveling (aka, "on the nose").  We briefly discussed sailing south then east, but that would essentially double the time to get home and we were, frankly, tired, so we motored across the bay.

Yes, that means that for the entire vacation, we were under sail for maybe 2 to 3 hours.

Around 2:00 PM we made the turn north into the Swan Creek channel, and soon we were looking at Osprey Point Marina.  Shortly after that, we were safely docked back in our home slip.

About 45 minutes before we docked, we read the news of Queen Elizabeth's death, so once we docked, we hung out in the salon and watched the coverage on the TV.

Later, we had a final dinner at Osprey Point restaurant.

Friday was two weeks onboard Seas The Day, but all we did was to wake up, have breakfast and "load and go".  We stopped briefly at Chick-Filet for lunch.  There are no photos.

We did have a nice chat on the ride home about the vacation.  Vicky's favorite part was the crabbing (even though she only ate a few), and she wants to do more of that.  My favorite part was the evening walk on Solomons Island... along the boardwalk to have dinner and ice cream on the way home.  We both noted that we liked the marina in Oxford (and we met two people there who used to keep their boats at Osprey Point, both noting that "it's only 15 minutes more than from Rock Hall).

Finally, I asked her... "So do you think you could go longer?"  The answer was yes... she envisions retirement as living in China for half a year and spending a good portion of the half-year in the US aboard Seas The Day exploring.   Having just purchased a theater organ, I'm not sure I'm ready for that plan (unless we get one for China 😜), but I can easily see us going on longer (e.g., month(s)-long) excursions.

Anyway, once home, I retraced our steps from the entire trip on Google Earth.  Here's the result... 205 nautical miles!

Summary of Costs

Osprey Point Restaurant - $119

Chick-Filet - $20

Total for this segment - $139

Fuel - (Filled 9/24) - 26 gal, $137

Grand Total for Entire Vacation

Days 1&2 - Rock Hall, Kent Narrows - $518

Days 2&3 - Herrington Harbor South - $429

Days 5&6 - Solomons, MD - $504

Days 7&8 - Oxford, MD - $605 (+$10 from Day 9)

Days 9, 10, 11 - at anchor - $0

Day 12 - Baltimore - $468 (Note: Baltimore has similar cost for 1 day as others for two).

Days 13&14 - Rock Hall, then Home - $139

Fuel (including guess) - $285

Grand Total - $2958 (for two weeks - note, that's beyond cost of owning Seas The Day)