June 2023 Vacation - Day 2 - Kent Narrows to Harness Creek

We thought we were heading all the way to Dun Cove (more on that later) today so an early start was called for... the goal was to be off the dock at 7:00 AM so we could get down there by mid-afternoon.

I was up with the pre-dawn skyglow and managed to capture a couple of photos of the sunrise.

We proceeded south out of Swan Creek and headed south.  Dolphins were reported in the area between Swan Creek the past few days so I was hopeful.  Vicky, however, said that the dolphins must still be sleeping at this hour (perhaps a commentary on my choice of departure time).

As we approached the mouth of the Chester River, I received texts from our friend, Terry, indicating that the ABCW club (Americas Boating Club of Wilmington) was rethinking the day's plans and we should hold position.   Soon it was confirmed that due to some storms approaching on Friday, the club decided to cross the middle section of the Chesapeake Bay today (Thursday) to make the final run to Port Annapolis easier.

We decided to continue on through Kent Narrows and just turn north after exiting the Eastern Bay.  Our new route is below.

It was a pretty standard passage through the narrows.

When we turned southwest to head out of the bay, we did get under sail for a brief bit.

We passed Scrimshaw (with John and Colleen).

Other boats were out sailing in the Eastern Bay.  We continued for a bit but soon realized that sailing with the light winds would add hours to our trip, so after about 45 minutes of trying, I pulled in our sails and headed to Harness Creek.

This involved turning at the abandoned Bloody Point Light and then going over the deepest part of the bay.

Since we arrived first and Seas The Day was to be the anchor boat this time (we would drop our anchor and other boats would tie up to us), we selected a spot a bit removed from all the private docks on the creek.  It was a bit exposed to the southwest, but winds this evening were predicted to be very light.  We experienced just a bit of swell from some other boaters.

Eau de Vie, Seas The Day and Lady L on our raft

The other raft from our club consisted of
Weatherly, Mystic Star and Pleasant Distraction

Shortly after we were anchored and the raft was formed, I headed below to catch a nap.  I awoke an hour later to some wonderful smells from the galley... Vicky was making spring rolls from scratch!

We had no AC being at anchor, so it was hot in the galley

At 5:00 PM we hosted "Appetizers" which we all knew would morph in to "Dinner".  Vicky had made enough spring rolls to send a care package to the other raft (Bill from Mystic Star came over in his dinghy for carry out).  We had spring rolls, bean salad, chips, crackers, cream cheese with spicy jelly and chicken skewers... what a spread!

Vicky, Richard, Terry, Laura, Wayne, and George

Vicky tried fishing again to no luck (I was aboard).
(She hasn't yet tossed me overboard, though I think she was thinking about it.)

We then talked while we watched the sun set over the other raft.

One final note... I forgot to post our internet solution for 2023.  I grabbed a T-Mobil hotspot yesterday.  T-Mobil seems to have the best 5G coverage around the bay and they offer 100 GB for a reasonable price (our phone plans allow 10 GB and 20 GB of data usage).  So between phones, tablets and the hot spot, we have data options from all three carriers.

Tomorrow, we just go around the corner to Port Annapolis Marina where we will have an "end of cruise" dinner with the club.  Distance is 10 NM and it should take less than 2 hours.