June 2022 Vacation - Day 2 - Little Round Bay (Severn River)

The ABCW (America's Boating Club of Wilmington) cruise began today with our goal for Sunday being to  proceed up the Severn River outside of Annapolis and "raft up" (tie our boats together) for a shared dinner in Little Round Bay.  A distance of 22 nautical miles.

I passed the Directed Net initiation with the phrase "Seas The Day, no traffic".

The morning turned out much more breezy - actually windy - with some fair gusts.  Our departure was a bit later than expected because (for us) we had a stubborn cabinet drawer that we lost some time fussing with, and (for others) a triathlon was being held in downtown Rock Hall that closed the harbor until 10:00 AM.

We finally departed a bit before 10:00 and after a pumpout at Gratitude Marina, we were off.  We made it down to the #3 buoy and headed out across the bay.  While the wind had died a good bit, there was still enough to hoist sails on a nice and easy broad reach.

A few moments after setting sail we saw a runabout in the distance and heard some yelling.  Our friends from S/V Yekaterina (fellow B-Dockers) had come out for a morning run and stopped by to say hello.

Maxon at the bow with his extended family.

It was a beautiful day on the bay.

I'll let the photos tell most of the story.  The day was gorgeous.  Temperature was in the low 80s and by 11:00 AM, the winds were light (6 or 7 kts).  Still we kept the sails out and made our way towards the Bay Bridge as we were the first of our raft-up and there was zero rush.

Mystic Star with Bill & Donna pulling ahead of us near the LP buoy.

We had Zongzi for lunch
(last week was the Dragon Boat Festival).

I think this was Star Reacher with Scott, Kathy and Amy passing under the Bay Bridge.

Vicky polishing her brightwork.

At the mouth of the Severn River we pulled the sails in and waited for our raft buddies.

I think this is Weatherly with Dennis & Carol.

Eau de Vie with Terry and Richard

Terry's photo of Seas The Day

Terry's photo of Seas The Day

Eau de Vie

We then proceeded up the Severn River, picking our way through the traffic outside of Annapolis.

Eau de Vie in the Severn River (near Annapolis)

Eau de Vie passing under the Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd bridge.

There are many fine houses on the Severn River.  Here's an example.

Approaching the John Hanson Hwy Bridge.

Skylark with Bill and Joan (and John & Bettty from Gyspy II)

Bill meets his next boat.

The shallow water is not always so obvious.

Once we made it to Little Round Bay, the various groups started rafting up.  The process seems to be that the host boat (usually the largest) drops anchor and once they're set, they direct each of the rafting boats on where to position.  Both boats put out fenders and then the approaching boat hands over ducklings and they tie four lines between the two boats so they're "joined at the hip".

Winward Passage and Weatherly

Skylark dropping her anchor (we will join them).

While we were waiting for Eau de Vie to tie up to Skylark, Vicky and I had some miscommunication and we came within a foot or two of this powerboat's bow.  How we managed to NOT run over his anchor rode, I'll never know, but he departed soon afterward.

It was nice to have many hands to help us tie up and eventually there were 3 boats together.

The plan for the evening was to have a shared dinner at anchor.

Vicky, Betty, Bill, John, Terry and Richard

Joan and myself

Our shared dinner was aboard Skylark, Bill and Joan's 47' Benneteau.  

Terry made guac and cauliflower crackers for appetizers and Vicky made her dumplings and zongzi. Dinner was marinated turkey breast with pasta salad from Joan and an asian caesar salad from Terry.  Joan added a lemon cake for dessert.

Then we just sat in Skylark's cockpit for the evening and chatted.  It was a wonderful way to get to know some new friends.

I grabbed a few night photos around the bay after the gathering broke up.

Tomorrow's plan is to head south along the western side of the bay into Herring Bay and stay at Herrington Harbor South.  The distance is 23 nautical miles again and winds are expected to be light (around 2 kts in the morning growing only to 7 kts by mid-afternoon.

Summary of Costs

Last minute provisions - $18