Labor Day 2022 Vacation - Day 12 - Baltimore, MD

 

To end everyone's suspense from yesterday's blog entry, they flew a minuscule flag at Ft. McHenry.  Winds were high (17 to 20 kts) and it was another ride in a washing machine.

They day started peacefully at the horse farm cove.  I watched the sunrise while listening to the roosters crow.  Given the intense clouds, I assumed we would be in for a rough ride to get up to Baltimore.  Still, the sunrise yielded some beautiful colors both in its nature and its effect.

We departed around 9:00 AM and while Vicky did the bucket brigade thing to wash down the anchor, I did a slow loop around the cove so I could capture the main attraction.

This time I was expecting a rough ride... I had heard the wind in the upper rigging while back at anchor.  Initially, it was more pleasant and today the visibility remained high until we turned into Baltimore Harbor.  

As we first entered the bay we could clearly see the Baltimore Light (1 nm away) and Rock Hall in the background (8 nm away).  Once again the wind was pushing us onto the nearby land as I motored along the Maryland shoreline.  While initially, it seemed a bit calmer than yesterday, I was still getting hit in the face with sea spray.

Enough cloud cover that I could go hatless

I saw on the chart plotter that a ship was coming out of Baltimore and then realized another military vessel was heading towards Baltimore from behind me.  I decided to stay out of the channel... perhaps 0.5 nm towards shore... and sure enough shortly after I decided this a police patrol boat that was escorting the military vessel passed me on the starboard side.  A coast guard vessel soon followed.

As we made the turn into Baltiomore (the same one that the Ever Forward missed), the seas got particularly rough.  At one point we heard crashes coming from below and Vicky started to go below to investigate, but I had to yell at her to stay sitting.  Three larger waves were heading right at us (once the first one hit, she agreed that she needed to stay sitting).  These waves turned out to be "coffee chuckers", throwing Vicky's coffee across the cockpit.  This triggered a really cute internal conflict between my beloved's cleaning OCD and her brain telling her "you can't stand upright right now".  The end result was that the portion of the mess that could be cleaned up with her foot using a wet paper towel was cleaned, but this mess below in the far corner had to wait until after we docked for the main wash down.

Submitted as evidence that a boat can be dirty and continue to function

We turned into Baltimore harbor and the view was just plain erie... low intense clouds dominated any view.  Fog and mist obscured everything and I realized I had never traversed into Baltimore on anything other than a sunny day.

It was mainly after we passed under the Key Bridge that I realized this time was different.  We later learned that today was arrival day for Baltimore's Fleet Week.  The military vessel that passed us earlier was clearly there along with the coast guard vessel and this Danish (I think) tall sailing ship.  There were numerous tug boats and fire boats spraying water into the air and lots of security patrols.

There was also the normal traffic we see in Baltimore which was much heavier this being a Wednesday rather than our more typical Saturday excursions into the city.

This is smaller than the "small" flag I've seen before at Ft. McHenry
(I believe they have an historical flag pole that can't take the loads, so 
they change the size of the flags based on the wind speed.)

We made it to the marina a little after 12:30 and tied up on D-dock.  The afternoon included getting checked in, pumped out and filling the water.  Vicky of course scrubbed down Seas The Day.

During the afternoon we checked on Yelp and decided on Cinghiale, an Italian restaurant just across the street from our marina.  It was a wonderful last feast out and about, for tomorrow we head back to Rock Hall.

Our selected meats and cheeses

I had a mushroom lasagne and Vicky had roasted duck

We arrived back at Seas The Day stuffed to the gills.  I took a few night time photos and later enjoyed my nightcap.  Vicky crashed and went right to sleep after getting back.

As I noted above, tomorrow we head back to Rock Hall.  Its an easy (and familiar) trip across the Chesapeake Bay.  Let's hope the weather is as nice as the forecast this time.

Summary of Costs

Dockhand tips - $20

Oasis Marina at Harbor East - $187 (1 night)

Cinghiale - $261

Total for this section - $468