Annapolis

We spent 3 days in Still Pond Creek, waiting out the winds. The anchorage was quite protected so we only got a few gusts of wind, but could hear and see the wind blowing the trees around us. The first day it poured rain all day, so we spent the day inside reading, playing scrabble and crib. The rain let up in the evening so we were able to go to our favourite restaurant, chez Chautauqua for dinner.

So we have been talking about catching crabs ever since we entered the Chesapeake. We read up on it, and you are allowed to catch a certain amount for your own consumption, and with all the crab pots around we decided to give it a shot. We had some leftover chicken and tied it to a string with a small weight on the end to keep it at the bottom of the river. We took the dinghy out with our makeshift net and dropped the line. I kept thinking a crab had taken hold but no luck. We tried a few spots and eventually gave up. I dropped the line of our boat and left it while we went over to my parents boat for lunch. When I got back, I checked the line and a crab was hanging on to it… of course at the time I had no net and was unprepared, so did not actually get it, but for the rest of the afternoon we tried. At evening time, we pulled up the line and there was a crab on it, and this time we were prepared and caught it into our net! It was very exciting, but unfortunately the crab was only small and so we threw it back. We caught another one but suspect it was the same one. We hope to try again further down the bay, as we’re told that they prefer saltier waters.

The only other excitement was when Second Wind went aground! Yes, with our 1 foot 7 inch draft, we went aground on a sand bar in Still Pond Creek, and had a hell of a time getting off. We tried reversing, going forward, tilting the boat over with our body weight…ahh the embarrassment… Dad came over with the dinghy and helped us tilt the boat over further and we reversed hard and were able to get off the bar…. Lesson learned: do not cut corners in the marked channel especially on in a shallow creek

So Sunday September 17, the winds had settled and we were to head out towards Annapolis and anchor in a creek just to the north of the city. We set out early and were looking forward to a great day of sailing as the wind was supposed to be 5-10 knots from the NW which was directly behind us… but when we got out of the creek, it was directly in the direction we were heading (of course) and so we had to motor out a bit way, and had plans to raise the sails when we noticed that the boat was not going the way Sal was steering. I looked behind the boat and there was our RUDDER! Dragging behind us. (thank goodness that the line was still attached to it) The bolt must have come off somehow. So Sal and I pulled the rudder onboard and our parents came back and towed us into the next creek. They anchored and dinghy us to shore, where we anchored in about 3 feet of water. Sal and I put on our wet suits and water shoes and waded into the very cold water!!! We struggled for about 30 minutes in the murkey water trying to get a spare bolt to keep the rudder attached. Boy were we cold afterwards. A hot coffee and multiple layers warmed us up to stop the shivering. We decided to continue on, not as far as originally planned but so that we were closer to Annapolis. We made it to Swan Creek without any further incidences. Exhausted, we slept like babies.

Yesterday we made it to Annapolis. We were hoping to anchor, but with all the development, and a million or so mooring balls, there was hardly any room left so we took up a mooring ball for $25/night. We went ashore and explored. What a neat town. The downtown has many boutique type shops and lots of restaurants and ice cream places. We explored a bit and decided that we would stay another day in order to see more and also my parents had to get some replacement parts for their dinghy (they lost an oar). Today we walked uptown and went to a mall and bookstore and marine stores…needless to say we spent a lot of money, but had a lot of fun. We took the bus back and went to a restaurant with ½ price appetizers and drinks! I even got a long awaited ice cream – strawberry Oreo, delicious! Tomorrow we have a bit of work to do on the boat, my dad has to pick up a few more things from the marine store, and we should be on our way…destination: to be determined tomorrow.