Meandering through the Middle Bay

"Point No Point" Lighthouse, former home of another
lonely lighthouse keeper.  Note the outhouse on left side.

After staying at this Boathouse Marina for a month, which cost only $250 for the entire month, we departed southbound on Friday August 15.  As we left the Colonial Beach area, we heard the big guns from Dahlgren Naval Weapons Testing Facility, just to the north.  Their firing range was “hot”, which means they were conducting live firing into the middle of the Potomac River!  As Captain of my vessel, I made an “executive decision” to stay near the southern edge of the River, outside the danger zone.  Of course, my Admiral readily acknowledged my decision-making skills!

Cove Point Lighthouse - pretty setting

As we exited the Potomac River, turning north in Chesapeake Bay, we experienced the turbulent water for which the Potomac is famous.  The Potomac flows a huge amount of fresh water into the Bay, which at times joins with a strong ebb tidal current.  When all that water hits a wind from the opposing direction, a pretty mean wave pattern builds.  Good thing that we secure all our belongings inside the boat before we leave each morning.

Maybe we WON'T go swimming today!

 

We anchored for two nights in a creek off the Solomons Island area, hoping to launch our dinghy to go eat crab at our favorite restaurant in this area.  But we couldn’t get the motor started to run the 1-1/2 miles to the restaurant, so we rowed ½ mile to a nearby art museum/sculpture garden & tied up at their dock & enjoyed a nice afternoon.

In the Bay, off Cove Point, is a huge LNG terminal

We thought about going swimming, but that thought soon vanished after seeing the multitude of sea nettles (jellyfish) floating past the boat.  They were so numerous that we sucked one through our raw water intake for our air conditioning & plugged the intake.  We couldn’t clean the critter off the hull strainer until the next day when we ran the boat fast (yes, Clint, “fast” is a relative word).

At the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and old
"Marine Railway" to haul boats out of the water,
long before the existence of a Travelift

We cruised over to the Eastern Shore of the Bay to visit the quaint town of St. Michaels, whose history goes back to the 1600’s.  But we found that the marina prices were about $3.75 per foot per night (they get a lot of rich folks coming over from Annapolis & Baltimore).  For us, that would be almost $200 per night for dockage (remember that we paid only $250 for a full MONTH at our last marina).  Instead, we found a way through the back door, to run up a creek on the south side of St. Michaels, drop the hook, and take the dinghy to a free public dock at the edge of town.   But we still managed to leave our share of tourist money with them.

A restored Skipjack, built to harvest oysters.  Maryland
passed a law that the watermen couldn't use powered
boats to harvest oysters, so it had to be a sailboat.

We ended up anchoring for 6 consecutive nights since leaving Colonial Beach, the longest period that we’ve done so.  On Thursday we traveled the 15 miles over to Oxford MD to a marina, so we could refill fresh water tanks, get a pumpout, and do some laundry.  Also, the Admiral needed to eat some more crab.  After two nights here, we’ll head up the Bay towards Baltimore.  We’ll stay a couple nights at a marina where “Loopers” (members of America’s Great Loop Cruising Association) get cheap dockage.  I’ll pay only $15 per night.  Then next week, we go into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for the week to see more history & maybe even take a shot at Fort McHenry (with the camera, of course).

In St. Michaels, a restored wooden boat with the
yacht club burgee, out for a row around the harbor
(then they will probably go play lawn croquet)

 

In Oxford MD, a "log canoe" is towed out for the races.
This sailboat was actually hollowed out from a log, a
common method to build oyster boats along the Bay.
It is tradition to have a woman sitting aft, watching the
trim of the aft sail

Log canoe racing.  Note the sailors on the outriggers and
the lady sitting aft watching sail trim.

More races on a rainy Saturday outside Annapolis.
I think we kinda cut across their route.

Thomas Point Lighthouse, off Annapolis. This is the
most photographed lighthouse on the Bay, so I
had to join the masses.

Cruising in the ship channel towards Baltimore, we happen
to look astern & saw this guy at 3 miles and closing.
We figured that the big guys have "right of way"