The Wanderings of Windspell: 2012-08-19

We had a month away from the boat while the winds on the Chesapeake Bay vaporized and the temperature and humidity soared. We thoroughly enjoyed our home in Muskoka during the month of July and got caught up with family and friends. There were also lots of swims and bike rides, runs and walks to somewhat restore fitness levels. Upon our return, we quickly re-stocked food, water and fuel then headed off to cruise new territory. We sailed across to the western shore to moor in Annapolis harbour. After a few attempts to get the dinghy outboard motor started, we hailed a water taxi to take us ashore. (The carburettor was gummed up again after leaving it sitting for 5 weeks.) We walked through the town exploring the State Capitol building standing on the spot where George Washington gave his resignation address. We visited St. Anne's Church where Francis Scott Key worshipped. He wrote the Star Spangled Banner . We also visited St. Mary's Catholic Church where Zimmerman, who wrote "Anchor's Away" was the organist. We slurped ice cream while listening to a bluegrass quintet perform by the waterfront.
The next day we were able to sail under Genoa in 12-17 knot winds southbound on Chesapeake Bay to Solomon's Island on the Patuxent River. We anchored in front of the Calvert Marine Museum with its historic screw-pile lighthouse. Because the sands are constantly shifting with the tidal currents, we learned the lighthouses were built on platforms with legs that screwed into the sandy bottom. We explored the old restored lighthouse discovering the bathroom (outhouse) that just emptied into the Bay, the icebox, coal-fired stove and the huge Fresnel lens used to shine a warning light out to vessels straying too close to Drum Point. The museum has exhibits that describe how the Bay has changed over time in its natural and human history. What a fabulous little museum!
The Patuxant River was pivotal in the final stages of the American war of independence from Great Britain in 1812 when Great Britain was actually simultaneously involved in three wars, one to help Canada stave off American invasion, another with France/Napoleon and the one centred in the Chesapeake Bay. The Americans were soundly defeated on the Patuxant River and the British went up the river and overland and sacked Washington. The British fleet however was later defeated near Baltimore further north. It was quite moving to be sailing in the same waters aboard Windspell that held so much history.
From Solomon's Island we headed north to the little town of Oxford on the Tred Avon River. It's a sleepy little town with beautiful homes and gardens dating back to the 1700s. This port is actually the oldest on the Bay and has seen many boom and bust cycles over the past 300+ years. We both enjoyed a scenic and interesting run through town and while Donna perused quaint streets in the afternoon, Walter visited old boat yards. It was a trip back in time. We spent a quiet night anchored in Dun Cove off Harris creek near Tilghman Island then made our way back to Spring Cove Marina early the next morning, a run of about 45 miles.
This cruise was a good test for the augmented battery bank we installed which allows us to run our electronics/refrigeration for much longer without having to run the engine to recharge the batteries. We are now proud of another coat of varnish on the woodwork and a second VHF radio has also been installed which has the capability of identifying commercial and private shipping (AIS) to avoid collisions in poor visibility and at night. The AIS receiver is integrated with our GPS chart-plotter so that the ships actually show up on our electronic display and we can see who they are, how close they will come to us and how long this will take. We can then call them by name to make sure we don't have an unfortunate encounter.
We are looking forward to having our daughter, Jenn, and her boyfriend, Eric, aboard with us in three days.They will be sailing with us for a week.We plan to head home one more time in September to winterize the house and we will start heading south by mid October. We hope to have two more sets of visitors prior to early October.

We'll keep you posted,

Donna and Walter