October 28, 2017-November 3, 2017
We left Anchorage Marina on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM headed for Annapolis. The morning was chilly and windy but warmed up nicely as the day continued. Unfortunately, we had a 20 knot head wind most of the way which made for a rocky ride. We arrived in Annapolis Harbor at 1:00 pm grabbing a mooring buoy. Bob grilled hotdogs for lunch and at 3:30 we tuned into the Penn State vs. Ohio State football game on our satellite radio. The game was exciting from beginning to end with PSU in the lead from the first kick off return for a touchdown to the 4th quarter. Ohio State was able to rally in the last quarter and win the game 39-38.
Jessica and Joe met us at Middleton’s Tavern (right on the waterfront in Annapolis) for a Bon Voyage celebration. After great drinks, food and fun, we headed back to the boat for the first night of our trip.
When we woke in the morning it was cold and rainy making us promise each other to leave on our trip earlier next year. Apparently we were lulled into thinking that the great fall weather we had in Baltimore this year might continue for awhile longer.
On Monday morning it was in the low 40’s when we woke up. Bob lit the fireplace and I baked some low carb muffins to warm the cabin up a bit. After showers, coffee and a shared bagel at City Dock Cafe we started our trip to Galesville at about noon. It was only a 2 hour trip, but it was windy and cold. We were happy to motor into the West River and drop anchor in a harbor protected from the wind.
There are several landmarks that I always take note of in this portion of the trip. First is the the “Star Spangled” buoy that marks the spot where Francis Scott Key observed the battle at Fort McHenry and wrote our national anthem. The buoy is just slightly north west of the Key Bridge that crosses the Patapsco River.
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| The buoy marks the spot where Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.” |
Next is the grand Bay Bridge which crosses the Bay from Sandy Point in Anne Arundle County to Kent Island on the Eastern Shore of the Bay.
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| The Bay Bridge is a 4.3 mile double span that opened in 1952. |
The final landmark is the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse that has been guarding that shoal since 1885.
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| This light marks our eastward turn into the West River. |
We left Galesville headed for Solomons Island to anchor out in one of our favorite spots on Mill Creek. The weather was still cool and we were anxious to continue south to warmer weather. In the morning we left Solomons, but when we entered the bay the wind was so strong (gusts up to 30 knts) and the waves so big that we turned around and went back to Solomons to get a slip at Zahnizer’s Marina. Several vessels near us in the bay turned back, too. We have never turned back before, but it was definitely the right decision. We took advantage of the stay at Zahniser's by getting showers, doing laundry, and taking the shuttle into the shopping area. Bob reworked our travel plan to make up for the day and we got a great night sleep with the heater warming up the cabin.
Making up for the day off we motored for 10.5 hours from first light to minutes before sunset. We made it to the New Point Comfort Lighthouse and tucked in behind it for the night. It’s another peaceful anchorage with beautiful scenery and wildlife.
Friday was another long and busy day. We motored into Norfolk Harbor just after lunch. The harbor is busy with Navy and commercial vessels.
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| Navy vessels are very impressive. |
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| The variety of color of the containers on this ship just begged me to photograph it. |
After navigating through Norfolk harbor and into the Intracoastal Waterway our challenge was making it through several opening bridges and the Great Bridge Lock and Bridge. It was smooth going, except for a brief problem with going aground, until we got up to the lock and found out that the lock was shut down to clean off debris from the gates. This delay set us back about 2 hours which made getting through the next opening bridge impossible. We made the decision to tie up to the free pier just south of the Great Bridge Bridge. It turned out to be a great place to stop.
Thanks for reading my blog.
My next blog will continue our trek down the ICW and into NC.
