Annapolis for the Fourth of July

We are in Annapolis MD waiting for the fireworks on the Fourth of July. How did we get here you may be asking?

We left Clubfoot Creek with plans to motor/sail to Belhaven NC for the night.  We moved along rapidly and we chose to motor through the Alligator-Pungo Canal and anchor at the other end by sundown.  The next day we continued on in the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) passing through Coinjock and picking a deep spot off the Waterway to anchor for the night.  At first light the next morning we pulled anchor and continued motoring to Norfolk.  By starting early and continuing late we were able to cut a day off the trip.  We arrived in Norfolk and anchored at Hospital Pont.  We were very surprised to find that our friends on Heavy Metal were in Hampton and were coming down to Norfolk.  We had last seen them in St Lucia three years ago.  It was really good to get together with them again.  We stayed in Norfolk for a few days and then moved up to Hampton to get ready to start up the Chesapeake Bay.  The next morning we started up the Bay stopping for the night in a little bay with a beach.  In the morning we dinghied ashore to check out the beach since it was part of a nature preserve.  Not finding much for shells, etc. we moved on up to Reedville.  Reedville is a small community that was the center for menhaden fishing.  Menhaden are a fish that are processed for its oil and the remaining product is used for fertilizer and feed.  If you are using fish oil for anything it is a good chance that it is menhaden oil.  At it's heyday there were eighteen processing plans but are now down to one.  We toured a very good museum explaining the history of area and the fishing.  From there we moved up the Great Wicomico River to visit with Tom and Sandy on Ananya.  They have a house here and a dock that will hold both of our boats.  We have a single-sideband radio and report in on several nets.  Tom and Sandy also check in regularly and invited us up when we got to the area.  We had a nice visit and look foreword to running into them as we both continue our travels.  From here we moved up to the Solomon's, and anchored up one of the creeks away from the marinas.  On the way up we were having a great spinnaker run and overtook Heavy Metal who were also going to the Solomon's.  We were surprised to get a call from our old friend Francie from Release and then Both Sides Now, letting us know she was in the area.  We have not seen her since before our last trip to the Bahamas. We were able to get together for breakfast and a visit while she was in town.  

From the Solomon's we jumped across the Bay and motored up the Choptank River to St Michaels.  We had toured the east side of the Bay one other time but did not come up as far as St Michaels.  We anchored in a small creek on the backside of town avoiding the congestion of the main harbor.  Upon our arrival we were greeted by Ron and Dee from Ursa Minor, another boat we are familiar with on the ssb radio nets.  We spent several days here where I toured the extensive museum, Cori checked out the shops and farmers market and we found many places for lunch and beverages, not to mention ice cream.  Cori wanted to stop at Tilghman Island since someone she follows on Instagram is there and would be at the farmers market Sunday morning.  Saturday morning we moved to the island anchored in a cove a couple of miles away and dinghied in Sunday morning.  Cori was able to visit, buy some fresh vegetables and then we walked over to a very nice restaurant for lunch.  On the way back we stopped at the harbor so see some of the last skipjacks (a sailboat used to harvest oysters) that are still  actively harvesting oysters in the Bay.  The local museum was open so we stopped and got a guided tour learning about the area.

The next morning we motored down to go through the bridge at Knapp Narrows to eliminate having to go out around the island.  We use two sets of electronic charts when navigating and it was good that we do since my chartplotter showed a very different bottom then what we found once we got back into the Bay.  From there we had another good spinnaker run up to Annapolis.  We came into the harbor and passed through the drawbridge and anchored up Spa Creek.  Our neighbor, Stanley, stopped by to make sure we were familiar with the rules and where things are.  We are next too a park and checked out the hiking trail.  We dinghied down to see if Charlie and Anina from Prism were home, we had seen them last year when we were here and visited for a bit.  From there we decided to dinghy down to the main harbor and stop in for an ice cream.  They have a part of the waterfront called "Ego Alley" where people motor down and back showing their boats off to the people in the harbor area and the people dining and drinking at the outdoor bars.  I decided to use the dinghy dock at the end of ego alley since it was close to the ice cream shop and of course I wanted to show off my fancy dinghy.  All was going well until I ran out of gas in front of the biggest bar.  We got applause from the patrons.  I quickly refueled and went on to the ice cream shop.  We returned to the boat with no further incidents.  

Since we will be sitting here through the fourth Cori got out our signal flags and we "dressed ship" stringing the flags from bow to the top of the mast and then to the stern.  We have received many compliments from the people that paddle, row and motor by.

This morning Cori made a grocery run and I worked on the generator so we could give the batteries a good charging.  After the fourth we will continue up the Bay to the Chesapeake-Delaware canal continuing sown the river to Cape May.  From there we will continue on depending what the weather allows us to do.