Date: June 6, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 52
From: Tangier Island, VA
To: Solomon's, MD
Statute Miles: 50.1
Time: 5.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 1,371.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We are in Solomon's, MD tonight!
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| Solomon's, MD, Southwest of Washington, DC |
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| Solomon's in relation to the East Coast |
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| Last night at Tangier Island |
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| Last night at Tangier Island |
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| Parks Marina this morning |
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| Crab processing facility |
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| Susan and Maggie ready to rumble to Solomon's |
Today was the worst day of my cruising career! We left Tangier Island at 7:50 AM, hoping to get ahead of high winds that were forecast for after 12:00 PM. We headed Northwest once we got into the bay. The wind was from the Southeast, which meant that we had a following sea. I soon learned that "Blue Moon" hates following seas with wind at her back. Wallowing is a good description of what we did for 5 hours. The following sea made the auto pilot unusable, so it was steering to the left then to the right all day to counteract the wind and wave action on the boat.
We did a 12 mile leg to get across the bay then an 18 mile leg North past the WIDE mouth of the Potomac River, then two 6 mile legs to get to the mouth of the Patuxent River. The last hour and a half, the wind would turn us 30 to 40 degrees and heel the boat over. I had to just let the boat go then turn it back in the general direction of where I wanted to head. It was not all that rough, even though the waves were as big as they were Tuesday. It was not rough because we were surfing the waves as they came from our stern. We were not pounding into them. The worst part was not being able to control the boat when we got hit with wind gusts.
Once we got up into the Patuxent River, we got behind a lee shore and the water flattened out. Solomon's is a confusing harbor off the river. We got turned around coming into the entrance and had a hard time finding the marina. We are staying at Zahniser's, which is a very nice marina amongst many that are here in Solomon's. Solomon's is an old sailing and yachting town that is centrally located on the Bay.
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| Coming into Solomon's |
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| Coming into Solomon's |
Needless to say, We were very glad to get tied to the dock and be able to decompress. If someone had come by and made me a decent offer, I would have handed over the keys to "Blue Moon" on the spot. We can't take many more days like today. After two atrocious days out of three on the Chesapeake Bay, I am not a raving fan.
When we came down from the flybridge, we saw the havoc that the run up the Bay had wreaked on the cabin. I can't begin to describe, so I took some pictures. The bird fared OK, but the table that her cage is on slid across the cabin and blocked the rear doors. Susan had tied her cage down with bungee cords to keep it from falling over. The cat spent the trip hunkered down in his litter box. Maggie rode with us on the flybridge and was not phased by the action.
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| Chairs moved and stuff strewn about the cabin. Cat came out of his hiding place! |
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| What a mess in the galley! |
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| Extra charts went flying... strewn on the floor of the galley! |
Susan took Maggie to the Vet here in Solomon's after we docked and ate lunch. They were very nice and treated her ears and gave her some meds. We were glad to get this treated.
My cousin John called this evening and we had a great chat. We will meet him at SkipJack Marina on the Sassafras River week after next. He keeps his boat there.
Also talked with my cousin Pam tonight, and she and husband Clark will join us for lunch in Oxford, MD on Sunday!
We will stay in Solomon's tomorrow and try to head to Oxford, MD on Saturday. There is a tropical storm heading up the East coast, and it looks like it will pass over the Chesapeake on Saturday, so our plans may be changing.
Are we having fun yet?
Thanks for Reading!
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