Honk if you're Happy

We arrived back at Great Kills in time to re-provision (in still more rain) and fuss over Windjammer having ignored her for so long.  Our Cap’n Trusty managed to work the tides just right and we had a great overnight ride, flying down the coast to Cape May, sucked up into Delaware Bay, funnelled into the C&D Canal and finally deposited into Chesapeake Bay.  We anchored up Sassafras River next to a huge flotilla of noisy honking Canadian geese briefing each other on the evening’s flight path.

Oh Good! Channel Markers Again!

What a dream run we’d had!  We did make some sacrifices of course.  The Cap’n kept himself busy practising his waving technique.  Few waved back.  And whilst GS didn’t have to swear and curse at little blood sucking black flies or engines that didn’t work, the weather was noticeably cooler.   So, we did the whole "rugged up kit and caboodle" again, this time without the down sleeping bag knee rugs .  The Motleys also donated yet another expensive lure to various creatures of the deep.  We can only imagine that they were whoppers….  The first lure was lost at sea somewhere over the Delaware Bay shoals and the second at sundowners (guaranteed an inconvenient time) on the Atlantic corridor.

Wall to Wall Boats

Looking at our watches, we realised we could make the last day of the Annapolis Sail Boat Show.  Baltimore or Annapolis?  Annapolis or Baltimore?  The Show was great and despite giving it our very best, we probably only covered about 1/3 -1/2.  It’s big….  Our bags were full of goodies, our feet sore from walking over any number of contenders for WJ4, and our jaws tired from yakking to experts.  We even found Clive from BVI Yacht Sales to report our various adventures since buying WJ3.  At show’s end, the fun is to buy a pint or a painkiller (Caribbean rum cocktail) and when the gun is fired, watch docks being dismantled and an expensive flotilla sail off into the sunset.  Beneteau have our award for best showing off.  Those new 50 foot designs could spin on a dime – and they did, much to the crowd’s admiration.  I'm guessing a few more would have been sold after that little display!

Historical Annapolis

Annapolis is actually quite an historical town.  The next day, Cap’n and crew took a trolley tour from the Visitors Centre then the usual, separate ways.  Guess who went to see the Naval Academy with its 180 ships models and 4500 midshipmen?  Not GS!  She headed for downtown Main Street to look at works by local craftspeople then on to see two historic houses – the Hammond-Harwood House, a colourful Georgian classic and the William Pacca House, home to a signee of the Declaration of Independence.  The latter has a picturesque pleasure garden which has recently found light of day after years of being covered by bitumen (a car park).  We biked back home in the dark to WJ3, happily floating on Weems Creek.  In our absence, “Monday Morning” had taken a USN mooring nearby.  She’s a timber classic and home to Boston Tom, whom we met during our stay at Deltaville.

A bustling Weems Creek at Boat Show Time

From: Great Kills, NY  Lat/Long: 40 32N  74 08W  Date/Time: 8/10/10: 1100

To: Weems Creek, MD  Lat/Long: 38 59N  76 30W  Date/Time: 10/10/10: 1540
Time Taken: 257nm (36hrs)  Distance (this year): 1587nm (275.5hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 5227nm (974.5hrs)   Fastest Speed: 9.2kts**
Weather: Winds W- NW 10-15kts G20kts; Seas 2-3ft; a bumpy Atlantic ride
(**7.8kts out NY Harbor, slowing to 5.4 (against current) at Ocean City then 9.2 up Delaware Bay & 8.6 through C&D Canal. A skittish WJ3 thinks she’s young again…)