We almost made it

I know its a beautiful picture but just ten minutes later we couldn't see the end of our noses so had to wait two hours until it cleared up, so much for our early start!

By 9:30 am we were on our way, steaming south at 7 knots dodging crab pots and Pelicans. By 1:20 pm we were crossing the mouth of the Patomac River with company on the port side!

It became clear with winds building and seas becoming more and more choppy that we weren't going to make our desired location of Jackson Creek. Instead at 3:58 pm we did an abrupt right turn and made for Mill Creek. On the way in we saw a pair of Bald Eagles sitting on stakes in the bay then another pair on the nearby beach. We are now in Virginia.

At 4:20 we dropped anchor and settled down for the night. We'll see how far we get tomorrow - maybe York River before the assalt on Norfolk and the swamp canal!



Its too cold to sail

We have to move south but not today! All we are doing today is moving to another marina, spread the money around and besides its closer to town. Did you see all that snow up north and I'm not talking about Canada!

As you can see the sky is clear and its sunny but the temperature is only 3 degrees feeling like minus 1 with the wind blowing at 11 knots gusting to 22 knots. What can I say a couple of old farts feeling the cold. The guys with colds have suffered a relapse - wont take the pills I've been taking and feeling great thank you!

So if the weather does what the forecast says it will do tomorrow the plan is to put in a long day all the way to Deltaville and then again on Tuesday all the way to Norfolk and the Dismal Swamp. After the weather we have seen these last few days Dismal is looking mighty inviting right now.

Our membership is growing - being new to this game I'm not sure what we do or can do with the fact! If anybody knows email me the details. Thanks for signing up in any event your presence is warmly appreciated.



We got to get further south!

It is not a nice day today but never the less we walked to the Calvert Marine Museum. It was surprisingly busy. Jeff and I were sitting in the vestibule when a mother came in with three girls who were maybe six or seven. They imediately saw the Mermaid Board where you stick your head in for a picture. One stuck her head in and the other looked at the result, "Oh look" she said "You have boobies" and proceeded to poke said appendages on the board. We had to chuckle!

It was an interesting place with aquariums and historic exhibits including a tank with Rays swimming round and Star Fish etc. The tank with Jelly Fish was neat as you can see.

Old Lighthouse

Isn't this pretty!

Got to go, the boys are going out to empty the dingy. One less thing to do tomorrow morning before we leave.



Mission accomplished

We left at 7:48am a little later than we wanted but not bad. Any earlier and we would have been fumbling around in the dark. As it was we couldn't have asked for a fonder farewell.

Departing Magothy River

At 8:20 we raised sail and enjoyed a run under the Bay Bridge to almost the half way point where the wind dropped so that power sailing was the only option if we were to make Solomon Island in time. Not many sail boats but larger boats were in abundance.

Under the Bay Bridge

This guy was anchored

It got colder as we headed south - hopefully this is not a trend. The weather forecast is calling for snow if you can believe it. Wayne wasn't taking any chances of a repeat performance with the cold and bundled up with layer after layer untill he was barely recognizeable.

Who was that masked man?

We pulled into Harbour Island Marina at 5:40pm tied up and started supper, Ham steaks, Corn and Scallop Potatoes yum! Jeff is threatening to stay in bed tomorrow Wayne and I will go in search of Ice Cream!

They do say the hardest part of any trip is casting off!

Weather forecasts are calling for snow on Saturday! Wayne is feeling better so we are planning to leave tomorrow morning heading for Solomon Island.

Regarding the Google Map Location - its not accurate enough so we will post our exact location according to our hand held GPS. If you haven't got it download Google Earth and copy the posted position and paste it into Google Earth. This way you can see where we are to within 10 feet! Now thats accurate.

You know you have bought a cheap Frying Pan when using it you realize you forgot to take the label off the bottom! There are going to be issues on the way, this is to be expected but we hoped setting fire to  the boat wasn't going to be one of them!

Our home for the next 4-6 weeks

Renrod will be our home for the next four to six weeks. She is a 1987 42' Sabre that  Jeff bought here in MD four years ago. Her name is Jeffs mothers maiden name spelt backwards and the reason he chose it is because his boating life started on her side of the family back in 1963 on a 37' Chris Craft.

Our start has been delayed as one member of the crew is a little under the weather so has arranged to see his doctor to get a clean bill of health before we leave. Better safe than sorry!

I have installed a Google Map Location gadget so visitors will have some idea as to where we are. It does not appear to be entirely accurate as you can see, but close enough.

Could this be the start of something great?

Jeff  Hammill (Captain) has decided to move Renrod (Sabre 42) south, so naturally we his friends (for now) offered to help.

Hi! My name is Dave Jackson (retired), Jeff and I met at Humber Sailing Club in Toronto almost four years ago and have been sailing together at every opportunity ever since.

Wayne Winokur (also retired and yes we will get a better picture) a fellow sailor on the Magothy River is the third member of this motley crew. We are assembling at the Magothy Marina next week and hope to get underway a.s.a.p. Stay tuned!