Weekend in Annapolis

Hanna? Hanna? Who/what the heck is Hanna? We thought she had left us, but alas, that sneaky storm affected the weather in Yorktown for way more than the storm’s one-day transit across our location. A cold front, which was held off by the tropical storm, merged with the rainstorms on Hanna’s southern side and proceeded to blow strong winds and drop mass amounts of rain on us for the next five days. Finally, we had a half day window on Friday, the 12th, and we took it.

It was rough for the first three or four hours, but we finally made it north of the convection area. The seas calmed, the swells smoothed out and the currents and wind worked in our favor. We were finally able to settle into a groove where we were making a steady 6.5 to 7 knots and running on both sails and engine. From that point on, it was a matter of keeping alert as we negotiated the twenty-hour run to Annapolis, MD.

We arrived in Annapolis at 5:30am, Saturday morning, and promptly dropped anchor off of the U.S. Naval Academy and went to bed as the sun started to rise. Gordon had spent most of the night avoiding freighters, barges and tankers while listening to FOX NEWS on the Sirius radio. I stayed with him until midnight and then went below to watch the FOX NEWS and WEATHER CHANNEL live feeds on Hurricane Ike. I did check on him every hour, as it was impossible to sleep. I was totally entranced at seeing the devastation happening in Texas. It brought back memories of watching the Katrina feeds, until our power went out on us and didn’t come back for 2 days. I pray all comes out well for the Texans and that people learn to leave when they are told to evacuate, ERIKA!! By the way, the trip here was fairly smooth and uneventful…that’s the third trip across the Chesapeake to be smooth!!!

After 4-5 hours of sleep and Schooner with her legs crossed, we were able to move to the Annapolis Yacht Basin and hard ground. Schooner was very appreciative! We walked all about town, with the first stop being the Pusser’s Landing, the factory rum store and grill. Saturday was quite warm, almost a record (91°), and we were still pretty tired and so, after finding a place to eat, we were back on board and fast asleep!!

Sunday started with Gordon’s (and Bob Evans) sausage gravy and biscuits. Not quite as good as the restaurants, but a close second!!! We did a couple of small projects, those lasting less that 2 hours apiece, and then spent some more time walking about town. Again, it was really hot and crowded with people and I think every midshipman at the Academy was on liberty. It’s pretty cool seeing all those people in uniform.

I was disappointed with being in Annapolis this weekend, though, as there were no soccer games scheduled at the Academy and the football game was away. We had to go back to the boat to watch soccer (MLS) on TV.

The Marina had cleared out by 2:00pm, as it was mostly weekend cruisers in for the weekend. Also, the wind was picking up and blew fairly strong most of the evening and was making the wind generator roar by the next morning. The last remnants of Ike are coming through today and tomorrow, but the temperature is to drop and become more normal!! (Highs in the 70’s)

We plan to move on in the morning, Tuesday, the 16th. Baltimore is the next stop, 28 nautical miles away. We plan to take in the aquarium, Camden Yards, and FOOD!!! Anyway, look for more on Baltimore in the next blog.