On to Annapolis

Officer Christopher


US Naval Academy



After Dan drove off into the sunrise we hoisted the anchor and followed suit, back into Chesapeake Bay hoping for good winds and a fair tidal current to speed us on our way. Today was another “thunderstorms in the afternoon” day and we wanted to get to Annapolis before getting bombarded. Turned out to be just that way. We scooted along nicely for most of the day although the wind wasn’t nearly as nice as it was sailing with Dan the day before. So it was an emphasis on “motor” for a motor sailing day. When we approached Annapolis it got a bit hairy as there were many boats out doing their own thing but also some Navy training ships (small ones) doing manoeuvres. We had a few moments of nervous hesitation as one of these would stop and pirouette right in front of us and the take off in another direction. While over to our side navy zodiacs were zipping and swerving around like crazy doing something of the utmost importance, or so it seemed. Fun and games at the US Naval Academy!
At Annapolis we turned into the Back River to look for a good anchoring spot. This river is wall-to-wall marina with loads of beautiful sailboats to gawk at. Good anchoring spots though are hard to find. We ended up anchoring right beside a small mooring field. Right beside meaning a bit too close for comfort, but the winds were fairly light and all the moored boats were behaving – for now. After we were snuggled in at our spot Ab and Karen from Whippoorwill stopped by. They are a boat from Port Stanley ON that we have met at different times along the way. Ab was kind enough to direct me to the hardware store because our sink in the head (bathroom) blew the faucet line out.
We also met the crew from Mystic, a 63 foot sailboat that sailed around from San Francisco, through the Panama Canal to here. What a ride!
Next morning we dinghied ashore for a few errands and to see parts of Annapolis we missed our first time here. Being the capital of Maryland it has a beautiful old section of town with the old government buildings that are still in use. One fun Police Officer offered Christopher a turn on his trike segue (see picture). We also had a wonderful time visiting the Naval Academy. What a place! It is THE training centre for the Navy and it has a superb visitors centre to show off what they’ve done and how many famous people and astronauts have come out of that school. Quite impressive.
That night, after the faucet got fixed, the threatening skies came good on their word and we had a doozy of a storm. We spent a lot of time watching out for the boats on the moorings as we swung every which way and came in awfully close to one of the boats. Fortunately we avoided any impact but agreed that staying there another night wouldn’t be wise.