You may recall from our last post, we have been biding our time waiting for an appropriate weather window to get on the Chesapeake Bay. After we left Portsmouth, we set out optimistically, only to find out neither the winds nor waves had laid down, as we arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake. This is big ship country and we passed by the huge American Norfolk Naval Station (75 ships, 134 aircraft, 275 military flights per day), as we exercised our Plan B contingency, enroute to a nearby marina at Hampton, Virginia to meet up with Spartina.
Once in Hampton we met up with our new/old friends Sarah and Phil, also heading north in their sailboat “Spartina” to their Chesapeake home on the eastern shore, across from Annapolis. We had first run across Spartina in Beaufort S.C., again in Belhaven N.C. and we have been almost inseparable for the last week waiting to get out on the Chesapeake. We have spent numerous evenings and meals together enjoying their company. Phil and Sarah have been sailing together for 40+ years and typically spend part of their winters in the Bahamas on Spartina. (Spartina is just astern of Catan in Hampton municipal marina)
The illusive weather window finally materialized and we were anxious to make the most of it, so we put in an 11 hour day under sunny skies, on perfect water conditions and arrived in Solomons, MD. We were very pleased to set the anchor that day and commence happy hour on the back quarterdeck, only to witness significant black, billowing smoke emanating from the marina across the bay. It did not take long for the story to unfold; a large boat had caught fire, the sirens were sounding, and the flames were leaping into the twilight sky. We sat memorized as another boat got a line on the burning vesel and pulled it free of the marina (and a lot of other boats). By the time the burning boat was pulled out into the open channel, a fire boat arrived to douse the fire with water, to no avail because nothing was going to stop all that diesel from burning off. The vessel partially sunk into the channel and will be dealt with in the coming days. Thankfully, no one was injured.
The next day we were up early, trying to get to Baltimore before a rain and possible thunderstorm was forecast to arrive by early afternoon. Off we go at daybreak (5:30 up, anchor up by 5:45). Not only was it foggy, but we also ran into hundreds of fishermen on the water. It was the opening of rockfish season and most of the way up to Baltimore it seemed like a parking lot full of boats…oh bother! As we had so many times before, we managed to meet up with Phil and Sarah one more time on the water and said our goodbyes as they parted east to their home.
As we approached the channel to turn into our marina for the night, we heard a PAN PAN notification from the Coast Guard that a man had just jumped off of the Key Bridge (located 200 yards ahead of us). The Coast Guard asked any vessels in the vicinity to proceed to the bridge and look in the water to assist the individual. We proceeded forward to the bridge and began scanning the water. We notified the Coast Guard that we were on the scene. Within 5 minutes, several police boats & Coast Guard vessels arrived. We monitored the radio conversation and pretty much stayed out of their way. Within another 10 minutes, we were notified that the individual had been assisted. And so, we turned around and proceeded to our destination. That was enough excitement for the day! We arrived at our “eat a meal” (or buy fuel) and stay for free marina just outside of Baltimore by early afternoon.
We are now waiting and watching for our next favourable weather window to cross Delaware Bay enroute to Cape May, NJ. Consequently, we are spending the weekend here in Baltimore, which suits us fine, since our last two early morning marathon days were taxing. The weather is rainy and cool, but this marina’s “Hard Yacht Café” more than makes up for it in terms of good food and a lively atmosphere (first photo below). We also spent a beautiful day today exploring downtown Baltimore. We could expound at length at our new found love of Baltimore but we will let the following pictures speak for themselves. BTW Uber has become a great resource on this journey! Lastly, we used this layover opportunity to investigate and resolve an alternator issue (the brushes needed to be replaced)…never a dull moment.
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