38 51.475N 76 10.784W

Anchored in Shaw Bay just off the Wye River in a very wide anchorage with few boats yet. We expect more as it is the last weekend before the boat show. We left Annapolis after getting some fuel and ice about 10 AM. Winds were 15 to 20 with gusts to 25 from the North. Waves 2 to 3 feet. Downwind mostly with only the jib up doing 5½ knots gently. No clouds at all. Very very pleasant.

Annapolis

A little farther up the Chester then a very nice sail to Annapollis Harbor. We tried to stay for the boat show but they are kicking us off the mooring. On Sat, after the front comes thru, we take off for the Eastern Shore. We have a reservation at Mears Marina in Oxford for Wed-Sat and will rent a car to see the boat show on Thur and Fri.

Hazards of the Chesapeake

We are now in the Corsica River at 39 04.590N 79 07.577W . Last night was cloudless and Orion stood out like jewels. It is like a picture postcard. That is until you look down to see millions and millions of pure white jellyfish. No swimming here! Hopefully none will be sucked up into the water cooling system, clogging up the filters And that is after leaving the Sassafras river and running the gauntlet of crab pots which line the 2 or 3 mile entrance to the river. There used to be a no pot lane but it is also full of pots. We’re not talking a few and you just alter course a little. We’re talking doing figure eights in a strong current with 15 knots of wind with black pots which disappear under water with the waves and current. So, as long as you don’t look down too closely and get through the pots it is ideal. But we are still the only boat at a very large anchorage and the sun is out with a light building wind. All in all very positive.

Corsica River

Just off the Chester River and next to Emory Creek. How could we refuse. Well protected and almost empty. Ran down the Chesapeake with a good wind which didn't last very long and we were inundated with flies. Many dead and a few wounded and the battle isn't over yet. They seem to like my ankles. AAAARG!

39 22.379N 75 55.649W

What a difference a day makes

We left about 6:30 AM. What had been a 4 foot rip current chop became a 4 inch rip current chop. We arrived in Chesapeake City on the C & D canal just before 6 PM. We are now anchored at 39 31.541N 75 48.439W on Google Earth.

Most dangerous part of sailing

The most dangerous part of sailing is having a schedule, either real as in picking up a crew somewhere at a particular time, or imaginary. For the next week it looks like a NE wind 10-15 with higher gusts coming down the Deleware River. We want the current to be with us, that is flowing north. The combination leads to choppy seas and very slow going. We tried it yesterday. At times we were halted completely by chop. Then the starboard engine overheated. I thought we were going to have to replace the impeller so we went back to harbor with the jib and one engine. Turns out that the strainer was clogged and when it was all cleaned out the engine was working fine. Also cleaned out the port strainer. Cape May is not a bad place to hang out.

On our way

We left Thursday about 4:30 and motored-sailed overnight. Friday the wind came up a little and we were able to handle the jib and main in 10 knots of breeze mostly hobby horsing. We kept the starboard engine on to keep the speed up and got to Cape May about 6 PM. & anchored almost in the channel for the night with lots of large fishing boats coming and going. Sat morning we moved away from the channel only to have the wind shift and pick up with gusts to 30. We ended up pretty close to another boat, even with 2 anchors out. Since we needed to get fuel and let off George Merz we went into a marina and decided to stay for the night.
Florrie has been doing a sterling job of keeping the crew well fed. Pancakes, toast and Salmon omelets for breakfasts, sanwiches for lunch, Salmon one night and a meetball stew the next. It is all good.
Lew
Hi All,
Well..."it’s all good" depends on your perspective. I HATE hobby horsing for 26 hours, even on this much more stable boat! Anytime I went below my stomach wanted to stay upside! (Unless I was lying down.) So the reality is, I just plain don’t like off-shore sailing. Give me a calmer Bay anytime.
BUT, that admitted, I am delighted to be in Cape May! It is basically a marsh with channels cut through it. There is a big commercial fishing fleet here and the Coast Guard is aware of everything that comes and goes. It’s funny to hear them radio to some passing boat to put it’s running lights on. Lew & George did a sterling job of keeping this boat going. They both loved all the nautical stuff. I even did a 4 AM - 8 AM watch, all by myself, while they slept. (That is a huge first for me.) Sunrise was truly spectacular, just a smear of hot pink above the long dark arc of the earth. All of a sudden the center of the pink turned orange, then creamsicle orange and a glowing ball burst over the horizon.
This morning as we saw George off to the taxi to get busses back to Staten Island, we watched egrets or small cranes in the marshes by the marina. It is all sky, marshes and boats here. Osprey circle the docks. Seagulls are everywhere, of course. It finally feels like we’re on vacation.
I’m starting a couple of new paintings for the show in Nov. and have to get to it while we’re steady on the dock. Tomorrow, going up the Delaware Bay is going to be difficult for any art.
So that’s it for my two cents. Today it IS all good.
Love to All,
Florrie

Home to Sassafrass River

Proposed trip without showing stops at Atlantic City and/or Cape May. Click on map to enlarge it.

Test

This is a test of the feature that allows me to post via email. We are still in Keyport awaiting a weather window and final preparations. Gabrielle has passed and we will get a little rain and then it should clear and we could go on Wed.

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FREE

Here is a FREE program for keeping boat records you can download. The download is in two parts: the original and an update once you have downloaded the first one. If you get a message to load .NET be sure to get the 1.1 version, not the 2.0. ".NET" is from Microsoft and is also free. The program is very easy to use. One issue is that if you want to print a report, the program sets up a preview which, on my computer, doesn't open. However, if you click on it then click "control P" it prints anyway. To get it, click on the title above. One of the best parts of this program are the tide charts. Also the weather faxes work really well and are fast although I haven't been able to figure out how to change them from the Southeast to the Northeast. But they should be helpful when I go south.

While I'm at it, there is also a great FREE forum at http://www.cruiserlog.com/forums/ with many topics and a crewfinder. This is a non-commercial site so don't expect to find a crewing position that pays. On the other hand, you won't be asked to pay more than a share of the food and your own travel expenses either. This is the time of year that people need crews to go south.

Guess where everyone ended up on the raft? About 7 boats got together on Sunday despite rocking and rolling on Labor Day weekend. We got there about an hour after it was scheduled to begin only to find that we were the first ones there. So we set an anchor and became the center boat. Having the largest cockpit, naturally we became the hangout. Monday was fluke fishing day. George, Ronnie and I managed 3 keepers (NY=19 inches).

Always something

It's always something. Put the rebuilt starter back on only to find that they reversed one of the connectors and there is no way to connect it. Took off the starter and rewired the connector then reinstalled the starter. Didn't work at all. Reconnected the wires (I had forgotten one) and it fired up the engine right away. While the engine was running and I was doing my happy dance, I noticed the engine room was full of smoke. OH #$%#! Cleared out the smoke and fired it up again while watching it. Turns out the exhaust hose had sprung a leak and was shooting water all over the engine producing steam. Luckily the hose was long enough to reconnect after cutting off the bad part. If course one of the hose clamps broke. Good thing I keep spares. Reattached and seems to be working. All in only 4 hours.
We also started another blog for the longer descriptions of the trips:
http//www.sailblogs.com/member/catamaranharmony/