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Cool Breeze does the Chesapeake / Annapolis

Posted 2 months, 23 days ago

Cool Breeze does the Chesapeake / Annapolis
We motored out of Mill Creek and back into the Patuxent, past the entrance to the Solomons Creeks and raised the sails.  We headed back out to the Bay, proper, and then turned north, but not before we had some close encounters with numerous crab traps.  The winds were pretty light as they generally are in the morning and from the direction predicted, so we were doing well.  We knew it would be a long day to Annapolis, but we had gotten a fairly early start.  At one point we shut the motor off and sailed, but in looking at the GPS, that added almost 2 hours to our trip, so we turned the motor back on and motor sailed.  By noon, the wind and waves had increased to 20 knots and 4-5 feet respectively.  Fortunately, the waves were behind us, so we sailboat surfed.  We were having a hard time with wing-on-wing, so Bill finally gave up and took in the head sail.  We took a troublesome wake from a big yacht which caused a wine glass to fly out of what we thought was a safe rack and it shattered on the counter.  By the time we made the turn into Annapolis, the wind was reading between 25 and 27 knots, and the main sail still had to come down.  The harbor was crowded with sailboats, but eventually we turned into the wind and Bill, with life vest on, secured the main sail.  We found our marina, fueled up and eased into our slip.  Honestly, docking is a very stressful time, especially when the fairways are as narrow as these, but we did dock successfully.  We called Bill’s cousin, and by the time we’d gotten the boat secure, they arrived to provide us with “shore leave” and two extraordinary wonderful days at their lovely home.  Bill, our host, is a graduate of the Naval Academy, a retired Captain, and a veteran of the Viet Nam War.  We couldn’t have asked for a more gracious host and hostess than Bill and Dianne.  We were treated like royalty and wined and dined.  It was wonderful to sleep in a real bed and get showers without having to wear our flip flops.  The first night we ate at a wonderful buffet.  We had a tremendous storm blow through, and though there were many limbs down in their yard and lots of rain, we had a good night’s sleep.  The next day we were taken on a terrific tour of the Naval Academy.  Bill certainly knows it well and gave us access to areas where “No Visitors Beyond This Point” were allowed.  We were enthralled to learn of many of the traditions of The Academy, to hear the many stories of Bill’s experience both in the Academy and in the Navy, and to see the Academy up close and personal.  At the Navy Chapel we arrived just in time to hear a small choral group singing a beautiful hymn.  If you ever get the chance to visit the church, please do so.  There are breathtaking Tiffany stained glass windows and soaring arched ceilings. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity and to have been able to spend time with them.  We had another wonderful meal at LeJeunes Steak House – probably the best filet I’ve ever eaten, and fully sated, we headed back to their home in another downpour.  By the time we got to their home, the garage door would not open, which meant the power was off.  Dianne had a supply of candles ready, as they live in a heavily wooded area, so they often have power outages from limbs that blow onto the lines.  We went to bed soon thereafter, had another peaceful night and enough hot water for one more shower the next morning, even though the power was still out.  We headed downtown for breakfast at a very famous deli called Chick ‘N Ruth’s, where there is always a booth reserved for the mayor of Annapolis, and patrons stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at 8:00.  Photos of the famous, and not so famous, line the walls.  While we were there, we ran into the sailors from Pao Hauna and Grizabella, who were at the Annapolis Docks.  It was fun to see our friends, who will be headed back to their home when they leave Annapolis.  We walked the quaint, narrow streets of downtown Annapolis and went to the Hayword-Hammond House dating back to the 1700’s.  We had a great tour guide, Meg, who certainly knew her history.  There wasn’t a question from the group that she couldn’t answer.  After the home tour we went by St. Mary’s Church.  There is a beautiful prayer garden there as well as an Adoration Chapel.  We stopped inside the church and were treated to a practice session of what appeared to be second or third graders, singing a lovely song about a rainbow, complete with colored scarves.  How precious they were!  We headed back home where the power was still out, but had a tasty lunch before heading to the commissary to stock up on groceries before going back to the marina.  We bade Dianne and Bill farewell and I worked on my blog after finding a place for all those groceries, and Bill set in waypoints for the next day.  We had a quick, early dinner and early bedtime. Full Story »

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