Sept 8 -10 - Solomons Island, MD

Wednesday - Day 5 on the Chesapeake

Reedville, VA to Solomons, MD

A blusterday day of 15-25knots of wind is predicted, but at least it is from the SW.  Since we are headed north to Solomons, we have to move on today because the rest of the week is predicted to be equally windy, but with the wind blowing from the North (which puts it straight on the bow of the boat, meaning that we plow thru the waves with water coming into our face!).

It was quite a bumpy, rolly ride as we left Reedville and entered the Chesapeake.  There were 4-6ft swells so we were getting tossed around like inside a washing machine!  Yuck. I don't like this part.  Dan was at the helm while I was down below, picking up everything that got tossed around, including things we thought were securely locked in cupboards!

Fortunately, once we were several miles into the bay, and safely beyond Smith Point and Lookout Point (that mark the entrance to the Potomac River), we were able to set the head sail and mizzen sail (small sail in back) and just fly straight up the bay to our destination.  One tack!  7 hours, 7knots of speed, 47 miles!  The wind definitely picked up as the day progressed, and we were glad to make landfall arounf 5pm as the wind was gusting 25 knots.

Ahh! Nothing beats being safely at anchor after a tough day of sailing!

Our sailing buddy, Main Stay, showed up in the anchorage just after we did (good thing we left Reedville an hour before they did as they usually travel at 12 knots compared to our top speed of 7knots!).

We'll hang out here at Solomons through the weekend as our friends, Dan and Renee Devereaux arrive on Saturday.  Dan needs to change the transmission fluid and oil, and we hope to catch the Vikings season opener on TV!

Thursday - Sept 9:  

At anchor at Mill Creek, two days and counting until the Devereaux's arrive!.  We spent the morning walking around town, and in the afternoon, we used the dinghy to check out the marinas where we'd meet Dan and Renee on Saturday and found a much nicer place to stay that is  well worth the change in plans.  http://www.zahnisers.com/

Disappointing Thursday nite football, watching the Viking lose to the Saints.  We had been in a festive mood as we got into the dinghy, wearing our purple Viking tee shirts and headed over to Catamaran's Bar and Restaurant, where they have a gazillion TVs mounted on the wall. Definitely a sports bar.  The drinks are       2- for 1 out at the Tiki Bar, so it was at least a nice evening mood-wise!  

Friday, Sept 10:

Deverearux's arrive tomorrow! 

In the morning, we moved Maja over to a mooring ball just off the marina docks.  This gave us use of the marina facilities, including their free bikes!  So we biked around town and ended up at the grocery store where we completed loaded the baskets on the bikes, plus all we could carry on our handlebars!

But, the best part of this day had to be when we looked over at the boat anchored not to far from us.  Hmmmm, boat with orange stripe ... reminds us of Art and Mary Jane, from Brunswick.  As we wait, the stern of their boat swings around and we can tell for certain that the boat is "Break Away", and Art and Mary Jane are just a call on the VHS radio!  We had our best happy hour with them over on "Break Away".

How cool is that?