Annapolis, Here We Come!

Sunday, October 2, 2016

I got up at 6:30 to bake my homemade bread.  We lifted anchor at 8:00, so we ate our warm bread with honey and peanut butter on the go.

Today, we are headed for an anchorage on Weem's Creek in Annapolis. There are mooring balls there that are owned by the Annapolis Naval Academy, but they let boaters use them.  The only catch is that if there is a named storm they will kick us out so they can put their own boats there. Hmmmm, I think we can take that chance.

It is grey, grey, grey again!  Grey sky, grey water, grey clouds.  Ugh. I'm even wearing my grey jacket. As soon as I get to Annapolis I'm changing into something sunny yellow. Maybe it will influence Mother Nature. Haha.

On the way, a huge power boat passed us. It was silver--yes, like a silver bullet--and 115 feet long. Wow, quite impressive!  He did slow down when he approached, but he still left a HUGE wake. We watched a small fishing boat just about get swamped, but they didn't go over. Phew!
Everyone drives their boats as fast as possible around here, with no thought whatsoever about their wake.  It's weird how oblivious they seem.

We arrived at the Weem's Creek anchorage around noon, but it was 1:00 by the time we found a good place for the night. There were no more US Navy mooring balls, so we tried to anchor.  However, the first spot we tried, we didn't have good holding, and there were too many boats nearby.  So, we moved further northeast, closer to the mouth of the creek and dropped the hook there.  This is quite a pretty anchorage, with lots of boats, both moored and anchored.

As it turned out, the boat that was tied to a mooring ball beside us decided to leave at 4:00. Score!  We picked up our very first mooring ball.  Nothing to it when the wind isn't blowing and there's no current.  Hmmmm, I think those two factors just might change things.  We'll see. In the meantime, we are basking in our success. Plus, the sun just came out!  Bonus!

One of our first tasks is to pull the dinghy out of its bag and inflate it.  Ugh, mold!  Apparently, the dinghy bag isn't waterproof and the dinghy got wet inside. No wonder with all of the waves coming over our bow during our travels from New York City to Delaware City. Now, our first task is to wipe the dinghy down, then inflate it, and then clean it again (because there are too many wrinkles and crevasses when it's deflated). By sunset, we had it set up and ready to launch.  Time for dinner.

Monday, October 3, 2016

This morning we launched the dinghy (all nice and white again), cleaned the inside of the boat (finally, clean again!), hoisted the US courtesy flag after getting some clips for the flag, and re-organized all of the lines in the rope locker.

Around 11:30, we puttered over to pick up Dave and Nicki to go into town. We pulled up on a beach and tied the dinghy to a pole.  We walked into town, which is approximately 4.5 miles, and had a delicious lunch at O'Brien's.  Then, we decided to go to Fawcett's Marine (which sells everything under the sun for boats), so we caught the bus.  The driver offered us the 'Seniors Rate' which was $2 each for the whole day!  What a deal!  Sometimes, it pays to be old!  Haha.  We bought a few things, but figured they may have better deals at the Boat Show, so we caught the bus back and dinghied back to our boats.  (People on busses are very helpful and friendly.  They told us where to get off and when to switch to other busses.  So nice.)  It was hot and sunny today, so we were glad to get back to get cleaned up and cooled off.

We had Dave and Nicki over for a barbecue and had a lovely evening with them, as usual.