After six enjoyable months in Annapolis, it’s finally time to start the trip back South again. Friends Gordon Holmes and Alex Klausmann have signed up for the first leg down to the River Dunes Marina just North of Oriental, NC. We leave the marina early this morning and after a quick stop to top off the fuel tanks, we are on our way down the Chesapeake. We have 11 days to complete the 328 nautical mile trip to River Dunes before boarding our scheduled flights back home.

After an easy 45 nm run, we end our first day anchored in Leason Cove at Solomons Island. Alex and Gordon are all smiles, enjoying a cocktail and appetizers before dinner.

It seems amazing how fast the last six months in Annapolis has past by. I have always enjoyed visiting Annapolis and had looked forward to someday spending more time on the boat here, but finding an available slip in Annapolis for several months is not easy. I was really fortunate this Summer to be in the right place at the right time to snag a slip from someone who had just sold their boat. The slip was much larger than I needed but allowed plenty of space to tie up my dinghy along side. Each day I would look forward to a late afternoon swim in the marina’s large pool before dinner. The marina was only a mile away from downtown Annapolis, an easy walk or dinghy ride to the town square. Annapolis is also only an hour drive from DC, my son’s family in Arlington and numerous friends that live in the area. This made it easy to visit them and for them to visit me. My Grandson James and Granddaughter Julia have been over several times and have enjoyed swimming in the pool along with my son and Daughter-in-law. My brother-in-law, Hank Sloan also came by and spent a very enjoyable weekend with me on the boat. Hank and I are now hatching plans to spend more time together this Winter. John and Linda Kelleher have stopped by a couple of times for Lunch and a sail. And both my Brother Lynn and good friend Cody have also visited the boat while I was here.

John and Linda Kelleher stopped by today for a delightful lunch of crabs and craft beer at Cantler’s Riverside Inn and marina

I needed to return my Tahoe back to Vermont and pay a visit with family and friends so Demian offered to ride along to keep me company. A large storm was passing up through the I-95 corridor and there was some major flooding reported in NJ and NY City so we decided to leave Thursday afternoon and drive along the western edge of the storm up through Pennsylvania and spend the night somewhere North of NYC. We would continue North up NY I-87 the next morning crossing over into Vermont just North of Albany. The trip went well and we avoided most of the rain and all of the flooded areas. Demian flew back home the following Monday.

On October 8th my brother Lynn and I flew from Boston down to Baltimore where we rented a small Mini Cooper to get back to the boat in Annapolis and to use while Lynn was visiting. Lynn stayed on the boat for a couple of weeks seeing both the Annapolis Power Boat Show and the following weekend’s Sailboat show. We also enjoyed a day at the Udvar-Hazy Air Museum at Dulles Airport and a nice dinner afterwards with Demian’s family in Arlington.

John and Linda Kelleher live in Arlington, Va in the same neighborhood as my son Demian and over the years we have become good friends. John had volunteered to help me sail the boat North to New York but since that trip had to be canceled, I invited them both over for an afternoon sail in Annapolis Bay. It was a beautiful day, although the winds were very light, we had the sails up in time for an easy, enjoyable sail before a light rain shower moved through.

I arrived back at Mear’s Annapolis Marina with plans to sail North on Monday with Demian and our good friend John Kelleher. The plan was to stop along the way in NYC to drop off John and pick up my grandson James and then continue through Long Island Sound and up the coast to Maine. After several hours of studying the timeline for the trip I concluded we could barely arrive at our Maine destination on time and would have no additional time to allow for weather or other delays. The extended weather forecast for our scheduled passage through Long Island Sound was not good, with 40 kt Gust and 6′-7′ seas predicted. Not wanting to be caught halfway without a secure marina and a crew, including myself, that had hard deadlines for other places we had to be, I made the difficult decision to cancel the trip and stay here in Annapolis for the season. It was disappointing to all of us as we were looking forward to spending time together at sea, the trip through NYC and finally arriving at our destination in Maine. I did feel fortunate that the Marina here was able to accommodate the boat and myself for as long as I needed to stay. It’s a nice location, pleasant weather, a beautiful bay to sail in, the people are friendly, there’s a wonderful swimming pool and an airport nearby that makes it convenient to travel to and from home. It’s also only an hour drive from Demian’s family so our family visits should be a little easier and hopefully more often.

I needed to to take a short break from the boat and head back to Vermont for a visit but first I had to find a new marina to leave the boat in as the Yacht Basin Marina was fully booked for the weeks ahead. I lucked out and found a slip at the Mear’s Safe Harbor Annapolis Marina at the entrance to back Bay. The marina originally only had space for a one week stay but soon after arriving, another slip at the marina became available allowing for a longer stay. It’s a much nicer marina with two swimming pools, six tennis courts and a beautiful view of the bay. The boat will be secure here until I return on July 15th to continue my trip North.

Demian, James and I left James Island Anchorage at 6:10 am and arrived in Annapolis, MD at 10:16 am. Our slip at the Annapolis Yacht Basin Marina was right next to the Annapolis Yacht Club in downtown Annapolis.

We left Godfrey Bay at 8:30 am and arrived at the James Island anchorage at 6:10 pm and enjoyed a nice dinner on the upper deck with a beautiful sunset.

We left Norfolk at 9:50 am and headed North up the Chesapeake arriving at the Godfrey Bay anchorage at 5:15 pm just as another thunder storm moved in with some high gust. It was quite violent with lightning all around us.