Cool Day on the River

Saturday, October 18th: Corsica River

I wore my warm hat and gloves also when we went into town this morning. The forecast is for possible frost tonight in some areas. We were headed for the Saturday farmer's market in Chestertown and there was extra excitement as there was a fun raiser and historic buildings were open for viewing for a fee.

Cold or not, Chestertown was bustling but Bob was anxious to get done what I wanted to do and then get back to the boat in case the wind dropped a little. He was thinking that it was time to move on - stop along the way to pump out, fill our bow water tank (we have 2 tanks), get some diesel and then anchor elsewhere. Sitting in the Chester and subject to it's fairly strong current, our boat moved about a fair bit with the wind and change of tides - and Bob was looking forward to some place "less hectic". So we loaded up on fresh vegetables at the market, stopped again at Play It Again Sam to check email, bought a little frozen meat at the Natural Food shop (where they gave me a big bag of basil cut from giant basil planters in front of the shop) and then dinghied back to the boat.

The day before, when we came back from shopping in town, the dinghy dock was so far down that I sat on the main dock and eased myself on to it. This morning the small floating dock was level with the main dock - it was high tide and a good time to travel down the river catching the tide as it ebbs toward the Bay - so we set off with both the current and the wind pushing us along and had a swift trip to the mouth of the Chester.

Our stop along the way at a marina for diesel, water, and pump out was interesting. Bob turned to come up into the wind but the strong tide conspired to push us off the dock. Thankfully, the woman working at the marina came out and took our bow line and I jumped off with the stern line; however, by the time each of us had wound lines around the blankety, blank pilings (no cleats on these docks), the boat had been pushed so far out that there was no hope of Bob getting off (or of us getting any services). Bob used the engine to bring the boat closer and even then it was a fight for the 2 of us on land to tighten stern and bow lines. On the other hand - leaving the dock when we were done was no problem at all!

We are back near the mouth of the Chester. For variety, rather than return to Langford Creek where we were 2 nights ago - we turned east and anchored in a little cove off the Corsica River. My "vegetable net" is full so I'll add fresh carrots and broccoli to left over pressure cooker pot roast - not much cooking will be necessary tonight. The sides of the cockpit enclosure are zipped down. It's time to pour a glass of wine, open a book and look up periodically to watch the geese arriving from Canada.

Sunday, October 19: Corsica River

Today, It's gusty with some wave height in the Chesapeake so we'll stay here until tomorrow when the conditions will be better for moving across the Bay to Annapolis. Bob wants to spend a couple of days there and then catch favourable conditions forecast for Wednesday to continue our move south. We have about 10 days left for exploring before we leave the Bay and begin the journey along the Intracoastal Waterway through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

It's brilliantly sunny but cold and the trees around this cove are beginning to show fall colour. We used the heater this morning to counter the chill but this afternoon we are comfortable without it. The boat is closed to the cool wind and the sun has warmed the cockpit enclosure making it comfortable for sitting and reading.

Even with strong and gusty winds today, we have little fear of our anchor dragging - neither did we worry about the anchor loosing hold in the changing currents of the Chester River. Since our first night at anchor in Sandy Hook, NY, we have encountered mud bottoms where our CQR anchor grabs quickly and stays - and the 90 feet of chain that Bob added to our anchor rode offers extra weight and holding power where needed. This has been a pleasant contrast to some of our anchoring experiences in the Thousand Islands where very weedy bottoms can make one unsure how well the anchor will hold should conditions suddenly change. Bob is glad not to be pulling masses of weed off the anchor but watched longingly this morning as the boat beside us hooked up and used a wash down system to clean off gobs of mud that the anchor brings up with it. A wash down system sucks up water surrounding the boat into a hose that can be used to clean off the anchor and deck. We understand now why people have them installed!

This was a planning, reading and maintenance day for both of us. Bob crawled around the fore deck and did some anchor adjustment and maintenance (I'm not sure what he was doing, actually) and for exercise, I cleaned inside and then went up to the bow and did a few Tai Chi "foundation exercises". We have since been joined by another boat - but at the time we were alone in the cove :). And - since I have the time for experimenting, I am going to try something else new - cooking a chicken curry in the pressure cooker - which I'll put in another pot to keep warm and then pressure cook some brown rice. The rice should take only 15 minutes - so the cookbook says.

Tuesday, October 21st: Annapolis

We arrived yesterday at Annapolis and are staying for a reasonable rate at the Annapolis Yacht club. It's a treat to have a spotless washroom and shower (with towels) just up the dock. This is a very posh club but not costly for us because of a reciprocal agreement with our own club. Annapolis, like other places in the Chesapeake that we have visited, has been careful to preserve it's history so that the historic part of town is quite picturesque with old well preserved buildings and interesting shops and restaurants.

We'll walk and explore today but have had a look at our map of the Bay and we realize that we'll have to pick up our pace a little so as to get to the bottom of the Bay by the end of October. We still have quite a ways to go. We'll pick up a few spots and pass others by. There's more to see than we'll ever have time for.

I have pictures to upload but my Internet time is limited and uploading pictures is not in the cards today. I'll add pictures another time.

We're on our way tomorrow - unless of course the weather keeps us back! So far the forecast is for healthy winds that should be behind us as we travel south to St. Michael.