Upon completion of a few housekeeping chores we slipped through the breakwater and back into the Bay. Our destination today is an anchorage on the Corsica River which is just off the Chester River which is just off of Chesapeake Bay. I think I need a chart! Our purpose is twofold. One to meet up with Coconuts and two to travel on to Chestertown.
9/21/12 Friday Today was a Pam morning. sleep in. Enjoy coffee and up anchor at 10:45. Back into the Chester River and head towards Chestertown where we anchored and dinghied in to explore the town.
On the way we passed the S/V Sultana out for a sail.
We walked around town checking out the old buildings, a few shops and of course lunch. Chestertown is rich in history with many of the buildings on the Historic Register.
9/22/12 Saturday The forecast called for unsettled weather moving in by tonight so we paddled back to the Corsica River for a better protected anchorage to sit through the weather. We arrived early enough to dinghy in to Centreville. A small town that has suffered in the past few years with many empty storefronts lining the main drag. We did find an ice cream shop that appeared to be prospering so we stopped in to aid their cause.
9/23/12 Sunday The weather went around us last night except for a little wind that caused a group of sailboats rafted together to scramble at 3 a.m. when they started dragging anchor! Pam & I slept through the commotion but according to eyewitness reports there was a lot of shouting and flashlight beams waving wildly about. Eventually they broke up the raft and anchored apart from one another.
Along with the front that moved through came cooler weather to the tune of 59 degrees inside Tourist this morning. Brrrr! Once the sun came out and warmed up the air we took the dinghies back to Centreville for lunch at the Riverside Grill where we also got to watch a little football on their variety of TV's around the bar.
Bru & Sandy got to experience first hand what it's like to watch sports with Pam. Always entertaining!
9/24/12 Monday Today we were up and rolling by 8:15 retracing our path out to the Bay where we turned North. We're heading to what will be our Northern most point of our Chesapeake cruise. Georgetown on the Sassafras River.
The plan is to anchor along the Sassafras tonight and then get a slip for a couple of nights. After picking our way through the crab pots that seemingly block the entrance to the Sassafras we checked out one anchorage close to the mouth of the river before deciding on one closer to town just inside a no wake area.
9/25/12 Tuesday We awoke to a beautiful sunrise over our calm anchorage. But no rest for the wicked. The forecast was for the wind to pick up later in the morning so after a call to the marina we both headed in to get secured in our slips. I'm glad we did since the fairway was very tight with not much wiggle room.
The majority of the day was spent doing boat chores and laundry before heading over to the Kitty Knight House for dinner.
9/26/12 Wednesday Now the real reason why we came up the Sassafras. To visit Galena! Since we're from Galena, Illinois we thought it only fitting that we visit Galena, Maryland. After a mile and an half walk along the roadside we found it. Not much more than a crossroads with a few antique stores, a grocery and a liquor store and a Catholic church and the Twinny Cafe where we had lunch.
Of course our walk to Galena meant we had to walk back! Like any return trip it seemed much shorter.
We got back just in time for Ducktail hour.
9/27/12 Thursday Time to start heading South.
On the way in while fighting our way through the crab pots we noticed these floats stretched out as far as we could see marking a crab line. On a hunch I decided to skirt the edge of the floats along a Southwesterly course. It worked! We were able to get back into the Bay without doing the pot dance that we did on the way in.
Our ride down the bay was glassy smooth and aided by an outgoing tide. Once we turned toward Baltimore the tide hit us on the nose but the water was still calm. We passed by Ft. McHenry on the way in where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner.
We had hoped to stay at the City Docks like we did last year but when we called they said they were full. After a few calls around we decided on Henderson's Wharf Marina near the Fell's Point section of town. Not the snazziest place but a place to hang out for a few days. The hidden gem is that it is only a short walk to several shops and restaurants as well as groceries and a West Marine. Once late afternoon came around we took a little walk.
Dinner was in one of the Pub type bars followed by drinks at a place that resembled the bar in the old TV show Cheer's. On our way back we passed by a pirate ship that had just off loaded some conscripts and struck up a conversation with the crew. Before you know it we were shanghied and sailing out into the harbor. This was a good thing since the pirate ship docks at our marina and saved us a few steps! Arrrrgh!
