Back in Annapolis

By aaron.axvig, Wed, 10/23/2019 - 19:16
Weems creek

Monday was a beautiful sunny day and we motor sailed about 45 miles to Annapolis, MD.  We checked out Back Creek to anchor where we did last time we were here but it was just a little too full for us to feel comfortable.  So we looked at the map and decided we would try out Weems Creek.  15 minutes later we were there and found plenty of room for us and Thursday's Child to anchor.  I took Louise to shore for a walk and we watched old sitcoms on the Laff channel that our antenna was able to pick up.

Tuesday started off with scattered light rain.  Anna's friend Will who she worked with in Big Sky lives in nearby Crofton and he came to say hi and bring us a few packages that had been mailed to his house.  It started raining more often and I took Will back to shore.  Then he gave me a ride to the grocery store about four blocks away.  I bought about as much as I could reasonably carry (I always put the heavy things in the backpack) and then walked all the way back to the dinghy in steady rain.  As we unloaded the groceries back at the boat Anna said that some of the bags were so wet that they felt heavier from the water!  We used the generator for about an hour to make some water and heat it for showers, and charge the batteries to keep our electronics going to entertains us through the rainy day.  It was interesting that the watermaker produced 27gph rather than the 15gph that we expected in the cold water here.  My best guess is that the creek we are in is not very salty as the tidal range here is only a foot or so.

Today we met Steve and Susie on shore at 9:30am and went to tour the Naval Academy.  It was a pretty interesting tour.  We went through a couple of the big halls and towards the end saw all of the students form up in the courtyard and march in to lunch.  Then we followed them into Bancroft Hall (all 1,000 or more of them were gone into the depths of the building already) which had some great architecture.  After the tour we went into the Naval Academy Museum which had great displays about the ships, technology, leadership, etc. of the Navy in all the wars throughout the generations.  There was also a very interesting part about the research arm, especially all of the satellites that they have launched.

We walked around Annapolis a while and checked out a few shops with Steve and Susie, plus the obligatory ice cream. Tomorrow we plan to take the bus/train to DC and see a few things.  Steve and Susie are heading towards Hampton, VA tomorrow so will probably see them there on our way south in a few days.  There they will be preparing to go offshore with a bunch of boats in a rally down to the Bahamas--something like seven days at sea.  We will proceed our own way slowly down the coast but I think eventually find them in the Bahamas.