Getting Warmer: Still in Annapolis, Having Some Fun

Though our plans have drastically changed, what we are doing at the moment has not. We have found a broker, who has listed our boat, and we are figuring out what to do with the rest of our vacation. This is a harder concept than it seems to put into practice, because for the last five years, we have been working toward this dream of sailing to the Caribbean and having fun with our girls. Now we have changed our minds, and there is a world of opportunity out there. It is daunting to try and choose one path, but while we are here, figuring things out, we are going to have some fun.
I will backtrack here, as I haven’t written anything about our trip since Thia’s birthday, where we started running toward Annapolis, after that crazy, graham-crackery, waxy, rainbow bread.

Since we were so low on groceries, before we would head through the C&D Canal to the Chesapeake, we went north of the C&D, almost to Philadelphia. In fact, we anchored right at the end of one of the approach runways for the Philadelphia airport. It was loud, but at least the planes stopped flying after about midnight, and didn’t get started again until after 7 AM.

We stayed there three nights, and two days. One day was devoted to provisioning. Fowler stayed on the boat, to run the motor and charge the batteries. The girls and I took the dinghy to a dock, where we got a cab into town, and the grocery. We spent quite a while there, making sure we got everything we needed, and that we could pack it in such a way that we could get it all back to the boat. This took some thinking, and some arranging, and negotiating, regarding what was really necessary (we have discovered the beauty of powdered drink mixes vs. cans and bottles). I spent more on that grocery trip than I think I have ever spent in groceries for just our family, and it still fit into one cart. We were serious about not running out of food again!

We took the cab back to the dock, and that is where the fun began. I was not entirely sure we could get all three of us, and all the groceries in the dinghy at one time. I considered whether to leave one or both of the girls at the dock, while I took the first load of groceries to the boat, then go back for the rest. Fortunately, we all fit, but we sure sat low in the water on that trip. Bonus! We did find a key lime pie mix (in a box) at the grocery there, so that night, Thia had her belated (faux) key lime birthday pie, with candles, of course. As far as key lime pies go, it was not bad, but we will definitely do better when we find real key lime juice!

So that was day one, in Essington, PA. We needed to stay another day, as bad weather was coming, and we didn’t want to attempt the canal in that. Also, we discovered a charging issue that meant as soon as the weather passed, we wanted to get to Annapolis as soon as we could, for a fix. Since I knew we would leave quickly the next morning, I wanted to go into Philadelphia. I had never been, and I decided I would be really annoyed if we had gotten so close without seeing the city! So the next day Fowler decided to stay on the boat and chase down the charging problem, and the girls and I went into Philly.

I was very impressed with Philadelphia’s public transit system. We were able to buy a family day pass, and we could go all over town on the busses and trains for one fee. I got an app on my phone that tracked everything, and it was a snap to figure out the route, and when we should be at which stop. We concentrated our time in the historical area, seeing Independence Hall, the Portrait Gallery, and spending a lot of time in the Ben Franklin Museum. Fun, and history!

We returned that night to the boat, and unfortunately the battery charging situation had not improved. So early the next morning we said goodbye to the airport runway, and made our way to the C&D Canal. For all the planning we did, checking for tides, currents, winds, etc. our journey into and through the canal was completely uneventful. We saw no shipping traffic, and the foul weather had passed, it was a beautiful day, and there was no problem with the navigation.

We emerged into the Chesapeake Bay, and headed to our first anchorage, in the Sassafrass River. Just as we left the channel, we had to navigate what seemed like a mine field of crab/lobster pots! We stumbled right in the middle of them, and had to take it v…..e…….r……y…… slowly, not wanting to run over any, and get them caught in our prop. There was no way I was jumping into the waters of the Chesapeake to cut our propeller free, and I would have felt kind of bad making Fowler do it.

Thanks to some two person navigation, with help from the kids as well, we made it through without catching one, and headed to the anchorage, right off a state park. It was a beautiful area, and would have been nice to spend more than one night there, but we had issues that needed attending, so pulled up the anchor the next morning, bound for Annapolis.

Another uneventful day of motoring (not even traps), and we arrived in Annapolis, anchoring right outside the city yacht basin, at Spa Creek. After getting settled, we were able to call around, and get references and leads on who might be able to help us with our electrical issues. We found a boatyard, and the next day, they came to the boat to see what was up. Andy spent close to 5 hours on our boat, chasing down leads, and eventually figured out that we had a bad selector switch on the sail drive. He would have to order us a new one, but could get it within a day or two. It was so nice to know what the problem was!

After that night, our diesel tanks were getting low, and we decided while we were at the fuel dock, we thought we’d check out a mooring ball for the night. When we went in, there was an empty ball right by the fuel dock, so we took it. We checked with the harbormaster, it turned out this was one of two mooring balls that could hold our size boat, and wasn’t being vacated for the boat show. Score! We decided we were going to be here through the boat shows, and possibly a bit longer, so it would be good to be close, and not worry about the crowded anchorage.

The next day Andy came back with the new switch, hooked it up, and we were set! It felt good to be able to charge to full capacity and have some amount of confidence in our abilities to power our systems. Woo hoo!

We were feeling good, making other fixes we would need, planning our visits to the boat shows, and even enjoying the luxury of air conditioning. Also, we connected with other Nauticat owners, in hopes of getting tips on repairs, additions, and just ways to use the space. The boating community is generous, and very helpful. We had people offering rides, and to come help us with the minor repairs we were making. Some even visited and gave us insights about preparations for the Caribbean. They were most generous. I really do love the boating community!

Fowler and Thia attended the power boat show, and left, having purchased a paddleboard that would prove to be great fun, even in yucky, cold, kind of rainy weather. We have had fun exploring this town, which has a lot of neat little shops and museums, and restaurants easily walkable from the dinghy dock. Unfortunately, what have moved out of the downtown area, are the everyday useful stores: there is no longer a grocery here, or a hardware or a marine supply store. As I understand it from conversations with locals, they have all been priced out of the area, and now it takes 2 bus rides (unfortunately, not like Philadelphia’s system) to get to any of these. That makes provisioning and getting parts more difficult, and for this city, where the US Naval Academy is based, for which boating is such a huge part of its economy, I am surprised it is not more easily navigated by those without a car, coming in off their boats.

Yet here we are, enjoying our time. Just yesterday we had a visit from friends who were on their way to Cape Henlopen. One of Thia’s good friends from Albany and her brother and mom came to visit us for the afternoon. Thia was beside herself with excitement, and had a wonderful time visiting with BJ. In all of the adventure and fun that we are attempting with this trip, missing our friends is always a presence in our minds. Phone calls, emails and texting help, but there is nothing so wonderful as seeing someone in person that you care about, and haven’t seen in so long.

As for our future plans, we’re still working on that. As we do, we’re going to try and have as much fun together as we can, and though it has been raining and yuck for the last three days, I know the sun will come out soon, and that will be fantastic!