10. Annapolis to Solomon Island

The next morning started out cloudy but soon gave way to clearing skies. We went by dinghy and tied up at the base of one of the streets which had a rickety dinghy dock. Every street in Annapolis and Eastport which ends at the water has a free dinghy dock. The one that we were close to was 6th street which turned into the main street of town.

Annapolis is an old upscale sailing town with cobble streets, quaint little shops and very upscale stores. It is very picturesque. There are no discount stores such as Wal-Mart , Dollar Store, or K-Mart allowed within the city and area. Everything is pricey!

And the boats! I have never seen as many sailboats in one place in my life! Annapolis is at the mouth of the Severn River and there are many tributaries which flow into the river. Every little bay, creek and river are just lined with docks and docks of sailboats of every size and make. I say every size, but most of the boats are larger than ours. Boats are constantly going up and down Back Creek where we have anchored.

At Port Annapolis Marina we paid $5:00 for the day and we could use the showers, internet, laundry (the washing machine was on the blink) and their bikes. We biked several miles (away from town) to West Marine, hardware and a grocery store.

Roman has figured our how to hook up piping to the diesel engine so that I can have hot water on board. He bought all the necessary supplies and I am really looking forward to having hot water.

Our friends are in Weems Creek on the other side of Annapolis because it is closer to Bacon’s, a marine consignment centre to which Ray was having his Rathion sent. Roman and I took the bus to Bacon’s and spent several hours looking through all the stuff. You could spend days there! I bought a Shore to Ship cookbook and Roman bought all kinds of odds and ends he needed. I also found a brand new orange emergency distress flag still in the original package but at half the price. This is required in the United States and we had been meaning to get one.

On Monday Cambryration, C-Drifters and Superior Grace motored over to Back Creek and we all decided to leave for the Solomon Islands the next day. We had been listening to the weather reports and there was a tropical storm that was right now near Cuba but was forecasted to head north soon. It could reach hurricane status and we wanted to be in a much more secluded place with far fewer boats just in case it came up Chesapeake Bay.

The trip to Solomon Island was mostly motoring as there was little wind. Chesapeake Bay is home to many crab traps which are huge nets below the surface of the water. A net caught in your propeller can do a lot of damage.

On the surface is just a little marker to indicate the presence of such a net. If you wander off the main shipping lane, you must keep a sharp eye out for the “crab pot” indicators. That was usually my job. Often the crab pots are very difficult to see with the glare of the sun and the water.

At one point we ended up right in the middle of large number of these crab pots and there were some tense moments until we manoeuvred our way out of them. Here is Roman on Crab Pot Patrol.