Holding Pattern at anchor in the Chester River, just off Chestertown, MD
Nothing lasts forever...sometimes it is said with an air of sadness and sometimes with a glimmer of hope. For us it was a mantra. We enjoyed our time in Annapolis, made some money, painted most of our topsides, accomplished a lot...but in another way, Annapolis was like the blind date you can't stand but you can't escape until dinner is over and you return them from whence they came. Too busy, too noisy, not our idea of good cruising grounds.
We decided to split the 45 mile trip to Chestertown up into two days, no need to get in a rush...and it was a good thing. Wind from the north, miles and miles of unbroken Chesapeake built the waves to 3 feet or so and with 20-25 knots of wind on the nose it made for a slow go and lots and lots of tacks back and forth. Things much improved when we got into the Chester River, an easy downwind sail. We won our first "race" in a long time, too. A similar sized boat from Key West was transiting the Chester and we came upon them, they increased sail area and so did we. HP fell into the groove and shot off like a turtle on pep-pills. We gained and gained and gained distance ahead of them until we saw them decrease sail area. It is a cold day in the Congo when we can outrun another boat...she's old and slow and we accept that (HP, not Heather for you smart alecs who would ask...)
Anchored in Comegy's Bight by ourselves was a grand change from the hustle and bustle of Annapolis. No noise except for the wind and the water lapping against the hull. We sat outside until the light was gone enjoying our recent acquisitions from the book trade racks and Goodwill. It was simply paradise to hear no noise that wasn't of our own making.
Today's adventure on the other hand... we had a wonderful sail into Chestertown. 20+ knots of wind on the beam to stern, current with us, everything lined up to make it a quick trip... left at 8 and were going to be anchored by 9:30. I spied with my little eyes a nice cove...protected, nothing much around it, quite inviting. The chart said 12 feet. Heather assumed position on the bow, I veered off to port (left) and as quickly as you can read:
25' to 10' to 3'...you can guess what happened.
As the depth was rapidly changing I said the famous last words "We gotta turn around..." I think the Powers That Be heard "We gotta go aground."
We draw 5 1/2 feet, 6 for sanity's sake...we were in 4 1/2 to 5, the mud was quite accomodating and accepted our keel quite quickly.
Backing off didn't work (of course it woudln't be that easy.) We dropped the dinghy to see if we could tow ourselves off...got good and wet in the process and that was it. We were preparing the anchor to take out and kedge/winch ourselves back when I decided to give it one last try at backing off. Gradually increasing throttle, Mr Perkins (aka the Beast) was doing his best. The new Campbell-Sailer prop did a beautiful job at washing enough mud out and we gradually bagan to move backwards then shot backwards like that rocket-turtle-in-reverse.
Free and back in deep water we decided to go the 1/2 mile downriver to the "real" anchorage.
We now sit in 15' of water (the chart says there should be 7 here...) and Holding Pattern is the only boat here for the time being...
Went for a walk around town, too. Red-brick lined streets, friendly people, old houses, lots and lots of parks and open spaces, a free dinghy dock... we're looking forward to more exploration tomorrow (don't forget the Farmer's Market on Sat. and the Civil War re-enactment, too.)
I've had enough adventure for one day...time to go see what is going on in Akbar (the book I am currently reading...)
So, how was your day? | 