Chesapeake City to Middle River

Friday, March 24, 2017

We all slept very well last night.  Low in the boat was 54 and outside temperature was 31.  We got up at 6:45 and checked the weather and the WindFinder-Pro app.  The forecast was for warmer weather - in the upper 50s, but with winds increasing to 17 kts by 11 am.  We decided not to have a cooked breakfast and get underway as soon as possible. 

We walked the dogs, stowed things away and left by 8:00.  Leaving Chesapeake City was VERY calm, everything was reflecting in the water.  

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We had good data coverage.  At 8:50 we were in the upper Chesapeake Bay and Emily called.  We talked for about 30 minutes but as we talked the waves started getting more choppy.  By the time we finished talking the waves had white tops.  The waves continued to get higher - 2 to 3 feet - and we were having the waves break over the bow and splash onto the windshield.  We were heading into the wind.  

The day before we talked with Don (the yacht broker for G. Winter Sailing Center where we bought Aisling) about speed of wind and cruising.  I told him we had experience as sail boaters but not as power boaters.  I was wondering how much wind we could cruise in.  He told us that the Ranger Tugs could handle more than we would probably want to be in.  He said he and his wife spent time on a Ranger 27 (that's what we have) and coming back from the Bahamas they got into waves that continued to break over the bow and into the windshield.  They were like that for several hours.  This  gave us some comfort, as that was exactly what was happening to us!

We were making good time going south (12 kts via GPS) but pounding into the waves.  The dogs were very good at this time.  However, each mid morning they get a "dentistix".  Greta usually starts asking for it.  I tried to give it to them as we were pounding and Hans gladly took it but Greta was extremely reluctant and I don't believe she ate it.  She quite possibly was experiencing sea sickness.

After an hour of having crashing waves over the bow and the waves getting higher, we decided to head for shelter.  By 10:30 we were anchored on the north side (lee side) of Poole's Island.  We have a new kind of anchor that wasn't available in 1989 when we cruised on our 37 foot sailboat Cynosure.  This was our first time anchoring both with it and with Aisling.  Jeff put out 40 feet of chain in 6 feet of water.  We tested the anchor but weren't sure if it held.  We kept watching and decided we'd need to re-anchor.  When Jeff got the anchor to the water line he noticed that a football size rock was stuck in it.  

We anchored again, but again the anchor dragged.  The next time Jeff put out all 50 feet of chain and this time the anchor held.  We ate a lunch of crackers and cheese. We were rocking on the hook and took a nap.  Around 3:00 Jeff started talking about going on.  We were only about 5 miles from Middle River Landing.  However, we listened to the NOAA marine weather and they said the area was in a "Small Craft Advisory" until midnight.  Jeff ate sardines.  I didn't feel like eating anything.  We kept watching the conditions and at 5:47 we started the engine, pulled up the anchor and headed toward Middle River.  One of the reasons we moved was because we were almost in a "Digital Data Desert" (DDD) as we call it and we wanted data coverage.  Another reason was because we wanted to experience being anchored for a night, but closer to our final destination. 

Before we started on our way we feed the dogs.  Both ate well.  We also figured that they both needed to go potty.  We tried each dog once, but no deal.  The astro turf is only about 2 ft by 2 ft and the cockpit was rocking.  We waited and tried them again just before we left.  We tried Hans first.  After walking around in a little tiny circle, he peed for a long time.  He received a lot of praise.  We then tried Greta and she took longer but she also peed.  I had contacted an animal communicator twice prior to taking the dogs on Aisling.  The first time was the last of Feb. when we were hoping to move the boat within a week.  After that appointment both dogs peed and pooped on the larger (4' x 6') turf.  That was AMAZING since we had been trying for several weeks without success.  Then after doing that for about 2 weeks they were only peeing and then we forgot about the turf since we weren't leaving any time soon. This second appointment was this past Monday.  The communicator told me that Hans said "he didn't have enough room to hardly turn around".  She also said they would use the turf when they became uncomfortable enough.  They probably would have gone without the animal communicator, but the animal communicator gave me peace of mind and I believe she also let the dogs know that they would be OK and not to be scared on the boat. Neither dog showed any signs of concern while we were pounding into the waves.  That was also AMAZING!  Greta usually pants and shakes the whole time we are driving in the RV and Hans had signs of concern when we were at Aisling while still on the hard in New Jersey.

We arrived in Middle River in a nice cove just less than a mile from our marina --NO waves, NO rocking!  We anchored at 6:35, about 35 minutes after we left the anchorage at Poole's Island.  

​We had a nice dinner of cheese quesadillas, brussel sprouts, and a Weis deli salad.