Storms, Sailing, & the Boat Show in Annapolis

September on the Chesapeake Bay and in Annapolis had to be better than August! August was hot, hot, hot and deathly still.  Be careful what you wish for ……

Mira continued to have some lovely finishing touches completed on her by workers in the Boat Yard. So, while we were waiting for the work and the wind to blow, we spent Labor Day weekend exploring the Naval Academy and some of the historic homes of Annapolis.

Growing frustrated by the lack of wind, Glenn and Pam tried out some local culture. Saw Chris Isaak in concert at the Maryland Hall for Creative Arts. Strolled through several fall arts and crafts festivals. Sat waterside on blankets for a blue grass concert and food trucks. We made the most of our stationary time in Annapolis!

Late one Friday afternoon when the workers weren’t appearing, we squeaked Mira out of her tiny marina spot and motored (of course!) up the Chesapeake Bay to eastern Whitehall Bay and down Mill Creek to Cantler’s Riverside Inn. An iconic seafood restaurant located down a lovely, meandering creek that offers free dockage for the night when you have dinner. It doesn’t get any better than that! Thrilled to be out of the marina – even for a weekend.

The next morning we were up bright and early and headed north up the Bay to the town of Rock Hall. We picked up a mooring on Swan Creek. Finally, peace and quiet. Walked down the street for a delicious dinner at the Wheelhouse and Thursday night football with the Falcons, and the next morning grabbed some bikes to explore Rock Hall.

Once back in the marina in Annapolis, we got some of the wind that we had hoped for.  Sadly, the wind came only in the form of Tropical Storms and Hurricanes during the month of September. The remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon swept through that night and gave us 25-30 knots of wind and rapidly rising water.  After several days of solid rain – power was shut off at the docks to prevent electrical trouble. Directly on the heels of Gordon, Hurricane Florence was picking up steam out in the Atlantic. She appeared to be headed directly for Annapolis.  Pam continued to puzzle about why we got out of the hurricane zone north of Florida – only to be threatened by hurricanes.

At one point in September our weather tracker showed 4 active tropical storms in the Atlantic – it was crazy! 600 feet of new nylon hurricane dock line later – Hurricane Florence barely brushed us, but wreaked havoc in North Carolina, as she dumped days and days of rain.

After Florence finished threatening, Pam and Glenn had a beautiful evening out to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary at O’Leary’s Seafood. A special night!

Kelly came down for a weekend, and we took Mira out for a spin. We actually sailed!  The sail lasted for about 4 hours, but it was phenomenal to be sailing again. Our destination was Fells Point near Baltimore. So we headed north under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Just before nightfall, we tied up in the Fells Point area – just east of Inner Harbor. Waterside Fells Point is known for its hip pubs and taverns, many with live music, as well as seafood joints serving Chesapeake Bay crab (more picking!) and oysters. Small galleries, record stores, fashion boutiques and eclectic restaurants line the cobblestone streets along the harbor and main square.  We had a blast jumping from bars to restaurants and back again, and enjoying some ice cream somewhere in between. 🙂

Sunday morning dawned grey and pouring. After a quick brunch, we headed back. The motor-sail (of course) was freezing and rainy and bumpy. Pam was certain that Glenn never told her about this glamorous(?) side of sailing!

The Annapolis Boat Show in early October has always been a favorite of ours.  A highlight this year was seeing the brand new Antares 40GS exhibiting – SV Seahorse.  She was showing off some new exterior features such as a larger boom and hardtop, solar panels, dinghy davits, and a very clever rain water collection system.  And we got to welcome its owners, Kal and his wife, to the Antares family.

But the big difference this year was we now had our own boat!! Our time perusing other people’s boats was over, and we loved just walking in and out of the many vendors booths – buying some “necessary” Mira gear.

People come from all over the world to the largest sailboat show in the US. We were able to catch up with old and new sailing friends. Had delicious dinner at the Reynolds Tavern with Matt and Valerie of SV Valley Cat and Jeff and Paula of SV Sea Larks. And, hosted a happy hour on Mira with all of them including Paul and Maureen of SV Grace. The highlight of the weekend though was an Antares owners get together – hosted by 40 Grados Sur boat builder, Memo Castro.