Sailing to Annapolis

Tuesday at 1:00 pm we left our homey slip in St. Michaels, MD to head back to Annapolis on our Albin Vega Velocir. The wind was forecast to be out of the north 15-20 kts and dying throughout the afternoon. Friends and coworkers cast us off and we set sail in the Miles river, heading north into the wind. We had a blast putting our new sails to the test, going to weather in a decent breeze and 3ft. chop. We were sure glad to have our new dodger on and looking forward to the day when we had some canvas on it to stop the spray!

We rounded Tilghman Point and turned southwest for Bloody Point on a starboard tack. The sail was a lot nicer on a deep reach on a warm sunny day. We discussed our options if the wind was still howling out of the North building ugly chop. As we would have to beat to weather all the way to Annapolis we toyed with the idea of anchoring out tonight if it was nasty. We saw no reason to push it.

As we rounded Bloody Point and sailed past the rusty old lighthouse tilting forlornly to the side we found the wind had died down on the bay to 10 kts. Close hauled on a starboard tack we sailed right up the bay, getting lifted again and again until we made it all the way to Annapolis! It was a beautiful sail past Thomas Point lighthouse as we turned on the music and just hummed right along.

As we doused sail and motored into our home river entrance we spotted a dinghy adrift in very shallow water where not even the runabout will go. We had time before sunset so I stripped down, threw on a life jacket and dove into the water while Amelia kept the boat nearby. I swam a lot farther than it looked and finally made it to the derelict dinghy. I could see an older couple near shore and shouted to them asking if this was their dinghy and did they need help getting it. I got back an angry response telling me it was not theirs but it was registered and I could not steal it.

Steal it?! That’s what I get for coming out to help. I found 4 feet of anchor rhode tied to the head of a danforth with 4 feet of chain attached to nothing. I retied the rhode to the chain, reset the thing as best I could and swam back to the boat. We later learned the boat was leftover from two drunks who ran their sailboat aground on the rocks there a couple night prior.

We motored the rest of the way up the creek and made it to the dock as the sun was going down. A beautiful day, a wonderful sail, and an incredible way to end an unforgettable chapter in our lives.