That’s right we were really in the ships!
But first the answer to last night’s question. There were several attempts by family and friends but no-one got it. The dinghy for the Dove is all walnut wood. It stays lashed on deck for months at the time and in the sun. Sun dries the wood and shrinks it creating cracks in the seams. So every so often they throw it in the water and tie it off at both ends. The water seeps in and fills the boat and it sinks down to the gunwales completely submerging. In about a week they throw in a foot pump and pump her out and she floats, her timbers solid and swelled together. The Dove herself stays in the water and is always wet inside. You cannot own a wood boat and keep a dry bilge or else it will sink eventually.
We got underway around 0800 and the repaired engine performed well. No leaks and normal temperature. We ran hard up the bay at an average of 22mph and saw many sights as the bay narrowed.
At the top end of the Chesapeake the formerly wide body of water tapers to a point and when it does two things happen. The water seems to calm down because there is not so much fetch for a northerly wind to blow across and the traffic congestion on the water becomes overwhelming. Add to this the fact that Baltimore is celebrating some 150th anniversary of something and they have the Tall Ships from all over the world docked there, and today there was an air show over the harbor with the Blue Angels performing. The USCG was closing the river into Baltimore from noon to six and some idiot was arguing on VHF that they had no authority to do so. I guess they showed him.
We passed through a field of large freighters anchored in the bay and a huge fueling station anchored in the middle to fill these ships with fuel oil. At one point I showed Alex that the radar screen looked like a Christmas tree with so many targets onscreen.
We made our way into Rock Hall where we docked at Haven Harbour. They have a pool and restaurant and trolley service from 10am to midnight. This is a great town on the outer shore. Rinsed the boat, cleaned up and Alex spent the afternoon at the pool. Later dinner at the Harbor Shack where Jan and Alex had Maryland soft shelled crabs. I had nachos. after dinner we watched 11 guys get on this boat drunk and head out into the bay. The one with the hat never stopped dancing as the band on the deck played on.
We then took the trolley to the Shur Fine Grocery Store and loaded up on provisions. We should be good to NYC.
