Sic Semper Tyrannis

We are under way southbound in Chesapeake Bay, bound for Hampton Roads. Short update today (I hear the sighs of relief), but it's my last day in open water, where I can type easily, for some time to come. These open water crossings are really my best opportunity to get anything written here at all.

We had an uneventful arrival in Solomons Wednesday afternoon, in flat calm seas. We proceeded up Back Creek and dropped the hook in the same spot we had used back in June (map) for a shorter tender ride. We splashed the tender and headed to the Holiday Inn's dinghy dock, where we tied up for a $5 fee. From there it was a mile walk to the CVS, which shares a shopping plaza with a Weis grocery store and several fast-food outlets.

As I was fixing breakfast I spotted a trawler circling us. It turned out to be someone who recognized us from Facebook, and he sent me a dozen photos. Photo: Alex Cadiz

Our entire reason for stopping in Solomons was for Louise to get her COVID booster. Eligibility guidelines vary by county in Maryland, so we could not just get this done while we were in Baltimore; a big tip of the hat to our friends Stacey and Dave aboard Stinkpot, who alerted us to her eligibility here in Solomons. My current medical status would have made her eligible anywhere, but that would involve more money on a telehealth visit for a script. As it was, CVS would not take our insurance for her flu shot, so we ended up paying that part of the visit out-of-pocket (by contrast, Safeway had no problem when I got mine earlier this week).

We had no need of the grocery store, and after wrapping up with shots (no waiting period, since she had Pfizer for both her booster and her original doses), we headed back toward the Holiday Inn and a pair of restaurants we had passed on the way. We ended up stopping at Boomerang's Original Ribs, which had an extensive menu (not just ribs), a full bar, and an uncrowded and well-space dining room. I did have the ribs, which were quite good.

Point No Point light. I keep expecting that privy to fall into the sea.

On the dinghy ride back to the boat, we passed two anchored sailboats with no anchor lights, a dinghy underway with just a flashlight, and two sailboats on transient moorings also with no anchor lights. Tempting fate, considering we also passed a large crab boat heading to the dock, well in excess of the local 6mph speed limit.

Yesterday was a decent day to travel, and we weighed anchor with the tide to put some miles in. I basically loaded the exact same route we had used northbound in June, and we ended up at the same anchorage, in Mill Creek near Kilmarnock Virginia (map) for a calm night. We left Maryland behind after crossing the enormous mouth of the Potomac River, a little wistful we are too late in the season for the side trip to DC. Under way yesterday I also learned that President Biden was at the Port of Baltimore on Wednesday to talk about infrastructure, which explained why we saw the Marine white-tops on Tuesday -- making a dry run.

Last night's sunset over Kilmarnock, from Mill Creek.

When we turned in last night, the forecast on the bay for today involved four footers decreasing through three footers until noonish, and we figured to just hunker down in the anchorage until lunch, and maybe make Deltaville this afternoon. But by this morning's coffee that had changed dramatically, down to one and a half feet on three seconds, and we decided to make a run for it.

The plotter said if we got under way immediately (by this time it was 9am), we could just make the Phoebus anchorage in Hampton Roads by the last of the twilight, and we made quick work of the departure checklist and weighing the anchor. I had my second coffee under way, on a little bit of a bumpy ride. We're now past Deltaville and the seas have calmed considerably. We should have the hook down before 6pm, and my next post will likely be under way south of Chesapeake, Virginia in a few days.