Annapolis Maryland

It was cool and wet on Mill Creek 1 off Solomons Island when we woke. The sky was cloudy but slowly cleared. It rained overnight but we were able to crack our forward hatch to get airflow through our cabin. We wished we had more time to explore Solomons Island..

As we navigated back to the Patuxent, several boats joined us. I was at the helm but having trouble seeing our electronic charts in the bright morning sunlight. If I'd kept my eye on the channel, it would have avoided what happened next. There was a fishing charter at the mouth of the creek and river. I asked Dave to look at the chart with me. As he moved behind me, I thought he took the tiller. Suddenly, we both realized we were headed straight for the fishing boat. It wasn't as close as it seemed but we gave the guys fishing off the stern, quite the scare. We were able to recover and move past at a safe distance but it was very upsetting and a grave reminder that communication is one of the most important aspects of cruising. I made an assumption that almost ended badly. Mistakes are a fact of life. We'll learn from this and not allow it to happen again! To be sure of it, we began a process of saying "your boat", "my boat", when we passed the tiller between us. 

Solomons Yachting Center

Several boats joined us on the Patuxent

We made our way around the beautiful Calvert Cliffs that run along the shoreline north of the Patuxent. We always hope to raise our sails, but the wind moved to the north, right in our face. The bluffs are magnificent and continue northward for about 24 miles! We haven't seen anything like this since the Tenn-Tom waterway in Alabama. The Calvert Cliffs were formed over 10 million years ago. Cove Point Lighthouse marks the North corner of the entrance to the Patuxent. The view is breathtaking.

Sailboat in the bay

Calvert Cliffs

Cove Point Lighthouse

Closer look at the light

When we approached the bay of Annapolis things got busy. The water became jumbled and we were rocking pretty good as boats passed us in every direction. This is a popular port and a busy fishing community. We had to maneuver around the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse which is obviously well taken care of. The original light was build in 1825 and replaced with the current one in 1872. It is one of only 10 lighthouses in the country that are a designated as a National Historic Landmark. Automated in 1986, it is the last lighthouse on the Chesapeake to be manned. You can tour it on specially designated days which are usually related to fundraising.

Fishing boats along the Thomas Point Shoal Light

It was not easy, but we made our way up the Severn River where a group of short masts and full sails greeted us. We slowly weaved through a sailing club race before coming up to the main mooring field near downtown Annapolis. There were tons of open mooring balls to choose from which surprised us for a Friday night since the mooring field is popular and often full, especially on weekends. We grabbed a ball on our first try while our neighbors sat back and watched. The mooring balls are quite close together so it was a snug fit.

Sailboat racing in Annapolis

Huge catamaran moored just off our bow in close quarters

Chart House

View of Annapolis from the mooring field

Annapolis

Scallywag drying laundry

Annapolis from the mooring field

Google Maps screenshot of downtown Annapolis

There wasn't time for a real shower so we took our "boat" version of a sponge bath then inflated our dinghy for a trip ashore. We had plans to meet our friends Cheryl and Reggie Allison. This was our first time meeting Reggie in person but it felt like we were old friends. We had a wonderful evening at the Federal House, a restaurant in a historic building right in downtown. Cheryl and Reggie told us about their recent move to Annapolis and their plans to build their forever home on Kent Island. At the end of the evening, we waved farewell and walked through the busy downtown area.

Cheryl and Reggie selfie

The Annapolis waterfront was a sight to see. It's festive, with street performers, music and tons of people milling about. The buildings reminds us of Boston while the atmosphere is more like Mallory Square in Key West. Boats can dock directly in the downtown area for a mere $4.00/foot (for one night); expensive, but anyone docked there would have a front row seat to all that's happening. We, however, are happy with our mooring ball 100 yards offshore that cost us only $35.00 per night.

On our way back to Mystic, we were stopped by an officer aboard a police boat at the dinghy dock. He informed us that we were not legal for night navigation. We needed more dinghy lights, including a red and green on our bow and a raised white light on our stern. We apologized; saying we are transient, which he already knew from our Minnesota dinghy registration. He was very nice, made sure we had our life jackets on and told us to head back to Mystic and stay there for the night. You can bet that we purchased the required lighting as soon as we could! We don't use our dinghy after dark often but we will be legal the next time we do.

Folks listening to music in Annapolis

Busy Annapolis waterfront

Annapolis night lights

Sunset over Annapolis

When we got back to Mystic we tied our dinghy to the stern and stowed all our dinghy gear. We'd had enough for one day. We were tired from almost nine hours on the Chesapeake and our night on the town! In the morning we woke at 6:30 to the sounds of the Naval Academy morning roster. It brought us up on deck where we see that other boaters have heard it too. We all watched the cadets, in large companies of 150, running past the shoreline Naval Academy streets in formation. They were singing their revelry as they ran. It was an amazing thing to watch and hear!

Naval Academy recruits running past mooring field during revelry