Exploring the Bay

It's hard to believe that October is here! We have been gone three months now and yes, we are still talking to each other and there hasn't been a mutiny, lately!!

I thought I would get you caught up with what we have been up to, as tomorrow we are heading to Annapolis for the US Sailboat Show, and it will be a busy few days there. We have signed up for an all day seminar called "Sailing South" and hope to meet more people heading our way. We have been meeting more and more sailors as we get further south, and enjoy talking to them about their adventures. It's nice to hear we are not alone. Plus we are still travelling with our buddy boat Her Diamond, although we will be parting ways for a while after the boat show. Sheila is going home right after it ends for a week, and then we are heading home for a couple of weeks to celebrate my nephew Patrick's wedding. We have every intention of meeting up with them again as we really enjoy their company.

After we left the Magothy River we decided to head over to the other side of the Bay. With so many places to see, it is very hard to decide which, but for now we are staying in the vicinity of Annapolis, so we crossed the bay to a small town called Rock Hall.

I am still amazed at how shallow the Chesapeake is, and you really have to follow the markers carefully to get into the shore side towns. Mind you, following marks is something we are good at after years of sailing in Georgian Bay!! We had read about this town in our cruising guide book, and the distance and location  was perfect for a nice sail across. As it was a Sunday the bay was busy with weekend local cruisers. Luckily we did not run into any large freighters as we sailed across the main shipping channel.

Baltimore Light

We were guided in by the Rock Hall Landing Marina dockmaster who was very helpful in getting us into the harbour, which is rather shallow outside the marks. He advised that we couldn't go straight across the harbour into the marina, but had to go around the perimeter. The office was a cute little building with two hilarious older gentlemen with whom we had a great time bantering. They offered free bikes for an hour, lots of local literature about where to go, see and eat, as well as two "can cosies" and a pen with their logo on it! Very generous!
Since we had been sitting for a couple of days we decided to walk into town to look around.  We had a pleasant half mile walk  to quickly discover that most places in the small town were closed (Sunday afternoon, we should know better by now!) but a few were open including a small grocery store and an ice cream parlour with an old fashioned counter, which we sat at to enjoy our cone!
Later on we went to the local Waterman's Crab House Restaurant for crab cakes. We watched a table beside us eating a tray of cooked crabs and both decided it looked like a lot of work for little reward! I'll let someone else shell them!!

The next morning we borrowed two bikes and rode into town to the local cafe for breakfast and coffee. There we met an older couple with a boat on our dock who had been sailing the coast for years, as well as another couple from Toledo, Ohio who were also headed to the boat show and then continuing on south to Florida. They have signed up for a rally, which is a group of boats that go together down the ICW from Norfolk, Virginia, led by an experienced sailor. This was something we had considered at one time, but the timing doesn't work for us. After breakfast we biked back and left Rock Hall. 

Our next voyage of discovery was to the Corsica River, an area that a local couple we met in Baltimore recommended. We found a lovely little bay that is beside a park, with one other boat on the opposte side of the river. It's lovely here, as I sit here writing this, watching our local heron fly around, as well as a bald eagle. Oh yes, and the moon jelly fish floating by ... no swimming for me!!

Our Local Heron

We decided to sit here for today, and enjoy the quiet and sunshine. This afternoon we decided to take a dinghy ride down to the end of the river where there is a small town called  Centreville. After a short ride we found the town dock and after a short walk by some gorgeous old houses we found downtown. As per tradition we stopped for a beer and a late lunch. It reminded us of a Grisham novel when we found a side street called Lawyers Row with, of course, lawyers' offices across from the town square.

Lawyers' Row

The next few days  will be very busy, but we are looking forward to meeting up with some boats we have met along the way, as well as making new sailing friends.

After the show we will have a few more days to explore before we take Trekker to a marina and tuck her in for a couple of weeks while we come home. It will be so great to see everyone, as well as get caught up with haircuts (it's been THREE months!), dentist, pedicures, yoga ... well, you get the picture!! Hope to see some of you as well!

Stay tuned as we continue this adventure ... one day at a time!!