Onancock to Annapolis

Apr 22 thru Apr 25

—Blogpost written by Bob

Onancock to Fishing Bay

We were awake at 5:45 AM (Monday, April 22) and ready to leave at 6:30 AM. The temperature was a crisp 50 degrees, the sky was overcast, and the morning was still except for our purring diesel engine. 

The engine was running and all instruments
were turned on at sunrise, ready 
for the day's trip.

As we got the mouth of Onancock Creek, it became obvious that we would have 12 to 15 knots of wind on our nose. I had two different routes available: one outside of Tangier Island and the other in Tangier Sound in the lee of the islands.  We chose the second alternative.  However the islands are so low that they didn’t block the wind very much but they did somewhat reduce the sea state.

We passed Tangier Island on our port as we traveled north on Tangier Sound. From a distance it looked like two islands. As we got closer what looked like a second island was simply a heavily wooded area on the east side of the island. (Of course, Tangier Island is split north and south but the northernmost part is uninhabited now and barely noticeable from a distance.)

We passed Smith Island and, finally, Bloodsworth Island on our port. There were several smaller uninhabited islands between the three major islands.

We continued to bash into the 15-knot headwind. When we hit waves they would come up over the bow and drench the windshield of our dodger.  About 2 hours into our day, Maggie got seasick (for the first time in three years or more). So, it wasn’t such a fun day for her.

We anchored in 11 feet of water at 2:45 PM on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake near the north end of Tangier Sound.  (The small body of water in which were anchored is called Fishing Bay but there are many small bays with the same name throughout the Chesapeake area.)  We traveled 41 nautical miles today and most of it was at a boat speed of 5 knots or less because of the high wind on our nose.  At least, we made it onto Maryland today!

When we anchored the wind was still blowing at 15 knots or so but the smaller body of water provided some protection from the waves. I put out an excessive 90 feet of chain anchor rode for a 9-to-1 scope because of the high wind. By 6:30 PM the wind had died down. We were both tired from the strain that comes with just keeping yourself upright in the hobby horsing boat motion all day. We slept with the forward hatch slightly ajar, allowing our v-berth to remain nice and cool for good sleeping.

Fishing Bay to St. Michaels

I watched the sun rise into a perfectly clear sky on Tuesday, April 23, as I warmed up the engine and turned on the navigation instruments. When I pulled up the anchor it had accumulated its share of dark gray-colored clay that is typical of the Chesapeake’s bottom. We left our Fishing Bay anchorage at 7 AM on the dot. The wind was light and our boat speed was 7 knots in the favorable sea state.  As we motored through Hooper Strait and around the north side of Bloodsworth Island toward the bay, the wind picked up a little—our wind indicator showed 19 knots (which included our boat speed). For a while I thought we were in for another rough day like yesterday but the wind velocity dropped to below 10 knots before long but it was still on the nose.  Despite the 10-knot headwind we were making good progress—6.5 knots with some tidal flow against us in the morning.

During the day, Lola usually stays in the
cockpit with us, spending
the day sleeping.

During the morning we passed
Hooper Island Light.

This ship passed us near Hooper Island Light
and then it pulled over and picked up
a pilot that came out from Solomons. 
(This was one of three ships 
we saw up close today.)

The tide was against us until we reached a point about 3 nautical miles south of Poplar Island. Then, we began to pick up boat speed. (The opposing tidal current was costing us about 3/4 knot of boat speed in the afternoon.)

----------

St. Michaels was my very first destination when I started sailing in the Chesapeake Bay. I bought a brand new Paceship PY23 with a dark gray hull (it cost $10,000 at the time). It didn’t even have a ship’s compass yet when I made the trip from Rock Hall to St. Michaels. The trip was a big learning experience but one that started a lifetime adventure for me. It all happened about 1973 or 1974.

----------

We motored up into Eastern Bay and then down the winding Miles River, finally anchoring just outside of St. Michaels at 5:30 PM.  We allowed 120 feet of chain rode to pass through the bow roller in 20 feet of water for a 6-to-1 scope and powered it in to the soft bottom using the engine in reverse.  (This is one area along the bay where holding is not that good.)  Our day on the water was 10-1/2 hours long! We traveled 64 nautical miles today under motor.  Tomorrow morning we will get a slip and take advantage of the marina’s low preseason rates ($1.50 per foot boat length).

We had grilled hot dogs and cucumber salad for dinner in the cockpit.  (Having dinner made on the grill is one of the advantages of anchoring out.)

Stay Over Day in St. Michaels

It was Wednesday, April 24, and the sun peaking in the forward hatch woke me up around 7:30 AM--it was the longest I've slept in several days.  It felt so good to be back in home territory, not that I didn't like the places we visited.

We checked the weather forecast this morning (both Weather Underground and WINDY) and found out that our best weather window to go to Annapolis is tomorrow.  (The next one was on Tuesday, April 30, which was too late for us to meet up with “our canvas people” in Annapolis.  By “our canvas people” I mean Dan and Donna of Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas.  We are replacing our dodger front and sides, as well as our bimini and enclosure windows this summer.)

As we were having breakfast at anchor a small cruise ship named American Constitution came into the harbor and anchored about 1/2-mile away from us.  They ran a small tender into St. Michaels with some passengers aboard.  Apparently, this week, American Cruise Lines, the owner of the small cruise ship, are running an “American Revolution Cruise.”

The small cruise ship American Constitution
anchored in St. Michaels harbor.

At 10 AM we lifted anchor and moved into a slip at St. Michaels Marina just for one night.

s/v Rainy Days docked at St. Michaels 
Marina. (The maritime museum 
can be seen in the background.)

After docking we walked over to the Crab Claw Restaurant for lunch.  On the way to lunch we discovered that the grocery store I remembered being downtown was demolished and a new building for shops being constructed in its place.  For lunch I had a half dozen local oysters on the half shell and a soft crab sandwich while Maggie had a crab cake.  After lunch we got an Uber to the nearest grocery store, Graul's, at the southern edge of town, to provision.  (We were running real low on cat food!)

We also just found out that the Spring Boat Show in Annapolis is happening this weekend.  Mooring availability may be limited on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  We're hoping that we can pick up a city mooring buoy tomorrow afternoon!

St. Michaels to Annapolis

With a good weather window (overcast and 6 knots of wind out of the east northeast) we departed from St. Michaels Marina at 9 AM (Thursday, April 25) after having a delicious breakfast at The Galley, about two blocks from St. Michaels Marina.

It took us about an hour to motor up the Miles River from St. Michaels to Tilghman Point where the Miles River meets Eastern Bay. another hour was spent motoring down Eastern Bay to Kent Point.  (A light drizzle started at 10:30 AM but ended soon thereafter.)  With a bit of favorable tidal current we were moving at 6.8 knots down Eastern Bay. 

Bloody Point Light with the Chesapeake
Bay Bridge in the background on
a gray overcast day. (The
lighthouse is actually
painted red.)

It took us another hour to cross the bay and then yet another hour motoring into Annapolis for a total of 4 hours travel time.  We picked up mooring buoy #16 at 1 PM. (There were plenty of available mooring buoys in the harbor!)

Our route today as mapped
on our AquaMap app.

The same small cruise ship, American Constitution, that was in St. Michaels yesterday was anchored in Annapolis Harbor today.

The Annapolis Spring Boat Show starts tomorrow and we will attend it while we are here.  We plan to stay in Annapolis until May 2 when we leave for our condo slip in Baltimore (the the last leg of our trip this season).  More on that in our next blogpost...


Thanks for following our blog!