We left the Annapolis area with a favorable wind and were able to sail south towards Solomons Island. Ironically we’d been driving and walking back and forth along Solomons Island Road for the past week, and 40 miles further south we were still on the same road. For anyone nitpicky, yes, that’s correct, there is no apostrophe in Solomons! We worked our way up the harbor at Solomons with an occasional 8 foot spot scaring us (we draw 8’6″) and took a slip at Spring Cove Marina.

Huge shout-out to Spring Cove – they could not have been more welcoming! There were several year-round live-aboards in the marina, as well as many people who clearly come down each weekend, and there was a nice community vibe. The Calvert Museum was next door, and had an interesting collection of exhibits from the area, including several classic boats and the old Drum Point lighthouse. Obviously one of us could not resist ringing the old lighthouse bell! The tides were unusually high, which apparently had caught out some of the local docks. We also walked into the old part of the harbor, passing a number of old buildings and sampling some of the local oysters and crabs! We had meant to stay in the area for two nights but ended up staying five, enjoying the area and checking more jobs off the endless list.

From Solomons, we made a 30 mile trip to cover what could have taken 8 miles by road! Our cruising in this area has been very much working our way up various rivers. This time we made our way to St Mary’s, at the entrance to the Potomac River. Apparently this was the capital of Maryland before Annapolis, but there’s very little there now besides St Mary’s College. The college has a highly regarded sailing team (though this year Harvard might be a smidgeon or two stronger) and we enjoyed watching them practice in the afternoon. They also have a crew (rowing) team, as we discovered when we heard them alongside our boat at 6am. We didn’t watch them practice (although I caught one person sculling when I came on deck just after sunrise!) This was an interesting spot and we stayed two nights.

Next stop was Fishing Bay, about a 50 mile day. There was a clear parade of boats heading south, taking advantage of good weather, and several of them ended up in the same anchorage as us for the night. This was a busy spot, with a surprisingly large marina and a clear sailing community. A nearby boat saw our OCC burgee and stopped to chat. They were helping another boat retrieve their anchor chain, which they had dropped into two feet of thick mud – might be a hopeless mission! On our way out the next morning, a Saturday, we saw a good number of boats heading out to race.

The last anchorage on our cruise south was East River in Mobjack Bay. Again, we were part of a parade of boats heading south. As we saw several huge ships anchored at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay, waiting to head up to Baltimore, we definitely felt we were nearly at Hampton! Mobjack Bay was glassy calm as we came in. East River is one of the quietest bays we’ve been in for a while, as well as one of the warmest! We sat on deck for cocktails and admired the sunset (even if we were wrapped up in blankets!). The boat next door to us is a catamaran from Vienna – leaving us to wonder how they got here?

A word about COLD! It has been getting down to the mid 40’s at night (for those who have moved on and entered the modern world that’s 5-7 C). We have no heat on the boat. The water is still relatively warm which stops the boat getting too cold but it is still quite chilly by morning. We manage by bundling up in lots of blankets at night and plenty of layers during the day, and enjoying sunshine while we have it! In fact, we have been in shorts by afternoon on several days! In general, we are managing well and glad to have the opportunity to experience these lovely anchorages.