Dobbins Island — 09•24•21
I pulled anchor at Still Pond early in the morning and headed back to the Magothy River. The day started out with light winds, so motoring was in order. As I headed into the main channel the wind had picked up a little so the sails came out. I was mostly motor sailing till the last hour when the wind picked nicely. It was a great sail for that hour. Trouble really likes that 15-18 knot breeze. She just seems to fall into a nice groove going 8 knots. At that speed with the engines off, there is a nice “burble” from the wake of the boat off the stern.
Some friends had suggested a different anchorage on the Magothy, which was not far from my previous stay. As I entered The Magothy I brought the sails down and engines back on. As I approached this anchorage I dodged a few crab pots and fishing boats, but nothing unfamiliar to me by this time in the Chesapeake. I was able to drop anchor and get it set behind a private island called Dobbins Island.
The locals seemed to have come out in droves over the weekend to this spot. Several small boats, WaveRunners, and an overall water partying atmosphere. Luckily is all calmed down after sunset. I hung out here through the weekend till Monday.
Annapolis, MD — 09•27•21
Back to Annapolis, MD was the plan for the day. As there was little wind, we motorsailed under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The plan was to go to Back Creek, which is where I was hauled out for the summer. I thought maybe I could grab one of the few mooring balls that Back Creek has, since they aren’t heavily used. It would be a short dinghy ride and they even have a water taxi to Annapolis and the pumpout boat also services the area.
There are hundreds of boats parked in these marinas along the narrow creek. It’s a very busy place. My thought was that Monday would be quiet. Well, that proved wrong. Boats everywhere! The mooring balls were all taken and most people anchored in the middle of the channel. I never saw it that crowded when I was there this summer. I suspect most of the people were staking out their spots for the boat show.
Backup Plan
My next backup plan was to go check out the main mooring field in Annapolis. Due to the boat show, the mooring field is likely to be full. I knew not all the mooring balls would stay in for the boat show, but I didn’t know which ones they would kick you off of for the shows (motorboat show first week, sailboat show the following week). As I pulled in the channel off the mooring field, I saw a few mooring balls were empty. Looking for one that would be farthest away from the docks. One was open that I thought might work. I grabbed it and tied it off with no problem. It took till the following day for the Harbor Master to come by and confirm that I could stay here through the boat shows. It won’t be cheap, but it will definitely be interesting.
Things Go Bump In The Night
I woke up to a funny tap on the boat at around 3 am. Grabbing my glasses, I jumped out of my berth and got on deck to see the large trawler next to me had swung around and tapped my stern. There was light wind and no waves so nothing happened to either boat. But with the light wind and slight current both our boats decided to swing in opposite directions. This is something I knew could happen here at Annapolis as the mooring balls are pretty close. No one was aboard the trawler but they had put fenders out in case this might happen. I proceeded to put out a few fenders also, after pushing their boat away. I knew this might happen again but it seemed I was maybe OK for the rest of the night.
Old Friends Stop By
While doing some chores down below I just happen to pop my head out to look around. Right in front of me coming into the channel were some old friends on their Chris White Mastfoil “Ashling”. I had originally met them in Cape Charles at the start of my adventure. We were both in the Bahamas this last season, but we kept missing each other. They were able to pick up a mooring ball, but they were only staying the night as they had other plans for the week. I spent a lovely evening with John and Alexis catching up. We also ended up going over to another Chris White boat as those owners stopped by Ashling to say hi and compare boats. The cruisers community is very friendly and welcoming.