Back Creek, Annapolis, MD — 10•28•23
Bret, my crew, flew in today. We had a short window to round Hatteras, which was a few days away. But we still needed to get to the bottom of the Chesapeake, which was a two-day sail. Then, wait for the front to pass so we could jump on its tail and ride her sweet north winds south.
Leaving Annapolis, MD — 10•29•23
0700 — It was a chilly morning when we dropped the mooring. We were off to Solomon’s Island about 44nm. We motor sailed most of the day.
1430 – We dropped anchor up St Johns River, Soloman’s Island. It was a beautiful, quiet cove.
On the sail down, the weather warmed up a bit, so we headed to the famous Tiki Bar in Solomons for some Tacos and libations.
Solomon’s Island, MD — 10•30•23
0600—With almost 80nm to go today, we got the anchor up early and headed out in the dark. We were headed to Mathews up East River to wait for the Northerly front to pass.
Moving the boat in close quarters in the dark is always difficult as you have minimal depth perception. Always go slow.
Once we cleared the channel, we raised the sails and enjoyed a nice sail until the wind died. We had some miles to cover, so we fired up the engines to make anchorage before dusk.
We dropped anchor in East River just a short distance from Zimmerman Marine.
East River, Mathews, VA — 10•31•23
It was a few wet, cold, dreary days hanging out here while the northerly passed over us. We “borrowed” the yard car from Zimmermans and explored Mathews.
Bringing Trouble to Mathews on Holloween – Video by Bret McQuinn
East River, Mathews, VA — 11•02•23
0300 ( 3 am ) — The northerly front had passed, and even though the seas were still high and the wind was still strong, we had to head out. We had a few-hour window for when we could round Hatteras. Our destination would be Charleston, South Carolina. As we exited the Chesapeake and headed down the coast towards Hatteras, we were with a pack of other sailboats, as this was the only weather window for the next couple of weeks.
Most of our sailing was downwind with following seas. We timed the trip perfectly, with the winds clocking around as we rounded Hatteras.
Following Seas – Video by Bret McQuinn
There are usually other sailboats doing the same route. Typically, there are no real issues with the other sailboats. Most space themselves out, and we are all heading in the same direction.
The One Jerk
In the wee hours of the first night, Bret was on watch. He called me up as one of the sailboats was headed perpendicular, directly at us at a fast pace. I tried to hail them on the VHF, but they didn’t respond. It was pitch black, but I got out on the helm and watched on the AIS and visually saw them cutting across our bows a few boat lengths away. They then gybed the boat and paralleled us a few boat lengths in front of us. I again tried to hail them on the VHF to at least get a confirmation of what the heck they were doing. But no response.
I pulled out my spotlight and lit them up. A few moments later, they are hailing us on the VHF. I responded, but they didn’t reply, probably because their volume was down the whole time. He finally figured it out. He was a little pissed I was shining a spotlight on him. I asked his intentions and what he was doing. He proceeded to go into a rant about a sailing technique he was doing to go downwind faster. I knew what he was talking about, but he was doing it so poorly it was not helping his speed whatsoever. I ended the radio call with telling him to monitor the VHF. This was a huge ocean, and he had no reason to be cutting that close to boats in the middle of the night.
He had pissed off a few other sailboats. An anonymous caller on the VHF even chided him, tongue in cheek, to further detail his sailing technique.
I’ll call out the boat name here for prosperity. Titan – HH44 – brand new, coming from The Annapolis Boat Show.
Charlston, SC — 11•04•23
Before lunch, we had the anchor down in front of the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown Museum in Charleson harbor. We traveled 427nm in 56 hours. It was a fast trip with no real issues except the Crazy Ivan dude in the middle of the night.
We pulled into the marina the next day and spent two days goofing off in Charleston. Bret had a flight back to MN, and then it was just me and Trouble.
Cover Photo—Sunset in Charleston Harbor