We signed up for an overnight regatta to Annapolis. We did it last year, maybe a week after purchasing Hobo. Last year we white knuckled it down the bay and finished 11th out of 11. Huzzah!
This year, we had a bad start. We got down the general vicinity of the starting line and anchored out to make dinner prior the 7:00 PM start. Ten minutes before the start (yeah, we cut it that close) we found the anchor too deeply set to get it up easily so went to start the diesel. Although the electrical inside was working, there was some failed connection to the starter because turning the key and even pushing the starter button on the engine block didn't elicit any response of any kind. After a few minutes of panic for no apparent reason the engine did start. We got the anchor up eventually, got the main up and were motoring around near the start line dithering about whether even to start the race, when we realized we were on a collision course with a pretty shiny new Pearson. Before we realized that they most definitely had the right of way, they saw us, swore up a blue streak, and tacked. We continued to kick ourselves for this failure for most of the night.
Anyway, we got across the start line only 3 minutes late, which was pretty good I think. The wind was blowing nice but right up the bay so everyone was tacking back and forth trying to get away from the scrum at the starting line when an announcement was made over the radio that there had been a collision at the starting line and one of the boats was dismasted. The race organizers went to help recover the mast and get that party on their way back home. Meanwhile the guy who wins the race every darn year was basically gone over the horizon already.
We continued on, narrowly missing colliding with a partly submerged tree near the channel up to Havre De Grace. It's been there for many years and we have hit it in the past with no harm but it is a nasty little obstacle.
The sun was beginning to set as we approached Turkey Point. There we found approximately 1,000% more crab pot floats than I have ever seen there before. We immediately fouled one on our rudder. We couldn't shake it so we had to drop the anchor and the sails and go overboard to let it off. We got loose, got under way again, and the boat immediately behind us instantly picked up the same float and had to the same drill. Two tacks later we were back south of Turkey point and all of a sudden came to a dead stop and lost steerage. Baffled, as we weren't near any floats this time and usually Hobo can drag a crab pot with no problems, we dropped the anchor and the sails AGAIN and AGAIN went overboard. This time there seemed to be nothing -- but when we hauled up the anchor we found a line wrapped around it that connected two floats and was hanging out just a foot or so under the surface. We should have cut it as that is really an unacceptable hazard, but we were too relieved to be free and continued on our way.
The wind turned a bit and we had a really nice run all the way to Poole Island. I recieved several hails from yacht club members asking for status and tempting us to quit the race to come anchor with them. We breezily declined and continued on our way.
At four AM we still hadn't made it past the point of Poole Island (this would be maybe a 1/3 or 1/4 mark to the finish line . . . ). The wind and tide were both against us, developing some sloppy swells and chop, and the tacking was torturous and unproductive. We had a brief fight about whether to turn back and sail with the wind to Worton, which is an anchorage with which we are both comfortable and familiar, or to continue west under sail (too afraid to start the engine in the profusion of crab pots) and anchor in the dark and unfamiliar lee of Hart Miller Island.
Hart Miller won out, and we made our way towards the Middle River under sail, basically relying on my chartplotter app to keep us from running into Hart Miller, which is dark and nearly invisible at night. Eventually we were able to drop the hook and pass out.
We woke up basically right in the middle of the river, but hey, nobody hit us and we got to sleep!
We motored lazily into Annapolis, and didn't even join the post race party. What we didn't know was that only 4 of the 11 boats that started the race finished at all. Had a great day in Annapolis, and then we made our way to Rock Hall and had a great day there. The bay really does have a lot to offer.
The Perseids made an appearance and we have been enjoying seeing some fireballs and meteors with visible tails and smoke trails!
