Day two, June 7, we made it under the annapolis bridge in light wind and dropped anchor right inside Whitehall Bay. Something we had not attempted before. It was as a lot of fetch and by the time we went to sleep we were bouncing quite a bit, the beaches were not nearly as tempting from up close as they had appeared from a distance so we did not go ashore on the little neck to the peninsula.
Then we continued on south to the west and south rivers. We went into Galesville to visit our favorite liquor store- it says on the sign that the place is a deli. But it isn’t. It also says on yelp that it is permanently closed but it is not that either. The store is dirty inside and has the feeling of a neighborhood bodega in the Caribbean. When we first met the owner he was convinced that the townspeople were trying to drive him out because someone had put a dead mouse in his trash can. My suggestion that perhaps the mouse had met his demise there naturally was met with hard denial. No. The mouse could not have gotten there on its own it was clearly sabotage. We later sent some friends into his store with instructions to ask about the mouse in the trash, which enraged the proprietor - he ran our friends out of the store without any booze. Sorry, not sorry.
Anyway this year when we visited for ice and prosecco he was on the phone with the court discussing his legal problems. Honestly the timing could not have been more perfect. Can't wait to visit him again.
We went to Pirates Cove for lunch and illicit showers, then walked through “town” to Hartge boat yard to pick up some spare fuel filters. “Town” was an antique store and a post office. Won’t hear any complaints from me.
Then we hauled anchor and made for the Rhode river. The plan was to go behind Big Island this time, a feat we had not previously dared to attempt. It was not bad. It would be a perfect hurricane hole. The approach was visually counter intuitive but we had deep water the whole way in and a lovely little spot to anchor.
The next morning we headed out early to hit Cambridge Md all the way across the bay. We were going to try Knapp’s narrows. Unfortunately about an hour into the trip, just off Poplar Island, our fleet captain's vessel began to slow down. He realized that his transmission was scorchingly hot and he had to stop. We spent an hour or two drifting on the windless bay, trying to fish and failing.
Ultimately we decided to tow him around the north end of Poplar island so we could drop anchor near Loew's Wharf and dock bar. The water was so shallow we had to anchor probably a mile out from the bar, but the dinghy in was fun and the bar was hopping. They had rooms to rent and several food trucks. It was reminiscent of a smaller, shallower Jellyfish Joel's.
We spent the night comfortably at anchor despite the strange location, and enjoyed seeing cow nosed rays gliding by.
The next day we parted ways, the fleet heading home under sail for repairs. Hobo continued south. We made Solomon's that night, grabbing nearly the last mooring available at Zahniser's.
The next day, for lack of any closer destinations, and since we had never done it before, we headed up the Patuxent from there. There's a bald cypress swamp at the end of Battle Creek, so we did a little sailing and a little motoring all the way up as far as we could get and dropped the hook.
Near the bridge up to the Patuxent the river is inexplicably and terrifyingly deep. You could easily swim to shore where we took this depth reading.
The next day we returned to Zahniser's for another night, checked out the Ruddy Duck Brewery via Uber/Lyft for gluten free beer and some actually really great food. Tragically the Tiki Bar in Solomon's is presently closed. The scuttlebutt is that the owner passed away and the boarded up building is now for sale for 3.9 million.
The following day we made a long trip across the bay and up into the Choptank. We had never stayed behind Saint Michaels and it turns out that is definitely the way to go. We had a beautiful anchorage teeming with fish, extremely easy dinghy access to a town dock where we could walk about a block and reach town. No dockage fees. Unfortunately its a much longer haul from our home port to the Choptank than it is to the Miles River so it is definitely a treat we will not get to do again any time soon. We spent two nights there. Did the winery tasting, wandered around town, ate ice cream, and took the dogs to one of the little islands for a run.
We went from there to Annapolis, which was also a pretty long haul, but Friday night was apparently race night so we were in the thick of things, with people barreling into the harbor under full sail right and left. It was very exciting to watch.
Saturday we made for Still Pond for a final night on the hook and the usual glorious sunset over the bay, then back home to HPYC on Sunday for a sad fare-thee-well to Hobo for another week.
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