Chesapeake Bay

Venturing into the Chesapeake made us a bit nervous, but we soon learned that there are thousands of bays, creeks, inlets, etc., to get out of the bay and be in protected anchorages. Sometimes very secluded, sometimes it felt we were anchored in peoples' back yards. One day at a time and we realized we were halfway up the bay. We learned a few things the hard way - for one, don't jump in the water to check the prop until you have checked for jellyfish! Yikes!

We had some great sailing days, some calm motoring days, and some "sporty" wind and waves that humbled us a bit. It is a big open area of water that can build quickly. We are up at the north end now in a protected bay - waiting out a day with a gale warning and chance of some strong thunderstorms. We are really starting to enjoy the days off where we can get a few projects done, relax a bit, & maybe even update the blog!

Of the 10 nights since we left Portsmouth, we've anchored 7 times, caught a mooring ball for two nights in Annapolis, and spent one night at a marina. The anchoring used to make us the most nervous, but we are getting more comfortable with it. The big anchor, big new chain, big new windlass, and other new gear - we are feeling good about it. The mooring balls are easy and convenient to get into town - but they are packed tight together so you get really close neighbors. The marinas offer lots to do, but we find we spend most of the time on the boat. The big benefits are shore power (so we can run air conditioners and use our washer/dryer), water to refill our tanks, and the fuel dock. We don't need fuel very often though.

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  Sailing with the big sails out!

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  Jill on Dolphin lookout

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  Parked at the marina

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  Marina dock - we were parked at the far end

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  Jill motoring out of the bay after anchoring for the night

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  Big bridges at the north end of the Chesapeake

We spent a few days in Annapolis - fun times. We've been there twice before - for the sailboat shows. Fall of 2024 was the first time we set foot on an Antares catamaran. Fall of 2025 we were new owners and helped work the Antares booth. Now we are living aboard and traveling through! The dingy was great to get to shore for supplies, some shopping, drinks & dining out, and some fancy new snorkeling gear.

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Enjoying drinks, cheese & Crackers, and the new cockpit table. Note the close neighbors in the background from our anchorage.

Jill's current sewing project - a new cover for the winch & lines at the back of the boat. One more item converted to the black canvas.

Look how cute! We've got a mini bread maker and Jill was able to make this while we were underway. Nice to have hot fresh bread!

Dan is working on options for how to manage his wild hair these days. The visor/poof-top is a nice option??

One of the anchorages had a side trip into town which involved a mile or so dingy ride up a tiny creek that required rowing then things got too shallow. The creek ended at a tiny dock at a park downtown. We found the local Mexican restaurant for some margaritas, along with 10-15 old men all getting together for drinks. Fun stuff.

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  Dingy Captain

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  Dingy first-mate

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  Great stop for margaritas!

One other lesson learned - don't leave the cockpit lights on at night. I'm not sure if this is what caused all the bugs or if they would have been there anyway, but what a mess. They leave behind a lovely green spot wherever they poop - impossible to clean up. We found the vacuum works pretty good to get rid of them.

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  Thousands of midges

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  Vacuuming up the bugs

Tomorrow we venture on. We'll cross the C&D Canal to get over into the Delaware Bay where we will head southeast to get around Cape May and out into the Atlantic for a first overnight passage up to New York City! Stay tuned.