August 1st we take Makai to a marina in Solomons Island, MD and do some land travel. So it’s time to turn around and head south. I think next year we’re going to start our New England adventures in Rhode Island and then head north.
In the northern hemisphere, high pressure systems generally bring good weather. They sit in a predictable location and spin in a clockwise direction. Low pressure systems generally bring stormy weather and spin in a counter clockwise direction. Lows move on by interrupting the High as they pass. This is due to the coriolis effect and the systems turn in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere.
In the Pacific ocean, California is on the eastern side of this high pressure so the wind is coming clockwise from Alaska down the coast bringing cold water as it heads to Mexico. The cold water prevents hurricanes in California. Here in the Atlantic the Bermuda High turns the wind and currents in a clockwise direction as well but the Eastern states are on the west side of this high and the water is coming from the tropics bringing hurricanes with it.
So, how does this affect our trip south? Well, the wind normally blows up from the south west, right where we want to go, but this weekend a storm is coming through and if we catch the wind it’s bringing from the north we can get a free ride.
Yes indeed we got a free ride. I think this was probably the BEST sail we had in all these 7 months. At 3 am we woke up as and noticed the predicted wind change. By 4 am we were sailing out of Newport Bay. Because our wind was associated with a low pressure, most of the trip was cloudy and we had a bit of rain with big waves, but the spinnaker blew us down the coast at record speeds. Eric surfed Makai down waves breaking her previous speed record with 17.7 knots. Sounds good, but it was a bit scary, so we took down the spinnaker. The windage of Makai’s cabin blew us along at 4.5 kts and with 3/4 of our jib out we flew along at 8 knots. By midnight the wind slowed down and clocked around in front of us, closer to it’s normal direction. Under full sail we made it into Lewes, DE by dinner time. 250 miles in 36 hours almost completely under sail is a very good sailing day.
It was very lonely out there. We saw a lobstah boat bobbing around. Those guys have tough stomachs flopping around while we’re practicing sea sick management.
During some of the worst weather a pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphin came by.
They were unique for us. Their white sides streaked through the water, crisscrossing in front of Makai’s bows.
Another scary sight is this weather station out there in the middle of nowhere. It was fixed on a pole or something in 80 feet of water, not about to get out of our way if we’re not paying attention.
During long trips, especially if it’s a bit rough, Topaz comes around looking for comfort. She’ll stay right there sucking up any love, comfort, pets, or cuddles you have to offer. The new word we have for this is schmoogling and her nick name is schmoogles.
Lewes, DE, the only place we’ve revisited on this trip. We anchored around the corner from Cape Henlopen. For some reason every surface inside the boat had condensation and the mold was blooming quickly. Then there were the flies, yes we remembered the flies from last time we were here. Between the hot humid air, wiping mold and swatting flies, I was getting really crabby. After a few hours of being crabby I bailed and took Topaz to the beach, everyone leave me alone.
When we first started sailing the kids would hide from other kids and give me grief for making friends with strangers. Now that’s their new favorite activity. Lets go make friends. They did a great job.
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Roy met this family fishing off the dock. They come from Penn State, Pennsylvania every year and rent a house on the beach. Roy, Genny and Marie fit it great with them. They all went to the pool, fishing, the girls painted finger and toe nails, the kids had a blast sitting on the couch watching TV. I borrowed a car and their teenager for a trip to the grocery store. We brought most of their crew out to Makai for a tour and BVI painkillers.
In the end we joined them at the house for a great dinner and after dark crab chasing fun.
The kids ran up and down the beach, calling to Papa, we got one here. The bucket was filled with to many to count. Their snapping noise was loud and they climbed over the guys on the bottom trying to get out.
After a few quick photos, the crabs were free again.
At the crack of dawn we were off again. Currents that come with the tide changes here are pretty strong. Typically you can lose or gain 2 knots depending on the tide. Every six hours the tide changes for two high and two low tides a day. A flood tide is when the water rushes into the bay as the tide rises, we timed our passage to take advantage of the extra two knots heading up the bay as the tide rises.
All day my one question was, Why isn’t anyone out here? There weren’t any fishermen, no crab pots, jet skis, no one sailing. The only boats we saw were a hand full of barges and a few small boats in transit. The bay is really shallow with one dredged channel up the middle. The only buildings we saw were from the Hope Creek Nuclear Generating System.
We got to the top of the bay at high tide. We originally planned to anchor for the night then transit the canal the next day on the falling tide, but this was it, the perfect time to go. The 17th century settlers recognized a need for this canal and finally in 1829 The Delaware and Chesapeake Canal was open for business. Over the years the canal changed its path and lock system to it’s present day 14 mile path between the two bays.
The houses along the canal looked like happy farm houses with corn in the back ground. The waterfront property doesn’t seem to be able to use this water way as there are no docks or beaches on the banks. They do have a nice view of barges and small boats passing through their backyard.
We’re now in the Chesapeake making big plans for the next few weeks. We’re in contact with new and old friends that live in this area. First we’re going to meet up with Roy Mears, yes another one. We accidentally met him due to email address confusion with our Roy. Then there is Terry, another Leopard Cat owner who lives near Annapolis. We’re also going to meet with John from ARGUS who sent us some equipment that collects our GPS position and water depth. When we have internet access the info is transmitted back to his shop and will hopefully help to update centuries old chart data. Then our pals Becky and Dave, who were our first visitors in the Virgin Islands, live in DC. So they can easily come for a visit as well.
