Mike wakes up at 6.30 pm and hearing no noise from Alice and Matt, rushes up to make sure that they have not overslept – they had, a bit, but are up now, quietly getting ready to leave.
They order a taxi to pick them up – they are going by bus back to New York for a few days before flying home. We go to wait with them for the taxi but after the 10 minutes has been and well and truly gone, I go and check with the guy on the gate and he informs me that the taxi turned up earlier before we got to the arranged pick up, didn’t wait and just buggered off again. Matt rings the firm and they say they are sending another one out. After one more call a taxi finally turns up. Thankfully they make it to the bus station in time.
Check out at the marina isn’t until at 1 pm – unusually late – and Ann and I have just thought that we might be able to shower and do the laundry and provisioning at a leisurely pace – maybe having lunch where Mike and I went yesterday – and Mike suddenly looks up from the computer and tells us that we have to leave by 11 am as there is a nasty storm with gale force winds coming in and he wants to make it into Annapolis in plenty of time.
I look at the sky incredulously. It’s a wonderful azure blue, not a cloud to be seen and no wind, but when I see the weather radar and see what’s coming up from the south, I shower double quick, Ann runs down with the laundry and we set off for Whole Foods Market a couple of miles away.
We start walking but three quarters of the way around the harbour we spot one of the free buses coming our way and run to the stop. I get there in time to leap on through the back door and call out to the driver to open the doors as they close practically trapping me inside. Ann is left outside but manages to get to the front as the driver opens the doors again. We get a telling off – one is not supposed to board from the back. I consider myself, TOLD.
Just before we need to get off the bus, I spot where all the good shops have been hiding over at East Harbour. Too late now, but I’ve clocked it for another time.
We do our shopping in super quick time, limiting ourselves to four bags of shopping to lug back. No wine or beer on this trip! We walk back to the bus stop then spot that it is right by the side of a taxi rank and decide that it will be better than waiting in the heat then walking all around the marina.
We arrive back at the boat 20 minutes before our curfew and when Terry comes back from the shower, we untie the lines and head once more for the Chesapeake Bay. The weather has already started to turn and although there is little wind, the waves are a little choppier and the sky gets progressively cloudier and cloudier.
The journey to Annapolis is uneventful except for the appearance of the 3-mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a double bridge, something I have never seen before. They are built differently, supported differently and look completely different to each other. But together, they look quite a sight.
We enter the harbour and call the harbour master, only to find that we have missed the last slip that could accommodate us to the yacht just yards in front of us. Still, we go on a mooring ball instead for just $30 a night, a bit different to the $2.25-$3.25 a foot for the slips. We pay in advance for two nights and take the dinghy straight into town while the rain still manages to hold off.
We visit the harbour master’s office and watch the news and weather report of the storm that’s on its way to us. Thank goodness we are moored up safely – it looks like it will be pretty nasty.
The Annapolis stands on the Severn River (as opposed to the River Severn where we live back in the UK) and the town is appealing. At first, it looks a bit tacky as there are the usual throng of crappy tourist shops around the harbour, but as you explore a little further, there is a real mix of good local shops, small businesses and lots of colonial history. There’s also an enormous naval academy which pretty much dominates the town. For a short while, Annapolis was the capital of the United States.
We don’t hang about too long in the town but just have a quick look around so we have some idea of what we want to do tomorrow. We get back on the boat while it is still light and prepare Jeannius for stormy conditions; take all the cushions inside (in case they blow away), pull the dinghy up and take the plug out (in case it fills with water), zip up the rain screens and put towels where we know water eventually gets in if the rain is heavy and persistent enough. Basically we then hunker down and wait.
We have wonderful scallops for dinner – huge things nearly 2” across, pan fried with chorizo and served with a mixed salad. Yummy.
The rain is predicted to start at about 10 pm. It’s late, but at 11 pm there’s a pitter-patter and it starts. By the time we go to bed, the wind has not yet developed but Mike puts the anchor alarm on just in case. The mooring field is filled with boats doing the same as us.
Position: 38 deg 58 min N, 76 deg 28 min W
Distance so far: 2609 miles
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