RED SKY AT NIGHT??????????????

It is now Saturday, October 17 and we are anchored in Solomon Islands and have been for 6 days!

Since our last entry in Kent Island. Thursday morning we rented a car and drove to Dick's daughter Debby"s to spend a night. As usual she was a great hostess and made a wonderful brisket with the usual trimmings, topped off with delicious homemade brownies. Met the new cute four legged addition to the Flynn family, Daisy Jane. We also enjoyed an exciting soccer game at Meghan's school and then went to Lauren's practice. Thanks, Debby and girls.

We slept there knowing that the Summer Wind was safe at the Yacht club.

Friday morning we drove to Annapolis to the boat show. Walked our feet off in balmy 80 degree weather and even bumped into our friends Tom and Diane. It would seem impossible to find anyone you knew in that crowd. While at the boat show we had the opportunity to talk with the manufacturers of our bow thruster and got the name of a mechanic in the area to check it out. He came the next day and found the problem but we had to order parts from the factory. We left the Kent Island Yacht Club Sunday morning, having the parts delivered to the Washburn's Boat Yard in Solomon Island knowing we would be there in a few days. We entered Knapp's narrows bridge and then went to a nice little anchorage called Dun's cove which reminded us of Hamburg Cove on the Connecticut river. Lot's of boats there since it was a holiday weekend. Left Dun's cove Monday October, 12 and here we are still in Solomon Island. The bow thruster was repaired and now we wait for Mother Nature again. The weather on the Chesapeake Bay has been horrendous and we count 12 boats anchored around us just waiting. There are 5-6 foot waves, rain and high winds and the temperatures have been hovering in the low 50's during the day and have gone down to low 40's at night. We had to rescue our Down comforter from hiding in the V-berth. Thank God it was there.

One of the great things about belonging to the MTOA (Marine Trawler Owner's Assoc) is the port captains. We had contacted Dick and Carol who are listed for the Solomon's. Well last night they picked us up and we had an enjoyable dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant and then went to a movie. (Julia and Julie)

Thank you Dick and Carol, it was fun.

We will hopefully be able to move farther south by next Tuesday since that is when this front will have past. Lets hope!!!!!

Mother Nature Raising Her "Snout"

Knot-Ha-Gan travelling up the C & D canal with us, BRRRR they look cold!

Last Wednesday we were able to leave the Chesapeake City dock, but where to go? Our first thought was Baltimore, but they were having Fells Point festival and most marinas were going to be full. The other thing was where ever we chose we may end up being stuck because mother nature was having a little fun with 'blowing up stink" as the Captain likes to stay. Our first stop was the mooring field at Georgetown marina up the Sassafras river. The winds didn't bother us much, its very protected up the river. We picked up a mooring ball, put down the dinghy to go in to pay . Dick wanted to treat me to a lovely dinner at the restaurant on the hill over looking the water. So, we went back to shower and change. The night was really cold and breezy so we decided to stay on board and enjoy a snugly warm dinner.

Thursday, our next stop was the Kent Narrows Yacht club, we chose this marina because the captain has routine blood tests and we needed to find a lab. Quest was supposed to be approximately a mile a way, which to us was walkable. Well to our surprise the map provided by the Quest website was totally wrong and it was close to three miles. This wouldn't have been so bad, but there were no sidewalks and we had to cross over an overpass. Not only that there were lots of little turtle remains on the road reminding us of the peril! It was a totally frustrating situation. Dick showed the Quest Labs what we had printed up, although that lab is not responsible for the website, we made sure Quest found out it was wrong.Needless to say we called a taxi for the return trip. That evening we did enjoy a wonderful dinner at the club.

Here's where our plans had changed again, it was too early to go to Annapolis for the boat show, so we decided to check out the East side of the Chesapeake. Dick posted a message on the MTOA listserv to let people know we were heading up the Chester River to Chestertown. On the way up the river we talked to David who told us about a great anchorage and invited us aboard their pretty boat Covenant in the evening to get together. We had a delightful time! Thanks David and Glenna.

Our trip up the Chester River was only about 20 more miles, so we weighed anchor and headed up. As we were leaving the creek, I (Elle) spotted two eagles resting on a green can ( boating marker, sort of like the road line giving direction which side to drive on) . I ran downstairs for the camera and Dick slowed the boat, unfortunately they don't like you getting too close! So, the pictures are from a distance because when we drew close they flew away. But what a treat!!

Early afternoon we arrived at our destination Chestertown and to our amazement there were several boats anchored out. We put the dinghy down and went to shore to explore. We spent two days in the anchorage. The city provides a dinghy dock which was jam packed. There is a park along the shore that has tall grasses where many ducks and geese congregate. Chestertown is picturesque historic little town with homes circa 1700's and brick sidewalks. There is a walking tour of some of the homes that local residents open up and invite groups through on Saturday afternoon. We were a little late for the tour, but we had a great time walking around. We talked to one local resident who was in the midst of finishing his renovations. He explained he chose Chestertown because it has the feel of a quaint neighbourhood, there are no major roads going through it and most people need a reason to come see it, so its very quiet. Each night we enjoyed a terrific sunset and of course the full moon.We had a great time in Chestertown, its a definite must see as far as we are concerned.

Monday morning we weighed anchor again, several boats had left before us. A few miles before reaching the mouth of the Chester River the waves seemed to be building and found out there was indeed a small craft advisory in effect. So, we checked the map and decided to head into the Corsica River that we had previously read about. It promised to be a well protected and quiet anchorage. We were not disappointed, it was wonderful being tucked into a secluded spot where we pulled out the book we are presently reading. (Night Over Water by Ken Follett)We haven't read a fictional novel in a long time and the suspense of this book is intriguing. The anchorage on the Corsica River was very peaceful until the morning when the migrating ducks started creating a racket.

We had planned on going to St. Michaels but again Mother Nature started her actions again. Our plan was to anchor out there and return to the Kent Island Yacht club on Wednesday. NOAA was predicting Gale warnings so we called the Yacht Club and they accommodated us a day early. Scrubbed the decks, filled the H2O tanks and now getting ready to enjoy a dinner at the club.

NOAA wasn't wrong, last night after our lovely dinner at the club we had to add lines to hold the Summer Wind steady. There were gale winds 30-40knots all night and here I am writing at 3:00 in the afternoon and winds haven't settled down one iota! We are safe, snugged down in the Summer Wind.

To be cont: