June was rapidly approaching (and so was our daughter’s wedding) so we needed to keep moving North to settle in before Hurricane Season began (Insurance requires we be north of Cape Hatteras, NC from July 1-Nov 1). We were headed to Chestertown, MD, but there were lots of places to stop along the way to break up the trip.
We left Hilton Head, SC at dawn on Nov 21st for the 200+ NM overnight sail to Cape Lookout, NC which is part of the ‘barrier islands”.
This is a large anchorage with beautiful, undeveloped beaches and a famous lighthouse so we tried to get off the boat and walk every day.
Soon, however, we began to run low on food and needed to move on. We left Cape Lookout on May 26th, for a 450 NM sail to Gwynn Island.
Lucky for us, I have a HS friend who lives on Gwynn Island, and we actually sailed right by her house (pretty cool) on our way to the nearby anchorage. We met her and her husband onshore for a terrific dinner and then they took us to the grocery story to stock up! What a treat! I wish we could have stayed longer, but the wedding was getting closer, and we still had a way to go.
The next day, we hopped from Gwynn Island to the Solomons Islands where we had dinner onshore and a chance to stretch our legs with a walk around the town. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is located here, and they had a great display to help illustrate climate change, so I took a picture to use in one of my courses as an excellent example of visualization!
We moved on the next day with lots of nasty stowaways – Yuck. We found it best not to kill them because they left a messy smear – luckily, they eventually flew away on their own.
This was the last leg of our journey and we were headed to Safe Harbor Great Oak Landing Marina (~ 108 NMs), near Chestertown, MD. Anthony chose this spot specifically because it was at the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay and Moxie would be well protected from a hurricane.
This path meant we needed to sail under the famous Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which connects the Eastern and Western sides of Maryland.
Even though we knew it was definitely high enough for us to cross under safely (186 ft.), it was still a little nerve-wracking sailing underneath.
A short while later, we arrived at Great Oak Landing where Moxie would stay for the summer. It was Sunday, May 29th, Memorial Day weekend and the party was ON!! This video shows the scene when we arrived (through a very narrow cut) with people and boats all around. This crowd was having a blast!
We made it safely to our berth and settled in, but there was a lot to do before we could head back to CO on June 7th for the summer.
We had about a week to take the sails and other items off the boat and put them in storage. This is a precaution for a potential hurricane but also a good idea, so mildew doesn’t build up on the sails. We also needed to remove the outboard motor from the dinghy and put that in the forward bow locker, so it doesn’t bake in the sun all summer, “pickle the watermaker”, clean out the fridge and freezer… it was a long list.
Removing the sails was first on the list. We have 6 sails ranging in weight from ~45 lbs. – 150 lbs, and the dinghy engine weighs ~110 lbs. And there’s just us two…. Hmmm… good thing Anthony has an engineering mind and paid attention in physics class….
It was hot as hell that week, but with assistance from some ropes and pulley’s, we got ‘em off and stored in a nice, climate-controlled locker nearby.
Soon, it was time to leave and head back to CO for our daughter’s wedding!!! Moxie is safely tied up at the dock and we’ll be back in September to make the trek south! See you in the Fall!
