Finally Left Baltimore

I once, when I was much, much younger, played in a calypso steel band, and remember a song that went something like this:

I’m sad to say,
I on my way,
Won’t be back
For many a day….

And, I have finally left. I did not leave on Thursday, 10/15, as I had originally planned. As I was preparing the boat to leave, I noticed the bilge pump was not turned on (the bilge pump pumps unwanted water out of the boat, so the boat doesn’t sink). This happens often, as the switch is on a bench seat near the floor, and often gets kicked. Only this time that wasn’t the issue, to pump was frozen so it would not rotate. In addition, the backup hand pump did not work either. It took me most of Thursday, with help from a friend, to get both pumps working again. By then the weather forecasts were for rain all weekend, cold temperatures, and a lot of wind, so I decided to stay docked until Monday, today.

At 7:30 this morning, I was on my way. Headed south down the Chester river, where the boat was docked, through the draw bridge in Kent Narrows at the bottom of the Chester River, and on to the Solomons on the Western Shore of the Bay on the Pautuxant River, where I am spending night. I had a good sail after I went under the bridge until about 3 PM, when the wind died, so I motored the rest of the way to the Solomons, anchored, and celebrated with a glass of wine. So far so good. It was great to be able to sail, and even motoring was enjoyable. The day started cool, but by the afternoon, had warmed nicely, and I had to peal off layer by layer the warm cloths I had bundled into in the morning.

It was a long day, and this is a nice quiet anchorage, so I should sleep well tonight! Tomorrow, I think I will stop in St. Mary’s City and tour the town, if I get an early enough start. I may not e-mail tomorrow, but I will try to get at least 1 e-mail a week off, and hopefully 2. Rainy days that I don’t move will certainly provide time for me to e-mail.