And Back to the Chesapeake – Day 33

Today we were up at the crack of dawn.  It was a gorgeous sunrise with the sun peeking under some clouds and reflecting off the relatively still water in our anchorage.  I had no idea what was to come, it was just so idyllic.  We had the anchor up and were moving out of the anchorage before 7:00.  By the time we hit the bay, the chop and swells were starting gather some momentum.  By the time we turned to head north near the main shipping channel, the waves had gathered some intensity.  By 8:00 or so we were into it pretty good.  You see, there was a good stiff 20 mph or so “breeze” coming out of the north.  When you live in this area, you know a north wind on the Chesapeake Bay can lead to some “unpleasantness”.  As I was listening to the marine weather on the VHF I hear “small craft warnings until 10:00”, “seas 1 to 2 feet.”  Yeah, I’ve heard that before.  What reality are you looking at Mr. Forecaster. Looking out in front of me I’m seeing a lot if intensity at more than 2 feet.  By 10:00 there are waves as high as the foredeck before we ride them up and then bam, it drops us like a stone and the boat crashes down with a smack, bang and shudder.  Sometimes I can’t see the horizon when the bow goes up before it comes crashing down with a bang.  I know, you’ve all heard this before, and that’s true.  Things inside were being rearranged yet again.  To tell you all the truth, I’m getting pretty sick and tired of having to deal with all this.  It just doesn’t end.  Every day is yet another difficult time.  I thought this was supposed to be fun.  Well, this all went on for five hours, yes, five hours, and we hadn’t even reached the Potomac River which also has a reputation of being a bit rough at times.  At one point I was able to make it to the galley to try and make some lunch.  I opened the freezer door to get some ice for a drink and all the ice trays fell out dumping ice all over the floor.  So much for a cold drink.  There were times when the boat hit a wave and it felt like it hit a wall, you were actually throw forward into the steering wheel like being in a car accident but without the high intensity.  Anyway, you get the picture.  On the bright side, by midafternoon the sun was out the winds had calmed, the sea state was calm and it was actually a beautiful late afternoon on the bay.  We went up to the flybridge to finish our trip for the day.

As I said, we were on the move before 7:00, and we didn’t drop the anchor and settle in until after 7:00 p.m.  And, are you ready for this?  We have established a new Rogue daily distance record.  Drum roll please.  We traveled 103 miles in 12hrs. 30mins. breaking the old record of 100 miles set with Rick George on the crew.  Sorry Rick, as you said so eloquently, “records are meant to be broken.” And it was.

If all goes according to plan, tomorrow will be the last day on the water.  We should reach our destination near Rock Hall Md. by tomorrow afternoon.  The trip is expected to be about 71 miles.  Of course the wind is predicted to pick up there around the time we are arriving which should make docking this monster a little more “interesting.”  I’ll let you know how it goes.

So boys and girls, until then……

P.S. Hi Tyler