Owen Symington

Another rainy day in Annapolis. Downpour started just after docking. Since the news yesterday that the portion of the Erie Canal we need to transit to get home to Lake Ontario will not be opening for at least 4-5 more weeks we will be staying in Annapolis for at least the next week. The canal opening was scheduled for May 16 but has been delayed due to high water levels and now structural damage and other repairs are needed to the canal (on its 200th Anniversary) Opening day celebrations and events have had to be postponed. We are looking at options for getting us and the boat home, lots of facilities and services here. As we are 11 months into our one year trip we are really looking forward to getting home asap. It’s been a great adventure but time to get back home 🏠 Considering shipping the boat on a truck and flying home. Decided to come into a marina for a few days to make it more convenient to take care of laundry etc.

Very calm morning on the beautiful San Domingo Creek. Motored to Annapolis but had some assist from the sail very briefly. Wind was picking up a bit just as we arrived in Annapolis. Took a mooring ball in the Front Forty close to the US Naval Academy. Expecting lots of rain and wind tomorrow so will be staying here for a few days. Enjoyed a walk around town and dinner at Davis Pub with the crews of Second Star and Thaleia. Nice to see the town not in boat show mode. Looking forward to spending the day here with Suzanne & Joe (SV Patience) on Wednesday!

Flat calm conditions, motored all the way. Travelling with Second Star and Thaleia. Beautiful estates along the shores here. Had a lovely afternoon walk around this quaint little but busy town. Unfortunately not enough time to check out the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum but it looks like it would be a great museum to visit. Tons of restaurants, chose Foxy’s by the water with live music. Very nice calm evening on anchor. Settling in to watch the Leafs Panthers game.

Motored all day, motor sailed for a short time. Arrived at beautiful Mill Creek (Solomons) where we were invited to dock at the home of Harry & Kati, friends of Susan & David. We rafted to SV Thaleia (Eva & Tomas from Sweden 🇸🇪) and then tied up Second Star across the sterns of both boats. Enjoyed a fun evening aboard Thaleia.

Very light winds and calm seas. Motored all day. Saw a few pods of dolphins. Unfortunately the town is pretty run down, many vacant stores. At 5:30PM couldn’t find an open store or restaurant. Seems we’re a little early in the season. Had hoped to take a ferry to nearby Tangier Island but the service doesn’t start until the end of May. Marina docks and staff are very good. Given free slices of cake from Smiths island bakery which was delicious!

A rainy morning but mostly just cloudy today, motoring our last stretch of the ICW. A few bridges and a lock to time today. Made it through our last bridge just 10 mins before it would have been closed for two hours for rush hour. Dropped the hook at Hospital Point Anchorage, mile marker Zero to complete our ICW experience. Despite threatening looking clouds we were lucky to not have any thunderstorms today.

Albemarle Sound. 10-15kts dead down wind. Eventually gave up on the Genoa Some rolly parts but overall better than expected Docked at Coinjock. Excellent Dock hands packed us in with barely 2ft between us Will take some skillful springing off Waiting on weather. Nearly finished going back up the ICW

Gusty SW winds all day built to steady 20kts later in the day. Met a very large barge early in the day at a narrow passage between red and green markers so opted to hold position before the markers to let it pass. Unfortunately we drifted off the channel too far and got stuck in the mud. We were able to manoeuvre our way out, back into the channel shortly after the barge passed by. 😮‍💨 Sailed with Genoa downwind in the Pamlico River until Belhaven. Pretty scenery through the Alligator-Pungo Canal. Saw three deer on the canal banks. Very long day. Anchored in about 11ft of water at Sandy Pt. In 20kts SW winds. A little choppy but pretty well protected.

Beautiful day on the ICW with our buddy boats. Light winds all morning, calm conditions on the Neuse River, building winds in the afternoon. Docked at RE Mayo Seafood. https://www.remayoseafoodinc.com/gallery Basic docks but only 40 cents per foot. Spending the night here with Esmeralda & Second Star. Shrimp for dinner!

Very early morning departure to arrive at marina before closing time. Very quick motor sail all the way, seas comfortable. Clear skies, beautiful sunrise. Photo of Dream Weaver at sunrise courtesy of Susan on buddy boat Second Star. Easy out of Wrightsville on slack tide. Arrived at Beaufort on close to peak ebb, 2kts current against us coming in made it a little messy but no significant swell today. On arrival at Homer Smith marina got stuck in mud in our slip, 4’ off the dock. So we are sitting on the boat almost docked waiting for the tide to come up. Dockmaster tried his hardest to pull us in so we are tied up but heeling over a touch 😬