July 6 - 12, 2026 Chesapeake Bay Havre de Grace to Rock Hall and back
Monday July 6th
Down to Havre de Grace after provisioning at Giant and getting a taco from Red Sombrero. Got to baji-naji to find a mayfly hatching! Keeping them all outside while loading in was a challenge.
The bug screen for the companionway helped. Turned on air-conditioning in the cabins and stowed our provisions and clothes. With all the live mayflies, we decided to postpone hosing off the boat until tomorrow. Opted for a nap instead. Woke up just before 1900 and ran over to Weis to pick up pasta sauce, whole wheat tortillas to use as wraps, and Parmesan Romano cheese.
We then drove over to MacGregor's Tavern to get some dinner and watch the USA v Belgium round of 16 game.
Had some delicious apps, rockfish bites, crab balls and brussel sprouts. Laz also had rockfish tacos. We topped it off with a chocolate lava cake and vanilla ice cream. Suffice to say we were happier than the USMNT. They didn't play well the first half except for Tillman's excellent free kick that went in goal. They played better in the second half, keeping only a one goal difference, but then an error on Matt Freese 's part lead to a 3rd Belgium goal. Lukaku added the 4th, just for emphasis. Pretty sure Belgium was mad about Balogan’s red card being suspended for this match. We left after the match. We had a great bartender who made sure to let us know he works every Monday.
Read for a short while then sleep. To Worton tomorrow.
Tuesday July 7th
Up at 0830. Hosed deck off of so many dead mayflies! Apparently of the 3 hatchings this year, this one had the most hatched. A lot of clean up made for happy fish. Birds were also having a good time eating them. I read that mayflies are very sensitive to pollution, so if they are hatching, the water is clean. Always good. The hose valve broke in a spectacular way when Laz was washing the deck. Will have to bring it back to Ace. A disappointment as I sprung for the expensive one since it was a Christmas present for Laz.
Off the dock and into channel by 10:45 am. Wind NE. Main sail up but motored to the yellow. Wind 4-6 kts, put up the code-0. Lovely sailing.
I was picking mayflies off the deck and the lines. Despite hosing off, there were still plenty. One that I picked up was live; they are quite beautiful up close.
Summer sailing school is in session! We saw the Havre de Grace sailing school when we left the harbor and this is one off Betterton. The wind dipped below 5 kts, so we furled the code-0 and motor sailed past Still Pond. The wind picked up, so back out with the code-0. Gentle gybe tacking. Captain Hank went by with a full gravel barge, and we saw another empty barge headed up the Bay. There were a few sailboats out, but most were not sailing, or only had their mainsail up and were motoring.
Got to Worton and dropped anchor at 1620. The sun came out, which is nice.
The view from the anchorage is beautiful as always. As we were setting the anchor I saw a great blue heron fly by. Had some snacks while listening to the Switzerland v Colombia round of 16 game. Then we read and relaxed in the cockpit.
It remained overcast in the evening, with intermittent bright sunshine, so no real sunset. This was as close as it got.
Dinner was chicken tortilla soup from Panera and some guacamole from Red Sombrero.
Just after dinner I saw two great blue heron flying together. Wow!
Showers tonight, then off to Langford Creek, off the Chester River. Weather expected tomorrow night and Thursday so we are headed to the Lankford Bay Marina.
Wednesday July 8th
Up and off anchor at 0917. Motored out from Worton and I made the small Belgian waffles with maple syrup for Laz and the Madagascar Vanilla yogurt with blueberries for me. Plus coffee. Nice breeze, but directly behind us so we motored towards Kent Island. We had the main sail up, just in case there was enough breeze to motor sail.
We saw the Rachel Carson, looking much like a buoy tender but alas no Coast Guard markings. We were so hoping to have the Havre de Grace channel marks back in good order. I understand there has been some to do about government funding… we also passed Baltimore, with the S. Martin Thorpe booking the other way with an empty barge. Captain Ted had brought a full gravel barge down the Bay earlier. Our big excitement was two small pods of dolphin as we approached the Chester River. We had seen dolphin farther up the river a few years back. These guys did not appreciate paparazzi; when I had the camera ready, they disappeared. When I put the camera down, they came out to play. There was another sloop, just stopped, watching them play and swim. We also saw some cow nose rays on our way to the mouth of th Chester River. Water temperature is 81°!
The wind picked up nicely and once we turned the corner into the Chester River, we were able to put out the jib and sail. Just lovely. Had to tack a couple of times and the wind was a bit swirly in the river. Around 1445 we furled it and dropped the mainsail as we did not wish to be late to the marina. Pulled into Lankford Bay Marina at 1530, stern in. The dockhand told us he had seen two terrapin today, over by the pool. After getting lines and electric sorted for AC we took a walk to the office to check in and then over to check the bathhouse and the pool.
Gorgeous view from the pool. There was even a porch swing near some picnic tables that we took advantage of. We met a couple, Julie and Dave, who had a Mainship called Running Late and they were indeed, running late, for meeting friends for dinner. They paused to chat with us as Julie wanted to compliment my docking. I told her it is just a matter of practice. We then walked the docks. There are several Island Packets here that are part of a sailing school fleet. We are one of the biggest boats here. It seems a little odd that there are many empty slips and no one around. It is a lovely well maintained marina. We headed back to baji-naji to read and relax.
There is no local restaurant nearby; the closest ones are in Rock Hall and we will be there this weekend with the B-Ds. I have plenty of provisions on board. I took out th Pacific Cod and pondered how to cook it. Rolled it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and sprinkled it with Parmesan/Romano/Asiago grated cheese mix and topped with a lemon. Put it in our oven, but with no temperature measurement and no food thermometer, I guessed around 15 minutes baking time. I put a couple of sourdough rolls in the oven as well. While it was cooking, I stir fried the CSA pak choy with some carrots and mushrooms. Voila!
There was a lovely sunset and it had cooled down a little bit, so we are in the cockpit. We watched the highlights of last night's World Cup games. The Egypt Argentina game was quite a match. We had listened to the games while sailing, but seeing the action is really good. Switzerland Colombia was good, even though goaless until the PKs. Afterwards we read for a while (re-reading The Phantom Tollbooth) before going to bed. We are staying put tomorrow as there are storms expected.
Thursday July 9th
Planned lay day due to anticipated storms. Slept in as we didn't have to go anywhere.
I made French toast, bacon, cantaloupe and a small omelet for breakfast. And coffee. Filled forward water tank, caught up on emails, finished Phantom Tollbooth.
Went walkabout and with beautiful views from the side of the marina with boats on the hard. Lovely vine flowers and found a delicious raspberry ice cream coated in dark chocolate, Magnum brand, I think. We watched part of France Morocco game, before heading to Chestertown in the loaner minivan.
Stopped at Kathleen James Chakraborty’s old house in Chestertown. It's now the Patrick Henry Fellows Residence for Washington College. Cool!
We had dinner at The Retriever Bar in Chestertown. Delicious caramelized onion dip, fried oysters, a lobster roll for me and a crispy pork dish for Laz. Thunderstorm with pelting rain over us while we were inside eating. The rain had calmed down when we left to go down the street to the Sugar Doodles ice cream shop. I got a coco loco bowl with bananas, strawberries, coconut ice, chia seeds and who knows what else. It was too big to have more than a few bites, but luckily there is plenty of room in the fridge.
When we got back to the marina there was a double rainbow!
A pretty sunset obscured a bit by the clouds. Tomorrow to the Magothy!
Friday July 10th
Up and off the dock at 0915
There was very little wind in Langford Bay and Creek. S and W alternating. We sailed through a sailing school class that I thought were kids, but there were a fair number of adult learners as well. The wind built to a nice 8-12 kts by the time we got to the wider part of Chester River. We saw 3 cow nose rays, very splashy! There were more I'm sure.
Good wind coming out of the Chester, with some light house on the shore of Kent Island. Old Baltimore Light was right where we left it. Sailed into the Magothy with engine help as the wind was on our nose. Then we were able to sail all the way into Eagle Cove.
We saw a guy and his yellow lab head somewhere to shore for the dog to do doggy things. A late dinner of chicken and veggies over pasta. It was hot and kids were zooming around on their little motor boats, jet skis and what not so I waited to cook.
A beautiful sunset, with the last picture one of my favorites of the day. Tomorrow we are off to Rock Hall.
Saturday July 11th
Up just after 0800.
Made English muffins with fried egg, spinach and cheese. The egg still sticks a bit, more than when I do the omelet, despite a generous helping of olive oil. Still tasty. Lovely to watch the horses at the farm while we had breakfast. Anchor up just past 0900. Motored out and then put the mainsail up just after we cleared the channel to Eagle Cove. Motored out of the Magothy and had great wind. Unfurled the jib and sailed. Tacked back towards Gibson to try and take Old Baltimore Light to starboard and ended up having to take it to port, despite the tack.
Just after the light house we sailed through a large pod of dolphin!!! There had to be a dozen or more all around us. It was amazing to see. Wind kept dropping, down to 1.5-2.5kts so we furled the jib and out the engine on around 11:30. Saw a couple of cow nose as we crossed the Bay.
Tiki Lee's Dock Bar is sponsoring a power boat poker run yesterday and today. Today the power boats are going from Tiki Lee's in Middle River, to the southern tip of Kent Island, through Kent Narrows to go to Haven Harbor in Rock Hall, then back to Tiki Lee's. There are a fair number racing up and down this part of the Bay.
Able to sail the channel to Rock Hall, 5-7kt breeze.
1315 at Rock Hall Landing. Did not get in the slip properly at first, needed a second go at it. I got the angles wrong.
Pat and Brad Houck on Serenity were already here. We met them in Maine last summer when they were cruising on Realm with Rosemary and Bill. It was great to see them again! Lee and Jon in Kaimana came in right after us and then Tina and Steve on Summer Wind with Murphy their border Collie. Had lovely happy hour on Serenity with Dennis and Diane coming by car from Chestertown, and everyone bringing an app. Then over to Waterman's for a nice dinner (band was a bit loud and not playing music we enjoyed). I talked everyone into walking to Get the Scoop for ice cream. Unfortunately Scott (who is 78) fell on the way back. Luckily nothing hurt but his pride.
Sunday July 12th
Breakfast at Little Lemon Leaf with B-Ds, Tina and Steve. Delicious! I had a traditional Bennie which was quite good as well as their flannel cakes, which are like crepes, with homemade apricot spread.
Picture for Kathleen, who was school friends with Anna Ruth, the owner. We were off the docks around noon. Excellent wind from E and SE sometimes S. Made it to HdG yellow at 1630, back in our slip at 1757.
