June 2026

Sunday June 7th

All day recording in Chris Cotter's studio then packed up to go to baji-naji. Heading to Annapolis to install LiFePO4 battery #2!

Monday June 8th

Left our slip 0920. Great wind to start 15+ kts from the E so we put up the main and motorsailed down the HdG channel. We were doing 7+ kts over ground. Not sure if our water speedometer is accurate. Wind dropped to 10ishkts as we went out the channel. Red 14 is still missing; it's been over 2 years! Red 12 is on the wrong side of 11, very odd looking if you know the channel. Apparently the ice pushed it all the way towards the spoil islands into the flats. With the governmental nonsense the Cost Guard has not had the funding to fix it. Once past FBI we unfurled the jib and sailed out to the first yellow. Great wind which softened to 5-8kts around Worton, so we put up the code-0. Passed a few working barges and a fair number of sailboats heading north.  Wind dropped even further after Pooles Island, despite the promised build to 15 with gust to 20. No way to maintain much speed downwind. Motor sailed with the main after furling the code-0. I napped right past Baltimore.  Wind picked up near the Magothy, so we put the code-0 back out . Mostly a friendly 90° beam reach. Passed the ARC Defender, a roro, just north of the Bay Bridge and then passed Dortmund Express, a container ship just after going under the bridge. Wind got very squirrelly but we persisted and were able to sail wing in towards Annapolis. Back in H3 at Jabin's, way down Back Creek. Could have been a tricky docking if there was any wind but it was 5kts or less. Laz had talked with TJ around 4 p to give an ETA and confirm we did not need docking help. It all went smoothly. 

Arrive Bert Jabins 1800 1243.2 Nate will be here in the AM with his crew to install our second lithium battery.

Tuesday June 9th 

Breakfast with Erin and Dave Townley at Grump's, great diner food. It was so nice to catch up with them. Apparently there is a lot of change happening with yacht sales and they are no longer with Crusader. They are part of Massey Yacht Sales now.

Lunch with Susan Bairstow Hebden at Eastport Kitchen. Breakfast and lunch only, good. Laz stayed aboard baji-naji. Nate and crew installed second LiFePO4 battery and connwcted the windlass to the bow thruster support battery. 

Dinner with Walt and Jan who we met in Gloucester last summer. Walt has a lovely Hinckley. They drove in from DC and we had dinner at Market & Main...very good. We had a lot of fun telling stories about sailing and everything. Walt' also gave us some of his recommendations for anchorages in the Chesapeake: He was pleasantly surprised that we knew most of them. A few others:

Salt Works Creek off the Severn, Lake Ogleton, Dun Cove off Tilghman, Broad Creek on north side of Choptank

Wednesday June 10th

Left the dock at 0830, rainy initially. Wind was from the SW around 10-13kts. Put up the mainsail once out of Back Creek. Motorsailed  til wind was steadier then sailed downwind to and under the Bay Bridge. Very choppy waves as tide and wind were in opposition plus deep spots in that area. A little better after we went under the bridge. Sailed towards the Chester River then gybed. Wind was steadily 12-15 kts. Wind softened just as we decided to cross the channel ahead of Captain Ted and his dull gravel barge. Put the engine on. Motor sailed a bit but wind softened to 5-7ktssonwe furled the jib and headed for home. Tide is with us, about a knot so we are getting 7+ SOG. Thunderstorms predicted in HdG by 3 or 4pm. Got back to HdG at 1600, minutes before a huge thunderstorm broke over us. The rain started as we were starting to load out to the car. It became pelting quite quickly and we abandoned that, went below and had the Reuben sandwiches from Talula’s that I brought for an early ish dinner.

Saturday June 20th

Brought aft mattress down on top of the wagon. Plus stuff. Stopped at Sam's for subs and Talula's Table for dinner fixings. Took off at 1530 for a sail. Good wind 10-15+ from W to SW. Main up just after we left the fairway and jib shortly thereafter. Sailed down the channel. Big gust too hard to handle just before green 11 which  turned us around. Luckily plenty of water at that part of the channel. Turned back with sails trimmed a little better for big gusts. Did not see how much wind there was, too busy wrestling with the helm, but I am guessing 18+ 

Got it sorted, then sailed on. We passed Altair heading to the yellow, somewhere near the red marking the way into HdG channel. It was nice to see them, albeit briefly. Sailed on, across the Bay into the Sassafras. Laz noted winds to 18kts as we entered the Sassafras, so we went to reef one on the main. Gybe tacked in and made our way towards Knight Island.  As we got close to Red 8, we furled the jib, dropped the main and motored to our favorite spot, between the little house and the beach where the blue heron fish. Talula's Farm salad for dinner with a caramel shortbread for dessert.

Behind Knight Island @1830

Sunday June 21st Father's Day 

Hot night , but it did cool down after midnight.

Left Knight Island at 10:15 after French toast and bacon breakfast. Noticed that the ananometer was not working . Likely spider webs.

Squirrelly wind tried to sail out but had to engine at some point. Wind was better when we got out of the Sassafras but then we were stuck in a gyre.  Had to motor our way out. Wind felt like it was 5 to 10 kts and we were finally up more than 3 kts boat speed. At one point we were up to 6.2 kts. Just off Betterton I saw a splash in the distance that I thought was a cormorant, but then it didn't come up with a fish. I kept looking, and saw dolphin! The people on motorboats near by were yelling and had stopped to see them. Got the binoculars out and saw at least 5.  Laz was able to see them too, with the binoculars. So cool! We had not seen them this far up, but others have. We tried to sail into Still Pond, but the wind kept shifting the wrong way despite tacking for better angle. Ended up motoring in. Anchored on the North side. South side was full of power boats. We knew they would leave, but the North side is quite pretty. Anchor down at 1620. Saw a couple of bald eagles and the osprey were chasing the seagulls off the pier while the cormorants watched. Listened to some GWC games while sailing and in port. Cape Verde is keeping the big guys at bay, tying with Belgium today, and tied with Spain before. They were even ahead at one point. Laz helped secure me into the bosun's chair and hauled me up the mast. It took a while as we were being cautious and I had to make my way around the lazy jack, the spreaders and the radar. I brought the spider brush and the silicone spray in case that was an issue. Gorgeous view from up top, but did not take too many pix as I didn't want to drop my cellphone. Spider brush did the trick. There were a lot of webs. Hopefully this will hold for tomorrow.  Egg salad sammies for dinner, thanks to Talula's! Heading back to HdG tomorrow, ahead of the storm system.

Still Pond North side at 1620

Monday June 22nd

0800 Great breeze from E ESE. We were able to put up the sail on the mooring ball. With the nice brisk breeze we were back at Tidewater at 11:30. NIcely before the thunderstorms were due to move in. Engine hours arriving in HdG 1251.8