Our last night in Baltimore was certainly interesting. Earlier in the day, the weather networks here were stating that a heavy thunderstorm warning was in effect and there was a tornado watch imposed . Boy did the rain come down. Torrential!. Later strong winds came tossing us around on FBG until the early morning hours. Fortunately no damage to the us or the boat however some homes in nearby Delaware suffered severe damage from the winds.
The next day Jon and I left Baltimore for a long run to Norfolk at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and port to the ICW ( Intra Coastal Waterway ). The winds were brisk when we leave and for once were in our favor. We rolled out the foresail and sailed for the 1st time this trip without the engine on. It was glorious. We did around 12 miles before we had to pull in the sail and start up the motor. Ugh.
Chesapeake Bay is beautiful and is one of the top boating areas in the world. Annapolis is where the Naval Academy is and the multitude of rivers that flow into are also nice places to tuck in and visit small towns, restaurants and bars.
The trip was over 180 miles so it was a good run. The wind was supposed have died down by mid afternoon, but we felt strong winds the whole day and even through the night. Spending the night sailing on the Chesapeake was interesting to say the least and at 3:30 am when you 're tired, cold and miserable from being tossed around like being in an amusement park,...it certainly was not enjoyable. I asked myself, why the hell am I doing this ? Anyway by morning with the sun shining, you forget all about it and move on.
As we entered the Norfolk harbor it was amazing to see the might of the US Naval fleet. Norfolk is the largest on the US east coast. We must have passed over 2 miles of aircraft carriers, destroyers and supply ships. Very impressive. I think we got closer to the aircraft carriers than we did the Carnival Cruise ship in Baltimore lol !
After 30 hours we finally arrived at the Norfolk area, the gateway to the ICW. Pics are below and have also included a picture of Jon Stiger my sailing companion.
