Shakedown Excursion
Motoring Across the Bay
We went out for a three night shakedown excursion to test out all the maintenance and new instruments, just to make sure everything was OK. Did not have any problems in those departments. The navigation system exceeded expectations. We had to motor a lot due to the lack of wind, and that was a good thing in this case as we tested the motor and old fuel and had no problems. Our starboard tank had about 70 gallons of really old diesel that we had to have polished, which means cleaning through a filter. Algea grows in diesel, and condensation is also a problem. These cause your engine to fail. Well, we used about a quarter of that tank and everything was good, no engine failures.
Shelly at the Helm
We went back to the Magothy river near Gibson Island again for the first night. The next day we motored underneath the bay bridge to Mill Creek near Annapolis this time and visited Cantlers Inn for dinner. This was our first trip off the boat on the dinghy with the new outboard engine, worked great.
Moon Over the Magothy
Tanker at Anchor
The next day we tried to get to Wye Island on the east side of the bay and actually got some sailing done. We got going a little late and it was much further to our planned anchorage than we thought, so we decided instead to head to the West River near Galesville. On the way we passed some big ships at anchor, one is pictured above. We reserved a mooring ball at a marina and had our first experience tying off to one of these on this boat. Pretty easy, once you find the correct one, there were about 50 floating out there with numbers on them. Had dinner on the boat that evening.
The next day we went for a morning walk in Galesville, a tiny little community on the bay. Got back to the boat and decided to head back to Rock Hall to take care of some items that still need to be done before we leave. We need to get out of here soon and head south, it’s getting cold! But hurricane season is in full effect until at least November.
On the way out of the Galesville marina we got stuck in the mud in the middle of the mooring field. Again, the tides are extreme due to a full “supermoon,” and we tried to leave at low tide. We waited an hour and then got enough lift to get off the mud.
We were able to sail in excellent wind part of the way back, a beautiful but brisk day.
Cold Weather Gear Except for Feet
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