Week 43 ~ Solomons to Home ~ Castle Harbor Marina, Kent Island, MD

Sunday, 6/18/23 Solomons to Kent Island, MD ~   HOME! ~
Today:          63 miles          9.9 hours          S/M: N/A
Total:      2061.3 miles      334.8 hours

    Apparently, the treat from yesterday must have had lactose in some form. Tillie had problems last night and most of today. She had minor problems on our walk.

    Once back, I did laundry. I didn’t realize that Zahniser’s had 3 washers and 3 driers that were not only commercial grade, but also FREE! I wish I had found that out on Friday. Since today is Sunday, the machines were in constant use, but I did manage to get access to the machines as I needed them.

View while waiting for laundry

                             

Flower containers by the appartment over the pool bath house & Pete's Rub Goldberg repair

    I got back to the boat with the laundry the same time as Pete was returning from picking up the delivered breaker. I prepped lunch as he prepped for installation. By 1:45, the laundry was put away, but more importantly, the breaker was installed and working! We were underway by 2 on the final leg of our north bound cruise!

    Pete let the marina office know that we were departing and did not need the extra stay on Monday, which we booked as a safety. Dave wished us well and immediately refunded the dockage for tonight and tomorrow.

Sunday, Sandy Point, and the visitors on the beach and water ~

 

    Once on The Bay, winds were light and going in the same direction as us. We were only able to motor sail for about half the trip, but since we had the flood tide, we were cruising at 7.5-7.9 most of the way. That was just about the speed of the breeze.

    There was a lot of recreational and commercial traffic on the move. Just above Cove Point LNG docks, we wanted to change course closer to the eastern shore, but we had to time the channel crossing between 2 north bound freighters and a south bound tug and barge. They cruise at twice our speed. We were heading up through Poplar Island Narrows and onto Eastern Bay in the hopes of being there for the last opening at 9 PM of the Kent Narrows Bridge, but it would be tight as the current changes just before we get to Eastern Bay.

 

Cove Point Light and marine traffic

    We watched the timing very closely on the GPS for making the the 9 pm opening of the Kent Narrows Bridge. It would be very tight; less than 15 minutes to deal with the current against us for about 10 miles. Instead, once past Poplar Island, we headed back to The Bay, adding an additional hour onto our 8 hour travel time to go up and around Love Point.

    There were 10 ships in the mooring field as we approached Annapolis area. There was also a south bound Carnival Cruise ship and one of the moored ships began its travel up to Baltimore. We stayed as far to the east as we could heading up to the Bay Bridge. I guess the one positive note on traveling this late for the "winter cruising season" is that it is summer, and the days are much longer. We passed the mooring field, a little after 8, as the sun set. Only 2 more hours to home!

 

  

  

 

            

Sunset came and went while we passed Annapolis

    The rest of the ride was uneventful. With radar, it was easy to identify landmarks. Pete asked me to find and light up the tall range light tower at Love Point. That was a bit of a challenge. Pete needed to direct me based on the radar, but a moment or two later, my spotting light beam reflected off of one of the supports. 45 minutes, later we were entering the mouth of Castle Harbor Marina.

    Once at our slip, it took time to set the lines, fenders and the electricity. This is the first time we have a “slip” that is on a T-head. Checking out our great views and the finessing of the lines will have to wait until tomorrow. We’re tired. Good night!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ /) ~ ~ /) ~ ~ ~ 

     Sunday, June 18th, 10:25 pm ~ we completed our 2022-2023 Cruise. It was a fun, interesting, tasty and at times frustrating cruise. We did spend a lot of time with friends, whether long-time friends, friends on I-Dock and Taco Tuesdays, or friends we have met while cruising. We traveled by car north a number of times to spend with family. Enjoyed lots of meals shared with family and friends. Said good-by to one furry family member and added a crazy, but cute new one, that requires a lot of training! All the while, we took good care of our 20-year-old PEKABU.

PURCHASED: anchor and chain, main sail, dinghy, starter battery, dodger and Bimini, engine fuel and water pumps.

REPAIRED: faulty ground wire from pedestal, boom gooseneck issue, plus numerous small projects and routine maintenance.

REPLACED: faulty oil pressure sensor, key ignition switch, alarm on pedestal, engine oil breather assembly, transmission linkage, solenoid circuit breaker and stainless swivel snap shackle for jib furler.

    PEKABU encountered 3 hurricanes or remnants of (Fiona, Ian and Nicole ); traveled a total of 49 days (25 South / 24 North) for a total 2070 miles, and 373.7 hours of travel. (Hummm. . . These numbers are taken from our daily log start and finish dates. I should go back and check my numbers!) They say never hold to a tight schedule while on the water. We had planned to leave April 1. We did leave Ft. Pierce on May 2nd and finally arrived “home” in Kent Island on June 16th. Good times spent with family and friends as well as frustrating times dealing with repairs, but getting chores & work done.

    Once back, there are lots of chores to do. The usual laundry and food shopping. However, I also use this time to thoroughly clean the interior. Drawers, closets, shelves, ceilings, walls, floors get reorganized and cleaned. Inventories are done to make sure things are where they are supposed to be or put on a purchase list for purchase before our trip in the fall. The car needs to be retrieved from Florida. (Pete was able to get a cheap $29 flight from Wilmington Airport on the new Avelo Air Line. Unfortunately, there are a ton of fees and add on costs. Plus he had to get a hotel room and Uber to drive him from the hotel to the airport at 5 in the morning. Oh Yes! The rental car to get him to the hotel! Next time we will just have him fly from Baltimore, which is less expensive and more convenient.) The air conditioning system needs to be flushed. Fridge and freezer need to be defrosted. The cushions and shades need to be cleaned with a rented rug cleaner and the exterior needs a good cleaning and waxing. Oh year! There are medical, dental, and hair appointments to be dealt with and Tillie needed a haircut. Some of these will get done quickly while others will wait for a cool, breezy day to complete.

    Also on the agenda is the new enclosure. That will take some time to create the new patterns, order materials and get working. This time I do not have the open space and carpet of the basement, but I do have more experience. There are a number of projects are on our list. Some will definitely get done, while others will be done at some point. Most importantly, we look forward to reconnecting with family and friends in this area.

    Have a wonderful and safe summer!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P and Tillie, too!