Baltimore was beautiful!!

We cruised all the way to Baltimore! Bruce, Lee and I decided to give it a try even though there was a small craft advisory. The wind, however, was not too strong, so off we went about noon on Tuesday (April 26). The trip was actually great!

The one picture is in front of Fort McHenry where Francis Scott Key wrote our National Anthem. Lee and I took a bike ride this morning to sightsee. It was very windy, but sunny and scenic. We rode all around the Orioles stadium too (Camden Yard), where the night before they beat the Yankees.

The next picture is of Lee and Bruce on the Baltimore Inner Harbor walk, just next to where we docked the boat. It's completely renovated and new and exciting in the inner harbor. There are museums, restaurants, historic ships, and people everywhere. And we were docked in the thick of it.

The final picture is of the boat when we returned to it after walking to historic Fells Point and dinner in Little Italy. The full moon was just rising. Incredible evening.

The trip over was choppy but Breaking Away handled the conditions well. I was impressed. Three huge tanker ships passed in front and entered Baltimore Harbor before we did, and those guys move fast - about 25 mph vs my 7 mph. The wind was right into our faces, but we had the full canvas cover up so it was totally comfortable. At our speed it took nearly five hours to get there, but this is what the boat trip is all about!

You first leave the open Chesapeake Bay when you enter the Patapsco River; Baltimore is at the far end of it, about 12 more miles. Along the way it's mostly industrial, but passing under Interstate 695 was pretty cool, and seeing the tug boats was fun. Finally we could see Ft. McHenry, a low-lying structure on the left as we were entering. Several cannon were pointed at us, in case we might be exceeding the posted speed limit. Just past that came the huge naval ships, the Domino Sugar factory, and finally the end. We tied up at a public dock, and were the only boat there because it's still early in the season. In July we would not have found an opening in the 24 spots. Cost was $45.

We enjoyed the walking around, as fans streamed toward Camden Yard for the game. A church sign said "God Bless the Orioles... and maybe the Yanks too." We walked a few miles to Fells Point, the original deep-water port, and it was refurbished historic, with cobblestone streets.

This morning, after the bike ride, we toured the three-masted frigate
"Constellation". It was built in 1854, and served in wars and anti slavery campaigns (blocking slave ships in Africa). We then toured the WWII submarine "Torsk". Amazing what tight quarters the sailors endured, and how complicated everything looked.

We then headed back, but had two notable moves: 1) we left Bruce on the dock when we departed the first time! He tossed the bow line but Lee wasn't ready for that and the bow swung out in the wind. He quickly helped Lee loosen the stern line but by then the boat had blown away from the dock. So, I motored back up and he had to climb on board from the front on the anchor pulpit!! Not good. Then, we stopped for my very first fuel. The boat is two years old, but has never had fuel added since it was brand new. I got only 30 gallons, though, because I wanted to wait until Friday to fill up in Chestertown, where it costs less ($3.13 vs $2.60 per gallon). With about 250 gallons to fill, that difference is significant! Our approach to the fuel dock also required two tries, again because the wind blew my bow away before we could get a good tie down. We did it fine on my second try after I circled around. Luckily, no one was there to laugh or get in our way.

The return voyage was in rougher water than yesterday, but at least it was a following sea so we went faster. The auto pilot, however, had a harder time keeping the boat straight, probably because the rudder was affected by the rough water from behind. But everything was fine, and we got back four hours later. The scary thing was that our landing back at our marina was going to be in a very strong wind. We planned our approach, and it worked fine. Luckily Breaking Away has a bow thruster -- I have no idea how skippers of single-engine boats handled them without a bow thruster.

All in all, we had a wonderful time, and learned that the boat handles well in rough water. Still, I do not plan to sail in rough water. We'll have time to wait for better conditions.