Chilling Out After a Stressful Night and Onwards to Annapolis.

After the Storm...was that a movie??
Maybe not....but it sure was on the boat...a movie...well, it SEEMED like a movie, in retrospect. These things only happen to other people, right? lol

We decided to wait the rest of the weather out though it didn't actually rain again...just threatened!

We spent the day doing minor things...some repair, some maintenance, some cleaning etc. I think I also did some baking?? oh yes....whole wheat muffins with banana and nectarine. We ate them with whipped cream...you should try it some time!! pretty good:) I made them instead of my usual pancakes.

At around 5pm, I was on the phone and a boat pulled up alongside. Waz went out to speak to the occupant. He was the son of the owners of the lovely Victorian home opposite where we were parked. His folks had invited us over to their house for dinner. He would pick us up at 6pm.


Didn't we settle nicely against the poles!! As luck and good fortune would have it!

Leo, Waz, Diane and David in front of their lovely Victorian.

Had to take this photo of the boat as the neighbors saw is:) They had been checking us out through the Binoculars, and laughing about the fact that we are called UNTIDE!, considering that we were once at anchor further out in the middle of the river.

6.05pm David appeared to ferry us across the river to their dock. His parents Leo and Diane came down the dock to greet us:) We were welcomed into their home, given wine,  cheese and crackers sitting on the front veranda, and then taken inside for Omaha Steak, salad and potatoes, and afterwards home baked choc. chip cookies and a choice of ice-cream. I believe it was Leo's birthday, which is why the Omaha Steaks, his children had given him!! They were fantastic, and he cooked them perfectly:)
David took us back to the boat around 9pm, after a lovely meal and company that we thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to Leo, Diane and David. Generous folks who took a punt on inviting a couple of Kiwi adventurers into their home. We appreciate their thoughtfulness and warm welcome.

We were grateful for the easy night's sleep attached to the poles...no worries there! It turns out, local knowledge is important about where to anchor....Leo told us that there was better holding power on the bottom, further around the corner nearer to their house. Nice to know after we dragged, already, lol.

We made things ready to move out, the following morning, and were up bright and early...something we are making a habit of, at the moment. One problem...or maybe two, actually.

We were a bit too early for the various Marina to open...we turned up the other arm of the river in search of a pump-out and water fill-up. The place we thought we might seek a pump-out was taken up with boats. This often happens after the office closes. They then have to vacate before the start of business again.
anywayyyyy...
We pulled up to another dock and got the dockmaster out 45 mins early. He did well out of the whole deal, though he was a moaner...wrong word??hmmm....perhaps I should say he had been doing the job just a few years too long....all he did was complain!...and I tipped him? sheesh, what WAS I thinking, lol.

The sun was on the rise as we left our adopted poles and set forth for the Pump-out station and water refill!

 I know it's a little early////

But the fella came out anyway....reluctantly!

We took the bull by the horns out into Chesapeake Day even though the wind was up and the waves with it. We ploughed through the water, which was short chop...had to close all the windows downstairs, which I often leave open, because the water was coming in:)

Due to our early start, we arrived in Annapolis early. There were yacht races going on in the harbor and as you can see, lots of AIS tracks, as we ploughed our way towards our night time Buoy. Don't you love the water depth???   32.7 feet!! woohoo!

 Yacht races out in the Annapolis harbor.

A Super Yacht anchored at the entrance to the Yacht Basin

We had no idea what to expect from Annapolis, but it was certainly an 'experience'! This is the downtown dock opposite our parking space.

See the little finger in the middle of the photo/chart? That is known locally (and probably beyond) as EGO ALLEY...for very good reason, we were to find out. We arrived on Friday afternoon, and by 5pm there was such a steady stream of yachts, runabouts, larger craft and yes, even the odd super yacht, passing us. It was fun sitting on the fly deck watching the parade, except that most of them were going faster than the 6mph required by law. The harbor master was kept very busy telling folks to slow down. You can see us parked up! and lots of water:)

This is the entry to EGO ALLEY.... boats coming and going. There is a small turnaround at the far end where the public sit and watch all the activity...and what do they think of all this??? who knows!

Just one of the 'larger' motor yachts coming in to dock for the night.

We sat upstairs after dinner and watched the endless parade, which didn't seem to abate, despite the late hour. Lots of wash, wakes and water taxis picking up and delivering people off the moored yachts.
This was the first time we had picked up a Ball to tie the boat to...I took some photos of the neighbors doing this, to show you (for those who don't know, of course:) ) As it turned out, I had quite a sore back later on, and then PAIN!!!! I had obviously pulled a muscle in my lower back when I was hanging onto the loop waiting for Waz to come and thread the rope through the eye, to tie off...I had it at the end of the boat hook, which was now 9 feet long! aieeeeeeee! I was hanging on for dear life...never having see this done before, so I had to guess what to do, lol., Well, I managed to hook the eye, but couldn't hang on to that and thread the eye at the same time, with the wind whipping the boat around. We were in the mooring field, so I had to hang on for dear life...especially when Waz left the helm to come and help. We did pretty well, all told:) We watched in fascination as the yacht next to us came in and did the same thing...hence the photos! Fun to see that other people screw things up just as much as we do:) ...not that we screwed  up our first shot at this!

These folks did a few passes of the Buoy before she was able to get hold of the rope with her hook. Wind and chop made things challenging.
Long boat hook pulls the rope up with the eyelet on the end...It is harder for those of us in motor yachts because we are a long way from the water.

 She has now threaded the eye with her rope and will tie it off on her cleat, on the boat. It was necessary to keep the eye very close to the boat. As it happened, later that evening, when the wind had died and we only had the boat wakes to worry about, our two boats bumped! The buoys were not far enough apart, even though they were to accommodate 46-55ft boats. We introduced ourselves to each other, put our respective fenders out in strategic places, and went back to what we had been doing, hoping not to bump again.

 

We went to bed to the sounds of music, crowds and boats and the constant slosh of wakes against our hull. ....it lulled us to sleep. At least we wouldn't drag anchor this night:)