log of Sea otter June 28

Hello All, The saga of Sea Otters trip north continues with little or no usable wind and 50 knot+ Thunderstorms. We got to Solomon's Island after another day of motor sailing just in time for another Thunderstorm to hit. This time we weren't so lucky and along with another 4 boats in anchorages near us we drug and had to hold the boat into the 50mph winds and slashing rain for 1/2 hour until the storm past. At times our visibility was less than 100ft. WHEW!! It looked like more storms were coming so we left the anchorage and went into Solomon's proper and took one of the last mooring balls available. Britt was muttering curses to the Bay under his breath so I took the Kayak out and paid the mooring fees rather than have him have to put the dinghy down. The next morning we left Solomon's Island early on one of those beautiful, cool summer mornings on the Bay and we had a pleasant sail out the river. When we turned the buoy to go up the Chesapeake everything changed, 25 knot winds on the nose. We had to turn the engine on to make any headway and it took 6 hours to tack our way up 5 miles.  Wind finally died down when we came to the mouth of the Choptank and we made our way up to Cambridge MD. There are free docks in Cambridge, up against the wall in front of the county building in the inner basin.  7 boats were already there when we turned the corner and the only space left was at the end of the dock near the head of the creek. No worries, it says there is 8 feet there. We nosed into the spot, got help from the other cruisers who took our lines and as they were pulling the stern in we went aground!  Tired and grumpy, we weren't going anywhere, it was 1/2 shy of low tide and the next high tide was 2:30 am, so we decided to just wait it out and sit, have dinner, and relax. At 2:30 the boat was floating so Britt tied it closer figuring we would reposition when all the boats left in the morning. WRONG!!  The next high tide was 1 foot shorter than the night tide and after many hours of people walking by and commenting on the fact that Sea Otters mast was sitting at such an odd angle we finally surrendered and called Tow Boat US for another tow. ($828 bill thank heavens paid for by Boat US). Up against the wall in a real 8 feet of water we visited with family and friends and enjoyed the Charm of Cambridge. Britt got the parts and rebuilt the Exhaust Elbow and now Sea Otter can go another whole 1 knot faster.. Whoppee!! (Actually makes a huge difference).  We left to go to Oxford. The holding is reputed to be poor there so my sister manages to get us a slip in a Marina which turned out to be a really good thing. We were having dinner at her house in Oxford when we noticed a Thunderstorm coming our way. Next thing we know rain is coming thru the closed doors because of the force of the 60+ MPH winds. Trees were down everywhere, electricity off, emergency vehicles dashing from place to place. The winds on the river near the anchorage were clocked at over 80 MPH. Thank you God that we had the foresight to put Sea Otter in a marina. We relaxed in Oxford for another few days as Britt continued with the endless boat project of varnishing. We sailed off to Annapolis, managing to get almost 6 hours of Engine free sailing in when we were hailed on the VHF by our old friends Dick and Jane from Cheetah II. We hadn't seen them in over 2 years. We caught up with each other the next day in Annapolis. Britt made sticky buns to celebrate the occasion. After spending a few days in Annapolis we took off for parts north. We overnighted in the Magothy River and went to Baltimore to Get charts from the West Marine there and refuel and then made our way to Whorton creek, where we overnighted again before heading up to Chesapeake City to visit more cruising friends and get ready to transit the Canal and Delaware Bay. After a great evening telling sea tales with Bill and Joan from Windborne and John and Cheryl from Sea Mink we set off at 5:30 in the morning for Cape May. It was a long, cold, grey day on the Delaware. A little wind in the morning and then the wind picked up dead on our nose in the afternoon. Visibility was awful, couldn't see more than a mile or two in the haze. We were coming around the south side of the Cape carefully feeling our way around a big reef when suddenly the charts said 30 feet and the bottom read 8.. OOPS, charts are wrong. Where do we go!!! After a tense 30 minutes we found our way out of the reef and managed to get Sea Otter back to relatively deep water of 30 feet. What a way to end a trip!!  An hour later, anchor down and safely out of the Ocean we reminded each other that Charts are only guides and that reefs change and can move 1/3 of a mile in a heartbeat!! Keeping a sharp eye out and navigating by what you see, not what the chart says is how you keep safe in a boat.. Looks like we will spend a few days here waiting for a weather window to go up to Block Island or beyond toward the end of the week. Today there is suppose to be wind, but lots of rain and thunderstorms, tomorrow afternoon the storms go away, but so does the wind.. So, hopefully Saturday or Sunday we will have the right conditions for our ocean Passage north. Britt is looking forward to Blue water and I am looking forward to exploring places I have never been by boat. All is well, the adventure continues, Keeping the Dream Alive, Teri and Britt S/V Sea Otter