The next stop on our three-week-long spring commissioning cruise took us to San Domingo Creek, which is the back way to Saint Michaels and about twenty miles (30 km) from Oxford.
We spent a pleasant day motoring and navigating the windy waterways to San Domingo Creek. Our chart kit (circa 1993!) showed the depth of San Domingo Creek as 10 ft (3 meters), our electronic charts showed 8 ft (2.4 meters), but the tide was going out and our depth sounder registered 7.5 ft (2.3 meters)! Rosalind draws 5 ft (1.5 meters) so we anchored further out than we had 15 years earlier, as the creek has shoaled.
We used the dinghy to get to shore and enjoyed the fifteen-minute ride. Other than a couple of local fishermen, we were all alone on the creek. We got to Saint Michaels, always a fun place and a great destination for cruisers because of its ACME supermarket for provisioning, only to discover that the ACME closed last fall! There is another small grocery shop in town that also sells plants. So, we did some provisioning there and picked up Mojito Mint and Minette (our mint and basil plants). This was the second time in as many years that we bought herbs there and it looks like it will become a spring commissioning ritual. The small herbs make the cabin cozy and add a touch of green down below.
Mojito Mint and Minette
In the late afternoon before sunset we met a couple of kayakers paddling by Rosalind. They live on San Domingo Creek and were out for an evening paddle. We invited them on board, shared stories, and had a very pleasant evening. We will definitely go back to San Domingo Creek.
The next morning we headed out. It was clear that, with the ACME supermarket gone, the easiest way to provision in this part of the Bay would be to get back to Galesville and use our car. So, we motorsailed to Galesville.
In Galesville, on the West River, we did laundry and provisioned. From there, we went to the South River, which is north of the West River! We first anchored in Harness Creek. Last year we had a hard time finding the entrance to Harness Creek and had not entered; but this time the conditions allowed us to gently poke our way in. There, we found several boats at anchor and kayaks, canoes, and paddle boats from Quiet Waters Park exploring the creek. It was a very calm day and we took the opportunity to practice setting up our whisker pole. The whisker pole is used to “pole out” the jib for downwind sailing. The creek was very nice, but thunderstorms were forecast and it was just a little too snug. So, just before sunset, we raised the anchor and motored around the corner to Aberdeen Creek to spend the night.
The next day, we took advantage of a northerly and sailed south to the Little Choptank River on our way to Solomons Island. During our sail south, we spotted some tanbark sails a couple of miles off our stern, north of us. There are not too many boats on the Bay with red colored sails and we knew that our friend Steve was scheduled to launch soon. We were right, it was him! We communicated and agreed we would anchor together in the Little Choptank River just behind Ragged Island. We sailed in, dropped the anchor, and then rowed over and had a fun evening with Steve on his beautiful yacht. The next morning we headed out towards the Solomons, while Steve continued further down the Bay. Sailing on a run, with the wind behind us, we put up the whisker pole, put a preventer on the main boom, and sailed wing on wing down the Bay. This was a first for Rosalind and she glided down the Bay beautifully. We spent several days at the Solomons sightseeing and catching up with friends and acquaintances.
The next day, we took advantage of a northerly and sailed south to the Little Choptank River on our way to Solomons Island. During our sail south, we spotted some tanbark sails a couple of miles off our stern, north of us. There are not too many boats on the Bay with red colored sails and we knew that our friend Steve was scheduled to launch soon. We were right, it was him! We communicated and agreed we would anchor together in the Little Choptank River just behind Ragged Island. We sailed in, dropped the anchor, and then rowed over and had a fun evening with Steve on his beautiful yacht. The next morning we headed out towards the Solomons, while Steve continued further down the Bay. Sailing on a run, with the wind behind us, we put up the whisker pole, put a preventer on the main boom, and sailed wing on wing down the Bay. This was a first for Rosalind and she glided down the Bay beautifully. We spent several days at the Solomons sightseeing and catching up with friends and acquaintances.
Rosalind Sailing "Wing on Wing"
From the Solomons, we made a straight-run north to Galesville on the West River. It was a long and busy day on the Bay. At one point, we had three large ships within a couple of miles (kilometers) of us. These were large and fast ships ranging from 650 ft up to 1100 ft (200 to 335 meters) in length and doing 16 to 22 knots (30 to 40 km/h). In addition, there were tens of fishing boats and many sailboat regattas. The Bay felt very small. We even had to change course because one of the large ships would have passed within 250 ft (75 meters) of us. At 20+ knots (35+ km/h), these behemoths can creep up over the horizon in 15 minutes. A good lookout is essential! We were also monitoring radio traffic and were astonished to witness one of the ships having to make evasive maneuvers to avoid a small 40 ft (12 meter) fishing boat that, despite having its radar and AIS on, was totally unresponsive to the ship hailing it. The wake of one of these behemoths gave Rosalind a good tossing, and because the hatches were open, we ended up having to dry out cushions and bedding from the water that came up and over the bow.
We got to Galesville and anchored in our familiar setting. Severe thunderstorms were forecast and that night we were hit with hail and 50 mph (80 km/h) winds. Visibility went down to zero and from our cockpit we could not see the main mast, only 6 ft (1.8 meters) away! It was a memorable storm...We were concerned about hail damage to our solar panels, but an inspection the next morning confirmed that everything was fine. We were relieved!
We had three nights of severe thunderstorms, but thankfully, none compared to that first night. While at anchor, we used the oven for the first time and Cheryl made gluten-free lemon scones. The oven worked like a charm (one more system checked out) and the scones were yummy!
We had three nights of severe thunderstorms, but thankfully, none compared to that first night. While at anchor, we used the oven for the first time and Cheryl made gluten-free lemon scones. The oven worked like a charm (one more system checked out) and the scones were yummy!
Gluten-Free Lemon Scones, First Time Using the Oven
In order to get some sleep (no concerns about the anchor dragging), we picked up our old mooring and focused on completing our commissioning. The main engine and outboard were due for some maintenance and we needed to tune the rigging.
The cruise had taken us to seven different anchorages and we covered 175 nautical miles (325 km). The spring commissioning cruise has been a success!
Thank you for following our blog and stay tuned for the next leg in our travels.
Alex and Cheryl
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