As we set out in the morning, the little wind we had was in our face. It was very little. We decided to try and dedicate the day to motoring. We could get closer to our destination and have time to sail more when the wind picked up.
There was morning cloud cover so it was quite comfortable. I was able to polish some surface rust from our steering pedestal as we traveled. It was calm so we were able to use our auto- pilot most of the time. We passed Reedville and the fish factory, then crossed the wide opening of the Potomac. Smith Point Lighthouse marks the Virginia side.
The sun came out and it was beautiful. We passed a schooner sailing downwind.
We then came upon a feeding fishing frenzy. It looked like breakers in the water but it was schools of fish. Birds were working the surface and fishermen were scurrying to get into the school. We saw someone catch a large fish, likely a bluefish.
We then passed my favorite Chesapeake lighthouse, the Point-No-Point light. Apparently back in the 1800’s a navy sailor saw this prominence of land and thought it was a significant point. Once he got closer he realized it was not much of a point so he named it Point No Point. Later it was decided that the coastline from the Patuxent to the Potomac needed an intermediate light. They placed it off Point No Point and named it after the point that wasn’t. Someone had fun with that.
We arrived at the entrance to the Patuxent River just as storms were passing through. The clouds were impressive but there was little wind and light to moderate rain. We pulled into our mooring at Safe Harbor Zahnisers at the end of the storm. We went below to dry and wait out the rest of the storm.
After a short time, the storm passed. We hung up our wet clothes, launched Fat Tuesday and headed to shore. We were able to get into our favorite Solomon’s restaurant, the CD cafe which is several blocks from the marina. To get there you walk down C street. We thought it must be between C street and D street but we didn’t find D Street on the other side so now we think it is CD for Cathy and David.
It was a long motor day but great to be back out.
