8/16/18 – 8/18/18: Still Pond lived up to it’s name. When we awoke the next morning, the water was completely flat. We probably didn’t move more than 10 or 20 feet all night. It was a great night for anchoring. Our next stop was in Pasadena (Maryland, not California), a suburb of Baltimore. It was about 25 miles southwest of where we were, and we hoped to sail most of the day. But, as was the norm for our entire journey so far, no sailing was to be had this day!

We prepped the boat for sailing and hoisted the anchor (Pat’s back is still appreciative that we installed an electric windlass)! As was the case on the way in, we dodged the umpteen-gazillion crab pots on the way out. Once back out on the Chesapeake Bay, we followed the shipping lanes for the first few miles, then made a slight turn to starboard and followed an alternate channel down to the Patapsco River, which leads to Baltimore. The marina we had reservations at was on Rock Creek, right at the mouth of the Patapsco. For the entire 25 miles, the water was like glass, and we never saw the wind go above 3 knots. We need 8-10 before we consider sailing, so once again, we motored it the entire way. If only trawlers weren’t so gosh darn expensive…

We chose the marina in Pasadena for several reasons. First, it was near several supermarkets, and we really needed to resupply our goods. Second, we had a lot of laundry to do and this marina had washers and dryers. We hadn’t done laundry since Cape May, so we were due for a load (or four). Third, it was outside Baltimore, which we decided to bypass for now. During mid-summer it is crazy-busy in Baltimore’s inner harbor, and we wanted to avoid crowds of people. Fourth, we needed a place to ride out some potentially severe weather. They were calling for storms, heavy rain, and potential flooding. And lastly, this marina was only one of three, out of about 20 in the area, that was deep enough for our boat. So this was more of a “stop of necessity”, rather than a destination to enjoy ourselves. Gotta’ have those stops, too!

We spent one full day doing laundry and shopping, and the next just sitting on the boat waiting for the rain to pass. We hope to head out tomorrow to anchor in the Magothy River and then head across the bay to anchor by Wye Island before heading into St. Michaels on Tuesday. Our fingers are crossed, hoping the weather clears!

Pics of Pasadena