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Touring USS Torsk, Baltimore
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15 May - With the arrival of yet another cold front, Bill, Ky and I agreed to delay our departure from Hampton a day. Ky chilled out aboard his boat while Bill and I went to the Virginia Air and Space Museum, just a short walk from the marina. There, we got to see some cool military aircraft and an Apollo space capsule and we even got to see the IMAX version of the new Star Trek movie. In the evening Ky hosted a great dinner of home made beef stew and rice and shortly afterwards, we retired to our own boats in anticipation of an early departure the next morning.
We were greeted at dawn by 20 knot northeast winds and a forecast for more of the same all day with gust to 30 knots. Hmmm, to go or not to go? From my perspective, Teresa was flying into Baltimore on the 23rd to meet me so I had to get moving so against our better judgment, we shoved off at 0600. Big mistake! After leaving the shelter of Hampton, the wind increased to 25 knots and then once we rounded New Point Comfort, we encountered the full force of very steep 6 and even some 8 foot waves, all with an unusually short period which we had to pound directly into. It was tough going as we averaged less than 3-knots, often crashing into some waves that brought even Lastdance to a complete stop.
By late afternoon conditions began to moderate and our speed improved but it had been an uncomfortable day so Ky and I decided to call it quits and we ducked into the shelter of beautiful Fishing Bay while Bill sailed the extra eight miles to Indian Creek in order to shorten the next day for himself. Once anchored, I rowed Ky to Lastdance for drinks and dinner and soon afterwards, Admiral Hal arrived in s/v Destination and rafted to us. Destination is ex Tenacious Lady and I met Hal at my marina when he bought her last year. Hal is a retired U.S. Navy admiral and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. We had Dark N’ Stormys and some good conversation, then Hal broke away and anchored Destination a few hundred feet away. After dinner I rowed Ky back to East Snail and after talking with Teresa on the phone, I was in bed and asleep by 2200.
20 May – From Fishing Bay, we had an uneventful day motoring to Patuxent River Naval Air Station where we had slips for the night. There we hooked up with Bill and after washing down our boats to remove encrusted salt left from the day before, we enjoyed several beers and then a great dinner of linguini and white clam sauce hosted by Ky aboard East Snail. We departed early the next morning and while Ky steered a course for Herrington Bay, Bill and I set our sights on the Magothy River, 55 miles away. There we could find shelter from the south winds for the night behind Dobbins Island and I could transfer fuel from my jerry cans to my main fuel tank.
With that goal in mind, we motor-sailed to make time but with a 12 knot south wind and a favorable current, we had already passed Bloody Point on Kent Island by noon so we decided to go all the way to Baltimore where we would rendezvous with friends for our annual Memorial Day raft-up. Once at the Bay Bridge though, I could see I might not have enough fuel to make it so I shut down the engine and jibed my way up the bay under main and jib in a freshening 15-knot wind, while Bill motored-sailed the rhumb line to the Patapsco River. By the time I arrived in Inner Harbor, Bill had Galena anchored off the aquarium but he told me he had been asked to move within the “new” confines of a much reduced anchorage area by the Baltimore marine police. Grumbling about damn anchoring restrictions, I set my anchor even closer inshore and we settled in for the night.
Still annoyed by the reduced anchorage area, we went ashore the next day only to discover signs that told us the free dinghy dock used for years by anchored boats, was now off-limits and that anyone landing a dinghy in Inner Harbor had to pay $15 per 5-hours! Some idiot bureaucrat in city government had clearly gone nuts but we feared my dinghy would be impounded so we paid and went ashore for wings and beer at Hooters. Hours later, Aaron and Jackie arrived in s/v Katz Meow and rafted to Lastdance. Bill rowed over and the first of the weekend parties began. Aaron made bold rum & cokes and Jackie served up great lasagna and I waited impatiently for Teresa. Finally, after 5 hours of flight and airport shuttle delays, she arrived and Bill took me to the water taxi dock to get her. Bill went back to Galena and after brief introductions to Aaron and Jackie; we retired below for the night
The next day, Teresa and I went ashore and after strolling through the pavilions at Inner Harbor, we went to the second floor balcony at Las Tasos and ordered a big pitcher of sangria. There we imbibed the sweet wine and ate alcohol soaked fruit as we laughed and watched our friends boat’s arrive and form what would turn out to be an 11 boat raft-up. I’d been gone 7 months so it was great to see all my friends again and for Teresa to meet them. She fit right in as we began 3 full days of socializing and sharing everyone’s rum and wine. Because of the counter-productive dinghy fee, only a few of us went ashore but Terry from s/v Cloud Nine, shuttled small groups to the dock and we walked to Fells Point for a great lunch at Bertha’s Mussels.
On Memorial Day, boats began to depart by 10am and soon just Galena and Lastdance remained but even Galena would soon leave. Teresa was flying back to Raleigh that evening and I would have to pay the $15 dinghy fee when I brought her to the dock to catch the airport shuttle so instead, I moved Lastdance to the wall and paid the $1.25 overnight fee. That came to just $30 more than tying up a dinghy for 5 hours and gave us much more flexibility in getting off and on Lastdance during the day. We toured the USS Constellation and then Teresa treated me to a cup of ice cream before I had to begin my pre-test diet for my thyroid cancer exams next week. After some alone time together back on the boat, I sadly watched her leave for the airport and walked back to Lastdance with an ever-so-slight slump to my shoulders.
After a dinner of eggs, spam and leftover salmon, I watched a DVD then went to sleep by 10:30. At about 0330, I was awakened by a loud crash on deck. Someone had jumped on the boat! I bolted on deck, .45 in hand and saw a young black thug walking away from the docks edge toward a crowd of 6 or 7 other tough looking youths. I thought…damn, this place sucks. A cop soon arrived but the thugs were already gone and even though the cop assured me he would keep an eye on Lastdance, I couldn’t go back to sleep so I’m putting the time to good use by writing this log, a cup of coffee to my left, my .45 to my right.
26 May – It’s raining and the wind is howling 25 knots from the north east so with no schedule to adhere to, I’m staying in Baltimore another day. I’ll go to the Cross Street Market and buy some fruit and veggies, and with last nights thug incident fresh in mind, I’ll move out to the anchorage for the night. If the weather improves tomorrow, I’ll sail to my marina at Kent Narrows, thereby closing the circle on this 7 month, life-changing voyage. Sail on!...As usual, photos are in the photo album page.
