Sailing

 5/20- Boby Owl Cove, Broad Creek, Choptank River

   We finally got to go sailing today. We put up the main sail and cruised out of the Wye River where I ran out the stay sail. When we made the turn to head for the Eastern Bay the wind was on the nose. We short tacked a few times before putting the motor back on to bump us around the point. Once there all three sails were up and we romped down the bay until the wind collapsed. 

    We had a choice here, we could continue sailing slowly and go outside of Poplar Island or turn the motor on and take the short way. We chose the motor as the wind was dying. Poplar Island is being extended with spoils from dredging operations. This inside track is a bit winding but near the southern end it gets very shallow. You have to follow a winding cut that is unmarked. 

   After we squeaked through there it was just a long couple of hour haul to the anchorage. This is another sweet anchorage which is kind of bowl shaped and offers protection from every direction. We plan to hole up here to hopefully weather the weather that’s coming tomorrow. 

   The few hours today that we actually had sails up have been rare. Alas, but that is the cruising life. We covered 36 miles today which would not have been possible under sail. In this life you are usually trying to go somewhere and in order to cover more ground you can’t plod along at 2 and 3 knots for very long. And so Mr Perkins comes to the rescue. We continue to hope for better sailing weather so we at least pretend to be a sailboat.