Chesapeake Bay, the queen of bays

This is finally beginning to feel like a real vacation. My stomach has unclenched, my blood pressure is down and I am enjoying the scenery. We celebrated Dave's birthday with friends, the boat tied up at SkipJacks Marina in the Sassafras River near the top of Chesapeake Bay. Our friends, Joe, Chrissy and Joshua picked us up and took us to PA- Amish country. We had two full days of R&R, hot showers and laundry, and then I found myself missing the boat.  I think I'm hooked. We left on Monday and headed back down the winding river then turn to port when we reached the big bay. This waterway is absolutely remarkable. So many tributaries, rivers and bays entering and continuously flowing into the mother bay. I can understand how a person could explore the Chesapeake for a lifetime and not see it all. For our next stop we headed to St. Michaels, a cozy little town on the eastern shore, nestled in the Miles River - up Eastern Bay off Chesapeake Bay. It took a good two hours after leaving the Chesapeake to get there, but it was worth it. A wonderful maritime museum dedicated to the mariners of Chesapeake Bay, the Queen of Bays (as National Geo calls it). The museum is 18 acres so we did some hiking. They have a great boatbuilding workshop, railway, history exhibits of oystering, crabbing and steam boating. There are wonderful boats on display both in and out of the water. The harbor came highly recommended by Steve Kennedy who also loves old wooden boats. It was worth the trip. We departed at 6:45. The air was damp and sweet smelling. As the sky became lighter we were greeted by a heavy dark fog. Not my favorite way to travel, but Dave used the radar, autopilot, chart plotter and computer to find our way through the pea soup. The air remained thick with fog for about 2 hours, then patchy, and finally full sun leaving a clear skyline. Mother nature has been on our side for this entire week, light to no wind!!! The joy of water traveling, at least for the motor-cruiser. After a 7 hour steam we came into the Patuxent River and around the bend into Solomons Island. This narrow piece of land is a bright spot for mariners, lots of marinas and friendly oystermen. We met a great couple who go oystering together daily and have for five years. Great to see women working the water. We had a wonderful experience as we came close to the harbor. Dave was hailed on the radio by the captain of a research vessel, the Rachael Carlson, who recognized the Richard & Arnold from last Sept when he was in Provincetown doing research. While he was in Provincetown he picked up a copy of my book, Nautical Twilight and he just happened to be reading it when he looked up and saw us going past. He invited us to tie up to the fishermen's dock at the University of MD biological lab. There is a shared dock space that the University set aside for commercial fisherman, and here we are tied up nice and sweet and

at no cost. As a matter of fact we have only paid for two nights so far. Out of 14 days that's not bad. The picture is St. Michaels as we were leaving, hard to believe but 30 minutes later we were in a thick blanket of fog. Its been a grand two weeks. Oh and by the way, my 7 year old grandson is in the hospital in Maine, has pneumonia, so please say a prayer for the little man. We love him dearly. Thanks. Fair winds.