Monday May 30: Kent Island, MD

We're now about 2/3 of the way up the Chesapeake Bay having traveled 45 miles yesterday and another 46 today. Tomorrow we will make it to Chesapeake City on the C & D Canal (connects the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware Bay) and hope to be in New York City by the weekend. Cities we have bypassed for now: Washington DC, Baltimore and Annapolis. The plan is to stop at some of these in the fall when we return south. The solid lines are travel the last few days and the dashed lines are the travel for the next several days!

As we left Tangier Island yesterday (again at sunrise - we need to start sleeping in!), the water was a bit choppy again but again at our backs. We passed a strange sight that I kept looking at but couldn't figure out what it was - a lighthouse that wasn't on the charts? Or what? Turns out it was several ships that are apparently used as target practice. Wonder when they do the shooting??? We spent the night at Calvert Marina in Solomons, MD (there was a line of buoys across the Bay that marked the border of VA and MD. Strange!)

Off again this morning about 7 am. Dave and Joyce have gotten us in the habit of moving early! They decided to stay another night at Solomons to see friends and then they are going to have some work done on their boat that will take several days to complete so we left this morning without them. They are a wonderful couple and we really enjoyed traveling with them - I'm confident that we'll meet up again - somewhere on the Erie Canal perhaps. I am still in awe of them at 70 years young to buy their first boat and a 39' Mainship trawler to boot!!

It was a very calm morning with almost no wind and temperatures in the 90's by early afternoon. Lots of pleasure boats out on the lake as it seems everyone was headed home after the long weekend. The plan was to go further than we did but it was just too hot - even on the water. By 2 pm we were tied up with the air running and all of our shade structures up to provide shade for the boat (well actually to help the air keep the boat cool). Large freighters are still around. I don't know if the ones anchored are headed to Baltimore but that's my guess.

It's now official: we joined the America's Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) and have plans at this point to complete the circumnavigation of the Eastern US. Having traveled counterclockwise from NY, we'll complete the Great Circle Loop when we are on the Erie Canal this summer. The official flag raising was a few days ago! (Up until this point we have been half-loopers: going south and staying there!)