It is hot here in Annapolis. We spend our time doing laundry, grocery
shopping, and some boat repairs. You
move slowly when the temperatures often go over 100 degrees. Yet, we do find
some time and energy to be tourists. We take an opportunity to tour the William
Paca House and gardens. This beautifully restored Georgian home dates back to
1765 and was the residence of one of Maryland’s
signers of the Declaration of Independence. The formal gardens cover over two
acres and have intrigued us as we glimpsed over the high brick walls on
previous visits to Annapolis.
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| Gardens at the Paca house |
No trip to Annapolis would be
complete without a stroll on the Naval
Academy grounds.
This time we chose to take the official guided tour despite
the overbearing heat.
Unfortunately we get the tour guide who thinks it is just fine
to talk at great lengths in the glaring sun rather than in the air conditioned
buildings and shaded grassy areas. That
aside, the Academy has some impressive buildings, and it is interesting to hear
about the life of a mid-shipman, especially since the Class of 2016 was inducted
just the day before amid great ceremony and a Naval jet fly-over. All four years’ worth of students are housed
in the huge Bancroft Hall, portions of which are open to the public. We see a typical dorm room, the huge marble
entrance rotunda, and peek into Memorial Hall which features John Paul Jones’s
“Don’t Give up the Ship” flag. Until
last year the original flag, over 200 years old, hung there, but now it is
displayed in a controlled environment in the Naval Academy
Museum and a replica
hangs in its place.
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| Looking up at Memorial Hall - not a typical scene for a college dorm! |
We stroll over to
the Chapel which is just about to close.
The interior is ornate and features stained glass windows by
Tiffany.
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| Sanctuary and alter at the Naval Academy Chapel |
Unfortunately, the crypt of
John Paul Jones, under the sanctuary, has already closed. Just across the street is the air conditioned Naval Academy
Museum, so we go inside
to recuperate. It proves to be an interesting stop with the first floor
featuring naval history and the second housing a huge collection of model
ships. Prior to the days of CAD
drawings, ship designers used detailed models to assist shipyards, and we see many
such models, some of which date back to the 17th century. Also there is a display of remarkable ship models
made by French prisoners of war constructed entirely of carved bone fragments
that came from their meat rations.
Did I mention that it is really hot in Annapolis?
On our last night there we move from Spa Creek where there is nary a
breath of air and pick up a mooring ball in front of the Naval Academy. To our surprise the boat next to us hails
from Wooster, Ohio; we had met this skipper three years
ago at the same location. Just before
sunset, the water taxi comes by and mentions that there are some severe storms
headed our way. We pass the warning on
to our neighbors and then secure things on our boat. Well after dark the storm hits with a
vengeance, knocking the boat on her ear.
At one point during a lull I glance at the wind speed indicator and see
it is in the mid-40’s. Who knows how
hard it was blowing in the gusts – we were too busy hanging on. After it passes, things cool down a bit, and
we enjoy a pleasant remainder of the night, leaving at first light the next
morning for the trip up the Chesapeake. From our perspective, all have fared
well. Little did we know that all across
the mid-Atlantic and as far west as Ohio,
electrical grids are down and a number of people have died in this freak storm
of almost hurricane strength straight line winds.
The motor up the Chesapeake
is hot but uneventful. We time our
arrival at the D&C (Delaware and Chesapeake) Canal to
coincide with a favorable tidal current, and we plan to stop half way through
at a marina where we will plug in for air conditioning. But, alas, with full moon tides it is too
shallow for us to enter the basin, so we proceed out into the Delaware
River/Bay and drop anchor a couple miles further at one of the few viable
anchorages along this route. It is hot,
hazy, and dead still, but at least we have a safe place to spend the
night. The next morning we continue
motoring with a favorable current. The Delaware is not one of
most people’s favorite places; there are few interesting sights along the way
and it is full of commercial traffic that hogs the narrow channels.
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| You definitely stay out of the way of these big guys |
Fifty miles
later we come to Cape May and the entrance into the Atlantic
Ocean. As if on clue, a
nice breeze picks up, and we sail the last hour around the Cape
and into the protected harbor. Here we have reserved a slip at what proves to
be the most expensive marina we have ever visited. With temperatures hovering around 100, it is
worth the expense as we will have air conditioning for the night.
Cape May is an interesting place and probably the nicest
resort town on the Jersey coast. The commercial fishing fleet is housed right
next to our marina and in front of a locally famous restaurant, the Lobster
House, where the seafood is unquestionably fresh.
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| The fishing fleet congregated next to our marina |
The next morning we bike through the town,
admiring the attractive Victorian homes and several mile long beach.
It is very tidy and definitely not honky-tonk.
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| Victorian homes across the street from the ocean side boardwalk |
We leave Cape May in mid-afternoon, thinking we will arrive
in Rhode Island
about 40 hours later. Another boat in
the vicinity is making the same passage so we stay in communication via VHF
radio, giving us a feeling of security along with some interesting
conversations during long night watchs.
Somehow we have mis-calculated our travel time; we are seeing some wind
for sailing the first few hours and after that we get a favorable current. Our buddy boat travels even faster and
arrives at Block Island just at sunset. It’s July 3, fireworks are planned for the
evening, and they radio back that the anchorage at Block
Island is jammed. We decide to continue on to Point Judith
Harbor of Refuge rather than risk entering a crowded harbor in the dark. As we pass by Block
Island, we see the fireworks display and the fireworks of
Narragansett in the distance. Welcome to
New England! It’s much cooler here, and, after
32 hours underway, we drop anchor in the Harbor of Refuge
under a full moon just before midnight.
The next morning we have a brief motor into Narragansett Bay and the
always charming Newport.
