M/V ILLUSIONS                              YEAR 2000 CRUISE

TRIP 4 LOGS
In the Annapolis, MD Area
May 24-28, 2000

Magothy River to Eastern Bay and back, May 26, 2000

     On Wednesday, May 24, I went to Washington, DC for a meeting that evening and the next day. On Thursday, after all the meetings were over, I prepared for a boat ride in the Chesapeake Bay area. It was much warmer than when I left the boat there a month earlier. My friends, Trent and Rita, wanted to show me a piece of property on the east side of the bay.

     We got up on May 26, a Friday, and drove to see the property by car. It was Memorial Day weekend, and the traffic was heavy. After going over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and taking Inland Cruising - Sailboat heading up the Severn River near Annapolis some photos of the property, we drove to the boat.  We arrived at Cypress Marine on Cypress Creek, just off the Magothy River, about 11am. We pulled out of the slip at 11:30am and made our way down to the bay, a distance of about six miles. Then we turned right pastInland Cruising - US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD Sandy Point and under the Bay Bridge, which is almost five miles long and 180+ feet high. Then we could come about to enter the Severn River and head for Annapolis.

     Our hope was to tie up in "show-off alley", or "ego alley", in one of the city marina slips right downtown in front of a number of restaurants.  It was Memorial Day weekend, and all the slips and all the moorings were full, at all the possible places we checked.  So we left the Annapolis Harbor and the Severn River and motored over to Chesapeake Harbour Marina, which had a nice restaurant and a spot nearby for a tie-up. It was near 3pm then.

Inland Cruising - The dinghy dock at the end of "Ego Alley"  Inland Cruising - Ego Alley was not very wide  Inland Cruising - It seemed even less wide with traffic approaching  Inland Cruising - On the right, Pusser's, then the Annapolis Marriott  

     My friend, Ed, from Chesapeake, VA, drove up and met us at the restaurant for lunch. After we ate lunch, we left his car there and went into Chesapeake Bay and south to Bloody Point, on the Inland Cruising - Thomas Point Light, Chesapeake Bay eastern shore, and into Eastern Bay. That was the route to get to St Michaels, which we did not see that day. We came up to the property, and the Racors started complaining, so I quickly changed both main engine Racor filters.

     Then we could ease up on this piece of ground to get some photos from the water. It was shallow in places, and good charts were a necessity to avoid a quick stop and a grounding. Then we rounded Parsons Island and went north to Kent Narrows.  The bridge there opened on the ½ hour, and we arrived a little after 7pm. But, we found the clearance under the bridge to be 19 feet. So, we lowered the antennas and went right on through. 

Inland Cruising - Looking north at the Kent Narrows Bridge  Inland Cruising - We cleared the bridge with our antennas down  Inland Cruising - Restaurant north of Kent Narrows Bridge  Inland Cruising - Memorial Day on Chesapeake Bay  

     That area was busy, with restaurants, bars, and hotels all full for the holiday weekend.  After we passed all the commercial establishments, we motored slowly into the bay on the north side of Highway 50.  The channel was quite narrow, and we struck bottom several times in the middle of the channel. I believe I would avoid the area if possible. It was the shortest route back to the Magothy River, however. 

Inland Cruising - All the joints were jumping  Inland Cruising - Rita, enjoying the ride  Inland Cruising - Trent and Ed helped me navigate  Inland Cruising - We raced this ship to the channel crossing, and won  

     We crossed the bay and went up the river with plenty of daylight left. By the time we had the boat tiedInland Cruising - Sunset on the Magothy River, MD down and the engines off, it was 8:30pm and getting dark.   We went to Phillip’s in downtown Annapolis, where Ed, Angela, and I had enjoyed crab cakes a month earlier, and had a nice meal. Then Trent dropped me and Ed off at Ed’s car at Chesapeake Harbour Marina about 11:30pm. Ed and I slept on the boat, but it was late when we turned in for the night.

     The day had involved about 6 running hours on the engines, and we ran about 75 miles altogether. The weather had been gorgeous, about 75 degrees F, with light, cool breezes and occasional clouds.

Magothy River to Baltimore and back, May 27, 2000

     On Saturday, May 27, I changed the oil and filters on all three engines.  Then I fixed some breakfast for Ed and me.  Trent and Rita decided they could handle some more cruising, so they joined us, even helping me to obtain some oil for the next oil change. In fact, Rita had baked some brownies for us and also brought some snacks, so we were in fine shape for an afternoon cruise.

     We left the slip at 12:30pm and again made our way down the Magothy River to the bay. This time we turned north and followed the ship channel to the Patapsco River and then on to Baltimore.  Along the way we saw another friend who had a boat berthed nearby.  He came out to meet us and give us a wave and a ‘Good Day’.

Inland Cruising - The American Eagle, which we had seen in GA  Inland Cruising - A ship outbound from the Port of Baltimore  Inland Cruising - Greg came by to say "Hello" (Patapsco River)

Inland Cruising - Approaching Baltimore, MD      We went into the Inner Harbor, and I was impressed.  The impressive buildings,Inland Cruising - Note the gold tops on the church in the background the National Aquarium, the marinas, the restaurants, the water taxis, and boats of all kinds – it was an impressive site.  Not only were the buildings large, or tall, they also were stylish and different.  Some were new and some were old, but there was a lot of color in the adornments of the structures.  The day was overcast and cloudy, so the colors really brightened up the day. 

Inland Cruising - Approaching the Inner Harbor at Baltimore  Inland Cruising - We eventually tied up at the dock on the right, in front of the trawler  Inland Cruising - Submarine, right next to The National Aquarium  Inland Cruising - The downtown high-rises were a block away from the water  

Inland Cruising - Harbor Place offered restaurants, shops, and boat rentals  Inland Cruising - The USS Constellation is available for tour  Inland Cruising - Philip's was in that building, along with several other restaurants  Inland Cruising - The National Aquarium  

     At first I was afraid we would not find a place to dock (there weren’t many places there or in Annapolis), but then we found one.  The name of the restaurant was McCormick’s and Schmick's.   We sat outside, where we could see the harbor. I had already changed out of shorts to long pants, and then a jacket was necessary, too. 

Inland Cruising - Very little dock space results in rafting-up  Inland Cruising - The Chesapeake was available for tours  Inland Cruising - Lots to see and do in the Inner Harbor  Inland Cruising - The sailboat was providing a tour of the harbor

     We had a nice, late lunch; and we motored out of the Inner Harbor in search of fuel, which we found at Tidewater Yacht Service, at Inland Cruising - ILLUSIONS tied up for lunch$1.299 per   gallon.  Along the way, Ed Herndon, from our area back home, Inland Cruising - It was a cool, rainy dayreturned my earlier phone call to him. After fueling, we went over to Henderson's Wharf Marina and visited with Ed and Marion for a while. Don and Ann Thomson’s boat was there as well, but they were out shopping, we were told. Our three boats and two other Texas boats were planning to meet in New York City for the July 4 celebration, including OpSail 2000, with tall ships from around the world.

     Ed was the webmaster for the TMCA web site, and I had just published the inlandcruising.com web site, so we had some similar experiences with the internet to discuss.  We also talked about the cruising; the last time we had seen them was in Jacksonville Beach, FL.  It was good to see them, and I’m glad we got to introduce them to Trent, Rita, and Ed. We had to leave and get back to the Magothy River, which we proceeded to do about 5:30pm or so. Inland Cruising - Rita, relaxing on the aft deck couch

Inland Cruising - The sailboat and the water taxi were familiar sites      We tied up at Cypress Marine at 7pm, earlier that evening than the previous night, having traveled about 60 miles round trip. After Trent and Rita left for home, Ed and I went to a nice Greek steakhouse in Annapolis. I was tired and ready for a good night’s sleep, but packing had to be done.

     On Sunday, May 28, after I fixed us breakfast again, Ed drove me to BWI Airport for my flight home. Then he drove back to Chesapeake. I made a list of maintenance items for the next four weeks.  I had had some engine overheating on both days, and I wanted to get it straightened out soon, if possible. The next leg involved going into the Atlantic around New Jersey, and I wanted our engines to be in great shape then. So ended the short Trip 4.