Location: Spa Creek, Annapolis, MD
Current position: 38 58.335 N 076.29.523 W
We've had some pretty busy (and very wet!!) days in Annapolis recently. We took a day of vacation and attended the Annapolis Sailboat Show on Thursday, but didn't find any of the "great deals" we've heard about in the past. One fellow we spoke with said he'd bought a new dinghy for $2700 about a week before the show, then saw the same dinghy from the same dealer at the show with a "boat show special price" of $2850. Mark had done some price research on the Internet for some bigger items we're thinking about buying, but everything we looked at was more costly at the boat show. A bit of a disappointment, actually.
It rained all day Friday. We worked.
It rained all day Saturday. We attended the SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) gathering on Back Creek, the next creek out toward the mouth of the Severn River. There were 4 options for getting there, in our dinghy, by water taxi, by bus (including a short dinghy ride and bit of a walk at each end), or by land taxi (also with a short dinghy ride). Note: When you are at anchor you pretty much have to dinghy to get anywhere.
Our preference was the dinghy as we would have more flexibility, but with the forecast for rain we were a bit iffy. But, since it wasn't raining as the time to leave drew closer, we decided to go by dinghy. We donned our foul weather gear, bailed her out (she was half full of water from torrential rain the night before), and set off.
As soon as we left Rachel it started to really pour with rain but no worries - we had our 'foulies' on. We had to head up Spa Creek, down the Severn River (directly into the wind), and into Back Creek, the next creek down. We were wondering why we weren't seeing any other dinghies out and why the people anchored out there were all staring at us. It didn't take us too long to figure it out.
As soon as we got to the Severn and turned to the South we were heading directly into a 25-30 mph wind and 2-3 ft waves. The rain was hitting us in the face like June bugs when you're riding as motorcycle. Whack whack whack over the waves, white knuckles from hanging on so tight, bouncing up and down, and the occasional breaking wave showering us with bonus spray.
Mark: "Did I mention that they issued a small craft advisory this morning"
Julie: "Why didn't you tell me before we left?"
Mark: "I knew you'd want to come anyway!"
Julie: (the "look")
Julie: "I love you"
Mark: "I love you, t".. Thwack - big wave right in both of our faces.
Now we had water running down from the neck inside our foulies and were getting considerably more wet than we anticipated. After about ten minutes of this we were able to turn into Back Creek and gain respite from the waves. Whew. Then we started really looking forward to arriving and having a chance to dry out.
No such luck. The SSCA event took place in several tents. The main tent was set up on a concrete slab and the rain got so heavy at times water ran across the slab. The other tents were set up on grass - soon to become mud.
There was only one dry spot in the whole place - we had stowed Mark's wallet and our cell phone in a "dry bag" we had left over from our canoeing days.
Other than that, pretty much everything we had (including us) stayed wet all day long. Our feet got wrinkled in our shoes. We started sprouting mushrooms. Mark began looking furrier than usual.
Every time we'd start to dry out it was time to go to another tent, and, of course, it was pouring whenever we went outside. We had a great day though, met some new friends, won a couple of door prizes, and in the evening we got to attend a small party with some new and old friends that was also attended by Bob Perry, the designer of our Rachel.
We had planned to leave today but decided we needed a day off, so we're just hanging around the boat napping and doing some minor repairs and maintenance. We've reserved our mooring for two more days, planning to head to Galesville on the West River on Tuesday, then across the bay to the Wye River on Friday for a Tayana rendezvous next weekend. Monsoons permitting, of course.
Mark & Julie
s/v Rachel
