Impulse Cruising Again

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. An estuary is a body of water where the salt and fresh waters meet, so it is tidal. This bay is 200 miles long, so when one reaches the Chesapeake it is like making it to Florida from Pennsylvania – there is a lot more to go before you get to your destination! We pulled the anchor at 7:15 and left Norfolk, crossing the shipping channel when daylight allowed us to see the barges and freighters coming and going. We saw a submarine surface as it entered the channel and that was very cool! Who knows what is under the surface of the water? The water was very lumpy – rollers coming in from the ocean, wind from the south and wakes from these large vessels. Once we were north enough to have protection from both sides of the bay we put up the sails and motorsailed for awhile, riding the tide up the bay. It was all good! Except for masses of small black biting flies. Where do they come from? Out in the middle of this huge bay – we killed so many! The wind died a few times so sails were put away, and eventually the tide turned, but we made it to Mill Creek off of the Great Wicomico River which was further than we had planned. We anchored, and then a horrific storm arrived – winds well over 50 knots along with pounding rain. The anchor held (Yea!), and then the sun came out. A few more bouts of rain arrived, but nothing like the first. The photo shows the stormy sunset - lots of thunderheads and frontal clouds but pretty nonetheless! The temperature dropped dramatically, so it will be a nice sleeping night. Bill’s alarm is set for 5:00 am, so I know I’ll see the sun rise tomorrow!