Well, I got out of Annapolis on schedule and promptly sailed into a full-blown gale. It wasn't forcast to be that bad, but a couple of hours after I left, I noticed that the wind and waves kept building and soon the Coast Guard was broadcasting gale warnings on the radio. Soon after that I saw my first 50+ knot wind gust and waves began breaking over the bow.

Being the brave sort, I imediately looked for the closest port and pulled into Herring Bay. Since I didn't feel like trying to set my anchor in 40 knots of sustained winds with higher gusts, I wimped out and tied up at the marina.

On Thursday, the weather was much improved and I sailed down to Solomons Island and anchored in Back Creek for the night. I planned to continue south on Friday but they had issued a Small Craft Advisory and were forcasting strong southerly winds (right on the nose) and four-foot seas. Not as bad as the other day but unpleasant nonetheless. Since the wind was supposed to change to the west on Saturday, I decided to stay put. Enough excitement for one week!

Furthermore, in the last three days, I've managed to break my thermostat in my refridgerator (it still works I just can't turn it down), the cover to the filter on my shower sump, and my laptop. (I'm typing this on a borrowed computer)
It seems like everything I touch stops working. I'm half-afraid to go to the bathroom!

Anyway, updates may be a little sparse until I get somewhere to get my laptop fixed.