Cheryl's Notes:

We left DC yesterday morning. We were sad to leave, but it was getting hot and crowded. We headed back down the Potomac. There was a lot less debris in the water, but we still hit something that gave us a couple of solid thunks under the hull. Okay, first thunk, keel? Second thunk, rudder? We took the boat out of gear in case the there was a third thunk anywhere near the prop. All systems were good so we preceded on. We pulled over for the night in a convenient wide spot in the river. One of the things that we have learned in all of our cruising, is that it doesn't have to be a suggested anchorage in any book. We look for wind direction protection, a depth of 8-12 feet and good holding on the charts. On the way up the river we pulled over north of Pomonkey Creek and on the way south we pulled over just west of Mathias Point.

Yesterday was a no sail day, as the wind was non existent and it was a scorcher. By the time we anchored at 4 pm, it was 102 on deck in the sun and 99 degrees below deck. According to the radio, the heat index was 110. Today we had 5-10 knots for a short time and were able to put out some headsail and get a little push. We are again anchored in Breton Bay. It is one of our favorite spots. We are catching a little bit of a cool breeze, but it is still hot. We are supposed to have storms blow through tonight and it will be followed by a cold front. It is too early in the season for this kind of heat. We looked for a spot to anchor in the shade, but that doesn't happen. We had a couple of friends come over and check us out this afternoon. A pair of white ducks came swimming by. Of course, when the bread was gone they moved on.

John's Notes:

We tried to sail some this morning. Just no luck. The winds were very light and variable. Not much sense in just letting the sails flog around.

We are working on the 600 mile mark for this trip. We passed the 500 mile mark yesterday. We have been gone for 43 days now. Really doesn't seem like that long.

I could spend the next few weeks in the spot we are anchored in today. Nobody around and just perfect. I could lay around on deck for hours reading. Cheryl, on the other hand, gets a little bored and the heat really affects her. For whatever reason, it doesn't bother me so much. I'm just glad to be here and not having to think about getting up every day and fighting my way through traffic just to get to the office. Life could definitely be worse. This summer, and the prevailing heat index, will probably determine how much longer we continue to cruise the mid-Atlantic states and the Chesapeake during the summer. If we stay here, it may be necessary to move farther north for cooler weather. Of course, there is always the opportunity to return back to Lake Superior. The weather we are having today is reserved for mid July and August in the Apostle Islands. Even then, it only lasts for a couple of days before a cold front moves through.

This morning we went through the Dahlgren Naval Weapons Test Station. They were having a live fire exercise today and we had to move way over to the Maryland side of the river. They have range boats patrolling the area advising you as to where you have to go. From what we could see, it looked like they were setting off some sort of explosive charges on shore. It wasn't like they were firing from ships or bombing from planes. More of a big to do over very little. From the sounds behind us, I think we were a little early in the day for the "show."