George and I spent our first night out at anchor since we arrived in Cambridge. It was everything we hoped for. The winds were 10-12 knots and we were moving right along at 8 knots on a beam reach, Breeze On's favorite point of sail.
After just half an hour with arrived at the opening to LaTrappe Creek, one of the Chesapeake's best anchorages. Although it was a Monday night there were six other boats anchored in the three anchorages within the creek. We chose one that had two sailboats anchored, but plenty of room for us to tuck in as well. As soon as we were securely anchored I changed into my swimsuit, dropped the swim platform, put the swim ladder in and went for a swim. The water was a perfect 84 degrees. What a treat!
We ate our dinner as we watched the sunset and then stayed in the cockpit to look at the stars. It was so peaceful there.
We saw and heard numerous ospreys, blue herons and even the occasional jumping fish. I wasn't even tempted to pull out my iPad or a book to read. I just wanted to sit there and take it all in. It was almost like meditating. There was just one house off in the distance and they kept a dim light on all night. George used it as a landmark to verify that our anchor was holding.
We ate our breakfast in the cockpit as well and watched the watermen laying the lines to catch crabs. It was so interesting to see them go back and forth along the length of the line pulling it up to collect any crabs that had latched onto the bait that was placed on the line at intervals.
The wind was predicted to build during the day so we weighed anchor at 8:15 am. We would have loved to stay longer but didn't want to press our luck getting into the slip.
The one night cruising experience was so relaxing and peaceful. It was what we wanted when we decided to spend our time in retirement cruising. We still have a lot to learn and quite a few challenges ahead of us but if we can have more experiences like this it will be worth it.
Posted with Blogsy
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