New Territory

We took advantage of a few weeks without commitments and set off yesterday morning for new territory. Our plan was to go up the Chester River to Chestertown. We planned to spend two nights there and celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary at a restaurant in town. We had visited Chestertown five years ago when we were searching for a community on the Chesapeake. We loved Chestertown but decided it was too far up the river (24 miles) for our tastes. Most sailors who live in Chestertown keep their boats in Rock Hall, a 12 miles trip by car. We had heard that the Chester River was pretty and worth seeing. However, it is narrow and winding so we would have to motor up the river. 

There was no wind yesterday so we motored the entire day. Our sweet daughter called George to wish him a happy Father’s Day. Later in the day the wind picked up enough that we could motor sail. It seems that we always manage to be out sailing during the hottest week of the season. This year is no exception. The temperatures reached 90 degrees both yesterday and today. 

After we reached the Chester River we turned into the Corsica River and anchored in one of the numerous anchorages there. It is a really pretty spot. First thing after breakfast this morning we put the dinghy together on the deck. We wanted to get it done before it got any hotter. Then we raised the anchor (after replacing the blown windlass fuse) and motored up the Chester River to Chestertown. The river is indeed narrow and winding with a very narrow channel. The current in the river really rips but, fortunately, it was a favorable current and gave us a boost of around one knot. We arrived shortly after noon and anchored opposite Chestertown Marina. We recalled that the marina was under construction five years ago and it appeared to still be under construction. The tide turned shortly after we dropped anchor. The wind had also picked up and was opposing the tide. Breeze On is not happy in those conditions. If the wind is light she will point in the direction of the current. If the wind is really strong she will point into the wind. In this case the wind was just strong enough to cause her to keep turning 180 degrees and then back again. The anchor and chain would end up under the boat and tap, tap, tap on the bottom. From the v-berth (where we sleep) the tap, tap, tap sounds more like bang, bang bang. We knew we wouldn’t sleep very well in those conditions so we made the executive decision to dinghy to shore, walk around town and get some ice cream (if we were lucky). Then we would return to Breeze On, raise the anchor, motor back down the Chester River and anchor again in the Corsica River. While we were in town we did score some ice cream in a cute coffee shop. We also bought some BLT and avocado sandwiches to take back to the boat for supper. Our quick walk around town confirmed our first impression of Chestertown. It has a lot of lovely, historic buildings and cute shops. Although we like the town very much we are glad we chose to live in Cambridge instead. Our anniversary is tomorrow and our new plan is to anchor farther up the Corsica River and dinghy into Centreville for dinner. It is always good to be flexible!

The cell service is poor here so I can’t include photos. I will post them later.