Day 5, Year 8: On to Annapolis
Date: Thursday, November 8, 2012
Weather: Overnight, 40 degrees F; Overcast, Then Mix of Clouds and Sun, 57
degrees F
Wind: Windier Than Expected-WNW 10-15, Turning NNW 20-25 with Higher Gusts
Latitude: 38 58.521 N
Longitude: 076 28.993 W
Location: Annapolis City Basin, Annapolis, MD

We were on the move again today. We left Chesapeake City at 8 am. There
was no snow overnight as predicted and today it was windier than predicted,
but it was actually a great sailing day once we got out of the canal and
could head downwind. It was a fifty mile day and we got here before 5 pm
with plenty of daylight left to get settled in. We only had a one day
weather delay, so life is good. We have made a decision to not take the
extra time to somehow get to Washington, DC, for my friend Sue’s wedding
reception on Saturday night. We had really hoped to do this, but the
weather has taken its toll on us and we just can’t think about leaving the
boat and heading inland. We are going to miss the social event of the year,
but our hearts will be with Sue and David. Instead, we have made last
minute connections with friends who are in locations on our route south and
we will visit with them as we stay on track. Tomorrow night we will tie up
to a dock in the Patuxent River in front of the home of Ron and Suzie
Williams. Ron and Mark went to high school together and were both in the
National Guard together in 1960 just out of high school. We have seen them
a few times in the last few years and will enjoy seeing them again tomorrow
night. Then on Saturday night, we will anchor just north of the
Rappahannock River with friends Kevin and Claire. Claire was in graduate
school in Boston and she and Kevin lived on their boat in Shipyard Quarters
just a few slips from us in the two years before we left to sail around the
world. We have continued to get together and we look forward to seeing them
again. On Sunday we move a little closer to Norfolk, and then on Monday we
hope to enter the Intracoastal Waterway to work our way south to Little
River, South Carolina. The trip from Norfolk to Little River will probably
take at least seven days, so reaching our destination before Thanksgiving
means we need to keep on truckin’ and hope for no more weather delays.

Heading down the Chesapeake today brought back memories of the last time we
were here in 2005 at the beginning of our voyage around the world. That
prompted me to look back over my logs to see where we have been at the
beginning of each of the last seven years. The conclusion-We are nomads.
The beginning of each cruising year was not always at the same time of year
as we were moving from one hemisphere to another, but the beginning of each
year has always been the start of a new adventure.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 1, started on October 18, 2005. Just as this year,
we were leaving New England headed south. In 2005 we were headed around the
world. We had an unexpected, extended stay in the Chesapeake as we put a
new engine in Windbird, so this was our home for late October and most of
November.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 2, started on April 25, 2007. We were in New
Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere, headed back to the islands of the South
Pacific. Because the cyclone season there is the opposite of ours, the
cruising year started in their fall.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 3, started on May 10, 2008 as we were leaving
Bundaberg, Australia headed north up the inside of the Great Barrier Reef
to northern Australia and then on to Indonesia. Again, we were starting out
in the fall of the year in the southern hemisphere.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 4, started on October 24, 2008. We had just
arrived in Singapore and were getting ready to head further north to
Malaysia and Thailand. We were back in the Northern Hemisphere, so our year
started in the fall as we know it here.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 5, started on October 26, 2009. We were heading
back to Malaysia to begin our sail to Thailand, on to India, south to the
Maldives and Chagos, and then west to Madagascar and South Africa.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 6, started on October 25, 2010, with our arrival in
South Africa. We had completed our Indian Ocean crossing and were beginning
a period of waiting for summer weather to arrive in South Africa so we could
begin the 6,000 mile trip back to the Caribbean.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 7, started on November 9 of last year. It was our
first day in our new winter location at Fiddler’s Cove Marina. It was the
beginning of our first land-based year since 2004.

Voyage of Windbird, Year 8, started just five days ago on November 4, 2012.
This year is our year of experimenting with the idea of moving Windbird
south for the winter and then back north for the summer. Stay tuned for the
results of this experiment. If it works, we will probably be right back
here this time next year. One thing is for sure, this experiment has put us
on the move once again.

121108 Day 5 Passage South, USA–Chesapeake City to Annapolis