Leg 2 Brining Reunion Home

We knew Tropical Storm Beryl would affect the start of the journey but how? First think flight delay from Baltimore, almost 3 hours tornados at the airport. As time progresses the delay is rolled back and we fly about 2 hrs. late. Safe flight and a short nap later we land through some turbulence at BWI. Debi is waiting and we are the last two to pack into a fully loaded shuttle bus. Raining hard off and on we drive to the marina, seems the wind is reduced to a clam, good sign? In the marina parking lot we position the car to see the boat and dock, all we can see is water and more rain. We wade through 6” of water above the dock to the boat. All is shipshape and dry. YEAH! Convert the shore power to air-conditioning and sleep about 2:00 am.

Saturday morning, watching the weather forecast especially for wind direction and sea state. General prediction is winds west 10-15 gusts to 25 mph; see state 1-2 feet. After purchasing groceries, returning the rental car se start our voyage about 11:30 am. The wind and sea is behind us on the Potomac and when we make the turn north on the Chesapeake the sea state settles down. Everything is running fine as we move north toward the Patuxent River. Military helicopters and jet fighters are about and for visual stimulation. Cursing about 2 miles off shore, mostly a pleasant ride to the Patuxent. Heavier seas at the river crossing and a decision do we stop early or risk a building sea adventure. We make a decision at Cove Point to travel on the next anchorage is 35 miles away at Herring Bay protected from wind only from the west.

The largest liquefied natural gas import export facility is located at Cove Point. A huge facility that once imported LNG and now does some exporting. It was empty this Saturday. As we continue on we see a parabolic antenna near a park area called Randle Cliff beach. Very interesting structure when viewed from the water.

We continue north directly into the wind, the wind that is supposed to be from the West for our anchorage, and reach our way point near the bay about 7:00. The wind shifts from the West and we motor to the anchorage. Several other boats in the area a mixture of sail and power. We set the anchor firmly at 7:30 PM and begin to settle in for the evening. We are treated to a beautiful sunset, light westerly winds, and sailboats moving about the bay until dusk. Dinner is steaks on the grill and a fine salad prepared by Debi.

We learned Reunion will handle 2 ft. waves quite nicely, even for long periods. The autopilot is fine with head on seas but does not like following seas. Lots of ships on the Chesapeake and Coast Guard presence. All in all a fine day, covered about 54 miles in 8 hours just short of 7 knots overall.