Deltaville to Solomons, MD

Carol’s version:

We are ok.  We will call the insurance company in the morning.  We drove into a wall this afternoon. With scattered red and orange spots on the radar, we thought we were slipping between them.  But nope, when we met the wall we got drenched within seconds and smacked with 55-60 mph winds.  The tops and windshield blew in on us and then it hailed on us.  Didn’t matter that the Bimini was flapping all around us because we couldn’t see the front of the boat anyway.  Quite exciting.  Glad it’s over.

Dennis’s version:

Leaving the marina, mom sitting on eggs, 30 ft away

Our plan today was to leave a bit later and cruise about 30 miles to an anchorage at Smith Point at the border of Virginia and Maryland. I completed a little project this morning and changed out the second primary fuel filter, then a quick shower and the recycle center to get rid of the old fuel filters. Carol wanted to get underway early. We planned a short trip today and expected to be at anchor all day tomorrow since a front will pass.

We made good progress even after leaving at 10:00 and by 1:30 we were at our planned stop, we discussed continuing and moved on across the Potomac River with just a bit of northwest breeze blowing down the river. The cruise continued and we picked out an anchorage for this evening, expecting a blow tomorrow. As we moved closer, Carol called the marina we planned to use for Saturday through Monday and arranged for us to arrive this evening with a significant discount for the 5 day stay.

Big ships on the Chesapeake

About 4:30 the Coast Guard broadcast a special weather warning. A storm cell was passing from Annapolis across the bay to the Choptank River on the eastern shore, about 50 miles north of us. I began watching the cloud formation ahead of us, while we enjoyed the sunshine. As I looked at the radar on my cell phone, I noticed a strong storm cell to the north and additionally one to the south. We were in the middle with these scattered storm cells around us, but all was looking good for us to move up the Patuxent River to the marina.

We rounded the last mark on our route and saw the storm front approaching. A wall of rain that surely included a gust of wind. Carol and I were both on the fly bridge when it began to rain, then heavy rain, and several gusts of wind, then the windshield blew over our heads, my hat went missing. Then the Bimini top blew away, now totally unprotected the hail started in earnest. I could not see the front of the boat, Carol grabbed the floating cushion and I used it to protect my head while steering. But since I could not see the front of the boat, which way to steer? The autopilot was engaged and continued our course into the wind, thereby keeping the boat in the safest position. The entire event lasted 15 minutes tops, and the sun and a double rainbow followed.

We lost two sections of the windshield, the Bimini top is all torn-up, the Bimini frame work is bent, a VHF antenna is destroyed, we lost a hatch cover, our AGLCA flag and staff are gone, but we are fine. After the storm I removed the remaining Bimini top, rearranged the structure and we proceeded to the marina in light winds and sunshine. We saw a beautiful rainbow behind us after the storm.

 

Before the storm, Bimini still in place