We departed the Little Choptank at 7:00AM, accompanied by the rising sun and chugging work boats. Overcast sky with lowering clouds. NOAA predicted high winds and waves would not come until the afternoon. Around 8:00AM, just a mile or two into the Bay, the winds rose to nearly 20 knots right on our nose with lots of choppy 3-4 foot waves. So much for NOAA’s prediction of a noon time arrival of this weather. There was no rain, and little boat traffic to be concerned about, but an opposing current slowed us down. We were also initially troubled by a new intermittent gargling rumble astern. It only occurred just after we had breached the crest and trough of a bigger wave and prompted exhaustive checks of the engine which proved to be running fine, and whose noise was not altered by the waves. We finally decided that it was likely cavitation of our prop as it was lifted by the waves, and relaxed a bit. We motor sailed with a small bit of the main sail rolled out to steady us, but sailing was out for today with the wind from dead ahead and our desire to get into port before conditions got worse in the afternoon.

Though never in danger, we were happy to see the entrance to the Patuxent River that leads to Solomons. Luckily, we were able to snag one of the three 45′ moorings at Zahniser Marine, which will be a safe and snug harbor tonight when higher winds and rain are expected. Ate a quick lunch, then took Poltergeist to Zahniser’s dinghy dock, paid for our mooring, and walked to The Calvert Marine Museum where we had a tour of the refurbished Drum Point Lighthouse with all its antique furnishing and Fresnel lens lighthouse light. We also enjoyed their aquarium, with otters, fish, fossils and a model of Megalodon, the largest shark ever to have existed. Other exhibits detailed the oyster and tobacco trades, as well a plethora of oystering and blacksmith tools. All very formidable and pointy!

Back at C Ghost, we find that the mooring field is full up- 9 moorings with space for three 30′ boats, three 40′ boats, and three 45′ boats. We can hear voices all around us as the mooring balls are close-spaced. Very different from our isolated and quite delightful anchorage last night.

Tonight will be beef stroganoff over fettuccine noodles with roasted carrots-all but the noodles are pre-cooked, so another easy meal for Paula to serve up. This is good, because tonight we feel tired.

We’ll check the weather tonight and first thing tomorrow and make a decision whether to stay a second night if the weather is not promising or head on.