* Pasadena, MD – Solomons, MD *
– Crusing 84 miles –
From Hot, Hot, Hot to a tropical storm, and the fall cool down. What a difference a couple of weeks make! From Baltimore we cruised a short 14 miles to Pasadena, MD, home of the Maryland Yacht Club and attended our first MTOA (Marine Trawlers Owners Association) rendezvous.
This group is comprised of primarily trawler owner cruisers. Our Carver is not a trawler, but we are trawler wannabes. Many have done the great loop and others are extended or full time cruisers who travel up and down the East coast annually. The rendezvous provided good boating information and comradery with others who enjoy boating.
We were one of the first to arrive, several days before the rendezvous started. Being Labor Day, the Yacht Club was active with members enjoying the pool and clubhouse. We enjoyed a cold beverage at the bar upon arrival. With temperatures reaching the mid 90’s for the week, we were excited to have access to the pool. Not to happen. The clubhouse would be closed for a few days and the pool was closing for the season this day.
We had a chill kind of few days, binge watching some Netflix, something we hadn’t done since last winter, riding bikes to the nearest restaurant five miles away on some of our first hills of our trip to find out they weren’t open. All wasn’t lost, it was our only time off the property, and we got some exercise.
As the week moved along, more cruisers filled the marina. Around forty boats and 120 individuals were in attendance. We enjoyed the active four days, heat, and all, including an 18 hour power outage that left the docks and clubhouse in the dark with no air. The rendezvous went on and we all enjoyed it, nonetheless.
Our week at the MYC went quickly and we were off on a 70 plus mile journey back to Solomons, MD and our friend Tank.
The first mate had wanted to head home for a bit in the heat of the summer July or August, then we hit something in the Albemarle, ended up in the boat yard, and couldn’t get a rental car. Three weeks later when we were back in the water, we felt we had missed out on a lot of cruising in the Chesapeake so made the decision to keep moving north. Seven weeks later, Tasha was still wanting to go home just for a quick visit. We liked the location at Solomons, the rate, and had friends there to keep an eye out for Now or Never, so we planned our return after rendezvous.
We had success securing with a rental car and made trip home with a couple of side trips traversing five states. Visits with kids Kathie, Ryan, and Joe, river boating friends, Thursday night chicken group, appointments, and lots of work at the house, our quick trip home came to an end. We were disappointed we didn’t get to see as many as we would have liked, just not enough time.
We were presented with a Prius as our rental car, not sure what to think at first but happy with the results, just 28.3 gallons burned in our 1731 mile trip, 61.6 mpg! And we hulled mulch! If only the Now or Never was so efficient!
We returned to the Now or Never in Solomons, MD as Tropical Depression 16 was making its way toward the Atlantic Coast. Arriving Thursday evening, we spent the evening and following morning reprovisioning and snuck in a great tour of the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum from a fellow looper a 45+ year Naval Officer whom we met at the MTOA rendezvous. His brother, a Navy fighter pilot also joined us, ahhh the stories!
There is a large Naval Air Base near, Naval Air Station Patuxent River. It is home to the Headquarters for Naval Air Systems Command, the US Naval Test Pilot School, the Atlantic Test Range, and serves as a center for test and evaluation and systems acquisition relation to naval aviation. Our museum docent and boating friend Tom was the Executive Assistant to the Three Star General at the base in his last naval gig and a wealth of information. We spent about three hours at the museum, our captain relishing the tour and behind the scenes stories. Another wonderful experience because of meeting on the water.
Through much of our stay at Solomons we have heard the test aircraft most days. They fly fast and low and the air strip is close by. The marina has deep military history too. The marina is on the grounds where the Naval Amphibious Training Base Solomons Island was from 1942-1945 built to train troops for World War II amphibious warfare. It is touted as the first official naval amphibious base and trained 67,698 troops. It was founded as a temporary base and just used for the three years before gifting the land to the state of Maryland. Maryland sold the property in 1959 and it became a marina.
We arrived back at Now or Never mid-afternoon and worked to secure the boat for the storm. It soon developed into Tropical Storm Ophelia and was barreling up the East Coast. We were hoping the name Ophelia, didn’t carry the omen as in Hamlet, and meant a drowning was imminent. Not a good sign. The captain added lines and then added more when the first mate wasn’t convinced there were not enough.
Anything that could blow from the bow was stowed inside, covers over all the windows adjusted and snapped, and lines and fenders adjusted again. We did all we could do to prepare and then it was time to wait.
The ominous sunset was a beautiful one, the calm before the storm, it soon changed. The rain and wind began lightly at first, and stronger as we got deeper into the night. We sat on the aft deck and watched as the creek was inundated with chop, wind, and surge.
The rain came down hard and the winds howled. The boat rocked and rolled, we would hear the howl of the winds picking up and then a jolt as the wind would catch the aft and pull us off the dock and swing back with the tightening of the lines. It would subside for a bit and do it all over again. Luckily the winds were spinning in from the North hitting the bow and pulling us slightly off the dock. So much better than the beating we took in the Pamlico that felt like Dolly Parton on a pogo stick. This storm was more tolerable, thank goodness.
The captain had no problem falling asleep, the first mate was up a few times checking on things and finally nodded off with the rhythm of the rain and rocking. We awoke to high waters with the 3 ft plus storm surge coming to fruition. The boat was sitting high along the dock and lines were readjusted again. And another one added. During a lull we walked to the office and checked on a friend’s boat. The marina grounds were saturated, and the drive flooded, but all was well.
The rain and winds picked up again but not nearly as fierce as the night before. The eye of the storm was still to our south but had reached land and had weakened. The day was decent considering a tropical storm just happened to be blowing through. The water stayed high and as we approached high tide the water crept above the dock. Our captain secured our power lies as they ran 50 feet across the dock and only plugged in less than 2 feet above the dock boards. The water stopped at 4” above the dock and remained until morning. The rain came and went, and the winds subsided, and the second night of storm found us both resting easy. Sunday was a non-event day, hazy, cloudy, misty, and bleak, but calm, oh so calm. And just like that, Ophelia blew in fall. Cold, damp, dark. Gonna miss sweet summertime.
The first mate has turned into quite a weather wimp on the water. The anticipation of this storm had her a bit out of sorts and imagining the worst. She did finally admit, it wasn’t as bad as she had conjured up in her mind and the boat and crew fared very well. She just made the mistake at looking at the forecast and there appears to be a day or two in the next week which winds exceed the tropical storm strength. Here we go again!
With that in mind, our attention has turned to planning the next 10 days or so or trying to at least. We have to leave our current dock in the next couple of days as they are hosting a Krogen rendezvous and need the space. Too bad as we are just approaching the cross over to the monthly rate and the next two weeks would be free. If we don’t leave Solomons in the next day or two, it appears weather will keep us here a week or more. If we do leave, we have a long day to get to Norfolk (100 miles) and then be socked in awhile. After Norfolk, we have several large inlet crossing travel days near the outer banks and the first mate will want assurance that it will be calm. It’s going to be a long trip back to Florida.
Cheers! David, Tasha,
& Remy forever in our hearts!
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