After leaving Annapolis on Friday, we had a lively sail (20-25 knts wind) over to Saint Michaels on the eastern shore of Maryland.  Sailing in the northern Chesapeake is a lot like sailing in Lake Champlain.  You can see both shores although they are certainly flatter than Lake Champlain.  The waves are short and choppy without the rollers you see in the ocean and the wind is just as variable in speed and direction.

We anchored in the harbor right next to Octopus from MBBC.  I am sure we will see Benoit again along the way as he is going to the same place we are going.  The anchorage was calm but the wind was still gusty.

Saturday was chore day.  We did some grocery shopping.  We took the advice of Wendylyn Duquette (a friend from MBBC who just finished a long cruise with her family) and bought a folding cart at the boatshow to assist is carrying things like groceries and laundry.  It was well used as we did the laundry as well as grocery shopping.

Saint Michaels is a cool town that is cruiser friendly with dinghy docks for transients, many shops of all description, several good restaurants and good parks.  Sunday we went to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum located in Saint Michaels.  It was a well done museum with many interesting displays showing all aspects of the Bay from crabbing and oystering to recreational uses such as sailing log canoes. The canoes carry vast amounts of sail and are balanced by people hiking out on long boards.  Capsizes are frequent but it looks like fun.  Traditional boatbuilding was shown along with a lighthouse that was relocated from the bay to the museum when it was taken out of service.  The keeper’s life was certainly harsh and lonely.

After the museum we did some souvenir shopping and then found a bar to watch some football. Watched the Steelers lose on a fumble in overtime much to the dismay of local fans.  Also saw the score updates of the NY Giants who also lost in overtime to my most hated team, the Dallas Cowboys certainly not this American’s team.

While on Island Time on Sunday, we had some visitors.  We were sitting in the cockpit and along side appeared three white swans.  Based on size, there was a male and 2 females.  They were begging for handouts.  Genie fed them some bread.  The male was tall enough to put his head above the side of the boat which is at least 4 feet above the water.  I got a picture of them which I will post.

We left at sun up on Monday headed for Solomon’s Island Md on the Western shore.