Monday 10 September

So, remember that last peaceful night we were hoping to spend onboard in St. Michaels harbor?  Yeah, didn’t happen.  This year, we had specifically decided to anchor out since we’d stayed docked last year and were banged against the pilings all night long.  Bay Cat does look quite stately in quant little St. Michaels, though, doesn’t she?

Anyway, going to sleep at our dreamy little anchorage in the bay was perfect… and short-lived.  The wind picked up barely an hour after we turned in and was relentless.  The downside to a catamaran is that, even though it doesn’t heel like a monohull, any rocking slaps against the underside like a giant hand constantly punching the bottom of the boat.  The table was jumping on its metal base, the boom was banging back and forth, and things were slamming around all night.  We got maybe a few hours of sleep between the four of us.

We were under way at dawn the next morning just to get going!  The wind shift overnight had totally changed the conditions, and we all had to pull out cozy pants and sweatshirts for the first time all week.  Luckily, once we hit our groove with the hobby-horsing the boat was doing, some of us were able to catch up on the sleep we’d missed out on.

The wind direction was not in our favor for getting back to Annapolis, so we decided to cut out some of the open water travel by going back up through Kent Narrows (sadly, we passed through too early for a daiquiri stop this time).

After passing through the narrows, we had to motor against the wind for the northbound part of our journey, which made things pretty rough.  Once we rounded the point and turned south to head down into Annapolis, things calmed down.

For whatever reason, our formerly-trusty Pandora stations (Mumford & Sons, John Hiatt, and Jimmy Buffett) turned traitor on us that day and started playing almost exclusively Alan Jackson covers.  Now, our taste in sailing music is pretty varied, but we’re just not country music people.  Can’t do it.

Other than being a little too twangy, our last afternoon on the water was an awesome one.  The sky was clear, the wind was good, and for some reason Townes really thought it felt like we were in San Francisco (where he has never been).  Maybe something to do with the Bay Bridge?

It almost looks orange, right?

We finally arrived at the Annapolis Bay Marina and tried to pack up, unload, and clean up the boat at top speed.  It was hot, we were tired, and we had a five-hour drive back to the Outer Banks ahead of us.

Of course, it was bittersweet saying goodbye to the Bay Cat.  It definitely had its quirks (the singular gale-force air vent, the microwave at your toes – oh, and we never did figure out what that solar panel was for) but it had been home for a wonderful week of travel and adventure.

Let’s hope it’s not long until our next sailing adventure.  We’re working on coming up with some sweet as pirate nicknames and need opportunities to use them!

TR Quote of the Day:

Susannah: “I hardly read my book at all this trip!”

Townes: “Well, I read a LOT.”

Susannah: “Really?  What did you read?”

Townes: “Um, the back of the sunscreen, hand sanitizer, the cracker box…”