SOLOMON'S AND ANNAPOLIS

Saturday, May 16

We left our peaceful anchorage in Potomac Creek and headed downstream toward the Chesapeake. We timed our departure to be in sync with the outgoing tide and picked up an extra knot or two in our speed. We had been watching our fuel consumption carefully, since it was a bit more than usual with some of the “faster” cruising speeds we were doing. We have two fuel tanks, the forward one holds 70 gallons of diesel and the aft tank holds about 115 gallons. The engines draw from the aft tank and only the generator draws from the front. Since I installed the solar panel, we rarely run the generator, but we can transfer fuel from the forward tank to the aft tank. We had already transferred almost all of the forward tank to the aft tank, but we always leave some in the forward tank for two reasons 1) just in case we do want to use the generator and 2) to prevent the tank from running dry completely, which would require re-priming the forward fuel lines - a major hassle (don’t ask me how I know!). So, with the fuel levels showing on the gauges, we were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough fuel to make it to Solomon’s Island. We decided to put in at Colonial Beach to get fuel. When we saw the price, we figured we would only need a little reserve. Diesel fuel was $4.20/gal when we knew fuel at Solomon’s was only $2.44/gal. We put in 25 gallons, just to make sure we wouldn’t get low and headed off again.

Our approach to fuel costs and consumption on this trip has been very relaxed, and we have not tried to optimize milage. One of these days I should sit down and do the math, but until then, we’ll just fill the tanks when they need to be filled. What we have found is that the gauges are not very accurate. Our recent fill-up was 122 gallons when the forward gauge read empty and the aft gauge read one-quarter. This means we actually had about 60 gallons on board when we pulled in to fill up. Even so, I’d rather fill up before we need to than after we need to.

We took a mooring at Zanhiser’s in Solomon’s Island rather than anchor out as the weather forecast was potentially threatening. The marina was having their “season opening” with live entertainment at the pool along with free beer/wine and food in the afternoon - talk about timing! Later, we were glad we took the mooring when the thunderstorms rolled through with heavy rain and wind - didn’t have to worry about the anchor dragging.

Sunday May 17

A leisurely start today after walking down to West Marine to buy an electrical switch (more on that later). Conditions on the Chesapeake were very nice, even though, since it was Sunday, everyone in Maryland who owns a fishing boat was out trolling right in front of us. It was overcast and “semi-rained” on and off, but not enough to drive us from the flybridge. A couple of times the visibility dropped to below about three miles, so I turned on the radar for a while since there were so many boats out today.

The switch — I replaced a worn-out deck wash pump while we were in Washington DC. Luckily, there was a marine supply store that had pumps in stock close to the marina . Unluckily, they sold me the wrong one, but I didn’t know it until after I had it all installed and wired up. The right pump has an automatic switch to turn itself off when there is pressure in the line. The one they sold me does not have this switch. So… I could either replace the pump with the right one (very pricey) or put in a switch conveniently located where the hose is hooked up (not pricey). That’s the reason for the walk to West Marine this morning. I now have the switch, just need the time to install it.

We got to Annapolis in early afternoon and moored in Spa Creek (behind the bridge, for those of you who know the area) right behind another PDQ 34, DIVA DI. We met the owners, Duane and Diane, as we dinghied in to town, then later were invited over for cocktails.

The weather looked threatening agin this afternoon, but I made things get hot and sunny by buying a new rain jacket. Hopefully this will have an effect for quite a while.

We’re off to Rock Hall (our old home port) on the eastern shore tomorrow. It’s not too far away, so we’ll have time to walk to the store and do some significant re-provisioning before, on Tuesday, heading through the C&D Canal to the Delaware River and down to Cape May.