Cruising the Wye With Pablo

The adrenaline crash that we knew was coming after the past month of travel hit us on Monday after the boat show. We had originally planned to anchor nearby for a night before heading south, but by the time we provisioned and finished laundry, we were just too tired. 

Lucky for us, we had a closer spot to move to for the night. Our friends, Rocky and Aaris, who we first met at Toledo Beach marina in Michigan, had their boat in Annapolis for the summer. Their seasonal slip still had about 10 days left in the contract but they were already headed south. They graciously let us use their slip and car for the rest of the month. It just so happened that their slip was across the channel from where we had been staying. So, Monday afternoon we moved Alaya over to her new slip and then called it an early night.

It was definitely the right call, we woke up Tuesday morning refreshed and excited to explore. Our destination for the day was the Wye River. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we managed to sail without Pierre running for a few hours. Pablo made mac & cheese for lunch and we passed the time playing Uno in the cockpit. We arrived at the anchorage by late afternoon and after a small dispute among the crew, we finally got the anchor set. The boys thought the anchor was dragging when we backed down on it, I promise you it wasn’t. While the Wye River was beautiful, we were shocked to find thousands of tiny nettle jellyfish everywhere. They didn’t really bother us since we weren’t planning on swimming in the chilly water but they were a stark reminder that we aren’t in the Great Lakes anymore. Our new friends on SV Resande were already in the bay, they had arrived the day before. Ryan picked us up on their dinghy and we spent the evening talking boats and cruising while eating delicious chocolate chip cookies made by Erika. 

The following day, we slept in and then Lucas made breakfast potatoes. This is a classic Kizer breakfast but it nearly drained our batteries. With bellies full of delicious potatoes, cheese, BBQ sauce and sour cream (don’t ask, they know it’s a weird combination), we launched the Margaret P. with Lamb Chop. We zoomed halfway around Wye Island, looking for a good spot to go ashore. We beached Margaret in a really cool spot, after traipsing through a farm field, we found a great trail that included a beautiful tunnel of trees. Our field trip ended with a picnic lunch on our beach. 

Once back on Alaya, we fired up Pierre again to both charge the batteries a bit and to move to our next anchorage. We decided to “gunkhole” for the first time in the bay where we had beached Margaret P. earlier. Gunkholing is a Chesapeake tradition, it is where you explore uncharted/poorly charted areas that are secluded and usually only have room for one boat. 

We got Alaya into her new, cozy spot and settled in for the day. The boys spent the afternoon beefing up Lamb Chop by removing the restrictor. Her horsepower (or “chops”) have doubled from 9.9 to 20, she now goes up to 25 mph. I spent the afternoon reading peacefully in the cockpit, interrupted only by the sound of Margaret zooming by, Lucas screaming in delight at Lamb Chop’s new top speed and Pablo laughing at his brother. I sapped the rest of our battery power making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Again, totally worth it. After Pablo kicked our butts twice in Settlers of Catan, we went to bed around 8:30 p.m. Another wild Kizer night. 

St. Michaels was our destination for the next day. We motored the short 15 miles to this charming town. The outer harbor was packed with more 40’+ catamarans than we had ever seen in the wild. Lucky for us, there was an Alaya-sized spot in the inner harbor right in front of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. We rowed Margaret P. to shore, stopping to say hi to our neighbor boat who told us we had to go to Carpenter St. after visiting the museum to get the best turkey dinner. Okay?

We spent a few hours taking in the awesome maritime museum and then hit the streets looking for turkey. We walked into Carpenter St. Saloon, the first establishment we found on Carpenter St., hoping to strike turkey gold. We were gawked at by all the salty locals sitting at the saloon bar and then awkwardly asked if they served turkey. A lovely waitress saved us, knowing exactly what we were looking for. We were in luck, there was only one full turkey dinner left. Lucas and Paul very generously let me have it while they ordered other turkey-related menu items. Wow, it was a great hot turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes! Lesson learned, always listen to locals when it comes to turkey. 

We walked around St. Michaels as the tryptophan kicked in and then rowed back to Alaya. Another intense game of Settlers (I was victorious this time) wiped us out for good and we called it another early night. Captain Vicky, our sailing instructor last summer taught us that 9 p.m. is the Sailor’s Midnight and as you can see, we often embrace that definition onboard Alaya.

Paul was flying home on Saturday, so we made our way back to Kent Island on Friday. The wind was in our favor, we sailed downwind in 5 knots of apparent breeze, wing-on-wing. This time we had opted for a more direct route, taking Alaya through a drawbridge and then immediately under a 65’ tall highway bridge. Our mast height (aka air draft) is 59’ plus a few feet of bendy VHF antenna. After watching a similarly-sized sailboat successfully transit earlier in the week, Lucas and Paul convinced me we should give it a try. While in theory, we should be fine, taking your mast under any low bridge is terrifying. 

Lucky for us, we had a secret weapon, Lt. Paul Kizer of the US Navy. As we approached the bridges, we dropped Lt. Pablo off at a dock close by, a spare VHF radio in hand. His mission? Run up to the bridge to see if we are going to make it and call us if we need to abort the transit. Our lookout made it to the locale and we motored Alaya through without incident. Lt. Pablo reported we even had a few feet to spare. Phew! 

We spent the afternoon exploring downtown Annapolis with our friends on SV Pokey, visiting the state capital building which includes the room where George Washington peacefully resigned his military commission after the Revolutionary War. If you are a Hamilton fan, you’ll appreciate that I was humming “The Room Where it Happened” the entire time.

Before taking Paul to the airport on Saturday, we went back to downtown Annapolis for lunch and to check out the Naval Academy. The academy sits right on the river bank in downtown Annapolis. Another beautiful place with so much history to appreciate.

What a wonderful week of cruising in the Chesapeake. It was lovely to slow down a bit and explore new places without too much of a deadline. It was also great to spend time with Paul, especially time that didn’t involve boat work. 

Thanks for visiting, Lt. Pablo!!