Kaleo and crew left Norfolk Sunday morning on the cusp of a heat wave bound for Deltaville, VA, about a day’s sail up the Chesapeake.
As we passed by the marina in Deltaville we caught a glimpse of our friends’ Ted and Mili’s boat, Morning Glory, waiting patiently for their return from land touring. We so wished they were around as we set the hook in the serene harbor nearby.
After a peaceful night’s rest (and our last at anchor aboard Kaleo), we made for Solomon’s Island, MD. That morning the heat wave finally caught up with us as we made a windless motor passage in 95° heat. Electing for a good night’s rest, we pulled into a marina and fired up the A/C. We ordered pizza, had our showers and enjoyed the almost freezing interior.
We spent the evening debating the pros and cons of continuing to explore the Chesapeake for a few more months. And while there are literally hundreds of places to sail and see in the Chesapeake, annually July and August are hot (not fun to anchor in), windless (meaning more motoring, less sailing), with a lot of the bay being home to nettles, a kind of jellyfish (limiting any thought of swimming).
In the end, we decided it wouldn’t be a lot of fun if we were bound to marinas for the A/C, so next stop was Herrington Harbor where we would store Kaleo.
Tuesday morning, as we headed for the yard, hundreds of sailboats swarmed out of the harbor in sync with us as if offering a spectacular send-off parade. While it was really all the racers from the Annapolis to Solomons Screwpile Challenge, it was a wonderfully emotional lift to be surrounded by so many light-hearted sailors along our final sail into the Chesapeake Bay.
