Upper Chesapeake and Baltimore 10/20 - 10/23

We spent our first night on the Chesapeake Bay in a protected anchorage, Ordinary Point, on the Susquehanna River. At dusk Sam gave Annie a lesson on starting the outboard engine and steering the dingy. We enjoyed a clear, mild, quiet evening in the cockpit fishing and sipping coffee.
A bit of a rough trip to Baltimore he next day. The weather forecast was for 15-20 knot winds out the south, gusts to 25 knots, waves 2-3 feet. As soon as we turned west, the wind began blowing out of the west and building in force. We motored into Baltimore into 30-40 knot winds with 6-9 foot waves. Not much fun.
Baltimore, however, was great fun. We tied up in the Inner Harbor just before the celebration of Flugtag (flying day?) began. On Saturday morning many tugboats paraded through the harbor blowing loud horns, firing cannons and spraying water 100 feet into the air. They were followed by many other colorful craft including antique steam-powered launches.
The main event of Flutag was a series of attempted flights on home-made aircraft by rolling them off a 30 foot ramp over the water of the Inner Harbor. To cut this short, none of the planes flew; they all crashed into the bay. But the crowd on tens of thousands who seemed to have been drinking quantities of Red Bull (and maybe beer), loved the whole show.
Our highlight of the day was the visit by Sarah, Judi, Anne, and Anne’s son, Jamal. After visiting at the dock Jamal generously treated us all to lunch at a nice bayside restaurant, the Rusty Scupper. The scallops were excellent; the Asian barbecued salmon was fantastic. We then toured the National Aquarium, spent more time drinking coffee and talking on the boat. Great days, unfortunately, pass too quickly.
We are so grateful to Sarah, Judi, Anne for driving to Baltimore for lunch.