Chesapeake stop-over

We arrived late afternoon on Saturday, October 10th, at Ferry Point marina, located in Arnold, Maryland on Mill Creek in the Magothy River--"X" makes the spot on the chart above. We chose to be 'based' out of this location because fellow Rossie owners Reed & Judy Whitten on Filamingo had good experiences there with both storing their tow vehicle and trailer as well as ability to handle launch and retrieval of our boats. Plus the folks at Ferry Point are very pleasant and their rates are great too. We paid around $12 a week to park the truck and trailer, and launching Pecan was $25.


This aerial shot of Ferry Point marina was taken, clearly, in the off season. The boat yard is chock full of yachts; since we were there before winter haul-outs began, we parked the truck and trailer behind the workshed denoted by the black "X". Our visit here also coincided with the weekend running of the Annapolis Sailboat Show. So, on Sunday we unhitched the truck from the trailer and drove into Annapolis for the show. Thanks to John at Ferry Point we scored two free passes! Thank you John! Show was nice and very manageable to see everything...our past experiences have all been at the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami shows, both of which are too spread out to see most everything in one day.




Cruising around the Magothy River. Photos courtesy of Reed on Filamingo.


Filamingo powering alongside in the Magothy River.


Our route from the Magothy River to Baltimore on Tuesday, October 13th. Reed on Filamingo told us about a special Tues thru Thurs deal for this week up in the Baltimore's Inner Harbor East marina: free overnights, just pay the $8 electric fee. Sounded good, so north Filamingo and Pecan headed Tuesday morning.


Entering Baltimore's outer harbor.


Pecan passing alongside a docked container ship, Evergreen's Ever Deluxe.





Two vintage, or vintage replica, sailing vessels out with guests. In the period we were passing by and watching them the winds went from calm to about 10 knots, giving them a nice sail downwind. The above four photos courtesy of Reed on Filamingo.


I asked Reed on Filamingo to show us what 300 horsepower (with their twin Yamaha 150s) looks like on an RF-246; here's the answer...I believe they're going just under 30 knots.


Schooners tied up at Fells Point.


Schooner Arabella. 160 feet overall.


Aerial of the Inner Harbor East marina. Aquarium and other attractions are a short walk. We also took the water taxi across the harbor and walked to Fort McHenry for a tour.








Turns out our visit coincided with the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Before heading off to Portsmouth, Virginia from Baltimore (starting line actually off Annapolis), the schooners had a parade of sails in the inner harbor at 5pm on Wednesday, October 14.


Winds calm to very light. This schooner, Heron, is a modern design.


Many of the schooners hail from up and down the eastern Seaboard. 50 schooners are racing, including the 157 foot Pride of Baltimore II, 104 foot Lady Maryland, and the 126 foot Virginia


The weather Wednesday and Thursday deteriorated, and looked to continue thru the weekend. We decided Friday to head back to the Annapolis area, however, if the conditions in the Chesapeake showed to be too rough we'd return to Baltimore.


It was a gray day with limited visibility, and bumpier than what it seemed it should have been for the winds...perhaps some wind-against-tide affect was in play as well.


A couple of short videos showing the rolly conditions with Filamingo off our stern.


Speed is in the 9 to 11 knots range, depending if a wave is helping with a little push.