A Day for the Birds (In a Good Way)

Day 5  |  Annapolis to Chesapeake City  |  52 Miles  |  8.2 Hours

Barry woke me at 5:30 am. He was anxious to get underway. I did not share his enthusiasm. By 5:50 both our anchor and the sun were up and we were out of Annapolis harbor and heading north up the Chesapeake toward the Bay Bridge.

All my usual morning chores (wash down anchor, deck, me / wipe down boat) were done in time to enjoy the passage under the bridge. Its always special to pass under this bridge by boat or drive over it by car, but it has special meaning for me as I have completed three Across the Bay 10ks over the bridge as well. You can't appreciate the size of this structure until you try to run across it. I have special memories from each race and the folks who have joined me to "Beat the Bridge."

Just on the other side of the bridge, we passed two more lighthouses -- Sandy Point (below middle) and Baltimore (below right).

We settled in to Business-As-Usual mode, cruising at 1600 rpm and 6.5 knots (speed over ground) against a pretty good current. Passing barges and tankers provided pleasant diversions.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the wind shifted from behind us and we found ourselves in the dreaded position of zero apparent wind. Without even a hint of breeze, it was hot -- even too hot to be out on Fiberglass Beach. Adding to the frustration, the water was full of trash making our passage tricky. A week of heavy rains had brought tons of sticks, branches and logs into the water. Dodging this proved to be much harder that dodging crab pots. We heard a few thumps, but we never made full contact. We also came across several mylar balloons (PSA: Please don't release them as they end up in the water) and plenty of dead fish.

We finally reached the top of the Bay and entered the Elk River with the Turkey Point Lighthouse off to port. Also a personal favorite, the little white lighthouse looks so stately tucked into the foliage on the bluff of Elk Neck State Park. We also began to see an abundance of osprey tending nests/young on the channel markers.

Then, out of the haze, I saw them. Two white spots -- head and tail -- indicated that this was not an osprey, but something more special. I grabbed my "real" camera and caught the eagle in flight as it flew down the port side of Crossroads. I tracked it as it swooped down, grabbed the fish, made a U-turn, and proceeded to fly away down our starboard side. Barry and I were both energized by this viewing, and then even more so when I reviewed the pictures and saw that I caught it all.

We rounded a bend in the river, saw the bridge, and knew we had reached our destination -- Chesapeake City. As planned, we were the first boat in the basin and easily dropped anchor in a prime spot. We lowered the dinghy like pros, loaded up, and headed over to the docks. We walked around town a bit and then grabbed dinner on the deck at the Chesapeake Inn.

As the sun sets on our anchorage, four sailboats have joined us for the evening. We will stay here through the holiday weekend ... and probably still be talking about the eagle.