08/16/2008 Annapolis to Baltimore

08/16/2008 Today we sailed out of Annapolis after a reville call from the cadets doing calisthenics on the practice field next to the sea wall that we anchored off last night. I finally made it far enough to pass under the Chesapeake Bridge. I have looked at the bridge since I bought the boat and in never seemed like I was going to have enough wind or time to make it to the bridge. We tacked up the bay all morning into the afternoon until we made it to the Patapsco River.

We motored up the river as there was an out-going tide and minimal wind. This took us to Baltimore. I had read that there was an anchorage in the inner-harbor. We kept going until it seemed were at the end of the bay in the middle of downtown Baltimore. There it was. A tiny designated anchorage with three sailboats on the hook and 50 paddle boats cruising the area. We headed into the area and had to slowly “push” our way through the paddle boats and drop the hook. It was exciting sitting right in the heart of the downtown area with all of the people and activities. I had been to this same area in 2004 with my daughter Sara on a whirl wind tour during a stay in Pittsburgh showing her the reader’s digest version of early American history. On our way in we past the area that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangle Banner and Ft McHenry that was under siege to inspire our National Anthem. We went ashore and had a good crab cake dinner and people watched along the water front.