Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore - heck I don't think we're even still in the Chesapeake!!!

Sun pig (Tammy) by the way....

This morning I went topsides at o' dark hundred (what is also known around here as 6:00 am!!) to open up the flybridge for our 10 hour steam to DC and there was FROST on the dinghy cover!!!! Now that's just not right. We obviously are not headed south quickly enough - hurricane season needs to be over soon so we can "go where its warm" (thank you Mr. Buffett!).

Yesterday when we woke up in St. Leonard Creek in the Patuxent, it was chilly and rainy - not usually the weather we like to steam in (and certainly not sun pig's favorite), but we are on a mission to make it to DC so we raised anchor around 7 and hit the seas. Literally - it was a pretty bumpy ride out the Patuxent River and then got even worse when we hit the Chesapeake Bay. Big following seas are not ideal for a powerboat and the boat kitties and one of Gypsies' crew had a tough morning. Things started to look up a little when we rounded Lookout Point and headed up into the Potomac River - although whenever it was my turn at the helm, it started to rain again!! How does Doug do that??

Days like yesterday and today make us realize how much we love Gypsies - unlike sailbotters, in bad weather we steam from our inside pilothouse! So even though it was in the mid 50's and rainy with sustained 20 knot winds, Doug and I stayed toasty warm and dry inside despite the constant ocean spray we took all day! Colleen and the kitties curled up for the day and tried to get some sleep to make the day go by faster!

The rain finally broke as we headed into our anchorage for the night yesterday in St. Clements Bay. Originally we had planned to anchor in Deep Creek, but that just seemed too close to banjo music for me so I called an audible on the way in and we wound up in Canoe Neck Creek. Actually the quick change of plans was based on the wind direction and velocity and was meant to give us a more protected anchorage for the evening - who knew, it worked - we slept soundly (except for the boat rooster and me of course)!! It rained most of yesterday afternoon and evening so we didn't get much exploring in but we did get a chance to catch up on work, trip planning, maintenance etc. - sometimes those things are necessary! You know what they say about all fun, and no work.....(actually that sounds pretty good - but this cruise is not just a vacation, its a way of life - so sometimes we actually do need to accomplish stuff).

We are now underway with Doug at the helm headed up the Potomac River to DC - as we weighed anchor this morning, it was not just cold but bitter (23 knot sustained wind on the water - you get the idea!) I always steam from the flybridge when we are dropping or raising the anchor and in skinny water or tight locations, but once we were out of the crick and into the Potomac, let me tell you how quickly we all adjourned to the warm pilothouse for hot tea (no crumpets).

We should get to DC early evening so Doug and I will swap 2 hour watches - Colleen is feeling better today so she may jump in for a watch too! Tomorrow we plan to sleep in a little (boat rooster allowing) and then play tourist all day. Colleen and I realized that we haven't played tourist in DC for a lot of years so we are looking forward to hitting the memorials, the Smithsonian, etc. Doug lived in DC for 17 years but even he is pretty psyched - this time he's arriving by water on our boat!!!!