Today we were up as the sun came up and pulled up the anchor in the Back River just twenty miles north of Norfolk and tonight we are in a slip in a marina just south of Annapolis, MD. I forgot to mention Belle Isle Marina where we got our lift out of the water to check things on the Back River. This a very quiet marina and very much country but an excellent place service wise. The little dune we anchored behind last night was a nesting place for all sorts of water birds and if any Loopers are birders and have a dinghy this would be the place to get good bird pictures. We got an outstanding price for the slip in Pirates Cove Marina on the West River in Maryland. The price was so good we ate dinner at the restaurant just a few feet from our slip and came out cheaper than one night anywhere else and for that we thank them. Our problem of yesterday seemed to have held for today but conditions were not as rough today. In fact when we started out at sunup the bay was like glass and then the breeze picked up throughout the day but to only about ten knots. Running at 12 knots this meant a 120 mile day. We chose to run longer so we could make use of the beautiful day we had. When we turned in to go to our marina we could see the Annapolis bridges real well. If we have another good day tomorrow we should easily be in Baltimore tomorrow night and we may stay an extra day there if it proves to be tourist friendly.
Today we saw boats that were in the process of netting fish and we also saw old time fish traps where they set a net and the fish swim into the circular pen and then they dip them out. We saw towboats pushing barges and tugs pulling barges using a harness. We saw regular size barges and huge ocean going barges that were tankers and probably about 150-200 feet long. The fishermen were out in there own boats, on party boats and fishing from shore. The crabbers were out gathering and setting their pots and others were setting there nets. We saw some very large boats netting fish that were probably 60-70 feet in size. In other words today was a day of seeing the waterways used in a commercial way. There were also large container ships and cargo ships which put up pretty large wakes for us to cross. There were other people on the Great Loop Cruise like we are and we talked to a couple on the radio which included one from Houston, Texas. They went up to Washington, DC on the Potomac River when we passed them with other trawlers on the Loop. Shorty attracts visitors wherever we go tonight we have a front row seat.
We also stopped to photograph lighthouses along the way. We took photos of the Smith Point Light, Wolf Trap Light and a couple of others. These were unusual in that they were in the middle of the bay instead of on the edges of the shores, those on the shores edges we couldn’t get because they told of shoaling water and they were to be passed further off shore.
That was about the extent of our day and I will post the photos of the lighthouses in the next group.
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