Here's the key conversation.
CA: "Tell me when we get past Smith Point."
Me: "Why?"
CA: "From the point, the entire rest of the trip is new territory."
Things we did on August 3rd:
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Getting past Smith Point. Last time we tried to go that far north ("Gang aft agley"), the fuel system clogged up.
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Getting to the Potomac river. The good news is that we had been warned that the mouth of the Potomac is unnerving because you can't see the other side. It's true. You can't see across the river. And that's unnerving. If the wind is against the current, it can be rough. We were lucky. No wind.
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Getting to the Patuxent river. Never been here before. Wow.
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Getting to the Solomons.
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Dinner with Jeanie and Scott of Joie de Vivre. "Where are you?" Jeanie asked. CA says, "We're in a creek surrounded by condos and boats." Jeanie laughs, "That could be anywhere in the Solomons area." Their marina is walking distance from West Marine. Nice.
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Making a passage of over 50 miles in about 10 hours. Our longest so far.
Lessons Learned:
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We didn't just buy a boat. We bought a class association and a whole tribe of Whitby owners.
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We have learned a lot from the experiences of others. How far we could go. What we would encounter. That kind of thing. My initial plans were not even close to our actual distances covered.
Bottom Lines
Passage duration 0710 to 1730 = 10:20.
Passage distance from Jackson Creek to Back Creek: 4nm to bay; 20nm to Smith Point; 24 nm to Patuxent entry; 8nm to Back Creek = 56nm.
