Started: Annapolis. 38°58.53′N 076°28.43′W

Anchored: Mill Creek (Solomon's Island) 38°19.71′N 076°27.07′W

Distance Run: 45.2 nm. Time 9 hr. Engine Hours: 4.

A pretty good sail down the bay in 10-12 kt of N breeze.

We did tolerably well. We flew the mizzen stays'l, something we are finally able to rig without too much drama. It adds some speed when we're off the wind and the breezes are light.

We dowsed this when we gybed south of Poplar Island. We didn't feel like rehoisting it on the other tack. There was no good reason for leaving it down.

When we started to approach western side of the bay, around 14:00, we realized we weren't going to make it under sail.

The rhumb line (the straight line course as the crow flies) was about 15 nm; we'd cover this in about 3h 15m, arriving at 17:15; well before dark. If only we could sail at good speed in a straight line to the Pax river. Sadly, this is a challenge.

In this case, we needed to go almost due S. If we aimed in that direction, we'd slow to about 3 kt (or less) in 7-10 kt of breeze. Over 5h of sailing to arrive at 19:00 at the earliest.

To keep our speed up, we have to sail about 150° off the wind. That means a course of 210°: SW instead of the desired S. Sailing at this higher angle keeps our speed over 4.7 kt.

Since we're not sailing straight at our destination, that means we would need to make two gybes to get into the Pawtuxent river.

Because we generally gybe through about 60 degrees, a pure sailing approach essentially doubles the distance we have to cover. We sail around the outside of an equilateral triangle. Fun when you've got the time. Great when you're sight-seeing. Lousy when you're running low on daylight.

If we took the two gybes, we'd sail about 30 nm: 6h at 5 kt: arriving at about 20:30, well after dark.

The wind shifts near shore, so it might not have been a complete doubling of the distance sailed. But we can't count on wind shifts.

But, with Mr. Lehman's help, we arrived at 17:06, able to anchor in Mill Creek in daylight.

Joie de Vivre is in Back Creek.

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