Successful Trip Up the Bay

Another week of “all of a suddens.”

*All of a sudden, both boats were in the water.*

Matt, the yard manager in Deltaville, had a question for us right before he picked up Mischief. “How long are y’all going to be in the slings in the haulout slip? I’ve got another boat to haul if we can make it work.”

“About five minutes? Just have to fire up the engine and off we go.”

*Mischief, taken from Calypso’s cockpit.*

With Jeremy on Mischief and I on Calypso. we headed out of Broad Creek and around to Fishing Bay, where we rafted the boats together for the night. Yes, we checked weather first. Set the spring lines right. Had enough fenders. Sat to one anchor. And, of course, looked up to make sure the spreaders wouldn’t touch.

*Mischief sits way higher than Calypso. A bit weird.*

Wednesday and Thursday were a scramble of packing, sorting, moving, and stowing. Wednesday night had weather coming in; luckily, Mischief’s (previously untested by us) windlass and anchor worked flawlessly. Anchoring the boats separately worked just fine. Breathe - another system that we don’t have to completely overhaul on the new boat!

Thursday night had us sleeping aboard Calypso for the first time since early November. And by 8:15 am, we were headed out of Fishing Bay with our bows pointed north.

I’m in *Calypso’s* cockpit; Jeremy on *Mischief* just behind me.

Friday we made it to Solomons, Maryland. 40 miles of mostly counter-current. Took 12 hours. The bonuses? Jeremy flew the staysail and a deeply reefed main. He remembered to take a fly swatter. We had leftovers at the ready for dinner.

*Sunset on the way into Solomons. Mischief in silhouette.*

Saturday we checked the tide tables. Were underway at 5:45 am. Had shade and lots of water - essential in the 95 degree heat. The fly swatters didn’t completely disintegrate. The autopilot on Calypso didn’t work correctly (I suspect operator error on my part when I put it away on Friday evening) so I had to hand steer the whole way but still managed to fly the jib, feed myself, and visit the head when required. By 5:45 pm both boats were safely tucked into slips at Oak Harbor Marina. 60 miles, 12 hours. Success!