I’m pretty much ready to go. It’s been a whirlwind of readiness. The goal: Get TBD to it’s home port of Saugatuck, MI by November 1.
Two weeks ago, I drove to Rock Hall, MD to get the boat wet. Lucky me to find the boat in the water (still in the slings) as I drove up! Great timing! What a surprise! And it was floating, no less! I quickly parked, washed up, and jumped aboard.
With the yard crew with me, we motored TBD around, backed it into a slip, tied it up, and I got busy moving aboard. It was an overwhelming rush of excitement and chores, with all manner of things to do and check out. We were afloat! I’d spend two previous weekends aboard high and dry in the yard, but this time, we are wet and it is wonderful. After unpacking a few things and getting settled, I ran off to dinner for a celebration meal in Rock Hall. The next day, it was a busy day of checking systems, cleaning, and figuring out where to put stuff. It was to be ambitious couple of days. The decks were gross after spending a couple years in the yard, so those got scrubbed clean. I bent on the sails and ran the lines. I ran to town for food and supplies. I discovered the thermostat on the refrigerator box was bad, so I hot-wired the unit and found it was cooling just fine. By the end of Thursday, I was pretty much set. Friday, we would depart the very nice facilities of Haven Harbour South and the quaint village of Rock Hall.
The Itinerary
So what’s the plan?
The plan is no small feat: Get Maryland to Michigan while still holding down a full-time job. We are starting in Rock Hall, as that is where I found TBD.
Rock Hall is a great little town: Nice restaurants, nice Marinas, a West Marine, a grocery store, and a Dollar General – just about everything a simple sailor could need. It’s quiet and remote – which is the issue as it a really remote place by car. It’s not too far away from Annapolis and the bay bridge by water, but by car, you have to go almost to Delaware and back to get there and there’s no airport, train station, or bus terminal. It makes it a difficult place to sail from if you don’t already live there. So I needed to move TBD somewhere more convenient to stage it for the trip to the Great Lakes. And I’m sailing alone. But I had plan…
In Maryland, there is a “Bay Hopper” shuttle service that runs from the Baltimore bus terminal, the Amtrak train station and the BWI airport. So all I had to do was get my Jeep to a place with access to that service and I would be good. First thing Friday morning, I drove the Jeep 2 hours to Kent Narrows on the east bay side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I inflated and launched my dingy and had what was suppose to be a smooth morning ride back to Rock Hall. It was a little shitty out, so that 53 minute ride took and hour and a half, but I was out on the water (even if in a little inflatable boat). Even with poor conditions, the boat ride back still took less time than the car drive there. I got back to Rock Hall, checked out of Haven Harbour South and set sail for Kent Narrows. A couple hours later, I was tied up at Safe Harbor Narrows Point in Graysonville, MD – my first destination aboard TBD! Nothing too exciting, only 10 miles, but I got to run systems and sail. Everything was AOK.
Note: You can see my track by clicking “Show Journey” on my boat page at NoForeignLand.com
https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/tbd
After a shower, some dinner, and provisioning at Safeway (I have a vehicle, so you use it when you’ve got it), I was ready to go. The refrigerator was working well enough and I was stocked with essentials, so the next morning, I shoved off late morning and headed for Baltimore, my final destination for Phase 1 where I would leave the boat and drive back home with my Jeep.
On the way across the bay, an unusual yet inexpected thing happened. When diesel fuel sits for a long time, a bacteria grows, absorbing moister from the air and living on the surface of the fuel, until it dies and sinks to the bottom of the tank, only to be sucked up by the engine when it runs. TBD sat for a least two years. I had the same thing happen with my last boat (see here). About half way across the bay, the rolling of the waves freed up that dead bacteria sludge and the engine sucked it up and eventually clogged the fuel filter. Luckily, it’s easy to set sails on TBD, so off I went, tacking up the Patapsco River toward Baltimore. It was a great day of solo sailing.
Things calmed down enough that I was able to run the engine from the Francis Scott Key Bridge the rest of the way to Baltimore. Here’s some photos of what’s left of the Key Bridge and photos of the infamous Dali that took out the bridge.
After tying up at Anchorage Marina in Baltimore, I found it was cheaper to take a Lyft back on a Sunday morning and get my jeep, AND I didn’t have to wait for the shuttle! Bonus! So everything is set. Boat is in Baltimore. That’s close to an airport. Sails work. It’s hot, but you can’t win them all. So what’s next?
Phase 2 – TBD
As I sit here writing this, I am preparing to hop a flight back to Baltimore. Tomorrow or Monday, my old sailing buddy Pat and I will take TBD on its journey north to Catskill, NY, where we will prepare for Phase 3 – The Erie Canal. I’ve sailed with Pat for years and we ALWAYS manage to have a great time getting into all kinds of trouble.
It’ll be an adventure for sure.
Stay tuned…