The water was like glass and it was raining lightly as we motored out of the Corrotoman River and into the Rappahanock River.
Phoenix's Perkins 4-236 and the feathering Max-prop continued to impress us with how well they move the boat -- we were moving at 5.2 knots at only 1,250 rpm! We throttled up to 1,750 rpm and were doing 7.2 knots over the bottom.
As we made our way out of the Rappahanock and turned north to head up the Bay, the winds began to pick up to 10-12 knots. We raised the main and genoa and sailed on a beam reach, moving at 6.5-6.8 knots. Our speeds picked up to 7.2 when the wind was just forward of the beam and we had a wonderful sail up the Bay, despite the rain.
We vacillated on where we wanted to stop for the night, and eventually decided to make our way up the Patuxent (Pax) River for the evening. Our speeds slowed to a leisurely 5.5 knots and we were on a broad reach after we turned towards our evening's destination. Although we were enjoying the sail, we decided to turn on the motor at about 6 pm so we'd have time to drop the anchor before dark. We motored the rest of the way, and arrived in Mill Creek (Solomon's Island) at 7:30 pm.
It was raining when we arrived, so once the snubber was secured, we again pulled out the aft cabin's storm dodger and squall-proof wind scoop -- both vital pieces of equipment on this 2 week trip! We settled in down below with plenty of ventilation, and made delicious flat bread pizzas on the stove top with the remaining pitas that I made earlier in the trip.
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| Storm dodger over the aft cabin hatch got quite a workout this trip! |
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| We absolutely love being able to keep the forward hatch open in the rain with our squall-proof wind scoop! |
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| Straightening up after the rain |
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| The water was a bit chilly in the dinghy! |
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| Bill hard at work bailing the dinghy |
Once the morning's chores were done, it was once again time to continue our trek up the Bay.
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