October 7-8, 2023: We travel through rough weather, including rain, and wind up spending two nights at a great free dock at a great town.
On Saturday, I woke up early as usual and did my morning routine long before the sun was up. As the sky brightened, I got to work, feeding my pups, taking them ashore to do their business, stowing the dinghy, and opening the engine lid to check the oil and seawater strainer. Jason was prepping Seki-A. I started the engine and we cast off the three lines. I drifted away and stowed my fenders.
Jason had some trouble with his anchor, likely caused by the boat turning on the anchor line overnight. He had to manually get it into the rollers that hold it in place. This is a pretty common problem with boats that spend a lot of time at anchor in tidal areas; the lines twist as the boat turns with the tide. When I first got my boat and went out with a captain for some anchoring lessons, we had similar problems. The solution was to go out into to some deep water, lower the anchor with as much rode as possible without touching the bottom, wait a few minutes for the anchor to spin on the rode, and then crank it back in.
Heading Out Onto the Potomac
When Jason started moving, I got in behind him. We retraced our route back down St Marys River. Jason estimates that the chop in the Potomac was 1 to 1.5 feet. It was right on our bows, which was a lot better than taking it on our beams.
Both Seki-A and Do It Now have relatively economic “fast speeds.” Seki-A was built to go fast — for a boat that size — so Jason gets relatively good economy by getting up on plane at about 18 knots. Do It Now has a semi-displacement hull, so it doesn’t get on plane. I do, however, notice that my fuel economy is the same at 14 knots as it is at around 9 or 10 knots. So I throttled up to 14 knots and watched Jason fade off into the distance in front of me, throwing a wake that would have sunk my previous boat.
We kept in touch on the radio for a while and then by text messages. The conditions were rough, but not nearly as bad as I’d experienced on the Neuss River back in May when I was heading into 4-5 foot waves. Do It Now bounced through at speed without crashing between peaks. It wasn’t comfortable or fun but because it was primarily on the bow, it wasn’t sickening. (Puking dogs are not fun, especially when they’re sitting right next to you.)
Meanwhile, I was checking out options at Breton Bay. Jason wanted to anchor near Leonardtown Wharf Park where he’d anchored before. He said it was easy enough to dinghy over to the dock to take my pups for a walk. But I was looking at the dock, which was labeled as a Free Dock on Waterway Guide. The reviews were promising. They talked about new floating docks and enough depth for a boat like Seki-A — which has a 5-foot draft — to tie up. I texted back and forth to Jason, suggesting the Leonardtown Wharf instead of the nearby anchorage. He was doubtful at first but then agreed to give it a try.
We bounced along up the Potomac. I saw that I was closing on the AIS signal for Seki-A, which appeared on my chartplotter screens. Jason had slowed down and entered Breton Bay. He warned me about fish traps just outside the bay entrance. I’d taken a shortcut that put me on the other side of them but still clear.
Breton Bay
We didn’t need to go far into Breton Bay for the water to calm down. But that’s also about when the rain started. And the wind. A gust hit me broadside so hard that I thought there was something wrong with my rudder.
Jason texted me a picture of himself in his rain gear. I realized that although I had a rain jacket, I didn’t have rain pants on board. (That’s actually not true; I found them a few days later.) I started prepping my boat to dock, dropping fenders on the starboard side and prepping a midship line I could grab easily. We’d decided that I would dock first since I had more experience solo docking and my boat should be easier to dock since it was smaller and had bow and stern thrusters. Then I’d grab Jason’s lines as he came in.
I looked at the satellite image of the docks, which was out of date but turned out to be accurate enough. Then the docks came into sight. It was still raining, but not very hard. The wind was still gusty. I decided to come in bow first at the first of the smaller slips.
I was doing okay until the wind caught me. It was blowing from the northwest so it pushed me away from land and screwed up my alignment with the slip. I had to reverse, which got prop walk taking my stern to port and further fouling things up. Since I was now lined up with the first slip — which was designed for a much larger boat — I figured I’d just park there. I could always move it if a larger boat came in. Now the wind was in my favor, pushing me forward into the slip and against the dock on my starboard side. My fenders were in place and the dock had some nice padding along the edge. I got the boat into position, used reverse to arrest the forward movement, and stepped out with the line. I tied up to the closest cleat, then tied the bow line. I went back inside to kill the engine.
Now it was time to get Seki-A in. Jason was going to dock behind a sailboat that was already parked on the long T-head dock. There was plenty of room. Of course, the wind wasn’t cooperating with him at all — it was pushing him away from the dock. I grabbed the line he tossed me when he got close and tied it off. He then fiddled around with his engines to get the boat back against the dock. We tied him off enough to keep him there until he could kill the engines and adjust the ties.
We had arrived at Leonardtown Wharf.
Lunch, Wine Tasting, and More
Of course, the rain stopped as soon as we were secured to the dock. It quickly turned into a nice day.
We chatted for a while with one of the guys from the sailboat. I didn’t realize it then, but he had two companions. They didn’t hang out together and I wound up seeing them individually over the next 24 hours.
We took the pups for a walk in the park at the marina. It was a great spot for them. Then we decided to take a walk into town without the dogs. I put them into the boat witrh their food and water and set out with Jason to explore a little. It was still early — remember, we’d gotten an early start — and lunch was on my mind.
We found a place called Sweetbay Restaurant and Bar that looked good but didn’t open until 11:30 AM. We walked around town, checking out the bookstore the sailboat guy had recommended and a few other shops. Then we homed in on Sweetbay, which was now open. We got an indoor table. We shared a pork belly appetizer that was excellent and I had the fish tacos, which were also good. I can’t remember what Jason had, but I know he liked it.
After lunch, we headed back to the boats so Jason could pick up a coupon he had for wine tasting at the local winery. Then we called an Uber to take us to a hardware store about two and a half miles away. I had been trying to install a Magma kettle grill on my boat and, in doing so, had stripped the threads on the nut and bolt that had come with the mounting hardware. I needed to replace them.
We wound up at the excellent Sneade’s Ace Home Center in a big shopping center northwest of the wharf. I got what I needed and a new dishtowel with flamingos on it — my boat decor is all about flamingos, crabs, and starfish.
From there, we walked to the Port of Leonardtown Winery about a half mile away. It was a nice place with indoor and outdoor tasting areas, sun and shade, and a little creek running alongside its property. Jason presented his coupon and we tasted some of the wines they had to offer. We both really liked the Old Line Red blend and wound up getting a bottle of it to share at a table in the sun. While we were there, a musician set up on a little stage and began to play. It was a pleasant scene with good company.
I wound up buying a bottle of the Old Line Red and a desert wine called Black Forest Waltz for my neighbors, Gary and Sandy, who had driven me to the airport twice the week before. (Read about that fiasco on my personal blog.) I made arrangements to have it shipped directly to them.
Back at the Boats
We called an Uber to take us back to the marina. I went to work installing the grill while Jason napped.
I also connected my 30 amp cable to the power pedestal near our boats, surprised that it actually worked. (Well, it looked brand new, but who expects to find free power at a free dock?) Jason’s boat had 50 amp power and he did not have a converter to use 30 amp power. If he had, I’d let him take that power and I’d use my converter to plug into the 20 amp outlet. (My boat has very low power needs unless I start runnning things like my microwave, electric heater, or Instant Pot.)
Meanwhile, the weather had completely cleared, but there was a stiff wind that would not let up. The boats were secure at the dock, though, so it wasn’t much of a problem.
Except when it came time to make dinner. I had two beautiful ribeye steaks that had to be cooked that evening. I always grill steaks — honestly, it’s the only way I know how to make them. But my grill, installed up on my command bridge, would not stay lit. Or level, for that matter. The mounting hardware was terrible and the wind was making it impossible to use the grill where I’d mounted it.
Jason had a grill, too, though. We’d used it to cook some sausages for dinner on the night we’d met up. He set it up on his bow with the big propane tank. We lit it and it went out. He thought it might be because the tank was empty so he swapped that tank for his spare. No joy. It was the wind. It was making it impossible to keep a grill lit.
I had one other option: a cast iron griddle/grill I’d bought on sale at Fred Meyer before leaving home. Although it was heavy, it easily fit into one of the (too many) Priority Mail flat rate boxes I used to ship stuff from home to the boat. I thought it might work well on my stove.
Well, it worked great on Jason’s enormous four-burner gas stove. That’s where we set it up, heated it up, and cooked those steaks. It worked so well, in fact, that I started wondering why I had bothered buying the Magma grill.
We served that up with a couscous and avocado salad, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and, of course, horseradish, all of which were prepared or provided by Jason. (Did I mention that his boat’s fridge is enormous, too?) It was a great dinner, enjoyed again on Jason’s aft deck table overlooking Breton Bay.
After dinner, we took my pups for another walk in the park. The park had filled up around sunset but was emptier as it got dark. Although Jason had suggested we watch a movie, I was beat and opted to turn in for the night.
An Extra Day, a Tractor Parade
I woke a little later the next morning, did my morning routine, and got up to feed my pups and take them for a walk. Then I texted Jason and asked if he wanted some clafoutis for breakfast. This is a kind of baked custard dish with fruit. I had strawberries and duck eggs (from the guy who had installed my canvas). Oddly, the very first time I’d had clafoutis, it had been made my my friend Anne in her Utah home using eggs from her ducks. A while later, Jason was at the table in Do It Now with his coffee and I was pulling a gorgeous (if I do say so myself) clafoutis out of the oven. It tasted even better than it looked.
The weather called for more wind and neither of us wanted a rough day out on the Potomac to our next stops so we decided to stay put for another day. There were no signs at the dock with stay limits and we certainly weren’t depriving anyone of dock space, especially after the sailboat pulled out leaving just the two of us there.
We split up to do our own things. I had to work on my taxes; I’d filed an extension and the deadline was only a few days away. There was so much I had to go through to send to my accountant back in Washington. (I long for the day when my taxes are simple enough to do them on my own again.) Jason went for a run up in town.
I took a break to walk up to town with Jason for lunch. He’d found a coffee shop that served sandwiches on a side street, the Botanic Cafe, and we went in. I had a turkey with cranberries and brie panini and it was great. Jason had a chicken wrap. From there, we went next door to Shephard’s Old Field Market, one of those funky malls with tiny shops stocked with goods from different vendors. We looked around but didn’t buy anything.
From there, we went to the main event for the day: the tractor parade. It was just what you might think: a parade of mostly antique tractors driving down the main street. It started small with a driving mower and ended big with large farm tractors. There were plenty of people lining the streets to watch. It was a great family event. I took a lot of pictures, but here’s just one to give you a taste of what we were seeing.
Afterwards, we went back to the boats. I retreated into my main cabin to keep working on taxes; I was getting close to done. Jason went for a ride in his dinghy.
Connecting with Other People
The only drawback to where we were parked along the long T-head was the occasionally strollers who would come out onto the dock to walk to one end or the other, all walking by the side of my boat.
I got into conversations with a few of them. One man was particularly annoying, trying to draw me into a political discussion where I knew we would not agree. Other folks were friendlier and just wanted to chat about my boat and trip or the town.
I was pleasantly surprised to meet up again with Mike and Marilou, who I’d first met back in March 2023 in Fernandina Beach. Their boat was in Solomons, MD and they’d rented a car to drive around the area. Mike used to live in Leonardtown and I think he was showing it to Marilou. I just happened to be parked there and they remembered me from Feburary. Small world! We exchanged boat cards again.
Last Night at Leonardtown
I honestly can’t remember what we did that last evening at Leonardtown. Did we watch a movie? I know we eventually watched the anime classic, Spirited Away, on Jason’s boat on one of his big TVs. But was it that night? And was this the night when I made an egg and veggie scramble for dinner, finally using up the last of the duck eggs?
This is the problem when I wait too long to blog about something. The details fade away.
One thing is for sure, though: it was our last night at Leonardtown — at least for this trip. The weather the next day was forecasted to be calmer and we were planning on moving on to St Clements Island and an anchorage near Sharktooth Island the next day.
By the time I took my pups for their last walk of the day, the wind had calmed and it was shaping up to be a peaceful night. I’d sleep well that night.