Hurricane Michael dragged a cold front behind him, and it has been positively chilly for the past few days. That made completing our to-do list easier (less sweat involved).
The final big job was to bend on all the sails, and to sort out any rigging tangles that were left. We of course put all the halyards, etc., on the mast before re-stepping it. We got MOST of it right, but had one twist at the very top of the mast that could not be sorted from the deck. Helena quickly fixed that problem.
Then we were off! We dropped our mooring yesterday morning and headed out into the Chesapeake where a stiff northerly breeze was blowing. The Bay was quite choppy, but once we were able to turn south, the following seas were no hindrance.
We had 50 miles to go get across the wide mouth of the Potomac to our anchorage at Mill Creek, and our house batteries were nearly flat from all the cloudy weather we've had lately, so we motor-sailed all day, with jib and main set.
We averaged 7 knots, hitting 8 for long stretches, so made excellent time. There are a mess of boats heading south, so I wanted to anchor early to secure a good spot in the creek.
I shouldn't have worried. The anchorage was empty when we arrived around 14:00.
Our plan is to travel in the morning, and to anchor early enough to do other things. We shall see how long that resolution survives!
It's good to be on the move again.
Next Up: The Slow Virginia Cut
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