The romp to the Chesapeake was indeed the most challenging part of the whole passage.  Fortunately we didn’t see 30 knot gusts but the wind and seas did build after I posted my last blog.  With 3 reefs in both the mainsail and genoa, sailing on a close reach, winds constantly in the 18-24 knot range for over 12 hours (i.e. well after we had passed the Chesapeake bridge-tunnel) and hand-steering (autohelm would have had a tough time, we think, given the sea state), our arms and shoulders began to ache towards the end of our 3-hour watches.  Added to this, we both needed to be on deck as we approached the bridge-tunnel to be sure we could correctly identify shipping and channel markers against backgroud lights so we were quite sleep-deprived upon entering the Chesapeake at just after midnight.  However, we decided to keep on going up the Bay since we had not made any slip reservations and the forecast was for the winds and seas to gradually subside.  Howard extended his watch by 2 hours or so to allow me to catch a bit of shut-eye (clearly needed) but he wisely furled the sails, turned on the engine and allowed the autopilot to to steer the boat until dawn.

It became a lot easier as we continued up the Bay, sometimes we had sufficient wind to sail, other times, we had to motor in order to make any progress.  It became clear we needed to stop before nightfall and Annapolis was the obvious choice.  We had filed a float plan with the US CBP (Customs and Border Protection) before leaving Bermuda so phoned them before reaching Annapolis to clear back into the country.  Thankfully they did not require us to have a physical inspection of either us or the boat.   We nearly made it into Annapolis before pitch dark; just the last hour or so was really dark (no moon).  Thankfully there were several moorings to choose from and we had no difficulty negotiating our way to pick up one of them.  All we had energy for was to cook up some rice to go with the chilli I had previously made, then to ‘hit the sack’.  We slept for 10+ hours, totally dead to what might have been going on around us….

The next day saw us moving very slowly.  All we managed to do all day long was to launch the dinghy, go ashore to check in and pay for our mooring and walk the short distance to The Boatyard Grille for a very tasty pint and a Happy Hour appetizer.  Prices are so much more reasonable compared with Bermuda!  We had thought we would head up to Worton Creek but realized we needed more time to catch up on lost sleep, etc.  As it turned out, that was a lucky decision because this morning we saw the Blue Angels flying low, in formation and doing aerial acrobatics over the Naval college to honor the new graduates.

We finally pulled into Worton Creek around 4:30 this afternoon, to be welcomed by Pepper “I need to see your passports!”.  It feels good to be back in our ‘home’ port.  We did 860 nm since leaving Bermuda in about 5.75 days, averaging over 6 knots; not a bad achievement for first time double-handing across the Gulf Stream.  Clearly the engine held out, though it still lis not performing as well as it should.  The only other significant issue we encountered along the way was when the loop on the main sheet traveller sheared.  Fortunately it happened on Day 4 of the passage when we had little wind so we were able to jury rig a replacement using a piece of strong Spectra line.  We treated it with the greatest respect and reefed the mainsail considerably earlier than we would usually.  Fortunately the jury rig held up to the task for the remainder of the trip, whew!