On September 30 we departed Willoughby Harbor Marina for the final time. We could now be considered, as Dave likes to put it, "full-time cruisers". We would be meeting up with a sister vessel “Our White Magic” that lay at Baltimore. Our aim was to rendezvous for the annual Boat Show at Annapolis, then tour the Wye River area before heading back south to Norfolk to stage for a “buddy” passage to the Bahamas.

We headed for Wilton Creek on the Piankatank River. This first anchorage would be in same location as our first-ever anchorage back in 2007, which we loved.   We spent October 1 as a lay day on Wilton Creek. On October 2 we headed for the Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club to meet up with Hank and Seale.   We were their guests for dinner at the Country Club after a visit to the nearby town of Kilmarnock for their quaint First Friday event.  

The following day we took Hank and Seale and their friend Vic on a day sail to Carter Creek off the Rappahannock River where they all live. It was a pleasant day with winds S 5-10. We wanted to give Hank an opportunity to sail the Catana 471 which he was close to taking possession of. At different times, we raised the main and jib, flew the main and code zero, flew the spinnaker alone, then back to main and jib. On Carter Creek, we anchored near Hank and Seale's house, then went in for pizza to see their home and their two girls (cocker spaniels) Misty and Breezy.

We left Carter Creek after fueling on October 4 to head for Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico. We had a nice spinnaker run out of the Rappahannock in west wind 10-15 kts. It was then a nice reach up to Mill Creek on the main and jib. We picked up a crab pot in the Great Wicomico River so Dave had a chance to go swimming to release it! Milll Creek proved beautiful as always.

On October 5 we left this Mill Creek and headed for another Mill Creek near Solomons MD. Wind was NW 10-15. We tacked several times to get there, but it was a pleasant sail. Upwind work can be tiresome!

We left the Solomons area on October 6 to head for the Rhode River near Annapolis. It was a fantastic sail in 5-12 E . The code zero performed well, giving us 80% of true wind speed reaching, sometimes up to 100% in the lightest winds! The apparent wind was 40 degrees higher than the true wind direction.

We anchored in the Rhode River where we could play host to friends John and Joan and their friend Gail while visiting the Annapolis sailboat show. We ended up staying on the Rhode River until departure October 19 due to incessant inclement weather. On October 14 Dave had an appointment to sail with the Quantum sail guys to re-evaluate the main’s issue with its battens (some of which had popped out earlier). The sail was given a clean bill of health and measurements were taken for a new genoa which Dave anticipated replacing in the relatively near future. On October 15, the electronics representative came out to troubleshoot the B&G full function display unit. His verdict was that the unit was bad and needs to be replaced or rebuilt in order to regain its full functionality. In the meantime, its basic functions work and are adequate for passage to the Bahamas. Dave spent much of his downtime on the Rhode River working on the replacement of the lifelines.

We were happy to leave the Rhode River on October 19, sailing to Dividing Creek on the Wye River with NW 10-15 kt winds, allowing us to sail the full way up the river. Here we awaited the arrival of Our White Magic . They arrived just after dusk and we rafted the vessels, which worked well because both boats are identical.

Together the next day we motored in calm wind to St Michaels and walked through this very quaint town. We were rafted again for the evening.

On October 21 we motored in calm wind to Solomons. Donna piloted through the Poplar Island Narrows. We rafted with Our White Magic in Mill Creek near Solomons. The following day we sailed and motored to Indian Creek on winds SW 10-15 decreasing and backing. We had to motor the final 4 hours. We took this opportunity to run the washing machine for the first time. It works! We “executed” a med moor tie-up at Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club, together at their visitor dock.

On October 23 we took a short sail to Jackson Creek off the Piankatank River. The channel entry is quite tiny—very interesting. We had motored the last 1-1/2 hours due to an adverse current. Jackson Creek was the most crowded anchorage we have ever been at in our three years on the Bay, but we were able to raft our first night there. Dave reinstalled the jacklines on the boat in preparation for our ocean crossing. We stayed at Jackson Creek the following day due to strong winds from the south that were unfavorable for heading south to Norfolk. We would await a wind shift to the north arriving that evening. We broke up the raft in anticipation of the shifting and strong winds coming our way.

We left Jackson Creek October 25 for Willoughby Bay. Sailed on main and jib in N 15-25. Our White Magic hit bottom just before the channel outbound from Jackson Creek but successfully backed off. Unfortunately, we were following them and distracted by their situation, so we ended up running aground ourselves! We were seriously caught and were fortunate to be pulled off by Our White Magic. Otherwise would have spent hours kedging and waiting for high tide. Once departed from the Creek, we proceeded on a roller coaster run with main and jib wing and wing. We surfed southbound at 15+ kts with top speed seen 15.5, frequently over 13 kts downwind.

We anchored in Willoughby Harbor. Dave left the boat on October 26 for appointments in Arlington. Donna stayed on the boat. It was terribly rainy throughout this period. Dave returned on the 28th. This would be our final week before departure to the Bahamas. Dave worked on the battens, three of which had popped out again during our brisk sail the final day down the Bay. We spent a day shopping for odds and ends and final groceries. Dave finished the lifeline project.   We replaced the propane supply hose and the water maker feed pump cooling fan. Dave unclogged the starboard vanity drain line. We refilled our dinghy gas container.   Donna worked on final stowing for our journey and has been working on SSB weather reporting.

On October 31 we had a pizza party at Veniziano’s in town with Bob and Becky’s family, John and Joan, Jim and Charlene. A front passed through that night. We woke at 3:45 dragging anchor in its squall. We had to reset a couple of times, then stood watch while we held too close for comfort to another vessel. At daybreak we chose to move to another location (although we could have stayed put because the nearby vessel ended up leaving the bay within a few hours).