Rock Hall, MD to Baltimore, MD. We spent quite a bit of time this morning looking at weather apps and deciding if we should set out. The temperature had dropped to 68 degrees and we turned the AC off - after yesterday's temps in the low 90's. Today's winds were 8 knots, gusting 14 knots. We decided to go ahead with our plans to cross the Bay and head to Baltimore, so we untied the lines at 10:25 this morning from Rock Hall Marina. The skies were cloudy and the waves were 1 foot coming from the Southeast, so that meant that they were hitting us on the starboard side/stern. So that made for a rolley-polley ride across the Bay. Some people call the water conditions "Sporty".
We saw the Francis Scott-Key Bridge (I695) that the freighter ran into and sections of it were knocked down or torn down. It was surreal passing by it, knowing we should have been going under it. While passing by the F.S. Key Bridge, we saw Ft. Carroll on our starboard side. When we were halfway between the bridge and Baltimore, a May-Day call went out from a boat that had an engine fire. We were getting ready to turn around to go help get the people off the boat, but another closer, faster boat responded, so we kept going, but monitored what was happening on the VHF radio. The Coast Guard responded, Baltimore Fire Department boat and Tow Boat U.S. emergency boat also responded. We heard that they were carrying the personnel onboard to a nearby marina and were working on putting the fire out. That's the last we heard.
We arrived at Anchorage Marina in Baltimore at 1:40 (a 3-hour and 20.6 mile journey). This marina is just a couple blocks from Ace Hardware, West Marine, Starbucks, Safeway, a pub/tavern and Chipotle. We're going to stay here another day, as the prices are reasonable and the marina is fantastic. We would highly recommend this marina (except for the ducks, which are indiscriminate as to where they leave their poo, which is pretty much on each finger pier at each slip.)
