Sailing Justice: Galesville to Oxford, MD. Weighing anchor

In Galesville, Monday's drizzle turned into overcast Tuesday morning and chilly.

Next stop Oxford, MD on the other side of the bay, since friends schedules are not matching with ours (or ours with theirs) and Dave has not been there before.

We'll sail east across the bay to the Choptank River, then north on Tred Avon.

Started the motor at 8:45 am. I got more practice pulling up the anchor. We have all chain.

While pulling in the chain with the windlass, the chain needs to be pushed to the side in the anchor locker before it piles up and doesn't fall from the windlass outlet. We use a boat hook to move it to one side or the other. When I lean over to put weight on the other foot to see how far to push it, enough of my weight moves off the windlass foot switch and it stops before i want it to. I try not to take weight off that foot, but it's hard and it makes it for a long anchor weigh. Dave has a remote, that I'll try next, but that requires a hand, which I'd rather keep on the boat hook.

If ya don't get the chain in the locker moved on time (for me- because you can't see, leaning over, since you're trying to keep weight on the button) the chain piles up on the deck (just a little pile), so you have to let it out again to get the tension and reset the links in the gypsy.

Then there's the Chesapeake Bay mud. Ya want to stop every 5 feet to pull the chain side to side to get the mud off in the water, to keep it off the deck and out of the locker.

Winds are 10-15 with white caps. Sailing to windward, headed to Oxford. Spray covers the dodger windows.

We saw 2 NOAA vessels that seemed to be coordinating movements. The large one in front of the tanker, and below the other.

At the entrance to Choptank, you see the leaning Sharps Island Lighthouse on the right,

(Jan 1977 winter ice caused this 15 degree tilt)

and Bloody Point Lighthouse on the left. (both photos zoomed in)

Pass the fishing net sticks that are on the Tighlman Island side. The places where these are allowed are marked on the chart, but they may or may not be there and they can move within the boxes. Don't take shortcuts on this bay.