day fourteen - hello, sweetheart!

Just as I'm tucking the boom tent away I hear Kristen call.  She's making hot tea and invites me to join her.  I raise the anchor, motor over and hop on board MAGDALENA, a nice way to start the day.  Kristen is heading back to the Choptank.  With strong NNE winds I think the Bay will be too rough for me.  I'll explore the Patuxent instead.  

Cast off 8:25 with a single reef tucked in the main.  It's very gusty.  Out on the Patuxent River at 8:40, a second reef tucked in 8:55.  I look south and see MAGDALENA coming out of the creek and headed down the Patuxent.  Grey, gusty and cool, not a day for exploring.  I turn back to Mill Creek.  Calmer in the creek I turn to starboard on Cuckold Creek.  It is lined by houses and I see no point of sailing through everyone's back yard.  I return to Mill Creek at 9:15, anchor down in Kristen's spot 9:30.

After cleaning up the boat I motor over to the dock at Stoney's Clarke's Landing, tying up at 11:00 as they open.  It's very quiet, no customers, no waiters and I'm not even sure if it is open.  I walk in through the back door.  Silence.  I walk through a dining area, then through another door into the bar.  A guy is sitting at the bar, a woman behind the bar and they are having a quiet discussion.  She glances over at me and with a loud friendly voice says "Hello, sweetheart!"

The restaurant is open but being a Sunday morning there are no other customers yet.  The woman tells me to pick a table, no rush to order and says it's fine if I want to take my time, drink some iced tea and catch up on the news on my phone.  So I do.  After a while I do place an order for a rockfish gyro, a blackened rockfish filet served on a bed of veggies with spicy cucumber sauce.  Excellent.  

12:45 anchored out with the boom tent up to wait out the wind and the rain.  I catch up on the log book, listen to some football, read and nap.  An enjoyable afternoon.  I get a text from Kristen.  She had left Mill Creek a little before 9:00, arrived Dun Cove just after 6:00, over nine hours of hard motor sailing into 18 to 24 kts wind and accompanying waves.  With darkness comes more rain.  

 6.79 NM