Rosborough rf-246 "Blue Heron"

So I stayed at Anchorage Marina on the Patapsco River in Baltimore about a month. It was very convenient with a 24-hour Safeway grocery store across the street, lots of restaurants, a West Marine -- all within walking distance. What finally pushed me to leave was the foul water. The boat was floating in what looked like pea soup with a yellow tinge. The last night I was there I slept in my car. The wind had died down, and the odor from the foul water was making me sick. The next day I decided to make my departure. I try not to think of the prepaid 6-months of slip rental I forfeited. Kent Island, just across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis, looked promising. I drove there to check out a few big marinas that allowed liveaboards, but they were all close to the highway with constant traffic noise. On a whim, I called some of the smaller marinas on Crab Alley Bay and got lucky. One allowed a few liveaboards, had wi-fi at the dock, and clean showers. I arranged with Sharon, the manager,...

The plan was to motor down the Patapsco River from Anchorage Marina just east of Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland, and meet my friends to do some Rockfish fishing on the Bay. I was a day early, and decided to anchor on the Magothy River just north of Sandy Point State Park where I was to meet my fishing buddies. During the day on the Magothy, the NOAA weather forecast turned real ugly -- winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts to 35. Reluctantly, we decided to postpone the fishing for a few days, and I hunkered down for an extended stay at anchor. I might add that "Blue Heron" is well equipped for chillin' out at anchor. There is a week's worth of food and water, and plenty of electrical power from the solar system. The first thing I noticed was the boat's tendency to tack back and forth in the wind while on the anchor. This was a problem because not only is it annoying to be constantly moving, but it results in the anchor dragging. I had experienced this before and...