Day 253: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Port to Port: Bodkin Creek to Baltimore, Maryland
Underway: 7:50 am Motor Off: 10:35 pm Miles Traveled: 17/0 Stayed At: Free Dock
Mile 38 to Mile 38: Our anchorage last night was wonderfully quiet and peaceful. We didn’t want to leave but Baltimore – the Charm City – beckoned. So we raised the anchor and had an easy cruise up river to a free dock at Fells Point where we hope to stay for a few nights if it isn’t too noisy. We only had to dodge a couple of ocean-going ships, a few sprinkles and some lumpy swells. It was lucky we had the GPS coordinates because it was a little hard to find – most of the docks have signs saying “no docking” or “City Dock”. Except for an occasional water taxi stopping to pick up passengers, our free dock seems to be fairly quiet.
While Cindy hung out on the boat I walked a little over a mile to the main harbor and waterfront to check out the other docks and marinas along the way. Marinas are expensive here – someone said one company owns them all so they kind of have a monopoly. At the biggest one downtown it would be $72 a night for us with a 30’ minimum plus $8 a day for electric. You don’t even get free coffee, a nice bed or clean sheets for that. You can even stay right downtown along the seawall where all the action is for $1.50/ft with no amenties but there is no privacy and it is noisy. It might be kind of fun if you were drunk but not if you want to sleep.
We met a group of guys traveling the Chesapeake on a chartered 33’ sailboat. They noticed Aurora parked along the wall while waiting for the water taxi and they were curious about our story. They were very interested in the Great Loop so we traded a few adventures. They were headed over to Fort Henry across the river by water taxi. As they left, one of the guys yelled to Cindy from the taxi, “Hey Mike and Cindy, to infinity and beyond”. That made our day.
After resting a little we both walked back downtown to check out what this town has to offer. The area we are in has some nice old building with some interesting shops and restaurants. Downtown Baltimore looks mostly new with high rises, shopping malls and condos lining the waterfront. I guess 20 years ago this area was really rundown and crime ridden. Now it’s a tourist destination. I like our neighborhood a lot better – it has character and a lot less tourists.
Although we have already started a list of places to eat over the next few days, we had some hamburger we needed to cook so we had a quiet spaghetti dinner with salads on the boat to finish our day. We have no idea what tomorrow will bring but I’m sure it will be an adventure.
