Day 3 aboard, and our first day under sail. Weather was gorgeous today, as you can see in these pictures of sunrise.

Today we went from Saint Michaels to Solomons, Maryland. We motored out the channel from Saint Michaels into the main Chesapeake Bay and then switched to sail. Wind was great, about 10-12 knots, and we were hitting about 5 knots boat speed. We were heading into the wind, and tacked our way south across the bay. I LOVE AUTOPILOT!!! You can set your course, trim the sails just right, and then engage the autopilot. It will keep you on the exact same heading, and it actually takes over the wheel and uses hydraulics to turn it to keep the boat on the same course. Then you can sit back, have a sandwich, and enjoy the peace and the wind.

Unfortunately, after several hours of good sailing, we ran into two problems: Lack of wind, and battery problems. There seems to be some sort of problem with the electrical systems on the boat. Jack, Joan, and I opened up the battery compartment last night (well, Joan and I observed!) and scraped corrosion off the contacts to see if that would help. It did not. So, the short story is that we decided to motor the rest of the way because the wind was dying and that would charge up the batteries. On the way, we passed this navy ship, which Jack explained is a 'destroyer escort', or essentially a smaller version of a Navy destroyer.

I'm getting better with the bouys and charts - it's starting to feel somewhat natural to be able to pick up a chart and get an idea of what to look around for. We docked in Solomons, MD, where we can shower off, recharge batteries, and have a nice dinner. We found a very nice italian restaurant, Vincennzos, where they had live music and good atmosphere. For dessert, I had mango sherbet, which was served in a scraped out mango - nice touch!