We left Annapolis morning to a fast sail down the bay.  Harmonie was blasting along on a beam reach at 8 to 9.5 knots almost all day. As we gathered more weather information it became clear that there was no need to rush down to the mouth of the Bay and the ocean.  That left us with a decision:  Sail all night in the cold?  Or anchor overnight and sleep under the fluffy down comforter?  Hmmm…  let’s think about that…

A few very small, widely scattered showers were blowing through as we approached Solomons Island to anchor for the night.  As one sprinkled on us Karen, always one to look on the bright side, commented, “It is better than snow!”

We got the anchor down and set, and began to relax, when a tiny little black cloud came right over the top of us, and started to drop some light rain.  Karen quickly noticed that the raindrops were bouncing when they hit the deck…  “Argh!  It’s ice!”  Sure enough, this little cloud was punching well above its weight and dropping small hail on us. In three minutes it was all over.

It’s quiet and settled now. There are many other boats taking advantage of the same weather we are to move down the bay.  There is a large crowd of boats that have already arrived in Norfolk and are going to be looking to leave for points south early next week.  It will be interesting to see everyone choses the same day to leave…