September 6, 2012 – Baltimore, Maryland

On our departure from Chesapeake city, it was overcast with light rain, then the sun came out. The winds were about 12 mph at our backs. We entered Baltimore harbour and right after passing under their bridge, we spotted on our starboard side the famous star spangled channel buoy that marks the spot where the poet Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the American national anthem.  A bit of history - during the War of 1812, Key was a prisoner aboard a British barge and was looking for the flag above nearby Fort McHenry during the siege.
 

As a navigational point, when coming into Baltimore, we needed to stay in the marked channels because there were crab pots and fish nets everywhere. Crab pots are a float tied to a trap on the bottom. Once we noticed how close the crab pots were to the channel but they turned out to be seagulls, lol.

 

Baltimore harbour is a mix of industrial, military, commercial and tourism. After we got through the industrial part of it, Baltimore harbour is quite scenic. The waterfront has an amazing old sailing ship, the U.S.S. Constellation which is the last civil war vessel afloat. After years of restoration it was returned to Baltimore in 1999. "U.S.S. Constellation" was commissioned in 1855; it was the last all-sail ship built by the United States Navy. There is also a submarine, a 9/11 memorial, and many shops and restaurants to attract tourists.

U.S.S. Constellation

 

While in Baltimore we walked over to the customs office one block away to obtain our cruising permit. We would have thought that the customs agent back in NY state that cleared us into the U.S. would have made us aware of this. Now, we must call into every port that we plan to go ashore. ???? Just to mention, we couldn’t believe the security just to get into the building. It was like going through an airport, complete with a walk through medal detector (things have really changed since 9/ll).

 

On our way out of Baltimore harbour, as if to say goodbye, Fort McHenry fired off a canon that scared the crap out of us. We thought our boat blew up!