Chesapeake Bay is the next of the world's great yachting areas that we visited, and by far the largest. It is 185 miles long, 30 miles wide at its widest, and we’re told holds 18 trillion gallons of water (though these are the inferior US gallons). Many of the early English colonial settlements were established here, and it was the scene of action both in the War of Independence and the Civil War.

Beaufort, North Carolina.

Cape Hatteras is the meeting point of major ocean currents and has a reputation for being rough, so instead of entering the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, we went inland further south, at Beaufort in North Carolina. Beaufort was typical of many of the picturesque little waterside towns we visited throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Former fishing villages, but the fishing has declined. Streets of white painted shiplap houses, a heritage museum, and yacht docks replacing the fishing quay.

Beaufort is at the centre of the legend of the pirate Blackbeard. He was a real person, Edward Teach, who terrorised the coast here in 1717 and 1718, during which time he captured and ran a fleet of four ships, including the Queen Anne’s Revenge.

He earned his nickname Blackbeard from his long, curly beard in which he tied lit gunpowder fuses when he went into action, to give himself an awesome appearance.

His most famous action was the blockade of Charleston, capital of South Carolina, the inhabitants of which were forced to pay a substantial ransom. Many of the towns on the North Carolina sounds have their own legend about him, often playing the role of a bloodthirsty Robin Hood versus the British. The real person died in battle with two Royal Navy sloops, after his flagship was scuttled. In 1996 a wreck was found near Beaufort, which many believe is the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The town’s little maritime museum has a number of artefacts that have been recovered.

ICW to Chesapeake.

From Beaufort we continued along the Intra-Coastal Waterway to Norfolk, Virginia. This remarkable waterway extends south as far as Florida, 1,000 miles long. Nearly all the length lies along natural waterways: sounds, rivers and lagoons just inside a barrier fringe of islands. It was a formidable task: started in 1793 it was not completed until 1935. However in 2004 the US Army Corps of Engineers stopped their maintenance programme, and now there are silted up spots too shallow for Sentinel. There are relatively few deep inlets from the sea, so we were unable to travel the length of the ICW as we had in 1997, and apart from this section we mostly travelled outside in the Atlantic.

Sentinel in North Carolina.

Deer beside the ICW.

From Norfolk a benevolent southerly breeze wafted us the entire length of Chesapeake Bay, enabling us to use our new spinnaker to the full. It was indeed perfect cruising territory. There are an astonishing number of rivers, creeks and quaint, historic villages to explore - Maryland has the longest shoreline of any US state.

St Mary's City, Maryland.

At the southern tip of Maryland, off the Potomac River, is St Mary’s City. It stands picturesquely on a bluff overlooking the river. Strange to say, this was the first hill we had seen since entering USA! St Mary’s City is the third oldest English settlement in America (after Jamestown and Plymouth), and was the capital of Maryland when it was founded in 1626 by Lord Baltimore.

Scarcely meriting the title of ‘city’, there were at most 200 residents. During the English Civil War, Lord Baltimore sided with King Charles, and this resulted in the capture of the city by Parliamentarians from Virginia, the only action of the civil war to take place outside England. The capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695 and shortly after St Mary’s City was abandoned and the buildings destroyed. It is now a living museum. Much of the village has been reconstructed and brought to life by volunteers acting as the original occupants: shopkeepers, publicans, farmers, sailors; talking to us as if they were still living in the 17th century. There is a full-scale replica of the Dove, their ship. But St Mary’s City is miles from anywhere and we were almost the only visitors as we wandered around.

The Dove at St Mary's City.

Annapolis, Maryland.

Annapolis is the fourth self-proclaimed “yachting capital of the world” we have visited. (The other three being Cowes, Bénodet, and Fort Lauderdale). At least it can back its claim by holding the world’s largest boat show every autumn. It is the state capital of Maryland with a pretty capitol building, the oldest in the US: but it is perhaps better known as the home of the US Naval Academy which dominates the waterfront. We liked the memorial to Arthur Hailey ("Roots") whose African ancestor Kunta Kinte entered the US here. And we must mention the local delicacy, Maryland crab cakes. They are

Annapolis by night.

made from Chesapeake Blue Crabs, so small that it takes 30 to yield a pound of meat.We tried them at the speciality restaurant, Phillips, on the waterfront, and appreciated why their distinctive taste makes them so popular.

Annapolis is another place in this region where much is made of colonial history. Despite having played a prominent part in the War of Independence, Maryland has adopted the coat of arms of the royalist Lord Baltimore (left), and the Annapolis flag still features the crown of Queen Anne and a Tudor rose.

Delaware Bay

At the northern end of the Bay, we entered the Chesapeake & Delaware canal to cut through to Delaware Bay. What a difference! This was no easy cruising ground. We were back in the realm of tides, tidal currents, and steep choppy seas where they opposed the south-east wind. We spent a day battling down, to reach Cape May at the entrance, where we could turn north towards New York and have the wind with us once more.

Lighthouses

Here are just three of the many remarkable lighthouses we passed. The first is Cape Lookout, near Beaufort, a high light typical of those guarding the outer coast. The second is a 'cottage' lighthouse, St Thomas Shoal, near Annapolis, characteristic of many found in the shallows of the Chesapeake. The third is Ship John Shoal in Delaware Bay.