In case you thought a leisurely, month-long sail from Norfolk to Annapolis in Chesapeake summer sounds like fun, let’s examine Exhibit A: Matt Rutherford, who spent 30 days doing just that last July in his steel, cat-rigged schooner Ault.
Rutherford is the 34-year-old local adventurer who two years ago sailed alone around the Americas in 309 days, nonstop from Annapolis to Annapolis via the Northwest Passage and Cape Horn in a 27-foot Albin Vega. He’s no stranger to hardship. But nothing prepared him for the relentless biting black flies of the lower Eastern Shore, of which he reckons he killed 1,000 at least, nor the oppressive heat, rolly-poley anchorages and long night watches plodding along at turtle speed. Read More
