Galesville, Solomons--October 18-20

Finally we got away--Hasn't been easy. At the last minute Monday, we discovered we needed yet another part for our autopilot. Had to wait for it to be delivered--only to discover when it arrived, it was not the part that was bad, but a connection! Mike resolved it and we finally were underway at 10 on Wednesday. Arrived 10 miles south at another charming town, Galesville, where hungry swans hung around our boat hoping for a handout. (They seemed to have successful with the boat parked next to us whom we later found were from Grand Junction, CO.)

Left early Thursday for the 41 mile trek to Solomon's. Bad weather's coming but greeted us a tad early with choppy seas, wind and rain. With the wind on our nose, of course, we couldn't take advantage of it and had to motor through pounding waves. Met our friends Vicki and Porter as we motored in together Thursday at 5.

Bye-bye Annapolis, October 17, 2007

South!

St. Michael's--October 13 & 14

Finally left Annapolis for a fun weekend in St. Michael's, a charming sailing town about 20 miles across the bay. Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day as all of the boaters in Annapolis realized as well. We spent a good part of our initial foray weaving between racers--dead serious racers in whose way we did not want to be!

Sunday our return trip was beautiful, but much colder. I actually had to wear several layers of clothing to stay warm enough.

Friends in Annapolis

As mentioned in the last post, we spent many a pleasant time with Vicki and Porter Howard pictured above. We also met Andrew and Denise Applteton from Kingston, Ontario on a beautiful 52 foot custom sailboat, Samaria II, complete with sitting room for TV etc. We learned that Andrew, who emigrated from Glasgow,Scotland many years ago when he was about 5 years old, sailed across on a boat named Samaria, hence his boat name's origin.

September and October - Annapolis

We actually have spent a lot of time here in Annapolis. Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and the home of the Naval Academy. We've been getting our gear together for the passage to the Caribbean as well as having it checked out. In addition, the US Sailboat Show was here October 5-8 so we were able to meet with vendors, some we know, most we don't. In addition, the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) held a meeting all day Saturday, Oct. 6. There were various talks on topics such as medical needs for cruisers, rope handling, and traveling around South America. All were of great interest as well as the swap meet where we were able to pick up several books, tools and other equipment for a song.

Have spent lots of time with our neighbors on Cinnamon Teal, a 45 foot Trintella. Vicki and Porter Howard are from Seattle and have been sailing for three years. Vicki was a home ec/math teacher; Porter an electrical engineer for Boeing. They've been great sources of companionship for these last couple of weeks. They will be leaving soon, too, to head for St. Augustine and a new hard dodger for their boat, heading to points south.

Above are some scenes from picturesque Annapolis.

September 21--Annapolis/Rock Hall

After a week in Annapolis, we were joined by two other old friends, Debbie and Bob Forrest, from Luray, VA. They were able to sail with us to Rock Hall--and we were actually able to sail with our one and only sail--our new spinnaker.