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.

Tuesday, September 4 -- Rock Hall

Brooke left early on Labor Day to go back to Denver. My brother, Carter, and his wife, Cindy, joined us for a lovely, but hot, afternoon. On Tuesday, September 4, we sailed back to Rock Hall for a few days. Met a couple from Montreal on Manouche, Robert and Danielle, who joined us in a day of site-seeing and shopping in Chestertown and Easton.

In Chestertown, we had lunch at the Imperial Hotel, an old, elegant hotel where Mike had the best oyster and corn chowder he had ever had--Mike, Danielle and Robert are pictured above in front of the hotel. We then drove to Easton, another lovely town where we splurged on ice cream at a place called Rita's. Had dinner the next evening at Bay Wolf, an Austrian/seafood restaurant, in Rock Hall where the food is delicious.

Coming back to Annapolis from Rock Hall, we were thrilled to see the Pride of Baltimore (pictured above), a beautiful old tour boat, as it was sailing near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Our next visitor was an old schoolmate and dear friend, Joan Higbee, who spent an afternoon with us. A little later, Mike and I visited her in Ellicott City, Maryland. She's been restoring a beautiful old house located on three acres on a hill just up from the town. Joan has hopes of its becoming a B & B with its proximity to the popular town below. She's well on her way.

Thursday, August 30 -- Baltimore

Anchored in the Inner Harbor in the heart of Baltimore City. On one side, the USS Constellation; on the other the USS Torsk, the submarine that sank the last enemy vessel in World War II, and the last lightboat, USS Chesapeake--an in between the dragon paddle boats at the foot of the World Trade Center. Brooke joined us Saturday for an unexpected, brief visit. Celebrated nephew Christopher's 30th birthday with a family party at a restaurant right at our doorstep. Took Brooke throught the National Aquarium on Sunday and visited her grandmother.

On Monday, my brother Carter and his wife, Cindy, spent an afternoon with us. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

We really enjoyed the entertainment. Paddle boats in the shape of dragons in green, puple, red , and blue floated by regularly bumping our boat. We were the only boat in the Inner Harbor for most of the time. Brooke was thrilled with all the activity.

Wednesday, August 29 -- Rock Hall

Onto Rock Hall where we had cocktails and dinner with Lionheart. A most enjoyable evening. We didn't stay long in Rock Hall as we were anxious to get settled in Baltimore, across the bay, to meet Brooke who was coming in for a short, but sweet visit over the Labor Day weekend.

Tuesday, August 28--Fairlee

After a short sail with our nephew, we motored to Fairlee Creek on the eastern shore. It's was a lovely anchorage and was the location of my great grandfather's home. Met some friends of an old friend, Estee Edwards, Richard and Sue on Lionheart. Estee, a former coworker and friend from Denver, now lives in Long Beach, CA. When she heard we were going to be sailing in the Bahamas this past winter, she told us of her friends who would be on their trawler there. Well, we never saw them there. Imagine our surprise to find them in tiny Fairlee! Unfortunately, we had just missed seeing Estee and her husband, Rick, who had been traveling in their RV a few days before in the area! We ended up spending an enjoyable evening with Richard and Sue the next night in Rock Hall.

In addition to meeting new friends, Mike practiced his skill at crabbing. He managed to snag about 5 crabs which we ate the following morning in an omelet. The crab pictured above, Fred, unfortunately didn't make it --as far as the omelet, that is. We also were enchanted with the ducks who visited the various boats hoping for food.

Monday, August 27-- Havre de Grace

After spending the weekend, the very hot weekend in Chesapeake City, we motored down the Elk River to Havre de Grace where our nephew, Christopher Seibel, joined us. Chris arrived Monday afternoon. We had dinner aboard after sharing mussels at the Tidewater Inn. In the morning, we motored around for a couple of hours--again, no wind. Chris did a super job of manning the helm. It was a beautiful day and we were sorry Chris couldn't sail away somewhere with us. At least he got a taste of it. Above are some pictures of Chris.

The anchoring in the Havre de Grace area was very unusual. It seemed like there were concrete blocks across which the anchor would drag when we first anchored. So we moved. Then when pulling up the anchor in the new location, it felt that we were caught again on concrete. Not a good experience. Our night was also interesting. The Amtrak railroad runs across the bridge at Havre de Grace. All during the night, long, noisy trains crossed the bridge. Havre de Grace is a charming town to visit, but we were less than entralled with the anchorage.