Out of There

Still Pond
N 39 19.975 W 076 08.521

Things went fine in Baltimore until about 02:00 last night. We were woken by a bunch of loudmouth drunks, and kept awake for about an hour until they passed out. I think that the drunks came from the power boat that was tied up on the wall in front of us.

This morning we got a treat from the Starbucks coffee shop 300 feet away. After that we decided that we had no more things to do in the morning and that we definitely didn't want to stay in Baltimore another night. So we left about 09:00.

As we sailed out of the harbor Libby and I both had the same thought at the same time. (It's funny how often that happens to two people who have been together for 45 years.) We thought, "Well. We are very glad that we visited Baltimore, but we are also glad that there is no reason to ever do that again."

Around 15:30 today we dropped the hook in Still Pond on the eastern shore after a pleasant sail and motor over here. As typical for the Chesapeake in summer, we had wind for a while and no wind for a while.

This place is much more to our liking than any city. I like Still Pond because it is a great place to jump overboard for a swim. The water felt great and tasted great (no salt up here). We visited Still Pond last year with my son Dave and grandson Bobby. They took the dinghy exploring and got caught out in a violent thunderstorm.

Next, our thoughts go toward making the passage from Cape May to New York City. Preliminarily, Tue-Wed-Thu next week sound like possible days.

Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland
N 39 18.907 W 76 37.091

Wow! What a difference from our normal routine. Instead of coves, creeks and bights, we have Skyscrapers, water taxis, and tens of thousands of people walking around. Instead of great blue herons and barn owls we have street jugglers and night life.

We've never been to Baltimore before so we decided to give it a try. We especially wanted to see the world famous aquarium in the inner harbor. We tried to sail here, but once again the wind died on us and we had to motor.

I was a little apprehensive about the approach. There are over 4,000 ships per year that enter Baltimore Harbor. I was afraid of getting run down or getting yelled at. In reality it wasn't bad at all. We saw only two ships and we had no trouble avoiding them.

When we came to the inner harbor we had our choices of places to stay. There it a marina, and there are city docks and there is a big seawall to tie up to, and one can anchor. There are no dinghy landings so if you anchor you have to use the water taxi to get ashore. No matter which choice you make, you have to pay a fee to the harbor master. No big deal. We chose the sea wall, and the fee was $1 per foot -- not bad. The harbormaster came over in a golf cart to collect the money.

It's hard to describe the scene in the harbor here. We're tied up along a big indoor mall called Harbor Place. The water taxis come in at our stern and off our bow is the schooner Pride of Baltimore II. To port we have the USS Constellation -- the last sail warship ever commissioned for the US Navy. Past that is the Baltimore World trade center building. Past that is the Chesapeake Light Ship. Past that is the submarine USS Torsk, and past that is the aquarium. That's an awful lot of stuff concentrated in a very small area.

Even though we didn't arrive here until 16:00, we decided to go to the aquarium this afternoon rather than waiting for tomorrow. (Hint, it was 95 today and the aquarium has air conditioning.) It is an excellent aquarium that lives up to it's reputation. We had several enjoyable hours touring that.

After leaving the museum, Libby spotted a Barnes and Noble bookstore and headed for that. I spotted a Best Buy store and headed for that. I wanted to buy an external USB WiFi adapter so that I would get a stronger signal without having to bring the computer up on deck. I bought a D-Link Rangebooster N USB Adapter, I'm using it right now and it works fine.

On the way back I spotted a Filene's basement store. I need some new underwear so I went in to buy some. Too bad, they had only Calvin Cline and Ralph Lauren brand undershorts. Since I'm just a cruiser rather than a fashion model Wal Mart briefs are good enough for me.

After dinner we walked the waterfront and stopped to watch a steel band. The steel band played great and they inspired the young kids in the audience to come out and dance. They were mostly black young kids, and they tried out their Michael Jackson moves to the steel drum rhythms. It was great fun to watch. It is also a sobering reminder that the under age 7 kids in this city go to bed later than Libby and I usually do.

We'll see how well we manage to sleep tonight. It's already 23:30 and the noise and the music show no signs of letting off yet.

Correction

Chick and Ruth's Delly and Scottlaur Inn Bed & Bagel, Annapolis, Maryland
No LL

Whoops. In yesterday's blog I said that we were anchored in Annapolis. I beg your pardon. We are anchored in The Maritime Repulic of Eastport, and I would be keel hauled if they found out that I called it Annapolis.

Yet, learning about my mistake brought back a very pleasant memory. In December 2004, Libby and I travelled to Eastport for our first ever look at a real live Westsail 32. It was our first overt act toward adopting our new life style. We had never been here before so we knew nothing. Following directions we came to downtown Annapolis, crossed the bridge into Eastport, and took the first left turn, and followed it to the end. That took us to First Street.

As we got out of the car, the scene was wonderful. The street was lined with historically charming brick houses, and overhanging trees. It looked like the Stockade area in Schenectady. However, as I looked down the street I was stunned to see a sailboat sailing across First Street (see the picture, and study it closely). We walked to the end and found that the street terminated directly on the water.


In the creek at the end of the street there was an enormous sailboat race going on in a brisk 20 knot wind. Wow. We certainly didn't have sailboat races in upstate New York in December. Apparently it was an informal race because there were no buoys. Also apparently, the object was to sail your boat up the creek to the bridge, then back out. However, the end of the creek was very narrow allowing very little room for sailing. Nevertheless, there were hundreds (actually countless) sailboats darting and maneuvering in impossible tight spaces to complete their course without collisions. There were small boats, big ones, sail boats, motor boats, anchored boats. It was chaos. Standing back to look at it reminded me of a swarm of bees at the entrance of the beehive. It was impossible to focus on any one boat for more than a second. The fleet resembled a squirming writhing swarm more than a collection of boats under command. Yet, despite the seeming inevitability of disaster, we never saw any boat collide with any other.

On that same day, we saw our first three Westsails -- Sibiland, Amanda Jane, and Morning Mist. We fell in love with Morning Mist and she was our favorite until 10 Westails and three months later when we first saw Tarwathie.

This morning, we ventured in to Annapolis early in the morning to have breakfast at Chick & Ruth's Delly. It is a delightful bit of Americana. Maryland Governors go to Chick and Ruth's on Flag day to pledge allegiance to the flag. They serve chipped beef on toast for dinner. You can buy a Golda Mier sandwich or a Dick Cheny salad. What a cool place.


Pardon my butt but: Yesterday I tried to fix the radar. Talking with the Furuno technician I learned that the fault was almost certainly that the rubber belt that connects the motor to the antenna had jumped off, causing the antenna to cease to rotate. I though it would be a great thing to fix by myself, despite the fact that it is still under warranty. I got in to our boatswain's chair, and with Libby and our friend June working the winch and tailing the line, up I went. I took off the dome to look inside. Surprise! The belt was in place. I went back down the mast and turned on the radar to see if the antenna turned. It did, and the radar works perfectly. Grrrrr - mechanic's syndrome. I went back up the mast and put the dome in place. The radar still works. No doubt it will continue to work until the next time we have a foggy day and we really need it. Grrrr.

A Study In Contrasts

Back Creek, Annapolis, Maryland
N 38 57.496 W 76 29.081

Last night it was particularly nice, and the bugs were not biting, so we stayed up late sitting in the Cockpit. What a nice evening scene it was. We watched the reflection of the 3/4 moon in the water. Soon after sunset, bats began darting around. Then we saw our first fireflies of the season. No doubt, the bats were seeing them too. We love fireflies. At our house in West Charlton, fireflies reached their peak in mid June. We had so many fireflies that it looked like a Disney park.

The wind was totally still so we could hear noises from on shore. First it was the splashes caused by fish jumping out of the water to capture some insect floating on the surface. It would have been a good time for fly fishing. We also heard the Kraak of a great blue heron nearby. Then we heard the hooting of an owl. It may have been a barn owl, but I'm not sure. Then there was a ruckus in the nearby hen house. Perhaps a fox was nearby, or perhaps it was just a rowdy rooster. Later, I heard a duck quacking in the distance. Last, we heard a dog barking from a long distance away. Ah the sweet sounds of summer.

This morning, there was a pleasant fresh breeze, so we set sail for Annapolis. We had a great time sailing, albeit slow progress in the light head winds, up until noon. Then the wind died entirely and we had to motor the rest of the way. In the summer months, the Chesapeake is frequently windless, just like the lakes in upstate New York are.

Right now, on Back Creek, the contrast in the scene compared to last night is total. Instead of pristine nature, we have civilization. I never saw so many boats per foot of shoreline than on Back Creek. Tomorrow I may try to count the masts. There must be thousands.

But our reason for being here is pleasurable. Our good friends Chris and June are here on their boat Albion. They wintered over here in Back Creek, and we kept in touch with them by email the whole time. So we came up here to have a rendezvous with them. They invited us out for a hot shower at the marina and dinner at the local Chinese buffet restaurant. It was a lot of fun and the hot shower felt great. (For the benefit of non cruising blog readers, a hot shower is a special treat for cruisers, and we leap at every opportunity to get one.)

Tomorrow, we go to the post office to fetch the new camera that hopefully, is waiting for us. I also plan to go up the mast in the boatswains chair to fix the radar. Our radar stopped working on that foggy day on the Alligator River. I talked to the Furuno service technician today. He said that the symptoms sound like the rubber belt that makes the antenna go around must have jumped off. I'll try to fix it myself, and if I can't we'll call a local dealer to fix it for us. The radar is less than a year old, so it is still covered by warranty.

After a couple of days here, our plan is to watch the weather. When it looks like a good day to sail from the Delaware River up to New York City 3-4 days in the future, we'll head up the rest of the way in the Chesapeake, and down the Delaware. The point is that between the Chesapeake and the Hudson River, there are no fun places to stop and wait for weather. Therefore, we'll stay someplace fun until the weather looks right.

Oxford

Goose Creek
N 38 45.032 W 076 15.711

Everybody said we should see Oxford, the charming little historic town off the Choptank River. This morning we went over there. We tied off at the town dock and walked around the town. It was very old and very quaint, but I got the impression that it was pretentious and snooty. My suspicions were reinforced when we found that the biggest business in town was The Hinkley Yacht Company. Hinkley makes wonderful yachts whose main purpose is to allow the owner to announce to the world that they have
a lot of money. In my mind, Hinkley Yachts are like Rolls Royce cars.

We ate lunch on the waterfront, and as we were sitting a sport fisherman came back in. The captain held up an enormous fish, it must have weighed more than 50 pounds, as he went by. All the diners at the restaurant gave him a hearty applause. After lunch, we walked over to the fisherman's slip. He actually caught two of those monsters, they were Black Drums; "Biggest thing in the Chesapeake" said the skipper. He also had a fine catch of Rock Fish. The best part though was that there were two
small boys with him, one about 9 and the other about 112, who had caught the fish. They were busy posing as tourists on shore took their pictures holding the fish. It must have been a great day for those two boys.

It was another hot day and we decided that the most appealing thing to do for the rest of the day was to return to Goose Creek to the same spot we anchored yesterday.

When we got here and dropped the hook, we wasted no time getting in to our bathing suits and jumped in for a swim. The water felt wonderful. It cooled one off instantly, but it was warm enough to stay in the water for an hour without getting cold. I call the act of jumping into the water on the afternoons of oppressively hot days, my "instant attitude adjustment maneuver." It sure works, and the attitude adjustment is truly instantaneous. Libby is an old fuddy duddy. She lowers herself into
the water one millimeter at a time. Me? I just jump.

I forgot to mention something yesterday. On this cove there is one residence -- a typical monstrous Chesapeake house with side additions on each flank and miscellaneous out buildings and guest houses. Next to it is a farm with a chicken coop. The farm also had something quite unexpected -- it has a railroad caboose sitting on two rails, not far from the water. The caboose says "Central of Georgia" on the side. Well, a caboose is quite a prize for collectors. I'm sure that they must be rare
and this one appears to be in mint condition. The mystery though is that there is no sign of a railroad line nearby that could have transported the caboose here. How else would one transport a caboose?

Right now it is twilight once again. The heron is back, the swans are still here and tonight there are three mourning doves competing with their calls. A few minutes ago something big swam underneath us. The depth sounder reading went from 8 feet to 3 feet, tripping the audible alarm, it lasted for about 4 seconds then went back to normal. Unfortunately, the water is too turbid to see what monsters might lurk in the deep.