Anchoring: A process during which the anchor is lowered, and rancor is heightened.  from the Dictionary for Landlubbers, Old Salts, & Armchair Drifters”

    Truer words were never ……  no, really, anchoring is going fine now!

Friday, June 6

We have finally left Annapolis. We’ll be returning in 10 days to have the standing rigging replaced, but in the meantime we’re cruising nearby. Before pulling out though we watched twenty or so sailboats circle around twice in preparation for a race to Bermuda. The parade was led by this boat which, if you look closely or magnify to see, included a bagpiper complete with kilt.

Two hours later we cruised into the Rhode River and anchored.

our first view of Double Life out in the open

Within easy reach of the dinghy is a Smithsonian Environmental Research Center that studies all facets of the ecosystem.  The 2600 acres includes the historic Java Plantation and the Contee Watershed Trail.

 Contee house ruins

John Contee was an officer on the USS Constitution when it captured the British frigate HMS Java in the War of 1812. Legend has it he used prize money from the battle to purchase the plantation he renamed it “Java,” a tobacco plantation. By 1869, after several absentee owners, Contee’s children sold the property and in 1890 the house burned and was rebuilt with less stability. Sold again in 1915 to Robert Lee Forrest, it was a dairy farm until he died in 1962. He bequeathed the farm and two million dollars to the Smithsonian Institution who now use it as a multi-disciplined environmental research center with 17 senior scientists.

view from the old house; SERC has a corn field in front 

                             Contee Watershed Trail with white blazes reminiscent of the AT.

Saturday, June 7

Next morning after more exploration of SERC, I had my first solo experience raising the anchor. It went fine and we had barely begun to move when we came to a sudden halt. Where did that shallow water come from? OK, this is our first (last?) running aground – in about 6 inches of mud! Half an hour later we broke lose with nothing damaged but our pride.

Three-hour cruise to the Wye River; another nice anchorage; a still and lovely afternoon. 

                                                                lunch time 

Sunday, June 8

A short hop took us over to St. Michael’s and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. This is a premiere museum and easily spent three hours seeing the boatyard, displays of oystering history, a historic crab picking plant; the cabin Frederick Douglass’s sister and family lived in with an heirloom garden; and, perhaps the best of all, the 1875 Hooper Strait Lighthouse. This lighthouse is set in period display and you can access every bit from the living quarters to the Frasnell Lens and walkway on the top. The interpretation in the entire museum is some of the best I’ve ever seen.

                                                unique road entrance to the museum

                                             antique replicas are commissioned here

                                              have you ever seen a bigger bandsaw?

                                                            Hooper Strait Lighthouse

                          the figure is writing a letter home and audio tells you what he writes

                                                                    Fresnell Lens

After poking around town we moved on to Leeds Creek in anticipation of possible wind gusts which, happily, never developed.  At every anchorage so far there are enormous mansions visible. 

 Our view is just as good as theirs and from the lack of people in yards, I’d say we are enjoying the views much more than they are!

What do we do for entertainment while anchored and not in a place we choose to go into with the dinghy?

Yoga on the hardtop has become a favorite in the morning and some afternoons. This can be tricky, but balance is getting better and we are very watchful of wakes from passing vessels.

Some evenings we also enjoy a game of Scrabble and we’ve learned a useful new word for those pesky letters “x” and “z.” 

Xebec (also zebec): A small, three-masted Mediterranean sailing vessel, used primarily in commerce in the Middle East, and in Scrabble in North American waters.”   (thanks to the dictionary for landlubbers again.)

Wednesday, June 11

We are anchored in Solomons, MD. Arrived last night and had a brief thunderstorm this morning with quite a bit of rain, then came into town enjoying a zero day. Stopped by a Leopard 42 on the way in to chat with the folks on it and, if the weather holds, we'll be headed back this afternoon to their boat for cocktails. 

I got my sea legs quickly; now I need my land legs!  Amazing how firm ground sways and the boat feels fine.

We pulled into Annapolis on Thursday, May 29, about noon after a very chilly, cloudy, drizzly four hours. Docked in Eastport, a small town just across from Annapolis, where the Harbor Boat Yard will be inspecting the rigging. Seems they are backed up some though and we will be here for a few days. 

There is still plenty to do to on the boat including cleaning every nook. The galley and salon are looking good!

Craig painted white links on the anchor chain every 25 feet so we’ll know how much chain is going out;  

But there’s also plenty of sightseeing to be done and Annapolis is charming and full of history. Lafayette had an encampment just down the street from us in 1783; George Washington resigned his commission before the Continental Congress in the State House; and of course, this is the home of the Naval Academy.  

Plebes have arrived for summer orientation and we saw several very young looking newbies arriving with their parents.  A Visitor Center video introduces you to the structured four-year education awaiting these arrivals. The Maritime Museum has wonderful exhibits of the history of the Navy. This museum is also houses a wonderful collection of antique model ships many of which were built in the late 1600s and 1700s. The craftsmanship and attention to details was spectacular.

A walk down the row of officers’ housing brought us to the main Chapel.  

Beautiful stained glass windows made by Tiffany and Gorham follow both a nautical and biblical theme. In the back you can see a ship model which, to give you an idea of the size of this room, is as long as one of the pews! The organist sometimes does play during the day but is unfortunately on a two week vacation so we missed that. There are both Protestant and Catholic services on Sundays and mass every day, but no longer is attendance required. A volunteer said that about 50% of the cadets participate in some sort of religious activity now.  

Also in the church is the impressive crypt of John Paul Jones who actually died and was buried in France and was later exhumed and brought here.   

Back into town is the State House, the first peacetime capital of the U.S. where Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War.

Much of the street is still brick and the layout of the city was done following styles in England.

Another church in town worth a visit is St. Mary’s.  A small garden leads you to the entrance.   

The best view of St. Mary’s is from the bridge over Spa Creek.

Back at the boat, a rigger went up the mast to inspect it and we are going to be replacing all the rigging. Fortunately he can do it without taking the mast down; unfortunately he can’t get to it for two weeks.   So we'll go cruise nearby for a few days and then return for the rigging.

Sadly, due to these delays, Craig and Sue had to leave on June 4th. We could not possibly have come as far as we have without their help and I would not feel as confident as I do (or hope to!) anchoring and docking without Craig's patient guidance. We very much regret that they didn't get more time on the water, but promise to make it up next winter in Florida!

Keep Calm and Sail On. 

That’s the saying on the shirt I wore leaving Avalon and a motto I should just adopt for the trip. Sunday morning, May 25, was blue sky and beautiful, the perfect day to begin our journey south. Sue has left us for a couple days to deliver their car to a sister in Baltimore and we’ll pick her up there.

Passing the Cape May lighthouse

We all take turns at the helm, learning the navigation system.

Tom makes it look as easy as it sometimes is with auto on. 

Several large ships passed us one of which created swells that were about 10-foot high making an exhilarating experience for the crew! 

The Wilhelmsen was flying a Swedish flag

We left the Atlantic and entered the Delaware River after about 30 miles where we saw New Jersey on the right - oops, that would be starboard – and Delaware on the port side. 

   

Passed under several bridges which often appear just a little too low as our mast goes under.

Nearing our anchorage in the late afternoon we passed by a nuclear plant, a prominent feature for miles.

I love knowing that we will be seeing sunrise and sunsets every day.

Next morning, after doing yoga on the hardtop and having a practice session for me learning to raise and lower the anchor, we set out for Baltimore. 

Osprey build their nests on buoys

Passing under the Francis Scott Key Bridge we got a good view of Fort McHenry where Key wrote the “Star Spangled Banner” during the War of 1812.

 Fort McHenry in the distance

We docked in Baltimore. 

Storms were brewing and this roller awesome roller cloud brought wind but not much rain.

We had plenty of time here to play tourist.  Downtown four historic ships are displayed: the “Constellation” from the Civil War; the submarine Torsk which sank the last enemy vessel of WWII; the Chesapeake from the 1930s; and Coast Guard Cutter Taney, the only warship still afloat that saw action in Pearl Harbor. 

We also toured Fort McHenry. It is quite an experience to be able to imagine what it would have been like to be in the fort during the fighting and then also to have seen the fort from the water, imagining what Francis Scott Key would have seen from that vantage point when he began to write the first words to the National Anthem. In fact, when we pulled out Thursday morning, the weather was much like it was on that fateful day – cloudy, drizzly and chilly.

Another summer, another adventure, this one on the water in Double Life.

The boat was out on the hard for the winter and we knew there was some work that had to be done on it before putting it in the water, but I don't think anyone realized just how much was needed.  The boat was our home at Avalon Marina for a week. The marina did have showers but the solar showers came in handy for other clean ups!

Projects other than general cleaning included resealing two windows that leaked )we knew about one, the other was a surprise).

The hulls had to be sanded and painted

There were seemingly endless hours of removing and reapplying caulk!

   A new anchor was installed and Tom disappeared most days in the engine compartments doing things only he could do.

  

A composting toilet now replaces one of the heads - sorry, no pictures of that but it works fine!

We worked most days from dawn to dusk, but did take time off on the 21st to go to Cape May to see town and celebrate my birthday.  Unfortunately rains came so we didn't get to walk around town much, but we did enjoy seeing many of the homes with wonderful classic seaside architecture. 

The long anticipated day finally arrived and on Saturday, May24, the boat was lifted onto slings, moved a few hundred yards and put into the water for launching, an exciting process to witness.

The captain was first aboard followed by the crew, the surveyor and the previous owner all of whom went out for the sea trial that lasted about an hour.   

All went well and Sunday morning at 7:30 we set off toward Baltimore. I'd say we set sail, but we'll actually be under motor power until Annapolis where the mast has to be taken down so to make life simpler, no sails till after that.  

So, the voyage has begun and captain and crew are all in high spirits!