annie and jason arrived this morning! it's so fun having the younger ones aboard! i love seeing this boat through their wonderous eyes! we had a great time in annapolis, then a wonderful, jellyfish free swim, then back to annapolis. we found it more adventurous than we thought trying to find a place ashore to park the car for a couple of days. we ended up with the "i'd rather ask for forgiveness than ask ask for permission" principle.
jason and i did some bowsprit jumping! fun! poor annie's equalibrium is not behaving itself, thus making it neccessary to find cures for the common motion sickness. ginger cookies, ginger candy, ginger pills, and extra ginger ginger beer... plus the usual dramamine. and this is only at anchor.
it's off to do some obama spotting tomorrow!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
20090706: here they come!
today we are staging ourselves for an exciting antisipation of annie and jason coming out to visit! they were somewhere near chicago when we called this afternoon. we are crossing the water of the bay to get somewhere closer to annapolis, so that when they come it will be easier for them to meet us. we tried to sail it today. according to noaa (national oceanographic and atmospheric administration, the weather dudes) we were supposed to have north north west winds from 10-15mph, shifting to the east as the day progressed. ha! the wind pretty much took the day off. we made something like 8 miles in so many hours. mind you, we don't mind sitting still on the water, but if we were to sail around the world at today's speeds it would take us at least 20 years of continuous sailing. we had to motor quite a bit at the end. all in all it was 12 hours of sailing and motoring today for 29 miles. i hope jase and annie are moving a bit faster, in spite of chicago traffic ; )
now we're tucked away in a spot with sweet little, forested islands around us. we have several sailboat neighbors. we think some folks took the week off for the fourth of july.
snug. sun drenched. tired.
good night.
oh yeah! we had a skater gliding right beside us today while under sail! beautiful! look up skaters on chesapeake bay in wikipedia. they're a form of a sea ray.
now we're tucked away in a spot with sweet little, forested islands around us. we have several sailboat neighbors. we think some folks took the week off for the fourth of july.
snug. sun drenched. tired.
good night.
oh yeah! we had a skater gliding right beside us today while under sail! beautiful! look up skaters on chesapeake bay in wikipedia. they're a form of a sea ray.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
20090705: sunday
sunday... day of rest. and rest we did.
we did manage to take jimminy into a nearby town. about two miles away or so. owen stayed to guard cricket while we were gone.
the town of tilghman is very much a working boatman's town. lots of crab, and oyster, and fishing boats. tilghman is set on a long peninsula where there is a narrow cannal (nap's narrows) for boats with a shallow draft to cut through (saving them 6-7 miles). a nice town with a cool bridge that swivals up to allow taller boats through. it was fun to explore. we even explored an interesting old, abandoned house, inside and out. the doors were open. who could ressist?when we were snooping in the upstairs we felt something tickling our ankles. when we looked down our feet were covered, and i mean covered with tiny little black bugs, making their way up our legs! thousands of the little buggers! we got out of there double quick, and quickly brushed the things off. weird! i'm glad the ground around here isn't like that.
we ate out at a little tiki style restaurant on the canal.
owen greeted us when we returned. so nice to have the little rascal with us!
we did manage to take jimminy into a nearby town. about two miles away or so. owen stayed to guard cricket while we were gone.
the town of tilghman is very much a working boatman's town. lots of crab, and oyster, and fishing boats. tilghman is set on a long peninsula where there is a narrow cannal (nap's narrows) for boats with a shallow draft to cut through (saving them 6-7 miles). a nice town with a cool bridge that swivals up to allow taller boats through. it was fun to explore. we even explored an interesting old, abandoned house, inside and out. the doors were open. who could ressist?when we were snooping in the upstairs we felt something tickling our ankles. when we looked down our feet were covered, and i mean covered with tiny little black bugs, making their way up our legs! thousands of the little buggers! we got out of there double quick, and quickly brushed the things off. weird! i'm glad the ground around here isn't like that.
we ate out at a little tiki style restaurant on the canal.
owen greeted us when we returned. so nice to have the little rascal with us!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
20090704: a joyful depend-dance day
tis july the fourth. a day for us to remember He who gives us true freedom from the burdens of this world! to give thanks for the wonderful gifts we have been given, including this amazing place to live. and a good day to reflect on the reality that we are wholy dependant upon the love and grace that freely flows from The Creator!
"america, america, God shed His grace on thee,
and crown Thy good with sisterhood (and botherhood)
from sea to shining sea!!!"
ah, yes! the sea!
we had an amazing day upon the sea! we left our sweet little harbour this morning, waving goodbye to our new friends as we pulled anchor and headed for the narrow channel. darrell and nancy gave as a happy little toot on their airhorn as we embarked on the day's journey.
the plan was to head northeast from latrappe creek to dun cove in harris creek 9 miles away, as the crow flies (with no prevailing winds). the forecast called for northeast winds, so this was going to be a day of tacking and tacking (something we haven't been the greatest in, in the past). however, that is in the past! tacking is going back and forth at angles into the wind. it has to be done on a sailboat, as a sailboat can not sail directly into the wind. generally speaking, you have to sail at least 30 degrees from head on winds. obviously this means you have to go much farther to get from point a to point b.
but it is much fun, once you (we) get (got) the hang of it! it is wonderful to look at our course lines on the gps plotter. our tacks were not only nearly perfectly executed, but they were all very well timed! i'm not bragging, i'm just feeling mighty fine that we've come a long way in learning the craft of sail. cricket and Somebody has taught us well, and has been taking very good care of us, in spite of ourselves. one word... grace!
we are now anchored in the snuggest little cove we could imagine! in our view there is a pretty farm, and pine trees lining the shore. not a lot of wiggle room in here, but our anchor seems set quite well, and there is plenty of protection from both wind and waves.
earlier, as were finding our way into this little bit of paradise, a motor boat hailed us to say their batteries had died, and they couldn't get their boat started. we were in a very narrow channel, and couldn't stop to help at the moment, but as soon as we were securely anchored, we dinghied over on jimminy to see if we could assist. they appreciated the offer, but said someone else could help. so we thought, "why dinghy straight back to cricket, when we could let jimminy help us explore this sweet cove?" turned out to be a great idea, because we found an amazing camp/picnic sight just up the cove from us. so we headed back to cricket, pam packed a wonderful picnic dinner, we took a quick dip to cool off, we grabbed owen and took off for our shore lunch/supper. the spot had beautiful huge oaks, pines and even some holly trees (prickly leaves on the ground!). there were two picnic tables, a swing, horseshoe pits, a little grill, a lovely wooden swing hanging from the oak's high branches, and even a little tree fort! we had a great walk across a couple of young corn feilds, and over to the main part of harris creek bay. owen loved the place! he loved feeling dry ground under his paws, and walked a long ways with us on his leash. we even took a little nap together up in the little tree fort.
back on cricket now, i hear distant fireworks popping off, see the nearly full moon rising to the east, and have a grateful heart for all the blessings of the day!
oh yeah... and i got some pretty cool footage of jellyfish swimming around this evening! i'll try'n figure a way to post 'em in a week or so.
oh, oh yeah... pam and i played backgammon this evening too. i won't say who won more games. that would be bragging.
"america, america, God shed His grace on thee,
and crown Thy good with sisterhood (and botherhood)
from sea to shining sea!!!"
ah, yes! the sea!
we had an amazing day upon the sea! we left our sweet little harbour this morning, waving goodbye to our new friends as we pulled anchor and headed for the narrow channel. darrell and nancy gave as a happy little toot on their airhorn as we embarked on the day's journey.
the plan was to head northeast from latrappe creek to dun cove in harris creek 9 miles away, as the crow flies (with no prevailing winds). the forecast called for northeast winds, so this was going to be a day of tacking and tacking (something we haven't been the greatest in, in the past). however, that is in the past! tacking is going back and forth at angles into the wind. it has to be done on a sailboat, as a sailboat can not sail directly into the wind. generally speaking, you have to sail at least 30 degrees from head on winds. obviously this means you have to go much farther to get from point a to point b.
but it is much fun, once you (we) get (got) the hang of it! it is wonderful to look at our course lines on the gps plotter. our tacks were not only nearly perfectly executed, but they were all very well timed! i'm not bragging, i'm just feeling mighty fine that we've come a long way in learning the craft of sail. cricket and Somebody has taught us well, and has been taking very good care of us, in spite of ourselves. one word... grace!
we are now anchored in the snuggest little cove we could imagine! in our view there is a pretty farm, and pine trees lining the shore. not a lot of wiggle room in here, but our anchor seems set quite well, and there is plenty of protection from both wind and waves.
earlier, as were finding our way into this little bit of paradise, a motor boat hailed us to say their batteries had died, and they couldn't get their boat started. we were in a very narrow channel, and couldn't stop to help at the moment, but as soon as we were securely anchored, we dinghied over on jimminy to see if we could assist. they appreciated the offer, but said someone else could help. so we thought, "why dinghy straight back to cricket, when we could let jimminy help us explore this sweet cove?" turned out to be a great idea, because we found an amazing camp/picnic sight just up the cove from us. so we headed back to cricket, pam packed a wonderful picnic dinner, we took a quick dip to cool off, we grabbed owen and took off for our shore lunch/supper. the spot had beautiful huge oaks, pines and even some holly trees (prickly leaves on the ground!). there were two picnic tables, a swing, horseshoe pits, a little grill, a lovely wooden swing hanging from the oak's high branches, and even a little tree fort! we had a great walk across a couple of young corn feilds, and over to the main part of harris creek bay. owen loved the place! he loved feeling dry ground under his paws, and walked a long ways with us on his leash. we even took a little nap together up in the little tree fort.
back on cricket now, i hear distant fireworks popping off, see the nearly full moon rising to the east, and have a grateful heart for all the blessings of the day!
oh yeah... and i got some pretty cool footage of jellyfish swimming around this evening! i'll try'n figure a way to post 'em in a week or so.
oh, oh yeah... pam and i played backgammon this evening too. i won't say who won more games. that would be bragging.
Friday, July 3, 2009
20090703: owen's adventure on jimminy
owen had his first adventure on the dinghy today. he wasn't too thrilled with being passed over the railing and into jimminy. so much so that he lept up high out of the dinghy, and onto cricket's deck four feet above. i helped him back into jimminy, and into pam's arms for comfort. we motored over to a nearby sandy, shelly shore to explore. owen did what his mother, allie did when confronted with a completely new terrain. he found the nearest ""cave" (in this case some dense bushes) and holed up until he could observe his surroundings for a while, and then slowly venture out from there. he didn't naturally want to come too near the wavy shoreline, but was happy to explore the grass and bushes and sand a few yards back from it. he enjoyed watching pam and i explore the shoreline for nice rocks and shells and driftwood. he found a perfect sandy spot to dig and pee. his first time peeing outdoors this trip. i figured, as a guy, this must have been very enjoyable to him. he covered his business up and i thought, "yeah! he does know how to do this. he just needed a primative setting to trigger his instincts (see the earlier blog on pooping). then he continued to dig, and dug up what he had just done, and i thought, "o well. never mind." once, when pam went around a corner, and i stayed behind with him he started to try to follow pam and meowed in great worry, just like my old dog henry would have done, which warmed our hearts completely (only henry whined instead of meowed, of course). we had owen on a leash, so he couldn't go far, so i went through grass and under bushes so he could find his beloved mother in an adjacent beach. i found an old glass pepsicola bottle! i love old bottles! treasaarrre! pam found a good small pile of polished white and dark stones with which to play backgammon with. i also found a nice twisty piece of driftwood that looks like a snake. we brought all our booty back to the boat. owen was very happy to upon his beloved cricket once more, and immediately went below to hunker himself into a cozy nap.
also today we had little baths from the side of cricket, between the jellyfish. this evening we went over to our neighbors boat and enjoyed some good conversation in thier cockpit. there was another boat who was having great trouble anchoring, so we went over to help them. wow! i've learned enough now to help somebody else!
tonight is the 3rd of july, and i could hear a nearby town's fireworks, and see a very little bit of them over the shores treeline. i am going to sleep out under the stars tonight, on cricket's deck! yeah! pam is in our berth just below me, so it's like bunk beds again!
also today we had little baths from the side of cricket, between the jellyfish. this evening we went over to our neighbors boat and enjoyed some good conversation in thier cockpit. there was another boat who was having great trouble anchoring, so we went over to help them. wow! i've learned enough now to help somebody else!
tonight is the 3rd of july, and i could hear a nearby town's fireworks, and see a very little bit of them over the shores treeline. i am going to sleep out under the stars tonight, on cricket's deck! yeah! pam is in our berth just below me, so it's like bunk beds again!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
20090702: boat healer, ice cream, and cards
today i am very pleased and proud to announce that pam and i successfully docked cricket with no pressure, no mishaps, no bad feelings! the dock we docked upon was into a fairly narrow opening, into a cute little river that extends up into the town of oxford. it is lined on both sides with boat docks. lots of pretty boats. lots of not so pretty boats. sail boats, motor boats, pleasure boats, work boats. plenty of reason here to feel the pressure, but we took plenty of deep breaths beforehand, and drove in, and docked her. it took two passes at the dock, but we both knew we'd finallize the docking procedures when we were good and ready to do so! yeah for us!
the reason for docking the boat today, instead of simply finding another easy anchorage was not simply for the practice, or to make us feel better about such manoeuvres. nope. we really wanted to figure out our electrical issues once and for all! we pulled up to the dock, walked to the oxford marina buildings, found the offices (more challanging than it sounds. everybody there says, "it's in that blue building over there," but all of the buildings are blue! and the office doesn't say "office" anywhere on it). anyway, when we entered we were greeted by a great big rottweiler dog, with a long string of drewl hanging down his starboard jowl. a very nice greeting, as far as we were concearned. we found out later that this dog's nickname was nettles, after the long stringy nettles jellyfish all over the bay. we were directed into a room with a couple of chairs, a desk and a man behind the desk. as soon as he spoke, we knew we were in the right place! not only was he friendly, and interested in hearing our whole boring story about our electrics, but he also had the best english accent. could listen to it all day, and we did get to hear quite a lot of it, because he took plenty of time with us to explain in patient words we could understand all about how our electric system works. wonderful! he also tested this and that, and fixed a few things that have been annoying us, and causing us to be very electrically "shy." at one point he had his head buried in one of the spots with batteries, voltage regulators and the like, and we saw him pull out his wire cutters and heard "snip." pam and i both gasped, and he said in a very cheery voice, "don't worry! i'm a professional. this won't hurt a bit!" he was right. our battery, the one that didn't start our engine in a crucial time of need was soon charging up like it should have been. it was great to find a competant, friendly, wholistic boat healer.
we celebrated with a pint of homemade ice cream each, and motored our way to nearby latrap river. that is where we are now, anchored in a pretty little "lagoon." there are three other sailboats sharing this harbor with us with their anchor lights shining on the tops of their masts, reflecting on the water.
earlier this evening we had a lovely visit from our news friends, the urban couple, who are also anchored in this bay. we laughed, told stories, and they taught us how to play cannasta. such amazing community on these waters! we are blessed!
the reason for docking the boat today, instead of simply finding another easy anchorage was not simply for the practice, or to make us feel better about such manoeuvres. nope. we really wanted to figure out our electrical issues once and for all! we pulled up to the dock, walked to the oxford marina buildings, found the offices (more challanging than it sounds. everybody there says, "it's in that blue building over there," but all of the buildings are blue! and the office doesn't say "office" anywhere on it). anyway, when we entered we were greeted by a great big rottweiler dog, with a long string of drewl hanging down his starboard jowl. a very nice greeting, as far as we were concearned. we found out later that this dog's nickname was nettles, after the long stringy nettles jellyfish all over the bay. we were directed into a room with a couple of chairs, a desk and a man behind the desk. as soon as he spoke, we knew we were in the right place! not only was he friendly, and interested in hearing our whole boring story about our electrics, but he also had the best english accent. could listen to it all day, and we did get to hear quite a lot of it, because he took plenty of time with us to explain in patient words we could understand all about how our electric system works. wonderful! he also tested this and that, and fixed a few things that have been annoying us, and causing us to be very electrically "shy." at one point he had his head buried in one of the spots with batteries, voltage regulators and the like, and we saw him pull out his wire cutters and heard "snip." pam and i both gasped, and he said in a very cheery voice, "don't worry! i'm a professional. this won't hurt a bit!" he was right. our battery, the one that didn't start our engine in a crucial time of need was soon charging up like it should have been. it was great to find a competant, friendly, wholistic boat healer.
we celebrated with a pint of homemade ice cream each, and motored our way to nearby latrap river. that is where we are now, anchored in a pretty little "lagoon." there are three other sailboats sharing this harbor with us with their anchor lights shining on the tops of their masts, reflecting on the water.
earlier this evening we had a lovely visit from our news friends, the urban couple, who are also anchored in this bay. we laughed, told stories, and they taught us how to play cannasta. such amazing community on these waters! we are blessed!
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