My Girl is Back!

Annapolis – 4 miles by dinghy, 5 kilometres walked, 800 kilometres by rental car

Where did the day go? I was up at 5am watching a damn movie again then just goofed around on the boat until late morning when Ben and Kate came over and we dinghy’d over to Back Creek as they needed to pay a visit to the Yanmar dealer for engine anodes and Fawcett Marine for some other goodies, and I was up for the walk. Of course, I found a couple small things to buy there too. It’s just not possible to leave a marine store empty handed. I know. I’ve tried…but not very hard.

 

The Yanmar dealer was disaster zone – the counter was covered in engine manuals, wiring harnesses, trays of nuts and bolts, filters, engine paint, invoices, empty boxes, and god knows what else lurked beneath the heaping piles. The couple running it were cute and friendly and had been there a very, very long time. The main stockroom was in the back, and we didn’t go back there but I can imagine what it was like. But of course they had exactly what Ben needed in their piles of treasures. We then walked to the marine store (and ran into Wayne and Gwen there) then the nearby hardware store. There happened to be a McDonald’s nearby and we had all skipped lunch so against our better judgement we stopped for a little snack.

 

During the dinghy ride back we stopped to take a photo of a vessel that could best be described as “unkempt”. There was junk all over it, ripped tarps, stuff hanging off the sides. Other stuff was strapped to every strappable surface. I didn’t even have to go into the boat to know exactly what it smelled like down below. We got close enough for a photo, but not too close. I believe that was the only wreck of a vessel in that whole harbour, as there were hundreds of other boats there, maybe thousands, and some real beauties.

I just slunk around the boat for the rest of the day, worked placidly and unfocused on a few issues, not feeling my regular self without my girl. But she was on the way, rocking the US Interstates and she finally arrived around 6:30. I was happy to have her back.

We loaded her luggage and gear onto the boat then went back out to run some errands - get propane (which didn't work out as the True Value hardware store's propane pump was down and the guy working the gas station across the street wouldn't do it for me either as he was working solo) and groceries (which did work out but the store we went to called Giant was overpriced and the self checkout machine berated us and left us feeling unwanted and low).

Once back at the boat I made us dinner while Ana put away all the stuff and told me about her trip home. The kids are doing an incredible job of taking care of our house, are getting along well, and are both focused on their jobs and school. Her parents are the same - which is good, and she caught up with a few friends while she was there.

She will be back again for a Christmas visit in about six weeks, but between then and now we have a job to do - get SeaLight to Fort Lauderdale.

Pancakes and a Streetside Child Adoption

Annapolis – 2 kilometres walked

It does not feel like November. There hasn’t been rain in weeks and nearly every day has been sunny and warm. We couldn’t have had any better luck with the weather.

 

Annapolis today was full of people. I am guessing mostly day trippers from other parts of Maryland or neighbouring states, but the shops and streets were all buzzing. I had Ben and Kate over for pancakes and peameal bacon at 10 and we sat for a very long time in the cockpit watching the dozens or may be even hundreds of boats out sailing as the water too was full of action. Sailboats under sail were threading artfully between and around the moored boats like a slalom racetrack, and I was sure several times one was going to crash into us, but they never did.

 

I went for a walk into town and found an Adirondack chair outside of the Helly Hanson store calling my name so I sat down and stayed for a long time enjoying the sun on my face, watching the people passing by, and enjoying the divine luxury of free time and choosing to spend it like this. Four young kids came by, joined by who I expect was their grandmother. The youngest boy walked over to his sister, wound up, and kicked her in the back of the leg. They started arguing. He came over in front of me, sat on the ground, and started playing with some little stones he found as his sister berated him and ratted him out to Grandma. Grandma pointed at me and said, “You take him. You just take him with you,” as she shook her head, eyeballed the boy and turned to walk away. I looked around me and there was nobody else there so she was definitely talking to me.

 

The sister then looked at me and said, “He won’t be a problem. As long as you don’t have any other kids,” then they all began walking away, leaving the little bugger sitting on the ground looking up at me, his new papa. He seemed up for it until I shook my head and motioned to his family walking up the street. He jumped up and left. I got back to enjoying the sunshine, glad I wouldn’t have to explain to Ana how a feral child came to be incorporated into SeaLight’s crew.

 

The remaining daylight hours were consumed by reading and pottering around on the boat in a lazy Sunday fashion. Ben and Kate came by at 5 for pre-drinks drinks then at 6 we dinghy’d over to one of their buddy boats from the Erie Canal who had finally arrived – Wayne and Gwen, and we joined them in the cockpit of their boat along with Kevin and Ana from Domino, and a couple from Quebec I hadn’t met yet – Jean Francois and Gina. It was Gina’s birthday and this was her birthday party. I had brought over a Yeti cup of peppermint tea which was the perfect beverage to go with the banana nut bread Ana and Kevin had bought at Costco, which they dished out to everybody then we sang the birthday song. The only thing missing was my Ana, and I couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow.

This little get together was exactly how I had imagined cruising to be – meeting new friends, sharing stories, and - as we’ve learned with Kate and Ben - being there to help each other out along the way. I think I’d like to have this same group to SeaLight for a sundowner before everybody starts heading south again.

The Slaughter on the Water and Stella’s Graduation

Annapolis – 1 miles by dinghy, 8 kilometres walked

That whole morning movie thing worked out so well for me that I did it again today. I fired up The Fall Guy at 6:30 am and despite my low expectations, I loved it. I only got about halfway through, but it is very funny, so I’ll finish it off tomorrow.

 

I decided to take a day off boat work today. After giving Kevin and Ana a dinghy ride into town (they were off to Washington for the day), I went for a long, hot shower at the marina office then started on a long walk to explore Annapolis. It is a beautiful, historic town with a marine tradition unlike anything I’ve seen before. I found a couple restaurants I want to take Ana to when she’s back. I found this amazing little bookstore that had a copy of Marcus Aurellius’ Meditations on the discount rack for six bucks so I grabbed it. I explored St. John’s College, founded in 1696. I found a children’s park and did some pull ups. I walked across the bridge to the town of Eastport and found the Maritime museum, a lot of historic houses and buildings, and a thousand or two people and a dozen food and booze vendors and bunch of bands gathered for the Slaughter on the Water Tug of War competition with Annapolis. And yes, the tug of war takes place by stringing a thick rope right across the entire bay and stopping all boat traffic for a few hours.

 

The party was already going by 10:30 am and most people were carrying a beer or two. I wasn’t ready for drinking yet, but I did grab a half dozen delicious oysters for the ridiculous cheap price of nine bucks. This is the 25^th anniversary of this event and the crowd was really into it. I stayed for the first of ten or so tugs. There were at least 30 or 40 people on the rope and the other side of the bay was so far away you couldn’t make out details, but I assume they had similar numbers on their team. There was a five second countdown then the tug began and the crowd went wild! It went on for several minutes and sadly the Eastport team started giving way and  lost the first round. But it didn’t dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm.

I walked back over the bridge to check out the Annapolis side and there wasn’t much of a party going on at all – just the tuggers and a couple hundred spectators. I was told by somebody there that the big party is always on the Eastport side.

 

I had lunch back at the boat, then after the competition finished and the rope was removed I was able to dinghy some tools over to Ben and Kate, then I gave them a bit of help installing a new stove on their boat. Really, I just handed Ben the tools.

 

After that job I returned to my favourite coffee shop and found an exuberant lad on the front counter who would great each customer as they walked in the store with a booming voice hollering “HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMAN AND CHILDREN OF ALL AGES! WELCOME TO BITTY AND BEAU’S! THE GREATEST COFFEE SHOP IN THE WORLD”. It was awesome.

While there Ana called with two pieces of great news. First, Magnus was going to be spending a week with us in Florida before flying to Edinburgh for his next school semester in January. He found a crazy flight that was just as cheap as flying directly to Scotland. Also, because he will be arriving five days before he’s able to move into the university residence, our friends Steve and Abby have graciously agreed to host him for those days at their house which is in a small village called Jedburgh, not far from Edinburgh and I am sure they will give him a fantastic introduction to Scotland. So on December 26 Magnus, Ana, Stella, and her friend Anna and will all fly into Fort Lauderdale and take over SeaLight. Secondly, Ana attended Stella’s grade 12 graduation ceremony today and sent me an image of the program that showed Stella had won a whole slew of awards and scholarships. I am so proud of her! She worked so hard at school and is such a good student so I’m happy to see her recognized for her efforts and leadership.

 

I capped off the day with sundowner drinks and snacks on SeaLight with Ben and Kate as we floated in the peaceful and beautiful Annapolis harbour.

It was a most excellent Saturday.