Middle Bay

Did you know a lady blue crab has red painted fingernails? 

Neither did we, but it’s true, and there are as many Back Creeks in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland as there are Seal Coves in Penobscot Bay, Maine.

But only in Back Creek, Annapolis can I anxiously sit in the cockpit, watching Michael suspended at the top of our mast, while simultaneously watching two other Captains dangling at the top of their respective masts. 

Basically, if you are doing anything at all related to a boat in Annapolis, Maryland, then you are in good company.  It’s like one of those imaginary worlds created for the big screen that brings together industry, innovation and people to work towards one united mission.  Here, instead of fighting off an evil empire in a galaxy far, far away, the goal is to repair, refit, repaint, re-canvas, and conquer anything else your heart, or rather your boat desires!  It’s exhausting, frustrating, and potentially expensive, but in the end gratifying to depart with everything from the turnbuckles, to the sail covers, to our gooseneck, in tip top shape. 

In addition, after three trips to West Marine, two to Amazon locker and two to FedEx, we have a new alternator protection device and alternator suppression switch installed, two Pixel home COVID test kits for entry into Antigua, a healthy stock of school supplies we will be bringing with us as ambassadors of Hands Across the Sea https://www.handsacrossthesea.net/, and courtesy flags for more countries than we could ever dream of visiting in the Carribean.

Thankfully, when all the walking and fixing is done, the city docks lead directly to ice-cream and other shops, all situated in a place of historical beauty.  The Naval Academy students strolling the streets add a respectable vibe to the atmosphere that makes the place feel up to snuff, and it’s an activity just reading the droves of boat names, like Galileo, Liquid Asset, Millenium Falcon, Ctrl Alt Del,  Knot in Surgery, Second Wind, Summer Wind, and even Passing Wind . . . but nada one Gerty, other than our girl.

Annapolis also has an Enterprise Rental Car in walking distance to the dinghy dock. So . . . time for a road trip!  A mere twenty-eight hours of driving got us to Winter Park, Florida and back.  A short stop at the Clay County Department of Motor Vehicles and the Supervisor of Elections Office earned us new drivers licenses, and the right to vote in Florida, as Florida residents.

Mission accomplished.  Then we got to have some fun visiting my sister Bonnie, Papa Mark and Janet in the sunshine state. 

It was a special treat to celebrate Janet’s birthday in person!  (And the hotel showers were to die for.)

On the way back, we stretched our legs at grocery stores in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina wisely provisioning for our upcoming passage to Antigua while we had the car.  Poor overloaded car!  Although the trunk was sagging, we made it to the Dwyer’s house in Potomac for a long overdue visit.

Thank you for a lovely dinner Alice!

And Thanks to John and Elaine for making the trip to Solomons.

Heading south in the Chesapeake towards Virginia with little to no wind would be dull if it weren’t for the Navy on the VHF directing boats out of the missile zone, and the fighter jets soaring overhead.  I would say it’s rather militaristic, except for the pelicans.  For us northerners, pelicans can only mean one thing . . . we are definitely going the right way!  

That said, we purposely took a detour to Tangier Island and it was worth the trip.  To the seven hundred or so people that live here, crabbing and fishing has been a way of life for centuries and the crabbing sheds that line the working harbor embody that tradition.

We did hear bits of the fabled “old english” that the locals speak, but for us, it was the unusual environment that made the biggest impression.  Tangier is predicted to be submerged completely underwater in a mere fifty years.  According to Wikipedia, it has lost 68% of its land mass in recent centuries, and just by walking around the quaint island we could see blatant evidence of this.  There was more than one home’s front yard flooded with water!  And the graves that are often placed there are raised partially above ground, likely to accommodate for the soggy landscape.

We couldn’t leave the place without touching base with Mr. Parks, owner of Parks Marina and a living legend in the Chesapeake.  He’ll be ninety this year, but didn’t hesitate to take a look-see at our navigation chart on the ipad and point out the best route for us to take for the next leg of our trip.  We appreciated his advice and his prices.  Typically, dockage fees run about $2 per foot, not $30 per boat.  Needless to say, this was our first time staying at a dock for the night since April.

Finally, when in Tangier, the right thing to do is head to Lorraine’s for the soft shell crab sandwich.  Yum!

Last remarks:

Thank you to Shelly and John on SV Planet Waves for our early morning dinghy ride. 

Shout out to Lorenzo on SV Off the Leash. Fair winds to our young Hawaiin friend

Shout out to Jeff Carlsen at Sail Solomons www.sailsi.com.  It was great to visit Jeff five years after we took our ASA course with him.  

Thank you to Joaquin & Monica on SV Plan B for catching up with us before the rain-  We hope to be diving together in the near future.

Thank you to Nichola & Simon on SV Parati for entertaining us with tales of your incredible sailing adventures.  Next time, I will remember to bring the Marmite!

Thank you to Walt & Trish on SV Puff Card for sharing your wisdom about the Chesapeake.