On to Annapolis

What 9 knots looks like.  

Moonshadow's easily driven hull leaves very little wake even at her hull speed.  Thanks go to Ed Bulchis, who took the photo from his beautiful Hallberg Rassy "Summer" on the ICW somewhere north of Charleston, South Carolina.

"Summer"

Two things we like about the Chesapeake are the lack of bridges ...and the lighthouses!  What stories they could tell.

I just know there's a story here.

Along our way to Annapolis we anchored in San Domingo Creek which provides the "back door" access to the town of St. Michaels just north of the creek.  Who do you suppose we found anchored there?  Prior Moonshadow owner George and Merima aboard their new to them Mainship 39 trawler, very appropriately named "Sin Velas".  Actually this was no surprise, we'd been corresponding with them and knew exactly where to find them.  

George and Merima were both moved to see good ole Moonshadow steaming up the creek.  As soon as we anchored nearby we discovered it was cocktail hour so the four of us had drinks aboard Moonshadow.  

We talked and laughed in Moonshadow's cockpit until finally someone realized it was after midnight!  The next morning (late) we enjoyed some coffee and more time with G & M, this time aboard Sin Velas, which they intend to cruise south via the ICW to Florida, then load her onto a ship bound for New Zealand.  

We all bade farewell and promised to see each other again.  What a great deal we made buying Moonshadow:  a fantastic boat/home, and great new friends too!

The town of St. Michaels has some history, old buildings, restaurants, delicious seafood, and the biggest pair of ... er, ah, and a figurehead from an old ship.

But for us, the dinghy cruise through the surrounding bays and coves was really a treat.  

 There's a certain harmony between the miles of shoreline, natural wildlife and mankind's careful impact that all seems so right.

We shut off the outboard and drifted for half an hour and just took in the sights and sounds, including a pair of Osprey nervously protecting their nest and these geese keeping a wary eye on us humankind.

But it was really, really, really, really, really hot.  The heat index was 119 degrees, and there wasn't a breath of wind.  In the Cities across the Chesapeake, people actually died from the heatwave.  We would have been enjoying Moonshadow's swim-up-bar, but the bay was full of jellyfish, so we just turned the hose on each other about every 15 minutes.  It was so hot we had to sleep up in the cockpit.  

The next day, we decided to head straight for Annapolis, get some shore power, turn on the Air Conditioner, and start on our fixit list.



We reserved a slip at the Annapolis Yacht Club, and discovered we weren't quite through with those pesky bridges after all!

Sixth Street Bridge in Annapolis is eight feet from Moonshadow's port spreader, and let me tell you... it was no picnic squeezing her into this spot.  

It seems that Moonshadow is now the troll that lives under the bridge.  I think she'd much rather be ticking off the offshore miles than tied up here.

But the good news is this is where the Annapolis Yacht Club's Junior program runs their summer program so it's really fun to watch all the kids just enjoying being around the water.  I think junior sailing programs are the same all over the world.

Moonshadow will be stationed here for a few weeks while we get some needed work done.  Deb will be back in San Diego to visit family and friends while John stays with Moonshadow.  Our son Ryan will spend a week with Moonshadow as will John's buddy Jamie, so the three guys will make an east coast version of the SDYC Stag Cruise.  Should be fun.