It's been quite a few years since we hung out in Annapolis. After returning the crew's rental car, we made a trip to Fawcett Marine to grab a few things we need. After that, we headed downtown to get a bite to eat and walk about the town. Annapolis features some world class dining. Below are some of our favorites...

Middleton's Tavern is an old fixture on the waterfront. We always return to Middleton's to enjoy their smoked bluefish appetizer. It's unusual and it's really good.

Lewnes Steakhouse rivals any we've ever been to. The atmosphere, the service, the steak, and the sides are all top notch. I dare say the steak was the best I've eaten in existing memory.

Osteria 177 is a modern Italian restaurant on Main St. and it should not be passed up. The service is impeccable and they feature really unique and tasty dishes such as grilled calamarie, creative soups, and a variety of charcutrie.

Cafe Normandie was the most amazing gem we discovered on this trip. Cafe Normandie is a small chef-owned French restaurant. The service, menu, and food here was off the hook! We sat in a window front table by the street and enjoyed one of the best dining experiences we've had in a long time. If you know the Edge family, then you know that says alot. We were 2-1/2hrs at that table and we enjoyed every minute. We met the Chef and we offerred to take him sailing next time we return. Cafe Normandie is highly recommended by the Song crew.

Aside from eating, Annapolis also features alot of shops and history to entertain the crew. Yesterday while motoring the dinghy to Bert Jabin's Yacht Harbor to make berthing arrangements we spied the Wilma Lee moored at the Annapolis maritime museum. She is a restored Chesapeake Bay dredge sailor that sails out of Ocracoke North Carolina. We met some of her crew in Coinjock on the way up. You never know where in the bay you're going to come across these tall ships in the bay.

Cruising is not all dining, shopping, and touring...one of the ways we entertain ourselves aboard is by playing games. On this cruise, Team Edge took a departure from the norm. We all agreed to play Dungeon's & Dragon's during the trip, as organized by Hunter. Hunter is the only one who is plays D&D so as the Dungeon Master he had to educate us all in how this fantasy game works. Hunter put alot of pre-trip effort into organizing the game and a good time has been had by all.

Of all the things one can do in Annapolis, by far the best occurs on the water. There is no better place to see really nice boats and to sail the local waters surrounded by like-minded sailors. On Tuesday, the boys entertained ourselves by sailing about the Severn river while the ladies indulged themselves ashore with a spa appointment. The weather got interesting with some thunder squalls coming through, which is another great part of the sailing experience. We like weather.

All things must end sometime and today marks our departure of Annapolis and from the Song. We are leaving the Song here at Bert Jabin's Yacht Harbor so that we can return to work and home. After being away from cruising for so many years, it's been good to be back aboard. We will certainly miss the Song of the South while she lie in wait on Back Creek. She will not be lonely though, as she will be surrounded by literally thousands of masts & hulls about her.

We plan to return after July 4th to bring her back home. This will be our last update until that time. After laying up the Song today, we will all pile into a rental car and point it southward towards home.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song of the South
Moored in Annapolis, MD

Morning broke, we visited the septic pumpout station, and then we set sail to Annapolis.

From Solomon’s Island, we are only 7hrs cruise from Annapolis. Morning brought slick calm waters and yes, more steaming. We would love to be sailing, but when afloat you are always subject to weather and tide. We finally passed the Smith Point light and entered the mouth of the Severn river. The rest of our crew arrived at almost the same time and was waiting on us at Pusser’s harbor side bar and restaurant. We took our mooring, rigged out the dinghy, squared away with the harbormaster, and proceeded to go ashore.

On this cruise, we planned to hit both old and new stops. Making a new port is always challenging and fun, however we also like to return to places with which we are familiar to see the old haunts and experience them again. Both Solomon’s Island and Annapolis are places we have been many times. Annapolis is like Mecca to an east coast sailor. Sailing is literally in the blood and culture of this place. Annapolis is an interesting mixture of sailing culture, mega yachts, history, gastro-experience, and drinking.

We took a mooring in Spa Creek, by the Naval Academy. This location provides easy access to the historic district and a constant parade of interesting boats and people. At any given time, the harbor is an active moving solution of sailboats, big yachts, historic boats, Navy rowing teams, sail racing clubs, and transient boaters. You could never get bored just observing this place. You’ll see some of the most beautiful boats you could imagine here. We even saw an Admirals yacht come alongside at the Naval Academy, obviously conducting some sort of formal function.

After dinner, we retired to the Song to enjoy some music aboard as the sun set over Annapolis harbor. Life is truly good.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song of the South
Moored in Spa Creek, Annapolis MD

Amy, Hunter, and Lauren headed back to NC by car on Friday to NC to take care of some things back home. Austin & I proceeded to move the boat to Annapolis where we plan to rejoin the crew. The first leg of this trip is an 80nm haul from cape Charles to Solomon's Island, MD.

We departed Cape Charles very early under a rising sun. The waters on the Chesapeake Bay were calm and there was little useful wind, so we had to burn some diesel fuel and steam up the bay. Just as well, as we needed to burn off the old Diesel fuel anyway. The cruise was pretty much uneventful and we were in open water most of the time. Because the auto-pilot is still down, we took turns manually steering the boat for the 13hr trip. We really appreciated the new stereo that we installed which has a blue-tooth interface, so at least we were able to entertain ourselves with some quality nautical music during the cruise.

As we approached Solomons Island and entered the mouth of the Patuxtent River, we came upon the Kalmar Nyckel sailing about in the river. She is an old Swedish tall ship and she must have sailed up the bay to Solomons Island after the Harbor Festival.

We arrived in Solomons Island about 7pm, and we were just able catch the Solomons Yacht Center fuel dock before they closed. After taking on fuel, we tied up to the T-dock and set about obtaining dinner, showers, and laundry.

SYC provided us with some cool bicycles and we were able to ride to dinner directly. We ended up at The Pier restaurant and we both order steamer platters with lobster, crab, shrimp, and oysters. The menu did not specify anything beyond that and when they delivered the double-decker platters to us we quickly realized that these platters must be for two people each! But the food was cooked and served, so we leaned into it and quickly reduced the platters to hulls and shells. We got a lot of strange looks from departing patrons.

After dinner we got showers, did laundry, and retired for the night about 11pm. It was a long day on the water and sleep came quickly.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song of the South
Moored in Solomon's Island, MD

After a day of exploring Cape Charles, we ended the day with a peaceful walk on the beach followed by dinner at the Shanty restaurant. The food & service a great there and they have corn hole setup on the waterfront behind the restaurant.

As is typical, we returned to the Song to retire for the evening. Amy & I retured early while the younger crew stayed up late. Austin & Lauren entertained themselves by observing sealife from the pier in the beam of a powerful light.

The fish viewing was interrupted by a crying woman at the boat ramps across the harbor exclaiming that she hated her life as she hurled her cellphone into the water. While all this drama was taking place, a local crabber and his fiance' had rowed out to a soft crab trap by the dock and were both clearly very drunken.

After some time, the man stood up on the gunnel of the jon-boat and capsized the boat, thowing he, his woman, and all their stuff into the water. The man was clinging to the overturned vessel crying out for help while the woman swam towards the dock. Amy woke me up to see what's up and I joined the crew on the dock.

It's a good thing we were on scene as the woman could not get onto the dock and was having trouble staying afloat due to her state of mind and body. We pulled her out of the water and onto the dock, with great effort I might add. Then we rowed our dinghy out to the man and towed both he and his capsized jon-boat back to shore.

During all this, he and her were yelling back and forth at each other in their severely drunken state with each blaming the other for their predicament. The best line of the night was this one...

He "what, do you think I look like an idiot?"
She "well, do you wanna know the truth?"

The man promised to deliver us a half bushel of crabs as a means of thanking us for the rescue, but those crabs never did materialize. All in all it made for a hilarious and memorable evening in Cape Charles.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song of the South
Moored in Cape Charles, VA

The weather was perfect today for crossing the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Charles. This is a new stop for us, as we have never been here. The crossing was sweet with 10-12kts of wind on the stern and sunshine as well. The crew, Admiral, and Cap'n enjoyed the sail immensly. Upon arrival, we proceeded right up to the Cape Charles Yacht Center under full sail.

There were no less than (20) freighters at anchor off Cape Charles. By the looks of them and the fact that they were all "light ship", we think they were all Colliers waiting to take on coal at the N&S terminal in Norfolk.

We sailed right through the local Pogey fleet as we approached. The channel held good soundings and was an easy sail into the harbor proper. We loved this place immediately upon docking. We took a golf cart into town and secured VA/MD fishing licenses, then we attended the Shanty waterfront restaurant for some cocktails and great food with a view.

The town of Cape Charles is as charming as it can be, and the people we met are as well. Being near the inlet at Cape Henry, the water is clean, clear, salty,and we're sure the area is very fishy as well. We look forward to fishing, swimming, shopping, and anything else we can get into while we're here.

Many thanks to the great folks at Cape Charles Yacht Center for awesome service and facilities. Looks like we might camp here for a few days to check this place out a little more.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song of the South
Moored in Cape Charles, VA

The Song lay moored here in Portsmouth while the winds and seas on the bay calm down for our crossing to Cape Charles. Current indications are that we will cross tomorrow, as 20kt winds and the small craft advisory remains in effect until noon.

Cruising is not just about making passage and new destinations. There is also plenty of responsibility and work involved. Being a sailor is very similar to steeplejacking, in that many different trade skills are required to do it well. In addition to the obvious skills of navigation and sailing the boat, there are many more obscure and less glamorous tasks required to keep all going. Among them are communications, knot work, rigging, mechanical skills, electrical, electronics, plumbing, coatings, fiberglass, cleaning, metalwork, and yes...sewing.

All "original" sailors of old were excellent with a needle & thread. Not only could they repair sails, canvas, and nets, but they made their own clothing as well. While we don't have the same requirements that our forefathers did, there are still sails, canvas, and clothing to be maintained aboard ship. Today is a good day catch up on maintenance and to replace our missing and tattered mainsail tells.

The tells "tell us" how the air is flowing across our mainsail and assist us in trimming the sail. We have a sewing kit that can handle anything from clothing repairs up to heavy canvas stitching like that found on sails. Another task can now be marked off the never-ending list.

Cap'n Monty
s/v Song of the South
Moored in Portsmouth VA