Labor Day weekend. The 'official' end of the summer here in the US. Although no-one told the Maryland weather, and it's still well in to the 90's today. Having worked long and hard on Magic for the last several weeks, Dave & I are having a break for the holiday weekend and are heading for the Chester River to join good friends Jack, BettyAnne & Molly on 'Treasure Island', Mike & Roberta on 'Pintail' and John & Wendy on 'Osprey'.

After a wonderful sail as far as the Annapolis Bay Bridge, we turn on the engine to get under the bridge, and on the other side ........ the wind dies. And when it does pick up again it's right on the nose. So much for sailing to our chosen spot.

But the motor boat ride was worth it, and we anchor in what is a new location for us on the northern side of the Chester. It's a perfect spot. Nice depth of water, a little sandy beach we can dinghy to and, apart from Treasure Island, Osprey & Pintail, no other boats.

After getting Magic settled at anchor, we decided to dinghy in to the beach and take a look around. Just a short walk from where we landed, we found a small park where some very friendly locals were busily setting up tables & BBQs. As luck would have it, we had arrived just in time for the annual neighbourhood party and everyone at anchor in the small bay was invited! Charcoal was provided, as were salads, desserts and beer (OK, it was Budweiser, but it was free!), and a local band was playing. We didn't need asking twice, and without further ado we headed back to the boats, mustered together something for the BBQ and headed back to the beach.

BettyAnne's contribution to the affair was a couple of large jugs of expertly mixed margueritas. And a wonderful evening was had by all! The band was great, the food good and plentiful, the company very entertaining and the weather reminiscent of a perfect late summer evening.

Fortunately, Sunday turned into a day of rest & relaxation and on Monday it was time to head back home again. This time, our disappointing sail to the Chester River was more than made up for by what was probably our best sail on the Bay to date. The wind was in the right direction and a perfect strength. We sailed out of the river, down the Bay, under the bridge (without the engine as back-up!!) and all the way to the mouth of Back Creek where we had to finally put the sails away before we 'hung a right' to head back to Magic's slip. As a good friend frequently used to quote "Life doesn't get much better".

So now it's back to reality. Work starts again on Magic in preparation for 'the off'. 10 weeks to go, and counting.