Kaimusailing

Eve and her cousin from Annapolis attended the event in the marina, and I was advised there were 4000 tickets sold. The governor was there and photos will be uploaded to his site. Cousin knows all about Annapolis politics. DNR who runs the marina are headquartered in Annapolis.
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There were many “Do not let DNR ruin the Manokin” signs around the event. This is an issue I don’t know too much about, but apparently DNR wants to coat the bottom of the Manokin with crushed rock and then oyster shells, and then seed the bottom with oysters. The watermen oppose this and say it will ruin the Manokin. This is a case of “it is broke” and the DNR wants to fix it.
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Eve was headed for the Legion and I texted Cuddily also about the strange stolen package that turned up back on her daughter’s porch. She replied that Buster had come down from Massachusetts and took his boat and trailer. Did not come into her house. She said she would join us at the Legion. I began biking there. I had biked to the house on Cove St. twice, to the city dock once, around the event taking photos, none with the Governor, and up to the grocers and back. Now I was on to the Legion. I flew along. I am getting stronger every day, mostly.
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As I came into the last straightaway into the Legion parking lot I looked for a vehicle with a boat trailer and boat attached. That would be Buster who enjoys a beer with his military compatriots. Not a bad guy, but I was on a recon mission, Cuddily couldn’t come here if he was here. He wasn’t here, Eve’s cousin’s vehicle was. I biked up to the outside deck and they were waving to me. I texted Cuddily, “They’re here, “the coast is clear”.
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The joke is: A couple are going to bed when the phone rings, the wife answers it and says, How the hell do I know, and slams down the phone. Husband says what was that?, she says some woman is asking me if the coast is clear. It’s 200 miles away.
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I order a merlot, of course, and the new item on the menu, Thai chicken spring rolls. We are outside. Eve and her cousin are working political contacts. Eve is drunk. Her cousin must appreciate her just as much as I do and puts up with it. It pains me, maybe I have to be the one to say no, but not today. Cuddily saunters up to join us. I’m glad to see her. Maybe she can relax after her recent sleepless nights.
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A pizza comes out for Eve and her cousin. Her cousin eats normally, but Eve is obviously unwell, she tears at it, eats. I have my spring rolls and offer to Cuddily. She is hungry and eats one. She has a burger coming. That is the special here tonight. Mitchell, the chef, comes over and talks. He is half in the bag. Teri, another great artist, comes from her car, I don’t know how I can recognize her from such a distance, she comes to us on the deck. Eve and cousin leave and I keep an eye on them out into the parking lot. I am concerned. They left a slice of pepperoni pizza which I consume after an appropriate time of consideration.
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Cuddily and Teri are beautiful in conversation. It’s like I’m intruding. We talk about cameras, optics, images, framing, composition, and who is going to get the next wine. Teri lives on one wine, Cuddily is done, I am the only one to go back and get another. I offer to fix Teri’s toilet seat, not that I want to intrude there, but she needs help.
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We leave separately, Cuddily wants to go out through the outside deck steps where she had problems, she had none this time, Teri went out the same way she came in, through the front door. We sort of meet in the parking lot, Cuddily getting into her car and nearby Teri, I say, maybe she doesn’t want to associate with us. Teri laughs. It’s good to get her to laugh. She lost her husband not too long ago. It’s not the same when you lose someone who’s still alive.
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I leave on the bike, I’m not aerodynamic, into the wind I have a greater difficulty than going up a hill, I am wide. But tonight there is no wind. Just the wind I make by driving the bike with my legs. I know the limitation, it’s my lungs, I go for it and fly along. Back at the marina I have to stop at the pedestrian gate and enter the code. I fly along in the marina. Back to the boat.
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The next day I call the post office to see if they know anything about the missing package that showed up mysteriously the next day. The postmaster says it was delivered twice but didn’t know how that could have happened. More later.
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On a whim I took the bike on a short 6 mile jaunt from the marina to Ape Hole Road, then to Ashbury Church, then down Cove Street to the marina. It was a beautiful day without too much wind. In the marina I met with Kai, who sails his homebuilt J. R. Benford ketch. I mentioned that Jack van Ommen had visited the Cove, but I wasn’t aware of it until I looked at his track on line and he had already departed. Kai had seen him leave. Jack is headed to Cape Charles, the town, not the actual cape.
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During the recent crab and clam event an area in the middle of the parking lot was cordoned off with yellow police tape. It turned out the water main had broken and that area was flooded. Water was running into a nearby culvert. The marina had to shut off the water to the entire marina. Fortunately the event had rented porta-johns, so it was possible to take care of business. The marina crew and some city public works people were digging up a large area of the parking lot. I guess the water was springing up in several places. It was hard for them to find the source of the problem.
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This morning I biked around the marina looking for the NRP building and found it over near the Coast Guard station. It must have a separate water main and is designated as the temporary rest rooms while the marina water is shut down. I biked near the site of the big dig and there was a geyser of water, guess they found the leak. A gas powered high volume pump was pumping but the water was still pouring in. They may have attempted a repair and now under pressure it gave way.
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I had had a sleepless night due to aches and soreness from my little bike ride the day before. I felt good but couldn’t sleep until the early morning hours. I felt groggy and it was time to call Sea Mark Marine, the local boatyard to get information about hauling out. Their phone was disconnected. I biked over to the yard and a fellow with a brown dog was walking along. I asked if he knew anything about the boatyard, that I had called and found the phone disconnected. He replied that he did some work in the yard and answered my questions. He gave me the cell number of the owner. I texted the owner and got no reply. Later I called and he answered right away. He gave me the rates and we discussed he needed about a week’s notice before hauling me out. I said I needed to start the engine and make sure it was running OK before I scheduled.
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It was a big night at the Legion, Tuscany Chicken was the special. I had to take a shower first, and not at the marina, but at the Police building over by the Coast Guard. The showers there were not as nice as the marina. The shower was like 10 chimpanzees spitting on you, not very good. Spittle. The hot water didn’t come on until the shower was almost done. But I can’t complain. The shower on Sunsplash is equally bad.
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I endured it and headed back up the docks, it wasn’t nearby, and received some texts as to when I was going to go out to the Legion. I had to run an errand to the wine store first, then I ran into Malcolm whose trawler is right at the area where the digging and water main repair was taking place. Perhaps they had made a repair. On Sunsplash the water line from the dock was dripping, indicating they had turned on the water.
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I biked to the Legion in 8 minutes,, and I wasn’t really trying hard. No headwinds. A glass of merlot on an outside table. A photo of the merlot sent to the Bad Crowd. I sat for a while and enjoyed the intricate clouds up above. Some other patrons out on the deck may have wondered why I had put a few more chairs under my table.
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Cuddily appeared almost by magic, although I could see her townhouse from my seat and checked from time to time, anxious for her arrival. She had a nice blue outfit. We had both had sleepless nights, old people with their aches and pains. Our conversation was interrupted by Eve, and her guest, and then Cornelia Marie arrived with Nori, the wonder dog. The table was filling up. Wine cups were filling up. Diana arrived without her dog. She may have had some wine before she joined us. She sat right next to me. Intoxicating.
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The light was getting good, the sun was setting lower and lower. I went out and took a few shots when it wasn’t even near sunset. Then I took Nori out on her leash to sniff around on her way all the way out on the pier. She sniffed at every seagull splat on the walkway. I finally got her back to the table where CM thanked me for doing what I did. I didn’t need any thanks.
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The food arrived and we all agreed it was spectacular. Mitch had really done it. More wine was drunk, more photos were taken of the elaborate sunset, clouds aflame, then some had to go home, I felt that every person that left had not had my full attention, I wanted so much to enjoy them, and they, as they left, made me want to do it again, maybe I would be able to make up. We had planned another Pizza Night, oh no, yes, again.
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The image is of a political sign implying that I will save America, that won’t happen, I think everything is fine.