Bad weather cut my visit at home short. Clay and I were watching the radar map during Reece’s baseball game Friday night, it was not a pretty sight. There was no way that I was leaving the game, Reece went 3 for 3, with a triple (then 3/3 in his game on Saturday also and as he told me “that’s six for six”). Twins came up a bit short and allowed the Orioles to come back on them during the last inning. Play offs start on the 8th.
I took off for Chesapeake City as soon as the game ended. Arriving at 1:30 AM, I knew that my options for getting from land to the boat would be limited. Fortunately, I found some party animals on a sport fisher that were just starting to wind down. After being rejected twice, I tried knocking on their boat again (2 AM by this time) and pleading for a fender or life jacket. They finally gave in on the fender. So you guested it…I striped down and jumped into the water. It was a nice little swim, but I was happy to find everything in tack. Later I found out that the winds were clocked at 56 mph at the anchorage. Looks like the new anchor is doing the job!
Chesapeake City has been a great spot. Plenty of entertainment and they are very accommodating to transients. There’s certainly no shortage of testosterone here, which makes for interesting people watching.
I spent the next day cleaning and preparing the boat for the coming week. With a little luck and good weather, we will be in NY by Friday. Friends from Richmond, Brad and Ted are sailing with me Sun, Mon, Tues; Wed is logistics; and Patrick (friend from Atlanta) is sailing Thurs and Friday. Planned destinations for the week are:
Sun – Delaware City; Mon – Cape May; Tues – Atlantic City; Wed – Atlantic City; Thursday – Sandy Hook; Fri – TBD. Should be fun!

I returned to Richmond for a couple days. Plans are really shaping up for next week. We will have many firsts, including the C&D Canal, Delaware Bay, and coast line of NJ. I plan to return to the boat this Saturday.

Another great day sailing, looks like Steve’s bad weather jinx may be behind him. We sailed 30+ miles in about 6 hours! We were running on broad reach the entire day, with following seas. Our only need to motor was to capture the run-away dinghy as one of the swells somehow disconnected the tow line. By the time we dropped the sails, it was like a wild wild west rodeo to recapture the run-away dinghy. The seas calmed shortly after that and we rode a 2kt current all the way into the C&D Canal. Steve was a huge help sailing, and a pleasure to have on the boat. His generosity is truly appreciated!

Ellen took the boy’s to Fort McHenry and Babe Ruth’s birthplace / museum. Steve Bradley sailed with me to Fairlee Creek. Wind and weather was perfect for sailing. It was a very fast trip across the Bay, and ended with a tranquil run north to Fairlee. We sailed 24 miles in about 5 hours. Just after setting the anchor we were surprised by a couple sailors dropping in on us. They said they wanted to check out this beautiful boat in person. OK…
But we ran them off long before the Maryland Crab Cakes hit the grill! We will definitely hit this anchorage on the return trip. We loved it!

We toured the USS Taney a Coast Guard Cutter which survived Pearl Harbor. Then we picked up Ellen in the dinghy and headed out to the Oriole's game. Thanks to Todd's infinite wisdom recommending "Golden Tickets", we enjoyed the most awesome seats in the park. They were just off home plate, but most importantly, they were completely shaded! This proved to be the second best advise that Todd has given me during our 40 years of friendship. The most important was that "tone matters when speaking to your wife". Man, he is wise beyond his years (or I just have so much to learn).
It was definitely a buzz kill when we returned from the game to find Kaizen tied to the USS Constellation Pier. Long story, but I should have been using the new anchor that I purchased on Friday! Our good friends Steve and Judy Bradley took us to Dick's Last Resort and The Cheesecake Factory. Awesome day!

Clay started us off with another great breakfast! Once fed, he enjoyed testing the new shade cover over the bow. Clay enjoyed reading his book in the shade under the new cover. Then we spent the morning cruising around the harbor, just checking out the sites. Dinner at Bubba Gump's and touring the historic naval ships.