Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep". Psalms 107:23-24.

The Annapolis Boat Show weekend was two part rain, one part sunshine. Fortunately for us the sunshine started on Sunday and lasted the rest of the week. On Sunday morning we took the invitation of Billy and Donna Phillips to attend church at the beautiful chapel at the US Naval Academy, the site of their marriage forty summers ago, and the current resting place of John Paul Jones.

"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones

The chapel is incredibly awe inspiring, from the 1868 Evelyn Beatrice Longman bronze doors, to the numerous Tiffany windows. Every artifact and fixture carries historical significance, and just being there tugs on a sailor soul. The Baptismal Font is made of wood taken from the deck of the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides", still in commission in Boston Harbor as the oldest serving ship in commission in the US Navy. Kay and I were lucky enough to sail on her a few years ago with our great friends, Suzanne & John Shore, it was quite a thrill.

John Paul Jones owes President Theodore ?Rex� Roosevelt for improving his lie from a ?non-catholic� cemetery in Paris to a Royal Pyrenees's Marble sarcophagus in a domical vaulted crypt that the chapel architect, Ernest Flagg, designed in 1896 in the hope that JPJ's body would someday be found. General Horace Porter, the "Gilded Age� ambassador to France, began his search in 1899. In 1905, the "well preserved� (pickled in alcohol) remains of the great admiral were discovered and carried in state by Teddy s Great White Fleet, from France to Annapolis.

John Paul Jones was our first Naval Hero, and well deserved the status. You can read about him here: www.jpj.demon.co.uk/jpjlife.htm, I can find only one movie about this great man, and it was made a long time ago: www.amazon.com/John-Paul-Jones-Farrow/dp/6303039588. haven't seen it yet, but will probably add it to Zep Tepi?? s DVD library as we have now seen the entire Hornblower series at least four times!

I knew going in that at the end of the service I would have to attempt to sing "The Navy Hymn": www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/e/t/eternalf.htm. It's been many years since I was able to get through that music without it catching in my throat. It just stops me in my tracks and takes me back to some of my earliest memories as a child during my fathers Navy career, and my saddest memories in my own time as a Naval Aviator. Trying to sing those words in that setting was just too much for me, and it was all I could do to keep from breaking down and bawling like a baby! Got through it somehow, and I was glad to be out in the sunshine on a beautiful fall day.

Kay and I spent the remains of the day preparing ZT for a Sunday dinner on deck. We entertained Donna & Billy Phillips, and Betsi & Kevin Delaney as the sun settled in the dazzling fall trees of the South River. As the sun hit the lower limb we played our favorite bagpipe version of Amazing Grace from Brave Heart. Our hearts were full of the joy of friendship, fellowship, and the peace of being on the water.