Ahoy there!

 

Do you remember us saying that autumn had come and we were still basking in hot dry weather? Well it's all ended! Last Friday a cold front from Canada hit Tropical Depression Tammy and the heavens opened! We had strong winds and 5 inches of rain in 24 hours - still the boat looks very clean.

Since then it has been overcast with rain off and on although we have been promised weather back in the 70's at the weekend. Considering it's nearly mid-October we're not doing to badly.  We hear there is another hurricane brewing but haven't got details yet. 

  The season of Fall and Halloween are huge celebrations over here. Apart from Halloween decorations, costumes, cakes and sweets all the shops, and a lot of houses, are sporting autumn designs which include lots of orange and red plants, pumpkins and wonderful autumnal pottery. At the moment we are anchored off Quietwaters Park and when we walk to the supermarket we are kicking all the falling leaves. It's just like being at home!   But not for long as we are now seriously planning our trip south and our stay in the Bahamas . Lots of Canadian & northern American states boats are appearing in the Chesapeake as they head away from the cold to sunnier climes. They are known as 'snowbirds'. These cruisers are very hospitable and our anchorage at the moment has given us a great social life. Not only have we been invited for 'cocktails' on several occasions but people are really happy to share notes and experiences on where to visit. Our Bahamas file is growing daily!

Our Quietwaters anchorage has given us bus access to Annapolis and we have made a couple of trips. The first was to do some sightseeing and visit the United States Naval Academy . Started around 1845 this is a major training academy for the Navy and there are lots of very smart students walking around. Once in the grounds you can wander at will although not all the buildings are open to the public. They have quite a good museum, the highlight being the model ships. This is a collection of about 100 ships. Some are the ivory & bone replicas made by prisoners of war but the majority are British scale models used by the shipwrights from the 17th & 18th centuries. The detail on them was astounding. Most were in new purpose built display cases but some were housed in the original walnut & oak cases.

The chapel in the Academy is huge with some stunning stained glass windows. It is truly multi-denominational holding services for Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, & Jewish religions. The guarded crypt holds the huge marble sarcophagus housing the remains of John Paul Jones the founder of the American Navy.  His body was lost for a few centuries but eventually found at the beginning of the 20th century in a barrel of alcohol in a built over Parisian cemetery. With great ceremony he was interred at the Academy. He seemed to have a colourful life, born in a Scottish croft and working for most of the navies of Europe . 

 

We stayed at Annapolis for the boat show, billed as the greatest sailboat show in the U.S. Although there were lots of boats on display and quite a few manufactures displaying their goodies there was very little to buy. Used to the shows at Southampton and London we had a huge list - boat bits, charts & pilotage guides and lamp fittings. But no luck. We could have ordered some items but not knowing where & when we will be in dock this is problematic.

However Sharon did manage to find a new shopping bag!

 

During the summer months in the Chesapeake there are dozens of Watermans Festivals. The crab industry is huge here, particularly in Maryland . All of the crabbers are self employed, usually working seven days a week in all weathers. With a dozen and a half crabs in a restaurant only costing between $15 - $20 you need to catch a lot of crabs to earn a living. The festivals are designed to promote the life of the watermen and the highlight is the docking contest. The captain has to come off the dock bow first, sling the boat about 100 yards and dock aft first between the dock pilings and hook three of them with rope. Only one person is allowed to do all this per boat and it is all at high speed with lots of engine revving and waves. At the contest we watched the winner did all of this in under 19 seconds! Prize money can be quite high - $2000 which is about a months salary so rivalry is fierce but friendly. The Festivals also feature anchor throwing competitions, for males and females ( Sharon was tempted but couldn't get Andrew to stay still!), crab soup tasting and a lot of country & western singing.

The middle of this week we are back to Solomon Island  to buy all the things we couldn't get at the boat show and start our preparations for heading south. We should be at Deltaville the last week of October for 2/3 weeks while we anti-foul the boat and do a few maintenance tasks. Last time we were there we had no phone coverage so e-mails will be picked up at the library. 

 

We look forward to hearing from you all soon.

 

Warm regards

 

Sharon & Andrew