Our Last Week in Annapolis
This is the pre-post to us “taking the lines” as shared in the last post. But it’s worth going back in time for a few minutes . . .
I will try to do the very summary version of that week because it is very easy to get behind the times on these posts!!
We had stayed in Oxford for several wonderful days and thought we might stay for a couple more. Then we woke up the next morning, realized we had a new “neighbor” anchored beside us who decided to run the generator day and night. You know one of the coolest things about living on a boat? If you don’t like your neighbors, you can just move instantly! So we said goodbye to Oxford and headed to less civilization and more wilderness in Dunn Cove. It was a cold, drizzly day. As Frank likes to say, “You’ll have that.” Days like that are not a bad thing from time to time . . . so we made the most of it.
The captain relaxed while the first mate motored us to Dunn Cove.
The rainy view through the dodger.
And what’s the best thing to do on a rainy, chilly day? NAP! He looks like he’s praying, but what is he praying for?
The next day we returned to Annapolis via Knapps Narrows, complete with draw bridge and very shallow water . . . always makes for an interesting voyage. We’ve been there several times before, so knew what to expect.
Going through the Knapps Narrows Bridge. After passing under the bridge, we passed this guy. Yup – he had run aground. He was free just a minute later, so all was well.
Knapps Narrows Marina and fuel dock
We had a memorable week in and around Annapolis before we left and had some great visits with good friends. Frank’s friend Jimmy (and now my friend) hopped on Eleanor Q with us for a couple of days. The three of us made lots of good memories in a little bit of time. Night one ended up in Galesville on the West River just south of Annapolis where we were joined by Anthony, half of a couple (Annette being the other half) that we met last September at a gathering of boaters sponsored by the Seven Seas Cruising Association. We will be seeing lots of them next fall and winter aboard their sailboat, Magnolia, (which currently lives in a marina in Galesville) since they have now (very recently!) retired and will be sailing south this fall on much the same route as ours. Jimmy, Anthony, Frank and I had a fun evening together after we managed to twist Anthony’s arm to stay for dinner. Because Anthony felt bad about staying without having food to contribute, he did something much more valuable for us: he offered to take all of our trash and recycling off of the boat. You have to understand, that stuff accumulates FAST when you don’t go on land every day and that is a great and thoughtful gift!
We spent the next night with Jimmy on a mooring ball in Annapolis Harbor watching the Wednesday night races. Wednesday night races are made up of a variety of amateur sailboats of various sizes. The finish line is at the end of the harbor. The mooring field is fair game. If you don’t know what a mooring field is, it is a bunch of big floating balls that are anchored to the floor of the body of water. A boat can just pull up to the mooring ball, gracefully (ha!) snag the rope attached to the top of the mooring ball with a long-handled boat hook and attach it to one of the cleats on your boat. It is easier than anchoring and generally more secure. There is usually a reasonable fee to secure a mooring ball for the night. But back to the races: so these sailboats (remember, they don’t maneuver quite as precisely as a power boat) come FLYING THROUGH the mooring field racing to the finish line! There are lots of near misses to excite the crowd and it is really cool to watch! Below are some shots of the races and our travels with Jimmy. We ended the evening with the three of us having a jam session in the cockpit, Jimmy and Frank on guitars and Ems attempting to sing. At one point we had a 12 bar blues riff going and improvised our own tune called “The Annapolis Harbor Blues” (which is an oxymoron). There may have been rum involved, but I know for a fact there were Raisenettes.
Frank and Jimmy
Wednesday Night Races!
Jimmy caught this beautiful shot during the races.
The next couple of days were spent back in our slip in Annapolis cleaning the boat and prepping to leave Annapolis for the final time. We have dear friends in Annapolis, Tom and Cathy, who used to be in the slip next to us when we first got Eleanor Q. They, too, are preparing to start cruising this fall and we spent lots of time together plotting and dreaming and sharing “stuff” and information and meals. They made the gracious offer of the use of their washer and dryer at their house during our last week, and I was happy to take them up on it! Hand washing light weight things has been no problem, but there is a point when your sheets, towels and blue jeans begin an eco-system of their own and need some love. A common question after a couple of weeks is, “Am I losing weight or do I just need to wash these jeans?” It’s generally the latter.
Since Annapolis is one of our favorite places, we figured we should enjoy our last couple of days there. Saturday included a brisk walk into town for people watching (commencement week at the Naval Academy brings out lots of families and lots of young people in uniform – always an impressive sight) lunch and a stop at Frank’s second favorite ice cream place. (Well, third. Dairy Queen is always first, Oxford second, Annapolis third).
Ego Alley in Annapolis and Ice Cream. Does it get much better?
Sunday was a very cool “final day” for us. We had been wanting to attend services at the Naval Academy Chapel for three years. Okay, let me clarify, because I know what some of you are thinking who know us both. You’re thinking, “Who’s WE? Mary Marie wanted to attend services and Frank agreed in order to be a good sport.” I’ll have you know, that is not the case. Frank was the one who suggested it from the beginning and I always have an interest in visiting a new church so was very happy to go. So if you were one of the ones who thought it was purely me driving this outing, take it back! But to be clearer yet, when I was looking up the service schedule, I asked, “Do you want to go to the Catholic service or the Protestant Service?” and he replied with, “Oh, I don’t care. I just want to see the building.” And that’s the rest of the story. It was a great service, lots of families with their new graduates, a GREAT speaker and wonderful music. (We can’t help it . . . we critiqued the pastor’s public speaking skills. You just can’t get away from some things.) A beautiful setting, indeed.
So handsome in his “Sunday going to meeting”clothes!
View of the Chapel Dome
Front of the Chapel complete with anchor
Beautiful sanctuary. The words over the stained glass window are the opening line to the Navy Hymn . . .
Crossing the bridge from Annapolis to Eastport. See you later, Annapolis!
Later on that evening, our friends Bill and Julie from Havre de Grace came to take a little sail and then have dinner on the boat. Then a surprise call from our friends, Greg and Cori, who were passing through the area and came and joined us as well! It was nice to share that last evening in our slip with good friends, food and laughter.
Julie and Bill on board!
By 10:00pm we tried to go to sleep, but I think we were like two little kids on Christmas Eve night. There was a commercial on television not long ago for Disney- maybe you’ve seen it: The family with two children are preparing to leave for their trip to Disney the next day and the kids won’t settle down and go to sleep. The parents keep saying, “But you’ve got to go to sleep!” And they would respond with a slightly whiny, “But we’re too excited to sleep!” Finally after things were quiet, the parents were laying in bed. The wife said, “Are you asleep?” and the dad quietly whined, “I’m too excited to sleep!” We can relate.
“Taking the Lines With Us . . . “
This will be part 1 of a 2 part post . . . but chronologially it will be out of order! Today was a momentous day and I want to share it while it’s fresh on our minds. Then I’ll backfill with some other cool stuff from the last week.
I mentioned before that Frank always visualized the day we would take the lines with us and head off into the semi-unknown. That visualization was his sleeping aid. Well, that day was today. For us, it felt like it was right out of a movie complete with people waving goodbye (well, one person) and a “yeller” dog. As we pulled away from our slip – home away from home for the last 3 years – we both blinked back tears as we looked at each other and said something like, ‘This is really happening. We’re really doing this.” The pictures tell it all . . .
Buttercup, our boat neighbor’s pup, became our good buddy.
Mary Marie is about to throw the lines to Frank . . . the ones that we’re now taking with us!
Dean gives us a hearty send off.
Backing out of the slip for the last time . . .
Can a dog break your heart or what?
An emotional moment as we pull away . . .
It’s worth talking about Eleanor Q’s Annapolis home for a minute. First of all, there’s Annapolis, and then there’s Eastport. Yes, it’s still part of Annapolis by mailing address, but it is on the “other” side of the harbor from downtown, City Dock and the Naval Academy. It’s where the fun and funky people are who don’t take themselves too seriously. It suited us very well. We were in Stella’s Stern and Keel, a marina made up of about a dozen slips behind a row of houses in a neat neighborhood in Eastport. We found the slip by accident. We had looked at a lot of very expensive and fussy marinas that just weren’t speaking to us and were about to give up on finding something in the Annapolis area when we happended by a small, hand written sign by a house saying “Slips for Rent” with a phone number. We dialed the number and heard a phone ringing close by! The happy sounding voice with a slight southern drawl on the other end said, “Come on in the gate and have a beer with us and we’ll talk!” The rest, as they say, is history. Dean has been a wonderful, caring “landlord” and boat neighbor during our time. He and his wife, Patty, live in a house that he/his company built a while back. It was like living in their back yard and getting to know their friends as they sat around the fire pit or played shuffle board in the yard that was part of the marina. Dean, thanks for the good times and for always being a watchful eye on Eleanor Q when we weren’t there. If anyone needs a boat slip or a house built in Annapolis, we’ll put you in touch with Dean.
So tonight we’re anchored up in Swann Creek in Rock Hall, MD after an uneventful day of motoring under the bridge and up the bay. We are planning our timing to get to the C&D Canal as we make our way out of the Chesapeake Bay and into the Delaware Bay then down to Cape May, NJ by week’s end.
So I asked Frank what he was going to do now when he couldn’t sleep since this was the day he always pictured when he was suffering from insomnia. He laughed and said, “I guess I’ll have to picture buying lobster off the lobstermen in Maine or picture the blue waters of the Bahamas . . . ”
I think he’ll sleep just fine.
Our First Week of Cruising: Solomons and Oxford, MD
We are coming up on a week since we pulled out of the slip in Annapolis for our first stage of adventure and it feels like we’ve been out here for so much longer! Uhm, I meant that in a very good way, not in the “we spent a month on the water one week” kind of way! It feels like longer because it feels strangely comfortable and natural. (If you’ve cruised before and you’re reading this, you can stop snickering now while thinking, “Oh yeah . . . just wait.”) Of course, it’s easier for it to feel comfortable on a day that has been as idyllic as today . . . talk to us after it’s been raining for a full week and maybe we’ll sound a little less pie in the sky; but, for now, this has been a wonderful start. We’ll share a few pictures and thoughts from our visits to Solomons and Oxford this week as well as some observations about life on a boat.
Also, I’m putting this disclaimer out here now: some of our friends and family are boaters . . . some are not. If I throw in an explanation about a sailing/boating term, please don’t be offended, boaters! I know YOU know what it means. But I’m thinking it might be fun for some non-boaters to learn a little something about this along the way, too, so please be understanding!
Last Sunday we headed off to Solomons Island, MD. Although it was a little chilly, the wind was perfect (NW 10- 15 knots gusting to 20+) and we got there without tacking or jibing! (Land people, that’s a very good thing . . . it means less work for the crew. You set the sails once and you don’t have to do too much else to them after that. ) One of my sisters, upon hearing this, reminded me that it also meant that I had to find another way of getting a workout in that day. Sisters are oh-so-helpful!
We had been to Solomon’s once before last fall and enjoyed it. Here is some of our visit in pictures. If you want to see the larger version of a picture, just click on it:
The view from the wheel during our sail to Solomons Island, MD
Frank testing the jack lines – things that keep you tethered to the boat in bad weather
Captain at the helm
A view of the Maritime Museum in Solomons close to our anchorage
Okay, sing it with me now Elton John fans . . . “Take me to the pilot . . .” I hope the letters on the side of the boat are big enough to make that make sense.
The nearby naval air station training provided some great entertainment.
A nice evening in the cockpit to break out the guitars!
Walking along the waterfront in Solomons
An important run to land in the dinghy…
…for provisions!
Frank’s idea of heaven: an ice cream cone 10 times the size of his head!
A couple of the ongoing challenges on the boat: 1) finding secure storage for stuff and 2) boat maintenance. A few examples:
Bungees, stick-on hooks and industrial strength Velcro are our friends!
Yes, my olive oil has a seat belt. What’s your point?
A new place for the produce to hang out
This is the “write your own caption” part of the post
This is Frank servicing the winches. And still I giggle every time he says, “I’m going to service the winches.”
Other notes about live aboard strategy: water management and power management. We left Annapolis with two full water tanks . . . it is 5 days later and we still have some water left! You have no idea how good that is for us . . . okay, especially me (MM). Besides, if Frank thinks I use too much water when I wash the dishes, guess what that means???? Yup . . . guess who’s doing the dishes! We have become very creative about the ways to use water efficiently. Could we leave at any time to go to the marina close by to fill up? Yup. But risk losing our perfect spot? No way! We installed solar panels last year which have been tremendous. For the three of you out there (my brother, the electrical engineer, being one) for whom this will be of interest, we broke a record making over 150 amp hours with our panels today! That means we haven’t had to run the generator or the engine to fill our batteries. We have had plenty of power to do what we need including charging our technology. We get very excited about such things. Scary, I know. But there is truly something about being that self sufficient that is pretty cool. Onto the next topic: Wednesday we sailed to Oxford, MD, one of our very favorite places. We’ve come here several times over the last few years . . . and it holds a very special place in our hearts because we anchored up here in June two years ago to get married on the boat. We are anchored in the exact same spot this week. Oxford is a stately little eastern shore town with beautiful homes and gardens. It has some restaurants and facilities, but it is not highly commercial and is a little slower in its pace. It really does feel like stepping back in time about 30 years. Here are some of the sights around Oxford.
Ems behind the wheel on the way to Oxford
Coming into Oxford … the gold building is the Robert Morris Inn where we had dinner after our wedding. An old Scottish Inn with a wonderful chef and great staff.
Our anchorage in Oxford. Maybe we’ll leave tomorrow . . maybe not!
A beautiful sunset our first evening. Met the nice people in the boat to the right
My spot for drinking coffee the next morning
Here’s what is the most exciting product of Oxford for Frank! The most amazing Scottish Ice cream. He must visit there at least once a day.
The view from Schooners, Friday’s lunch spot. Eleanor Q is sitting in the background. They serve a tasty jambalaya (for not being in the deep south.)
Another beautiful evening. We had cocktails with the people in the sailboat pictured behind us. They’ve sailed to the Bahamas 14 times and had valuable info to share.
Today we felt like true cruisers: We dinghied to town to buy groceries, did our laundry at the coin operated machines at the local marina, and while waiting for the wash, rented two bicycles and cruised town (including a trip to the post office to mail in a defective piece of equipment to Raymarine, but that’s another story).
A backpack full of supplies from the local market. Grocery restocking without a car is interesting!
Bike Riding along the Strand in Oxford
Sights along our ride
Dinner on the Grill – but where did the fish come from?
You know what a fish tale is?
And we’ll just leave it there for now!
From Retirement to Cruising: The Prep
- And they’re off!
After several years of plotting and planning, we (Frank and Mary Marie or “Ems”) are about to execute on our plan to cruise the US east coast and the Bahamas/Caribbean in our 41′ sailboat for the next 2 years. Since Frank retired April 1, 2013, friends and family have been inquiring about our preparations. So here is the pictorial answer to the question, “How do you prepare to go cruising and when are you leaving?” Here is OUR answer as it pertains to the last month.
Step 1: Retire. (Party!)
- Install some more “stuff” on the boat . . .
Pack . . .
Take a bunch of your furniture to the kids . . .
Move out of the old place . . .
Clean and prep the new place . . .
Move into the new place . . .
Install MORE stuff on the boat . . .
Haul the boat . . . (bottom paint, you know)
Have lunch at Pusser’s . . .
Put the boat back in the water . . .
Have a drink . . . (especially after watching your boat flying around in a sling)
Stock the boat pantry. . .
Go cruising!!!
We essentially moved onto the boat May 7th, spent a few days doing prep and provisioning and set sail on May 12th. Our “launch” will happen in three stages:
1) Spend the month of May cruising the Chesapeake. We still have a slip in Annapolis through the end of the month. In late May, we will “take the lines with us.” This is in quotes because Frank has often said that, when he has a problem going to sleep at night, his substitute for counting sheep is to picture us pulling out of our slip and “taking the lines with us,” so that will be a BIG moment.
2) We will make our way through the C&D canal to Cape May where we’ll spend some time in Frank’s old stomping grounds and birth place. Then we’ll head north and anchor outside of Atlantic City, NJ for a couple of weeks to spend some time with our families and take care of last minute details. This will also allow Mary Marie some good practice time in the ocean vs. the confines of the Bay.
3) In the second half of June we’ll look for the right weather window to make our first big journey from Atlantic City to Block Island. That will be the third and most official part of our launch. Then we’ll hop our way along the coast of New England and head to Maine.
For those who are interested, we will use this blog to chronicle our travels. We’ll try to make it somewhat fun to read and will include a bunch of pictures and stories of the good, the bad and the ugly. If you just want to come here when you’re out of ways to procrastinate working on what you really should be, bookmark us and come when you feel like it. If you want to know that we haven’t fallen off the face of the earth on a regular basis and think you’ll forget to look up our page, there is an option on this page where you can enter your email address and get an email notice each time we make a new blog entry. Your choice. Or . . . never looking at this site again is an option, too. Totally your call . . . but we hope you’ll visit us from time to time! So, here we go!
Voyages of the Eleanor Q 