We are enjoying Annapolis again this summer.
After picking up a mooring at 11:55 pm last Tuesday, we spent Wednesday and Thursday morning performing some minor maintenance and cleaning Bear from top to bottom. Thursday afternoon our friends began to arrive at the house we rented in Eastport. The weekend was filled with kayaking, sailing, drinking, eating, and a whole lot of fun and laughs. The last of the partygoers departed early this morning, and when Margaret and I finally got out of the V-berth this morning, we headed over to the rental, doing a few last loads of laundry and straightening up the place before locking it and walking away at noon.
Once we got back to the boat – with tons of leftover food, but only about six remaining beers – I installed a new float switch on our bilge pump (the old one gave up the ghost this weekend, in the on position; fortunately we were aboard at the time so were able to shut the pump off manually). Just as I finished, Margaret fell asleep. So, I ran a few errands ashore, including picking up a delivery of engine parts – oil filters, V-belts, and impellers – at the post office. By the time I got back to the boat, Margaret was awake, and we headed back to shore to do some internet work at City Dock Coffee, which is our home away from Bear when we are in Annapolis.
To sum it up, we had a phenomenal weekend with friends, but are also so happy to have a few days to relax here in the great city of Annapolis where dinghy docks await at the end of each street, the coffee shops welcome dirty cruisers, and rum grows on trees. And we will only have two days of rest because Margaret’s nephew and his mother are flying in on Wednesday for five days aboard. We had originally planned to pick them up in Baltimore, but decided this morning that it would be a lot easier to just rent a car, go to BWI, and bring them down here rather than making the forty mile trip tomorrow. We are talking about taking them up to explore Dutch Ship Island on the Magothy River and sailing over to Rock Hall – and using the pool and amenities available with the dinghy fee at Haven Harbour Marina – so we need to rest up.