Solomons Island, MD

Bill and I left Annapolis early this morning. We had about a six hour motor to Solomons. The water was very still and perfect and we witnessed a pretty sunrise.

Solomons is quiet but very beautiful. After we got to the marina, Bill washed down the boat and I cleaned up down below. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and relatively warm weather.
We learned today that the Caribbean 1500, which Bill, Joe, and Cindy participated in last year and which was supposed to leave from Hampton, VA tomorrow, has been delayed for a few days. We look forward to tracking s/v Splendido, s/v Karina, and other boats when they finally do leave. We wish everyone safe travels.

Next stop for us... Deltaville, VA.

We're off!

Happy Halloween everyone! And happy birthday Lauren B.

We got off the bottom last night and left the dock this morning. Bill and I are en route to Annapolis where we will stay one night and leave for Solomons Saturday morning.

Here are some links to recent pictures that I uploaded to Picassa.

• Trip from Annapolis to Rock Hall
• On the bottom
• Annapolis Boat Show
• Redskins Game
• Port Annapolis Marina

Our Last Weekend in Annapolis

We have had a very nice last weekend in Annapolis. On Saturday Mark and Sara picked us up and took us to lunch at the very cool Narrows Restaraunt in Kent Narrows, MD. It was a rainy, windy day and being inside nice and warm looking at the water (versus being on the water) was a treat. And it was, of course, great to see Mark and Sara. We received a beautiful "goodie basket" complete with Sara's homemade mustard and pickels -- and a perfectly carved pumpkin. Awesome.

Saturday night Leslie and Katie drove up to Annapolis in the rain. We went to dinner and then had drinks back at the boat. Sunday we met Joe and Nancy for "one last" breakfast at the diner. Afterwards Bill and I did some last provisioning. And yes, we managed to find a place for everything on the boat.

This afternoon we went to downtown Annapolis to watch the Skins beat the Lions (yippeee!) and now we are back at the boat enjoying a beautiful late afternoon. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot colder, so we are not necessarily looking forward to our trip to Rock Hall. Hopefully the generator mystery will be solved sooner rather than later so we can begin our trip south the middle of this week.

Again, it has been so nice to see everyone and we have really enjoyed our time in Annapolis. We are looking forward to amazing adventures and a winter season of exploring new places!

Port Annapolis Marina

Bill and I have made slip G35 at Port Annapolis Marina on Back Creek in the Chesapeake our "home port" for the past two months.

The marina boasts a pool, a service center, plenty of parking, a water taxi to downtown, laundry facilities, beautiful landscaping (complete with gazebos) a sandwich shop called the Wet Dog, etc. They have been very gracious in accepting our mail and package deliveries. And we have met many "neighbors" - both weekend boaters and live aboards.

As much as we are excited to get going again, we have enjoyed our stay here and would recommend Port Annapolis to anyone coming through the area.

Dave and Molly took this picture of a bald eagle flying over sv Mary Elizabeth in the Sassafras. Beautiful...

The Sassafrass

(view of the bridge on a beautiful, sunny afternoon)

On Thursday sv Mary Elizabeth left the dock for the first time in a long time. Bill and I realized how much we miss the water!!! We had a nice ride to Georgetown, MD where Dave and Molly are. Thursday night we had a great dinner at the Kitty Knight House. Friday we hung around for most of the day. Bill and Dave did some planning with the charts for our eventual trip south via the ICW. Mary Elizabeth's mast height is 63 and a half feet, so they were devising a route that will keep us away from bridges that we won't fit under. I read Glass Castle, which is a fabulous book that I borrowed from Molly.

(Mary Elizabeth arriving in Georgetown, taken by Dave and Molly)

Friday night we went to Five Keys after a yummy dinner of steak and chicken on the grill. Dave, Frank and Bill played Yahtzee. Dave is the newly reigning champ of the Sassafrass.

(Lauren "in action" picking up the mooring)

The Sassafrass River is stunning. The trees have yet to turn, but it is certainly colder - especially at night and in the early morning. What a beautiful place.

(Dave, Bill, and Tuck)

(Another stunning sunset)

So now we are underway en route to Rock Hall. Mary Elizabeth will be hauled on Monday and have work done while we are in Florida. Tomorrow we are going to the Redskins. We'll stay in Baltimore overnight (in a hotel at the airport). We'll be back in Annapolis on Oct. 8th.

(For lots more pictures, see below)

To see all of our web albums, click here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/SVMaryElizabeth

Beautiful Sunday afternoon in Annapolis

Yesterday we experienced what remained of Hanna. It was pretty much a non-event here in Annapolis. Bill and I saw 30 knots, which wasn't bad. The main thing that we were keeping an eye on was the level of the water. There was a surge from the rain and the water maxed at about 8 inches from the dock. Bill adjusted the lines and the fenders and we were fine.

Today we finally went downtown and ate at El Torro Bravo, a Mexican restaurant that we heard great things about which was closed for renovations the last year. After we walked around downtown Annapolis and listened to the music and browsed the street vendors. It was the first annual "Sunday in Annapolis" so many stores set up sidewalk sales, etc. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people and activity downtown. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so we don't have any pictures to share. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

We are waiting on a mail delivery, which should happen tomorrow. The plan is to do a few errands and chores tomorrow and leave for the Wye River on Tuesday for Bill's birthday. We are both looking forward to a little sailing on the Chesapeake and anchoring in one of our favorite spots for a few days!

On the water....

Hope everyone had a happy labor day weekend. Our weekend was great. The weather has been really perfect; it doesn't feel like September at all!

Yesterday Joe and Nancy took Bill and me out on their beautiful new Sea Ray. We went to the South River and explored - a trip that would have taken sv Mary Elizabeth all day. Joe even let Bill take the helm for awhile. It was fun to go so fast! Their boat is beautiful, and we really enjoyed being on the water for the day. We haven't moved out of our slip since we arrived in Annapolis, and we are getting antsy! Thanks Joe and Nancy for such a great day!!!

We tried to eat at this Mexican restaurant everyone raves about for dinner, but it was closed (Labor Day). Instead we ate at Tsunami, which is always great. We ended up taking the water taxi home.

Sunday I spent the day in Alexandria. Katie and I did an 11 mile walk from our house to Mt Vernon. We also sold a bunch of stuff in our place on Sunday. It is starting to get pretty empty in there. Sunday night we had a visit from Megan and Michelle, which was nice. And we had a visit from Dave on Saturday. It is so great to see everyone!

Today we are hoping that we get the canvas back. We really can't leave the slip with the stainless flapping and no protection from the sun, etc. I am also going to Alexandria to sell a few things and meet our renter. Hope to hear from everyone soon!

Up the mast... sort of

For awhile now, Bill has wanted someone to go up the mast to polish some stainless that has rust on it. There were two options... one, Bill could go up, which he has done before. This would involve me getting him up and down using the electric winch, however, which I have not done before. Option two was for me to go up the mast. I am not afraid of heights, and I trust Bill to get me up and down safely. So, we vied for option 2. Yesterday afternoon, after we polished the stainless on the deck of the boat, I got in the bosun's chair and up I went. I only made it to the first set of spreaders though (about a third of the way up the 64 foot mast). It is scary up there! Here are a few pictures from my sort-of adventure. We'll finish the chore in Annapolis when someone can help us.

We stayed in last night, played Yahtzee, watched a movie, had a big pasta dinner and experienced a pretty sunset on the river.

Full Circle.....

sv Mary Elizabeth entered the Chesapeake Bay today nine months, one week, three days, and one hour after leaving the Bay for the Caribbean last November. Over the past nine + months, Mary Elizabeth has been in four countries and has traveled easily over 4,000 miles. She has been visited by many of our friends and family from home and lots of others who we have met along the way. A few things have needed repair, but all in all she is an incredible boat. She has kept us safe in bad weather, sailed beautifully, crossed the Gulf Stream twice, sailed past the Statue of Liberty, and has been good to us in every way possible. We have enjoyed yahtzee games in the cockpit, meals on the grill, books in the sun, happy hour with cruisers, snorkeling in the afternoons, amazing sunsets, and exploring each and every place we have been. It is nice to look back as we have come full circle - and to look forward to all of the new exciting adventures to come. We are very fortunate indeed.

Georgetown, MD

The Chesapeake is as hot, still, and muggy as we remembered it being. The water is brackish and brown, but the scenery is stunning. There are amazing homes right on the water with lots of land.

We ended up at Georgetown, MD on the Sassafras River. We are on a mooring at the Georgetown Yacht Basin enjoying the beautiful day. It is quiet and lovely. Since we are without a tender (although hopefully not for long) we have plans to grill tonight. Tomorrow we have decided to go on a quest for some Maryland crabs - although we are unsure of what is around these parts. Bill hasn't been here since he was in college; for me it's my first time.

Our plans have changed slightly. We were supposed to go to Rock Hall after our trip to Baltimore with Andrea. We have decided (and Island Packet graciously agreed to accommodate us!) to put the work done on the boat off until September when we are in Florida visiting Bill's family. We'll leave boat (which is going to be out of the water so we can't stay on it during that time anyway) in Rock Hall while we are spending time in St Petersburg. So after Baltimore we will be exploring all of the places in the Chesapeake that we haven't yet seen (and visiting some of our old favorites too!) between now and the next few months. And around the middle of October -- after the Annapolis boat show, Katie's bridal shower, a few Redskins games, seeing friends, and other things we have planned -- we'll start to head south to the Carolinas. We have to stay north of Savannah, Georgia until November 15th. Plans for the winter season are still up in the air.