Larry had accomplished many of the little (and some not so little) jobs while the rest of us were in Washington, and we began to set our sites on Baltimore....however, Murphy had other ideas for us! If it isn't one thing it's 4 more as one of our "neighbours" commented one morning. The latest problems include radar that has ceased to work for unknown reasons. I'm rather keen on having radar, so that no freighters can sneak up on me at night!
The other problem that kept us in Annapolis longer than planned was Larry's computer...he just got it before we left and it is our main computer for charting/navigation, email (via the ham radio) etc...and it started acting up, and soon enough the stupid thing would not work at all. So we called Dell (after a few trials of making it work again, which involved Larry reloading Vista (boo hiss) and virtually losing everything we had saved on the computer, including my pics and my music! Whaaaa. It is there somewhere, but we don't know how to access it! Here's the part where any computer geniuses can tell us what to do to retreive these files...) Anyway, we had bought a "next day" service package from Dell, but in the end it took over a week for them to come to the boat (a first for the tech) with the right parts and fix the damn thing! So far it is working fine now, but we still don't know how to retreive the old files....no one likes working on Vista, thats for sure, and we wish this computer had xp....sigh!
So the long and the short of it was that we spent 3 weeks in Spa Creek in Annapolis, met some really great folks and made some nice friends. The spot we were anchored was really close to a great park for the dog, and for Graham to fish, close to town for showers and laundry and grocery shopping. Not too shabby!
We also bought a new radar system and a gas generator (so we can use a/c power for things like power tools, my computer, charging stuff and of course, charging the boats batteries). This happened on Larry's birthday, so it was considered his present! Now it only had to be installed!! Poor man, more work to be done! The Boat Show was fast approaching, and with it, the anchorage was filling up with people who were planning to work the show, and those who were going to visit the show. We knew that if or when we left our spot, it would be taken immediately! We had plans to go to the Whitby Rendevous and go to Baltimore, so we knew we were going to have to leave our peaceful spot!
Before we left, we went out to dinner with friends Susan and Barry (Night Hawk) from Nova Scotia, and had a great time. Susan and Barry have a great receipe for fricasse of chart plotter, which we hope never to duplicate! It involves leaving your chart plotter in the oven (where it was placed for safety during a thunderstorm) and then putting the oven on the next morning to make biscuts...oh dear!! On our dingy ride back from dinner, we stopped to see John and BobbyJo on "Don't Look Back" a Lagoon 38 - a catermaran, and quite something to behold! The kids would be in heaven to live on a boat like that - it is big and spacious, but for sea worthiness on ocean crossings, I'll take the Whitby (Star Shadow) anytime! We were also fortunate to have met Bob and Rusty (Morning Light) who have a car which they are kind enough to loan us when we need to do some heavy duty grocery shopping. Bob is teaching us how to be pirates, and accept offerings gracefully! I'm not sure how that makes us pirates, but there you go!
We said our goodbyes to our friends, and on Sept 28 we headed for the Whitby Rendevous at nearby Whitehall Creek, and then onward to Baltimore!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Look out Washington DC, here we come!
We rented a car and prepared to head to DC on sept 10. Everyone was excited about it, and looking forward to another adventure! So it got started early, when hyw 50 west was closed, and that was the only way I knew how to get to DC! We headed up toward Baltimore instead, and I stopped at a gas station and bought a map and got directions. We had booked a hotel in Rockville (north of DC) and so we headed there first. We only had one navigational error on the way (which is pretty good for us!) and we were happily in Rockville by about 1 pm. We found a great Italian restaurant for lunch, and then headed to the hotel. We were all kind of hot and tired, so we just chilled in the room for the rest of the day. I was sent out on a mission for chips and chocolate and pop (and rum), and we relaxed and enjoyed TV (wow!) and air conditioning!
The morning (Sept 11, kind of creepy actually) dawned cool and rainy, and we hustled down to the complimentary breakfast, only to discover that there was no food left! not even coffee!!! Man was I steamed. We ended up going out for breakfast in Rockville before leaving the car at the park and ride at the metro station. The nice man in the booth helped us get day pass tickets and we were off! The DC metro is amazing! there are about 4 or 5 different lines and they go everywhere! And quiet! Nothing like Toronto's subway. Anyway, we headed into DC and prepared to see the sites!
It really is something else! Everything is so BIG! The buildings are amazing, beautiful to look at. We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, took in an Imax film about the space station (3D and very cool), and wandered around some more trying to figure out where we were going! We headed to the International Spy Museum, which was really cool and fun! While we were there, (never a dull moment in our lives), the fire alarm went off and we had to be evacuated! We did see smoke coming out of the top of the building, but it couldn't have been too serious because the fire trucks didn't stay too long.
Anyway, we decided that as we were just about done there, we would go in search of food. We wandered a bit more, and found a Starbucks and stopped in for a snack. While we were there (again, never a dull moment...) there was a rucus and a bloodcurdling scream, and soon one of the servers came to our table saying they had to close because a huge RAT had just run across the floor!! The poor guy was shooing us out from his vantage point on a chair! What an afternoon! We made our way back on the metro to Rockville, and drove around a bit looking for some shopping opportunities. They are few and far between in Rockville - all we could find were restaurants! Clare was disappointed because she was anticipating doing some serious shopping in DC!
Next day was Graham's birthday and it was a gorgeous day! We had a breakfast celebration (waffles all around) and got off to a late start for site seeing. We wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial, so we headed on the Metro to "Foggy Bottom" stop, and had a long walk to get to it from there. At any rate, it was very impressive to see the statue up close, and the reflecting pool with the Washington Monument at it's foot. The Vietnam Memorial was also awesome and really touching for me.
After that we took a cab back downtown to see what shopping experiences might await us there! We did find a few shops, but not what Clare was looking for (back packs, skate boards etc) so we hopped back on the metro and went to a huge shopping centre, not unlike the Eaton Centre in Toronto. Some cool shops, but still no luck for Clare. I was bagged and still had to drive back to Annapolis, so we headed back to the car and got ready to go home. The drive back was uneventful, if slow, and we didn't get back until about 8 pm. I had been trying to call Larry on the cell phone all day without luck and now we had returned the car and had to get back to the boat! (I later found out that I was dialing the wrong number - duh!) Since it was dark and he wouldn't see us from the street access near where we were moored, we ended up taking a water taxi, which was kind of fun! When the driver learned it was Grahams birthday, he let him drive the boat!
Larry had baked a beautiful birthday cake for Graham which we all enjoyed while he opened presents and we told stories of our adventures!
We could have stayed in DC for several more days to see more of the museums, and I'm thinking that we may make one or 2 day trips back there when we get to Baltimore (you can get there by city transit!) It is difficult to see a lot in one day due to the shear size of the place, but I sure wished we had seen more!
The morning (Sept 11, kind of creepy actually) dawned cool and rainy, and we hustled down to the complimentary breakfast, only to discover that there was no food left! not even coffee!!! Man was I steamed. We ended up going out for breakfast in Rockville before leaving the car at the park and ride at the metro station. The nice man in the booth helped us get day pass tickets and we were off! The DC metro is amazing! there are about 4 or 5 different lines and they go everywhere! And quiet! Nothing like Toronto's subway. Anyway, we headed into DC and prepared to see the sites!
It really is something else! Everything is so BIG! The buildings are amazing, beautiful to look at. We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, took in an Imax film about the space station (3D and very cool), and wandered around some more trying to figure out where we were going! We headed to the International Spy Museum, which was really cool and fun! While we were there, (never a dull moment in our lives), the fire alarm went off and we had to be evacuated! We did see smoke coming out of the top of the building, but it couldn't have been too serious because the fire trucks didn't stay too long.
Anyway, we decided that as we were just about done there, we would go in search of food. We wandered a bit more, and found a Starbucks and stopped in for a snack. While we were there (again, never a dull moment...) there was a rucus and a bloodcurdling scream, and soon one of the servers came to our table saying they had to close because a huge RAT had just run across the floor!! The poor guy was shooing us out from his vantage point on a chair! What an afternoon! We made our way back on the metro to Rockville, and drove around a bit looking for some shopping opportunities. They are few and far between in Rockville - all we could find were restaurants! Clare was disappointed because she was anticipating doing some serious shopping in DC!
Next day was Graham's birthday and it was a gorgeous day! We had a breakfast celebration (waffles all around) and got off to a late start for site seeing. We wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial, so we headed on the Metro to "Foggy Bottom" stop, and had a long walk to get to it from there. At any rate, it was very impressive to see the statue up close, and the reflecting pool with the Washington Monument at it's foot. The Vietnam Memorial was also awesome and really touching for me.
After that we took a cab back downtown to see what shopping experiences might await us there! We did find a few shops, but not what Clare was looking for (back packs, skate boards etc) so we hopped back on the metro and went to a huge shopping centre, not unlike the Eaton Centre in Toronto. Some cool shops, but still no luck for Clare. I was bagged and still had to drive back to Annapolis, so we headed back to the car and got ready to go home. The drive back was uneventful, if slow, and we didn't get back until about 8 pm. I had been trying to call Larry on the cell phone all day without luck and now we had returned the car and had to get back to the boat! (I later found out that I was dialing the wrong number - duh!) Since it was dark and he wouldn't see us from the street access near where we were moored, we ended up taking a water taxi, which was kind of fun! When the driver learned it was Grahams birthday, he let him drive the boat!
Larry had baked a beautiful birthday cake for Graham which we all enjoyed while he opened presents and we told stories of our adventures!
We could have stayed in DC for several more days to see more of the museums, and I'm thinking that we may make one or 2 day trips back there when we get to Baltimore (you can get there by city transit!) It is difficult to see a lot in one day due to the shear size of the place, but I sure wished we had seen more!
Getting out of Dodge (or Deale)
So we finally got away from Shipwright Harbour in Deale (it was great while we were there, but we were ALL eager to get away) and had a fantastic sail up to Annapolis. We did it in about 4 hrs, and got in around 3 pm. We had to go under the draw bridge up Spa Creek, and that turned out to be a small adventure! The wind was quite strong, and we had to sort of circle the boat until the draw bridge opened (every 1/2 hr). We drifted rather close to the bridge, and when it opened we were not in the right position to get through the opening (it isn't all that big!), so we ended up missing our opportunity! Anyway, lesson learned, we were prepared for the next opening, and 3:30 came and went and the bridge master didn't open it! I ended up phoning him to enquire, and he said he would open it in 24 minutes (ie, 4 pm!) The bastard! He must have thought it was good sport to watch us. Anyway, at 4 pm there were several other boats waiting to cross, so we were first in line and got through uneventfully! Sheesh. Anyway, we picked up a mooring ball and got settled in.
It is a lovely harbour, and there was a triathelon going on over the weekend, so there were tons of people, bikes and things to see. Oh ya, and the Navy guys - lots of men (and some women too) in their whites strolling around looking distinctly navel! We figured out the bus system and did some shopping (Graham's birthday was coming!) and I had a chance to get a much needed haircut! So we've been enjoying ourselves here in Annapolis and Larry is taking the opportunity to continue to work on boat projects! (These never end)
We've met some really nice folks here - lots of live-aboards and people who have been cruising for years. They have lots of advice to offer, and stories to tell! Good fun.
The dog still hasnt' learned to pee on the boat (thanks for all the suggestions we've received, we'll keep on trying them!), but he isn't suffering either! There is a great park not far from where we were moored, and Larry got in the routine of taking him there for an early morning romp, to let him really have a good run! The rest of the time, he comes with us whenever we go ashore (he still makes a god awful racket when we leave him alone on the boat) and gets to see what we see! We were talking to a couple on a lovely Bayfield who said it took their dog a long time to learn, but eventually she did. Their daughter, who is a vet, said that they can hold it a long time, but when they can't any longer, they will go - it is the owners who suffer in the interim!! Boy can I relate to that! I lose sleep when I think he has gone too long without a bathroom break!
Ah well, the trials and tribulations!
The plan was to leave Larry on the boat for a couple of days to work on "things" and I would take the kids to Washington DC for a field trip....will DC ever be the same??
It is a lovely harbour, and there was a triathelon going on over the weekend, so there were tons of people, bikes and things to see. Oh ya, and the Navy guys - lots of men (and some women too) in their whites strolling around looking distinctly navel! We figured out the bus system and did some shopping (Graham's birthday was coming!) and I had a chance to get a much needed haircut! So we've been enjoying ourselves here in Annapolis and Larry is taking the opportunity to continue to work on boat projects! (These never end)
We've met some really nice folks here - lots of live-aboards and people who have been cruising for years. They have lots of advice to offer, and stories to tell! Good fun.
The dog still hasnt' learned to pee on the boat (thanks for all the suggestions we've received, we'll keep on trying them!), but he isn't suffering either! There is a great park not far from where we were moored, and Larry got in the routine of taking him there for an early morning romp, to let him really have a good run! The rest of the time, he comes with us whenever we go ashore (he still makes a god awful racket when we leave him alone on the boat) and gets to see what we see! We were talking to a couple on a lovely Bayfield who said it took their dog a long time to learn, but eventually she did. Their daughter, who is a vet, said that they can hold it a long time, but when they can't any longer, they will go - it is the owners who suffer in the interim!! Boy can I relate to that! I lose sleep when I think he has gone too long without a bathroom break!
Ah well, the trials and tribulations!
The plan was to leave Larry on the boat for a couple of days to work on "things" and I would take the kids to Washington DC for a field trip....will DC ever be the same??
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