Cruisin' in 2017

We began the 2017 season in April. Early spring and the month of June were spent along the Choptank shaking out the winter cobwebs.
We joined the Mainline Sail and Power Squadron at the end of 2016. They have a cruise of approximately 15 boats each summer. Of course, we couldn't miss this! It started on Friday, July 7th in Annapolis. The first boat crawl was at 5:00 on Barb and Russ Jones' boat. A boat crawl is a gathering of everyone on one boat for cocktails and snacks. There was alot of cocktails and snacks. From there, we all went out to dinner. From Annapolis, we went to Herrington Harbor South Marina. This was 2 wonderful days at a Marina. We even had a Luau. We enjoyed the pool and just relaxed.  Bill and I are not usually staying at marinas. So, this was a treat.

From Herrington Harbor, we sailed to St. Michael's.  The rest of the group stayed at the St. Micheal's Marina and we opted to sail up Broad Creek to San Domingo Creek on the back side of St. Michael's. We could walk to the marina for another boat crawl and dinner out. Our plans were to leave early for a trip we had planned. We were going to France on a Viking Cruise. Unfortulately, Bill took ill, and we had to postpone the trip. We did get there, in March 2018.
After recuperating, we spent the rest of our summer on the bay. We go up to Whorten Creek to swim. Too many jellyfish are on the Choptank.
Our season ended on November 4th when we took the boat over to Yacht Maintenance in Cambridge, MD for winter storage

Season 2016

We began our 2016 season in May. We stayed around the Choptank River during our first few weeks of sailing. Shake down cruises are usually close to the marina, just in case. We have a slip at the Cambridge Municipal Yacht Basin where we have kept the Deborah Lee for the last 15 years. We found her there and we stayed. It's a little treasure in the Chesapeake. Cambridge has everything we need for sailing. West Marine is just a town away in Easton.
One of our favorite destinations after a great afternoon of sailing is La Trappe Creek. We have always referred to it as Trappe. It is a great little cove just an hour's motoring from Cambridge. It is protected from fetch. And the locals with their powers boats pull their boats up to the beach for an afternoon of socializing and swimming. It's is really a delightful place. Many times, we have found ourselves alone after everyone has gone home. This is a painting I did of a beautiful evening sky at Trappe.

We visited our usual haunts again in 2016. Zahnizer's in Solomns, a mooring ball in Annapolis, Whorten Creek.
We had our friend, Fran Morrison, down for a sail. It has become an annual day of Fran coming for the day, then going out to dinner. We spent many, many  hours sailing with Fran and John Morrison. After John passed, we had Fran come down to the boat for a day of sailing.
We took a land trip in July and went to San Francisco and up the coast. It was a wonderful trip and beautiful scenery.

We ended our season on November 5th after taking our boat over to Yacht Maintenance for a haul-out for winter storage.
Another great year on the water.