Enjoying Annapolis

 Monday, Oct. 8

We're still in Annapolis, still anchored back in Weem's Creek, a great location for
spending time here. The only difficulty is the need to haul the laptop into town to
get wireless. However, it leads to us sitting in coffee shops enjoying coffee, baked
goods or ice cream. Oh well, sometimes one must suffer.
Our dodger was completed in just two days - amazing and it is so wonderful to
have windows so clear we don't even know they are there. We also decided to
replace our house batteries here and found a place with fantastic prices and they
were able to deliver them to us that same day. Our house batteries weigh 160 pounds
each and Carol and I were able to remove the old ones, load them in the dinghy and
take them to shore. Frankie from Pasco brought the new ones to the dinghy and helped
me take them out to the boat and down into their place below the floorboards. Five
years ago I did it all by myself and this was a wiser way to do it all. Pasco was
great to deal with and I have been referring them to everyone I encounter. Perhaps
we could have completed our trip with the old batteries but this eased our minds. We
have been anchored out for a week and a half now, relying on our own power generation
and battery capacity, with lots more of this in the future.
Friday was spent at the Sailboat Show where we bought some odds and ends and had
a delightful day seeing boats and meeting people. We got some great info regarding how
best to operate our refrigerator and battery charging. This is the largest sailboat show in
the country and it was a beautiful day so there were lots of attendees. The creek where we
are anchored has been packed with boats this week and the dinghy dock has been parked
two boats deep.
Saturday and Sunday were spent attending informational seminars with lots of great
speakers and we had dinner with three other couples from back home, Bill and Sandy,
Andre and Janice, and Chuck and Betty. It was fun reconnecting and we rode all over
town Sunday with Chuck and Betty, shopping and checking out all the great haunts
they have discovered in their many years coming to the show here, eating dinner at
Cantler's, a popular spot especially for crabs.
Monday, Steve Richardson was able to drive over and meet us for lunch at Davis Pub
in Eastport and it was good to spend time with him. He lives over near Galeville on
the West River. Carol and I have been putting lots of miles on our bikes here in
Annapolis.
Thursday I finally bit the bullit and climbed the mast to troubleshoot the masthead
anchor light I had installed on the mast while it was down going through the canal.
Carol did a great job cranking me up the mast with the halyard and after two hours
up there I was able to figure things out and reconnect things. Everyone ought to try
this sometime, making wire connections using only one hand, at the extreme end
of your reach while hanging by a rope, 60 feet in the air. Good news! It works now.
We'll be here in Annapolis until Wednesday waiting for our absentee ballot to reach
us at the post office here.