Annapolis

Hi all...........

Yes, we are still in Annapolis.  We arrived last Thursday, and haven't stopped since.  Thursday was a "clean up everything" day.....us, laundry, and the boat.  After not being at a marina for a couple of weeks, laundry had piled up, and the boat and us needed good baths.

Ian,   Mike and Trudie's friend Cynthia arrived on Friday to kick off the weekend.  We took a water taxi to downtown Annapolis and partied hardy !!  On Saturday, we were off to the the boatshow.  We spent the whole day wandering around drooling over goodies we just had to have, but could not afford on our "new" budget.  Sunday was a hang out day to recoop from Friday and Saturday.  Mike and I installed a new heater just in time.  By Sunday night,  the temps dropped and we were happy to have it.  (Our old heater was 10 years old and the cost of maintainance and lack of available parts made the decision easy....but not easy on the cruising budget !!)  First thing Monday morning we left the marina and picked up a mooring in Back Creek which is just southeast of Annapolis.  It was good to get off the dock and feel the boat moving with wind and wave. 

While we were here, we took advantage of North Sails which made the entire inventory of sails for Persephone.  Last week I noticed a small chafe spot on our headsail and wanted to get it repaired before any further damage was done.  So, we took the sail down and brought it to the sail maker.  Appears that the repairs are minor and we will have the sail back tomorrow AM.  With that, we are anxious to get back "on the road south".

Tonight we will start plotting our next stop.  Probably Solomon's Island which is about 40 miles down the Bay.  After that, we would like to get into Virginia by the end of the week and begin the trek down the "ditch"....the Intercoastal Waterway.  (The ICW is an inter-connected series of rivers, canals, bays and sounds which starts in Norfolk, VA and goes all the way to Florida.  This eliminates the need to sail "off shore", but it is mostly mortoring in pretty shallow waters.  We already know we will not be able to use the Ditch in South Carolina and Georgia because of our draft; so we have to go outside.

Decisions, decisions.....we will keep you posted on our progress.  As for now, we have another day in the Annapolis area and plan of leaving Thursday (provided the sail is ready)   Did I hear someone say something about another Painkiller ??