We were under way at 7.00am this morning, which I believe was just after sunrise, but I sure couldn’t tell.  There was just shy of 20 knots of wind, gun metal grey turbulent waters with white caps, and a sky only slightly lighter than the water.  The wind was coming from diagonally behind us, which made Bob happy, but also made the boat roll from side to side….ugh.  I watched the ‘levo-gauge’ go from 25 degrees on one side of level to 30 degrees on the other side of level.  Bob realized within our first few minutes out that he’d better find the stugeron for me.

Should I also mention that winter is nipping at our heels as we hurry south?  For the past two days we’ve awakened to temps in the mid 40s with the highs for the past two days in the mid-50s.  Have I mentioned that I only get warm showers, at best.  Sometimes I’d say they are tepid showers.  I’m getting seriously cold….

So today when I huddled down below, wrapped in a blanket on the settee, wearing my warmest clothes: one of only two full length pants (my summer weight jeans), one of only two turtleneckes (I wore the other one yesterday), my pullover fleece (why didn’t I bring any of my wool sweaters???), and luckily one of several of my hand knit wool socks, I began to think about what I could do to remedy this situation.  I have a number of sweaters that are near completion with me onboard, but, although they are wool, they are not what I’d call useful sweaters.  They are all cardigans with no buttons….jackets and such that are meant to be fashionable, not serviceable.  I began to think about the yarns I brought with me and the projects they are slated to become.  I remembered some yarn that I saw in the top of the first bin (easily accessible in the madly rolling conditions) and the ‘wingspan’ shawl pattern that goes with it.  I managed to get it out.  I opened up my iPad and found the pattern and the requirements, found the appropriate needles and some stitch markers.  I found my earbuds and opened up a Cast-On podcast to begin my shawl.  This project was to be for some future situation when I might hear about someone who might need a little love in the form of a knitted shawl which would represent my hugging them….  Well, sometimes you have to wrap yourself in your own hug to stay WARM…..

No photos of where we went today.  I spent the whole day down below!  We sailed until 5.30 pm and tucked into the Potomac River, into an estuary called Glebe’s Creek.  I learned in the guidebook that ‘glebe’ is an English word for a plot of land given to clergymen.  They could farm it or let it for extra income, and it’s another example to me of how much closer were the south’s ties with England than the north’s.

Two firsts today:  Bob saw a pelican!

What a marvelous bird is the pelican
His bill can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak enough food for a week
I wonder how in the hell he can! 

And we have crossed the line from Maryland to Virginia. Glebe Creek is a quiet little spot, and we are enjoying the peace after a week in Annapolis! The wind is howling but we are in a snug little spot in calm water.  I made a dinner of comfort food…penne with my best effort at Alfredo.  How can you go wrong with cream and fontina?  We cut the fat with a salad that included a ripe tomato that I picked totally green from my garden a month ago.  I never imagined that they would ripen before rotting.  But they are perfect!

Here are the last two FOs (finished objects) that have made their way to their rightful owners.

And here is the beginning of my ‘Wingspan’ shawl.  I finished two sections and started the third today.  Could I wrap up in it by this weekend??

Day 29, October 9: Annapolis to Potomac River

About 75 boats and lots of cars (new word, CLODS: “Cruisers Living On Dirt) arrived at Camp Letts on the Rhodes River just south of Annapolis for a long weekend of seminars for long distance cruisers.  Bob was in sailor heaven, getting to share his passion with so many other like minded sailors, and getting to meet some of his cruising gurus:  Nigel Calder, Lynn and Larry Parday, and Hal Roth’s widow Michelle.  It was a quite the gathering of famous cruisers…

Each day from Friday through Sunday we had catered breakfasts, lunches and dinners ashore, with two morning seminars and two afternoon seminars.  It was a very busy weekend, and we fell into bed exhausted each night!  We met lots of people who will be spending the fall heading to various exotic locations, and some of them will be heading to the Bahamas like we are!  This gathering was a way of not only learning some important techniques and ideas from well known sailing authorities, but also a way to meet the folks who’ll be traveling to the same destination we are, or traveling to destinations that we hope to go in the future.  I can see why this yearly gathering of sailors is so important!

Bob and I took seminars on lots of subjects relating to long distance cruising, and I knitted through most of them.  The baby sweater is now finished and I’m nearing the end of the second front of my Vivian Hoxbro “Ann Jacket.”

Now we are in Annapolis, anchored right where all the hoopla is going on to get the Boat Show set up.  Bob is like a little kid at camp, enjoying watching all the pilings get driven in and the temporary docks being assembled.  As the next few days go by lots of show boats will get put on those docks.  We will be in the thick of it….

Today’s chores are laundry, restocking the larder, and mailing the shawl and the baby sweater!  ….mixed in with reconnecting with lots of friends who come to this boat show every year. This is our first year to arrive by boat rather than by car.

Days 17 – 20, Sept. 27 – 30: Camp Letts, Rhodes River

Day 21:  Annapolis  We are going to be here almost a week.  It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been out sailing for 3 weeks today.  In many ways it seems like a lot longer.  By the time we leave Annapolis next week, we will have been gone a month….and only have traveled such a small distance, 477 miles!  We have a lot more ground to cover to get to Vero Beach by early December, another 1200 miles or so.  It will be time to make tracks!