Baltimore (or Balamer)

John Hancock, who's bold signature is on the Declaration of Independence, called Baltimore a filthy hole full of thieves and loose women.  Actually his remarks were more crude.  The city has improved since then.  We are staying at a marina tonight that is in the middle of downtown.  We are surrounded by a frenzy of human activity as the Memorial Day weekend starts.  There are hotels, restaurants, museums, street singers, jugglers, comedians, tour boats and water taxi craft all around.  The city is an exciting mix of building styles.  Modern mixed with old.  It is a colorful scene to say the least.  We found the 4th cottage light house.  Photo attached; it isn't white like the others.  This one is red!.  It was the Seven Foot Knoll Light before being moved to Baltimore as a museum and historical site.  I couldn't begin to name all the museums within walking distance of us - but for starters, the last war ship to survive Pearl Harbor, the light ship Chesapeake, the submarine USS Torsk, a replica of the US Constitution, Science Museum, Walters Art Museum, I'm out of breath.  Far too many to see in a week let alone a day.  Oh, the National Aquarium too.  And.....Rain forest under glass.

The photos are:

Seven Foot Knoll Light

Fort McHenry with downtown Baltimore in the background.

We saw a very unique aid to navigation (bouy) today as we were approaching the Inner Harbor.  There is a red/white/blue marker that identifies the spot where Francis Scott Key observed the battle at Ft. McHenry.  This battle inspired him to write the Star Spangled Banner.  We saw the original flag at the Smithsonian last month.

The waterfront neighborhoods of Federal Hill, Little Italy, Fell's Point, Vernon, and Canton were just too much to see in one day.  A small part of Vernon and Little Italy was all we could walk in an afternoon.  I guess we'll have to come back.

The crab fishing has been a bust so far.  The northern bay has a low salinity level this time of year so the crabs are further south.  That's where we are heading.  We should be in good crab fishing territory by Monday.  Stay tuned.

Annapolis

We have spent 2 days here in Annapolis and will depart for the Chester River tomorrow.  Trying to predict the spring time weather has been a challenge.  The few nice sunny days we have had provide wonderful moderate temperatures with low humidity and plenty of chances to sail or sight see.  Spring for the commercial fishermen brings newly painted crab trap bouys and fresh paint on boats.  We will send some photos of the commercial boats from time to  time when we get close enough for good shots.  The oyster season is winding down and the crabbing season is starting up in the northern bay.  The boats are truely unique.  Annapolis has a large well kept historic waterfront district.  We are fortunate to be at a mooring right in front of the historic district and a very short dinghy ride to restaurants, shops and historic buildings.  Annapolis considers itself the yachting capital of the east coast and you can find every size and type of boat imaginable.  For evening entertainment before dinner we sit on our boat and watch the action as small racing prams, class racers and large cruisers go by like so many butterflies with billowing sails.  Maryland was first settled at St. Marys (a place we will visit in a few weeks) as a business venture not as a place for those to flee religious persecution like more northern colonies.    The Maryland State House (photo) was built in the 1770's and has been the continual seat of Maryland government since pre-Revolutionary War times.  At the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington resigned his commission as general in this building and thus was positioned to become the first President of the new republic.   The Naval Academy is located here.  Each evening you see midshipmen and women in dress whites walking in town.  It makes for a stirring sight to think of all the sailors who have passed through these streets only to go on to serve our nation in war and peace.  As you walk the campus you see memorials to many of those who served and achieved greatness.  

The photos are:

Our view of the waterfront

Chapel on the Naval Academy campus

Maryland State House

3 harbor sailing scenes in the late afternoon

Ship in Delegren Hall on the Naval Academy campus

Uninvited guests on our dinghy each evening

Rhode River anchrage

OK, I'm experiementing with Google Maps and trying to figure out how to post a map on this blog.  Click on MAP and (hopefully) you will see where we are.  You can toggle between map views or satellite views and zoom in/out.  If you don't see a little bubble in a spot east of Washington DC, I screwed up.

This lighthouse photo is of New Point Comfort light near Solomons, MD.  As you can see, it was a little hazy the day I took this one.

Chesapeake Lighthouses

The docent who talked to us about Chesapeake lighthouses says there are 4 left like the elevated octagons in the pictures.  The 2nd photo is of one that is still a working lighthouse located at Thomas Point near Annapolis.  The top photo is the Drum Point light that is now a museum in Solomons, MD.  The 3rd is the Hooper Strait light that is now a museum in St. Michaels, MD.  No photo yet, but we have visited it. I haven't found the 4th one, but the chase is on.  The top level of the house is for the light.  It only contains enough room for the light and a small walkway around it for service.  The 2nd level down contains a large bell and the apparatus used to operate it.  A manual hand lever gets the bell going if there is fog.  A counter weight like a grandfather clock's is used to keep the bell's clapper going for up to two hours.  There is a bedroom on this floor.  The 3rd floor from the top is the living quarters for the lighthouse keeper and his family.  The living area is roughly a 40' circle.  Some families were as large as 11 people.  The lower 4th level is open to the air and was used to store supplies and to house small farm animals - chickens, goats and a cow.  The lighthouse keeper and family remained on duty for a month at a time before given a short relief.

We are now near Galesville, MD hiding out waiting for a strong cold front to pass tonight.  We are expecting gale force winds so the name of the town is appropriate.  We are safely tucked into a cove up next to an island with tall trees to our west which should protect us from the strongest winds which will be from the west and northwest.

More later, the batteries need a charge.

Sailors playing tourist (on land)

The rain continues.  The stationary front has been sitting on top of us for 6 days now and is expected to continue for another couple of days.  It has rained every day we have been here.  We are almost ready to go.  We need a few more provisions which we will buy tomorrow (Wed).  Thursday we will top off the water tanks, do a last batch of laundry and say goodbye to Spring Cove Marina for a few weeks.  Our car will remain here.  We will eventually come back to get it and move it further south as we move the boat further south.  Yesterday we drove to D.C. and played tourist.  We visited two of the Smithsonian Museums - American History & Natural History. We also walked the mall and gawked at some of the monuments.  We saw the WW II momorial.  It was not built when we last visited DC. It was a cold and wet day.  One of those days when it's not quite rain and not quite heavy fog.  But quite miserable.  The museums were warm...and interesting of course.  Today we went to a park near here that had a walking trail through woods along a small creek (it would be called a run in WV) that ran steeply down hill to a fresh water marsh  that emptied into the Chesapeake Bay.  On each side of the marsh were the Calvert Cliffs  The cliffs are 30+ feet high and mostly a clay/sand mix where fossels of critters from 10+ million years ago are often found as parts of the cliff crumble into the bay from time to time.  We talked to a paleontologist at Calvert Marine Museum across the street from our marina about the history of the bay.   Ten million  years ago it was a sea floor.  He showed us fossils of sharks, dolphins and some rather bizarre fish-like animals that had been excavated from the cliffs.  We found no dinasour bones on our exploritory trip but Diane did find some sharks teeth.  Here first ones in MD.  She will add these to the many shark's teeth and shells that clutter my garage.  The photos I am attaching to this post are of the marsh and cliffs I mention above.  Sorry, no photos of DC; we forgot to bring the camera!

Rain rain go away

Sea Breeze was launched Tuesday morning and we were on the boat cleaning and provisioning by Tuesday afternoon.  Anxious to get back on the water?  You bet.  It's been raining since Wednesday so we have used our time getting all the little spring cleaning projects checked off the list.  Everything seems to work - engine, lights, pumps, refrigeration, etc.  Only one loose wire and one corroded wire have needed servicing.  We have also enjoyed doing some sightseeing in the area and getting reaquainted with friends we made here in the marina last fall.  

If you click on map a link will take you to Google Maps and you can see where we are.  You can use all the Google Map features to zoom in or out, and toggle between street map view or terrain view.  One word of caution.......If you click to open the map and then want to come back to this blog, you should use the BACK or LEFT ARROW in the upper left corner of the screen.  If you use the X to close the map, it also closes the blog.

The next crew member of Sea Breeze

Grandson Owen is dressing the part of a Sea Breeze crew member in the top photo. In the bottom photo he and I enjoy a little talk at the Jacksonville, FL naval air show last fall.