Tucked into a peaceful, wide open, serene anchorage away from all towns and marinas for a gorgeous slow setting of the sun and rise of the new moon simultaneously. The sun was so warm that I decided to jump into the water. I got to check the Volvo’s prop for the first time since Plattsburgh. Then I got right out and dried off. It’ not *that* warm yet!

Practiced gybeing downwind instead of running before the wind on our way from there to Solomons Island today. Watched Navy helicopters practice low-level exercises/trainings within a mile of us over the water. Their spray made rainbows.

Everyone here at Solomons is overwhelmingly warm and nice. The place is immaculate and luxurious and all the needed stores are just a short walk away. Four sailboats (plus us) will be departing here tomorrow morning to head south to Norfolk Virginia and then to the ICW from there. Sweet!

They have the most wonderful lighthouses here. Lighthouses are like yurts in so many ways, but the ones here are most of all. They are octagonal and short–about two stories tall in all, and they are on a platform up above the surface too.

Lala was industrious and has woven curtains on her portable loom. She got the sewing machine out and hemmed them right here in the kitchen!

The cats are healthy and happy. They just sleep a lot and come out to play in the evenings when we are anchored. They are yummy!

This breaking news just in: K. has broken the cold barrier and gone for a swim! Granted he was only in the water for 60 seconds, but he did rip off clothes and jump into the Cheasapeake Bay during the heat wave we experienced today of 6o degrees.

I, however, remained wimpy in my two pairs of long johns and 3 other layers of clothing.

The highlight of my day was weaving on the deck of our sailboat in the sun! Today I finished weaving curtains for the V-berth of our boat! Photos are coming soon, so please stay tuned…..

Yesterday in Annapolis K. and I both spent big bucks on new and improved sunglasses. The cheap pair I had been using were better than nothing, but every day I was experiencing severe eye fatigue and eyestrain that I believe was contributing to the frustrated and tired meltdowns I have often had at the end of a day on the water.
So I finally got a really good pair of sunglasses, the darkest available on the market, polarized and featuring other high tech optic technology to protect my precious eyes.
While I was enjoying them this morning while sailing for several hours straight into the glaring sun, I pondered how in the heck people sailed, boated, and fished for thousands of years without things like sunglasses. Forget not having a motor or a map or a depth sounder. They didn’t even have sunglasses! My respect for the hardiness of sailors from days gone by goes up daily.

While I’m at it, here are some other random reflections…..
Of all the places we have been so far on this first leg of our trip, the place I have found the most gorgeous is where we started: Lake Champlain. It is the primary place we have been that I would like to go back to and spend more time (although not right now because it is even colder up there!!!). One of our favorite spots on Lake Champlain was Chipman’s Point, which we mentioned in an earlier post. While we were there, we met another couple getting ready to go sailing on a boat the same size as ours. (they are literally the only other people we have met living aboard a sailboat that small, and they impressed us greatly by telling us they had spent 10 years living and sailing around the world on their 27 foot sailboat!)
Yesterday while we were walking down the street in Annapolis, we ran into the couple from Chipman’s Point! They recognized us and came over to chat. It was so fun to run into people we (sort of) knew! They are traveling without a cellphone (gasp!) and were telling us of their adventures trying to find a payphone. They had asked around to the locals and someone told them there was one down the street but that it was rumored that the phone company was going to take it out day now. They located it and made some calls, and then ran some errands and came back to make some more calls a few hours later only to find it had just been removed! Pay phones are becoming a thing of the past, and soon we will ponder how in the world people could ever manage sailing without a cellphone….

Today we arrived in Sailboat City, “aka Annnapolis, Maryland”.

Annapolis boasts itself as the “Sailing Capital of America”.

We read that in one of our guidebooks, and decided that maybe we should stop there for at least an afternoon to check it out. I, like many Midwesterners, barely knew anything about Annapolis, other than that it is the capital of Maryland. I never thought seriously about going there, or about what hidden beauties it might hold.
We headed into one of the numerous bays surrounding Annapolis in a perfect wind, heading us straight into the harbor at 6 knots. As we headed into the harbor from the Chesapeake Bay, we encountered a entire sailing team racing with their glorious, colorful spinnakers hoisted to the wind. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen on our entire trip thus far! An appropriate welcome to the city of sailors!

We entered the crowded bay to find literally thousands of sailboats in the harbor. Gorgeous sailboats of every kind where everywhere around us. Not just a few sailboats among mostly powerboats or fishing boats. This is definitely the sailboating mecca of North America. The entire city is oriented around sailboats. Once we had anchored our boat among the sailboats crowding the harbor, we took our dinghy to one of the city docks, and walked easily into the historical center of Annapolis, which we learned has more remaining 18th century buildings than any other in America.
Who knew?!? Annapolis charmed us immediately. As soon as we saw the city reserved a dock smack dab in the middle of the hoppin’ historical district for dinghys, we were HOOKED on this adorable colonial town filled with wonderfully preserved buildings from the 1700’s. Shops, restaurants, art galleries, tiny alleyways, cobblestone streets, all centered around marinas featuring thousands of glorious SAILBOATS.
After a brief walking tour of the historical district which included the marvelous state capital surrounded by charming colonial streets, we decided to have a light dinner at Middleton’s Tavern, a tavern dating back to 1750. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were all reported to have stayed here during the Revolution.
We enjoyed a “Seafood Tower”, a sampling of many of the local seafood delicacies from the Chesapeake Bay: Oysters, Crabs, and other seafood all presented on a 3 tiered towerer. Combine that with a few local brewed beers, and we were happy sailors indeed.

Last night I said that tomorrow we were going enjoy a vacation on the Chesapeake, and enjoy we did! This has been a marvelous break from the intensity of traveling, trying to put on miles, navigational challenges, battling the storm in the COLD, COLD (did I mention cold?) wind and pushing, pushing, pushing south. We even enjoyed a LONG, HOT SHOWER at one of the many local marinas who sympathize with sailing cruisers.

Today has been a day to stop and smell the roses.

South, south, south, we are heading south! Ooops, except for today which found us going north all day up the Delaware Bay. Why on Earth would we do that, you ask? We were about to get hit with nasty weather on the coast and we had basically two options–wait it out, or take a little detour through the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, where the weather is supposed to be a bit calmer. We decided it would be interesting to check out these areas, which are renowned as excellent sailing grounds.
The Delaware Bay turned out to have much rougher waters than we expected, and we dealt with the biggest waves we have encountered on our trip so far. We even reached our all time record speed of 9.6 knots while surfing down one of the big waves today!
We also had our first (and hopefully last!!!) close call with a gigantic tanker ship. It was just after nightfall and we were nearing our anchorage. I was stressing out about navigating in the dark, and K. was reassuring me saying “there’s no other boats around, there is nothing to worry about!” We had just turned into a channel and
were in the midst of taking our sail down. Suddenly we heard an extremely loud horn behind us. If we had a podcast recording of the scenario, it would have sounded a little like this:
“HONK! HONK! HONK!”
“Oh look, there is a huge tanker coming up behind us.”
“HONK!HONK!HONK!
“Is he honking at us? There is plenty of room for him to pass, what is the problem?”
HONK! HONK! HONK!
“Maybe we should move over more, he’s definitely honking at us”
HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK!

We veered more sharply to the side and then realized that the tanker was closer than we thought – there is a strange phenomenon that happens at night that makes it difficult to judge relative distance. It really did look like there was plenty of room to pass and we were not in the way, which is why we were questioning him honking at us. No sooner had we moved out of the way, but the tanker was RIGHT where we had just been– he was moving FASTER than we thought too!
Thank goodness K. had enough wits left about him at that point to do a quick U turn so that we hit the wake of the ginourmous tanker head on, and what a wild ride that was! The spray from the wave covered the whole boat, and we were hanging on like we were on
a roller coaster.
Holy Crap that was terrifying! Our guardian angels are really working hard to protect us!
Now we are at our anchorage, cozy in our wee cabin, and so grateful to be alive!

So for all of you who think that sailing is all fun and relaxation, here is a little story to ease your jealousy….
as I mentioned yesterday, we were so excited to get going on the ocean that we decided to keep going all night long and take advantage of our weather window of calm seas and good wind. As the sun set, we watched delightedly as the stars came out, and as the hours passed we watched constellations rise and cross the sky.
Beautiful! Romantic! And miserably COLD!!! The wind picked up and it was absolutely brutal being outside in the cockpit. We took shifts of about two hours each at the helm, where we had to pay close attention to not veer off course in the dark. (we were REALLY wishing we had an autopilot!!!!!!). While one person was at the helm the other rested inside, but sleeping was next to impossible because every time you would start to nod off a big wave would nearly roll you out of bed. For the first time I felt what sailors have probably felt for millenia— it felt like we were riding a “wind horse”, galloping (and sometimes bucking) through the water, powered by both the wind and the rolling of the waves.
After watching a glow of electricity on the horizon get brighter and brighter for hours, we finally saw Atlantic City, NJ emerge out of the glow at about 5 am. It was a surreal collection of glitzy skyskraper hotels and casinos, but even the nightlife there seemed asleep and the city appeared void of people or life. We went into a cove there to anchor for a few hours so we could sleep in peace. The anchorage was very protected and calm but getting into it in the dark through the narrow and shallow channel was a major challenge in our frozen and exhausted state. In retrospect it is a miracle we didn’t hit anything. I was on the verge of having a total meltdown I was so miserable. I was having all kinds of thoughts like “why the heck am I on this stupid sailboat anyway? Whoever thought sailing was a good idea was crazy! I hate this!”. This attitude did not help as we experienced some difficulty getting the anchor to hold and we both started getting testy and short with one another. Kudos to K. who kept his head clear and temper even while I cried and yelled.

See? Aren’t you glad you aren’t out here right now? Oh, and did I mention we hadn’t showered for days and half of our tiny interior was full of our dismantled dinghy that we took apart so we wouldn’t be slowed down by towing it? Even something as simple as making a cup of hot tea is an annoying challenge when the boat is rocking and the two square foot kitchen is covered in sailing gear.

The morning dawned clear and sunny ( but still cold!) and even a mere two hours of sleep made us have a renewed perspective on the world. We got up at 8 and kept going, and by this afternoon we made it to the southern tip of New Jersey, where we are at a marina for the night. Hot Showers! Calm Waters! We are going to bed early so good night!

Hip Hip Hooray! This morning we left our anchorage in the New York Harbor, where we stayed TOOOOO long, and finally made it to the sea! The sea! The salty water and the rolling waves. Our sailor friend Rene, who was the angel I mentioned in my last post, gave us this parting wish: ” There is a great song in the oceans…I hope you learn it and dance to it.”

So far so good. We have light winds and calm waters. We made friends with 3 other boats while we were anchored near the Statue of Liberty, and they left this morning as well heading south, and so we are all in radio contact checking in on each other. So far, we are going the slowest, but we expected that.

It was really cold last night and this morning and I am currently wearing about 5 layers of clothing and am still cold. We are really motivated now to get as far south as we can as soon as possible! We are even entertaining the thought of traveling through the night and taking shifts at the helm just to make up lost time.

That’s all for now. Just wanted to make the grand announcement that the beast of New York City let loose of her hold on us and we are now rocking in the arms of the Great Mother Ocean. May She rock us sweetly and gently!!

Now here’s my idea of a fun job: Dress up in gorgeous costumes, put on stilts, and parade through a ritzy country club during a grand party! Hey, that’s exactly what I got to do on Saturday night, when I performed with the Mortal Beasts and Deities. 4 stiltdancers and 3 giant puppets made a brief but fabulously showy appearance at a private party in Farmingdale, NJ, where we danced and paraded with guests. The theme of the party was Venetian Carnival, and Mark Alexander, the director of Mortal Beasts and Deities outdid himself creating lavish and gorgeous costumes for us all to wear. Many thanks to Mark for getting me this fun paid gig, and even picking me up at our boat!!

Anyone know of anyone else along the Eastern seaboard who might like to hire me?

Actually, we are in Jersey City, which is on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, just across from Manhattan. We are anchored at a free anchorage near the Statue of Liberty. We can see her torch from our boat! Why are we STILL here, you say? Weren’t we in a big hurry to beat the cold weather and get south?? Well, yes…..but I had the good fortune to get a paid performance booked in New Jersey on Saturday, and it didn’t make much sense to keep traveling south just to have to turn around and go back north for my gig….and we also wanted to practice our sailing skills and get ourselves really set before heading out onto the ocean. So one day we met a guy named Rene on the docks who had a jacket on saying he was a sailing instructor, and so K. talked to him and asked if he would give us a lesson. All the other sailing schools we had talked to charged $150/hour, which was too high for our wee budget. This guy (I think actually he’s an angel) said he’d take us out with his friends on his sailboat the next day. Sure enough, the next day we got to go out on his big 35 foot sailboat and practice sailing in the New York Harbor. THEN, afterwards, he said “oh, by the way, I have an empty apartment with a big clawfoot bathtub in it that you are welcome to use”. Would we like to take a hot bath?? We JUMPED at that idea, as I had been fantasizing madly for a hot bath for weeks now. So we ended up staying there for a few days, while he has been helping us get some more safety rigging for our boat before we hit the ocean. He has been giving us little sailing lessons, tips and knowledge, advice, and a big discount from a sailing supply store that he has connections with. What a blessing!!

We are, however, starting to chomp at the bit to get out of here. As great as it’s been to get ourselves extra set for our ocean journey, we have been “in limbo” for a few days now and it’s starting to feel weird. Right now we are hoping to leave bright and early Monday morning and experience the unparalleled beauty of the New Jersey coast.

I decided to take a “weaving field trip” into Manhattan and check out some unusual yarn and weaving resources located here.

Oddly enough, both places I visited featured Japanese weaving styles and yarn. First, I went to HABU textiles, where they import exquisite and unusual yarn for both weaving and knitting. Using only natural dyes and materials, HABU has the most outrageous selection of silk, linen so shiny it’s iridescent, luscious merino wools, and even an unusual yarn that is a blend of stainless steel and silk. It was a challenge to not spend a lot of money here! I had to seriously restrain myself and left with only some super fine merino wool yarn and a wee bit of irresistible silk.

Next, I took the subway to the upper east side and went to the Loop of the Loom, where I met Yukako Satone, the director of this charming yarn store, showroom, and weaving classroom. Loop of the Loom features a Japanese weaving technique called Saori, which isn’t so much a technique as it is a free style approach to weaving. Forget the complex weave structures and rigid rules, Saori weaving is a refreshing embrace of creative expression through yarn. While I was there some local children came in for a class,and it was wonderful to see how easy it was even for them to set up the looms and start weaving in their own style.

It was fabulous to get a dose of inspiration of the wide world of weaving that is out there….and I have some new yarn to play with here on the boat! Here is the latest creation from my wee loom: