Over the bounding main.....

As I was stacking rocks in the backyard Tuesday evening, I heard the sound of many boat horns. I looked up over the fence and saw what appeared to be a parade out on the main channel. Grabbing my binoculars, I walked out on the dock to see a big group of power boats surrounding a sailboat with a very large sail. The Baltimore paper told me the rest of the story. It was the homestretch of Leg 5 in the Volvo around-the-world ocean race. The finish line is Baltimore Light, just above Gibson Island, nearly within site of our dock. After finishing, the boats sail on into Baltimore's Inner Harbor where there are associated festivities. Maybe we'll check them out this weekend if it rains out our bluegrass festival plans.

I guess that since we live a few miles from "the sailing capitol of the world," we should expect to see sail boats. Still, I was a little surprised last evening near sunset to look out and see dozens of boats right off our front dock. Turns out it was the first of Annapolis Yacht Club's weekly Wednesday Night Races. Dianne and I sat out on the deck and watched. The boats would mill about for a while, then three or four would dash off up the river, returning a few minutes later sporting brightly colored spinaker sails. Even though we couldn't really tell much about who was winning, it was very nice watching the race. -S