Weekend On The Water

After a grueling work-week, this turned out to be a fun weekend. I put the boat in Thursday night only to find both batteries dead, the result of a miswired stereo by the previous owner. After charging them overnight, we backed her down the ramp across from our driveway, and set out for adventure. Our maiden voyage took us about two miles out to the Baltimore Harbor lighthouse, the one we can see from our deck and the one pictured in the very first chapter of my blog. I was immediately surprised by the size of the waves and the current in the main channel. Baltimore Light was very interesting. It's a caisson style lightouse located on the edge of the channel, and it looks like a tall, floating two-story house. We didn't stay out long because it was getting dark. I spent the next morning swabbing the deck because we had company coming, Tarren and Anna from Maine. They joined us for an early afternoon voyage out to the Bay Bridge. It was very windy and choppy, too windy in fact to tie up at our dock. The boat handled great in the big swells, cutting right through the smalller ones but bouncing enough that I had to slow down when they got close to 3 feet. Later we were joined by some more friends from DC, and we grilled salmon and drank margaritas. Today, Dianne and I went back out to the Bridge to watch some interesting ship traffic including this large sailing ship. I don't know where it's from or what the story is, but it's a beautiful boat. We circled around watching sailboats for a while, then headed back up the river to a small island with a beach which is not too far away from our house. We anchored down and watched a pair of Ospreys, then Dianne read the New York Times while I retreated to the cabin for a nap. There's something incredibly restful about sleeping on a boat. Afterwards, Dianne piloted us across the Bay and we put the boat back on the trailer. We don't have a boat lift on our dock yet, but it will be nice to get one so we don't have to keep loading in and out - nevertheless, well worth the effort. We're planning a party Memorial Day weekend, so I'm hoping some of our Tennessee friends will make the trip up. Summer is almost here, and things are starting to happen on the Chesapeake Bay! -S