1 October 2012 Weems Creek, Annapolis
I didn’t sleep very well at all. I woke up several times dreaming that we had dragged anchor and were crashing against the shore. At half past seven, I hauled myself out of bed and went up on deck to stare at the anchorage. Then I noticed that there was a Navy mooring vacant near the entrance to the creek. I dashed downstairs dragged Glenys out of bed and we motored over to pick up the mooring before anyone else spotted it.
Happy that we were now secure, we walked into Annapolis town centre and had a stroll around. Whenever we arrive a new place, the highlight of the first day always seems to be wandering around a supermarket – how sad it that?
When we arrived back at Weems Creek, Steve and Lynn on “Celebration” were anchored next to us – the last time that we saw them was in Deltaville in July. We ended up going for drinks and a pot luck dinner with them on another boat called “Wings” with Craig and Vicky.
2 October 2012 Weems Creek, Annapolis
It was a miserable muggy rainy day, so we got on with some jobs. “Celebration” had some grey sunbrella, so Glenys “borrowed” a yard and managed to finish off the dinghy cover – it’s taken her six months since she started it back in Puerto Rico.
I took a deep breath and took the carburettor for our 15hp outboard to pieces and replaced various seals and parts. You could have knocked me over with a feather when it started first time. We’ll have to wait and see if the intermittent fuel problem is fixed.
Steve from “Celebration” came over in the evening with his guitar and we had a music session – mostly him playing pieces of songs and me asking a million questions. He studied music at university and seems to know what he’s doing. I was relieved when he said that I was doing OK after three months.
3 October 2012 Weems Creek, Annapolis
It was another overcast day – we have to run the generator twice a day at the moment to keep the batteries charged because there’s no sun and no wind, making our solar panels and wind generator pretty useless.
We walked to Bacon Sails which is a marine consignment store and then onto a pharmacy to try to get a prescription for some Ramipril which I’ve been prescribed to reduce my high blood pressure. I’ve been taking it for five years now and have managed to buy it over the counter in the Caribbean island. Unfortunately, I can’t buy it in the USA without a prescription and I don’t have a doctor.
Lynn from “Celebration” had told me about walk-in surgeries run by practising nurses at CVS Pharmacy. The idea is to be able to get advice and prescriptions for small ailments without having to see a doctor. The nurse was willing to give me a prescription, but could only give me one month’s worth which was pretty useless. She was nice enough to not charge me the $85 fee for the consultation and suggested that I try a doctor up the road.
The doctor’s receptionist informed us that it would cost a staggering $285 to get a consultation with a doctor. I nearly had a heart attack there and then. I told them that I wouldn’t bother. My stress levels have got to be way less than they were five years ago, so I’m going to stop taking the drug and see what happens to my blood pressure.
In the evening, we went for a beer with Steve & Carol on “Innamorata”.
4 October 2012 Weems Creek, Annapolis
We went to the Annapolis Boat Show. Steve from “Celebration” kindly gave us a couple of free tickets to the VIP day which normally cost $35 each. It was a good show with a nice party atmosphere. We bumped into quite a few people that we've met over the past four months.
After struggling with sewing five layers of Sunbrella for the dinghy cover, Glenys’s eye was on an industrial "Sail Rite" sewing machine. We went to look at it a couple of times before she finally succumbed. I bought a second hand satellite phone, a pre-paid SIM card and a year’s subscription to an email compression service. We HAVE to get away from the States, so that we stop spending money…
I saw the sail maker from Deltaville who serviced our sails and told him that the jib luffs were too long and that they’d done something to the main to make the end of the boom higher. He suggested that perhaps the forestay is too short and the top of the mast has been moved forward which would cause all of these results. I think that might be right so I’ll have to get it looked at in Deltaville.
In the evening, we went to the Hallberg Rassy owner’s party in the evening with Maury and Bonnie, which was okay but a little reserved. Maury and Bonnie came back to Alba and stayed overnight.
5 October 2012 Weems Creek, Annapolis
I dropped Maury and Bonnie off ashore and picked up Glenys's new sewing machine, which we’d left in their car overnight. We spent the morning setting up the machine and doing a few little jobs.
Glenys played with her new toy in the afternoon and sorted out her sewing spares. We’re going to have to throw away her old sewing machine. It’s a great shame because Glenys has had it for over twenty years and it still works well, but it runs on 230 volts and the whole of America operates on 110 volts, so it’s no use to anyone unless they want to mess about changing the motor.
Both of our fridges are now losing refrigerant, so I recharged both of them – I may have to bite the bullet and get someone to look for the leaks when we get to Deltaville.
We went out to a Mexican restaurant with Steve and Lynn from “Celebration” and had another late night – I’m doing too much partying and need a night off.
6 October 2012 Weems Creek, Annapolis
The forecast was for a cold front to come through today so we delayed leaving Annapolis for a day. We went shopping instead. I bought a load of spare filters for the engine & generator then we bought some more food ready to go up toward Washington DC tomorrow.
We chilled out in the afternoon – I had an afternoon nap trying to catch up on lost sleep. Then in the evening we went to “Celebration for a beer or two and got drunk again.
7 October 2012 Weems Creek to Solomons, Maryland
It was a miserable overcast day and raining in the morning, but we decided to start heading towards Washington DC anyway. It’s going to take us four days travelling to get there, so the sooner the better.
We had good wind for most of the day, but it was bloody cold and kept raining, so we had to wear cold weather gear including gloves and hats. This is the coldest that we've been since we moved onto the boat eighteen months ago.
We arrived in Solomon’s in the late afternoon and anchored in St John Creek, which is very peaceful. Again the sea bed is soft mud and we hope and pray that we won’t drag during the night.
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