It has been a long time since we have posted, and you will find that much of this blog entry is best explained by the photos here.

On a beautiful evening we all took a sail on Prerequisite, Jeff and Sarah’s Cape Dory.  I left without a camera, so iPhone pictures had to suffice.

Jeff in his element.

Bop and Walt doing some horsepower calculations.

Trying out all the horsepower they added up.

The littlest sailor of the bunch, Rush.

  The next boat trip took place aboard AfterMath.

The giggles taking place here were priceless

Walt and Rush love our dogs so much.  Here Walt and Jake have some bonding time together.

Of course, Annapolis is Navy territory.

Company while having my morning coffee.  This guy was so obliging that I have a huge series of pictures of him posing in every angle and pose imaginable.

And more morning company that day.  I know it wasn’t for me!  The fish were jumping wildly on the creek.

Little boys and dirt and bare feet.  What could be more fun?

Snack time for Rush.

And poor Walt took a tumble while playing with a “sidewalk truck”.

There is nothing like a new box of crayons.  Here Walt placed them all in a truck as some really colorful cargo.  

Watermelon eating is serious business for Rush!

Another iPhone day, but who can resist shooting a picture of Walt and Kirby cuddled up in the back seat of the car after a fun day at school.  I was so happy to be able to do the pick up.

  Next stop after school was downtown Annapolis for some chocolate oreo ice cream.  The cone was huge!
Sarah gets some amazingly sweet greetings when she gets home from work.

Off to show Walt the dinghy.  He says his is faster, though!

The “before” pictures of the couch and carpet.  Jeff adopted the table you see here.  It’s very pretty, but it wasn’t what we wanted for the salon.

And the “after” images.  We are really happy with the change.

We stayed in Annapolis for over three weeks. Our time there was filled with laughter and fun with Jeff, Sarah, Walter, Rush and their au pair, Doris. We participated in play, boating, mealtimes, baths and bedtimes with the little guys; wonderful always, but made even more special during this visit because in the past we have never seemed to have enough extended time with them. We were also very busy! John and I attended two boat shows in search of upgrades and items we wanted for AfterMath. We shopped for new flooring to replace the carpeting. John and Jeff undertook some construction, building a hatch to the engine room, in preparation for the new floor that has now been installed. I worked on re-upholstering the couch in the salon. We also took advantage of the use of a car for some serious provisioning.   The freezer is full now and we are all set for a while with groceries.

Mill Creek in Annapolis, where Jeff and Sarah live.

That house you see with the fence is Jeff’s.

Looking from our dock to Jeff’s boat.

Cantler’s at night.  We were one dock away from the restaurant.

Staying near Jeff and Sarah was made extremely convenient for us. Although Jeff’s house is on the water, on Mill Creek in Annapolis, and he has a large dock in his yard, AfterMath was just a little too wide to fit between the pilings. However, his neighbor, Steve, just two houses away had plenty of room at his dock and offered us its unlimited use. It was really wonderful to be able to run up the stairs and over to Jeff and Sarah’s house at any time of the day or night and we simply cannot thank Steve and his wife, Luanne, enough.

Gail and Michael.  We were so happy they came to visit us.

Cantler’s by day.

While in Annapolis, we were thrilled to be visited by our friends Michael and Gail Pecora. We became friends in Bradenton, but they also have a home in Baltimore, where they are currently living while Gail is taking daily care of their brand new granddaughter, Nora. After a tour of AfterMath and some catching up, we went to Cantler’s, a locally famous crab restaurant just two doors down from our dock, where they treated us to a delicious lunch made even better by such good company.

A quick family shot as we were leaving.  We really did a great family shoot at the beautiful St. John’s College campus in Annapolis, but those photos shall remain secret until after the Christmas card using them is out.  We had so much fun!

Jeff, Sarah and the boys getting ready to set sail as they followed us out onto Chesapeake Bay.

Prerequisite under way.

Jeff spotted this submarine and pointed it out to us.

The family that sails together.

It was a glorious morning and a wonderful way to leave.  Thanks for boating with us, Jeff and Sarah.  It was amazing.

On Saturday, October 24, it was time to leave our snug dock on Mill Creek. It was hard to say goodbye to Jeff and his family. We had such a wonderful time with all of them. The last time we saw them was in April and the boys had grown and matured so much in the past 6 months. Always, we love Jeff and Sarah’s company. To make our departure more fun though, they hopped on Prerequisite, a 33 foot Cape Dory sailboat they own, and they followed us out of the creek and into the Chesapeake Bay. In the past, we have flown together, Jeff in a helicopter and us in our airplane, and now we have boated together. These are forever memories.

Entering Cambridge, MD, we were lucky to see the schooner parade that was taking place.

The boats here are so interesting and the town, settled in 1684, is one of the oldest in Maryland.  The creek we are on is loaded with crab boats and skipjacks.  While work is being done on the boat I plan to get out and have some fun with photography here.

We are now in Cambridge, Maryland where we will spend a week while new electronics are installed and then we will start our journey southward again. While here, John will also install a nice new helm chair on a sliding track. This is a very big deal to me as, up until now, the helm chair was a tall wooden director’s chair that was not bolted down to the floor and felt very flimsy. The track will allow the chair to be pushed out-of-the-way of the dining table in the pilothouse, which is where we eat most of our dinners.

John and I are both anxious to get back to our cruising life style when we start to make our way down the Intracoastal Waterway once again. We have traveled the waterway before, but we are looking forward to taking AfterMath through it. Along the way we expect to have a visit from Jason and Lisa as we progress to our next destination of Jacksonville, There we will spend about a month near Kelly and family while we continue with boat and home improvements.

Here is where we are today.