Home, Sweet Baltimore!

Hey, Hon!  Feeling Crabby?  Welcome to Bawlmore!!!!

We arrived breathless and thrilled on Saturday evening, August 31.  Baltimore in August…What were we thinking?!?!  Hot, humid, Grand Prix in high gear filling the Inner Harbor with guests and mayhem, and folks from far and near celebrating the holiday weekend.  It was a thrill to come into our ‘home away from home’ port with the boat performing like a champ and the sense that we’d re-gained our lost mariner ways.  After a quick shower and change we met Katie and Kyle for a welcome back dinner and early to bed. 

Sunday, 100 degrees and only 98% humidity was Tony’s perfect day to wash and hand rub every inch of the deck and dinghy.  There is no point in even considering asking him to take a break mid-day or mid-way…he was Ahab’s crew, with Ahab solidly in his head.  My day was full but at a “Bawlmore pace”…laundry, floors bow to stern, bits here and there, and of course, the end of the Bananas.  Why wouldn’t I make a pie when it’s 100 outside?  Me thinks we’ve lost our marbles.

New Banana Storage System

Our Saturday sail in was great fun.  We left the quiet anchorage with a perfect wind to tack back and forth across the Elk River in quiet, un-motored delight.  (Not having been off the boat in days, I admit I even enjoyed working those lines and sheets!)  

Turkey Point, Top of the Chesapeake

As we approached the Bay, the traffic and wind stepped up and we dropped the head sail to motor with 18 knots on the nose…and then 25 knots on the nose…and then Holy Shit Batman where did that wind come from?!?  Tony was (insert “gasp”) Hand Steering!  Clearly, we’ve got some conditions!  For about the last two hours of the Bay we were working but knew we were almost done.  We turned into the approach to the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the wind dropped like a rock – 20, 15, 8…. And suddenly, it was HOT!  Welcome to Baltimore, Hon….

Outgoing Baltimore Harbor Traffic

Outgoing Baltimore Harbor Weather

So, we’re settled in, doing office and boat chores; having hot showers whenever we want them and lights on willy-nilly throughout the cabin.  It feels palatial and decadent after a summer on the mooring.  We miss the evening swim off the back to cool us off …that longing is counter-balanced by the ability to stay in the cockpit all night long with not a mosquito to be found.  We miss lobster and chowder…until we think of crabcakes and pubs galore within a moment’s walk.  We miss our friends…well, that’s not balanced out by anything, is it? 

Fort McHenry, Entrance to Baltimore's Inner Harbor

We will see Katie and Kyle often and in the glorious freedom of “regular time”.  We hope Alison comes down from NYC every minute she can steal away.  Charlie comes down for a weekend in September while Tabby is in Boston.  We are eager to see some dear friends here soon.  Life, it’s a good thing!