38:58.6N 76:28.6W

 

We day-sailed down from Cape May to Annapolis, overnighting in the Delaware river (prior to transiting the C&D canal), Sassafras river, and Deep Creek.  There are no good anchorages in the Delaware river, so you just drop your hook in open water and hope the weather remains calm.  The Sassafras river and Deep Creek are well protected.  Deep Creek, in particular, is a beautifully calm anchorage a stones throw from Annapolis with a good seafood restaurant at the marina there.

 

While anchored in Deep Creek we waved at some people passing by on inflatable paddleboards and they came over for a chat.  It turned out they were selling them at the boat show and they gave us two free tickets to go and visit their stall in a couple of days.

 

The day before the boat show we had the OCC Annapolis dinner.  This was an opportunity to meet up with the friends we made in Camden and also to listen to a presentation from Matt Rutherford and his amazing non-stop singlehanded circumnavigation of the Americas (Cape Horn and the North-West Passage combined).  He has an entertainingly off-hand way of describing the near-death experiences on his travels.

 

Then on to the boat show where, amongst other bits and pieces for the boat, we bought Andrea a paddleboard for her birthday.

 

Saturday night was the combined party for the World ARC reunion and Andrea’s birthday.  Lew and Corinne kindly arranged for it to be held in the third floor restaurant at the Annapolis Yacht Club, which was a great venue for the get together.  Paul Tetlow (aka rally control) joined us for a drink despite his jet lag.  Sally Kay (now “Sally in the Galley” off Umineko) baked a cake for Andrea’s birthday.  There are some scary photos on YouTube of Andrea cutting the cake.

 

Sunday night was yet another party, this time with some friends of Umineko in their marina.  These were Annapolis locals who had been out crabbing and come back with a bushel of blue crabs.  These were boiled up in a big cauldron with spices and then piled out on newspaper for everyone to eat.  And of course, since this was Umineko’s party, there was the obligatory karaoke singing later in the evening. 

 

Altogether an action-packed week.

 

A beautiful anchorage at Deep Creek, MD

 

Annapolis boat show = rain.  Andrea, Anne and Mike don bin bags for the dinghy ride into town.

 

A beautiful sunset over Annapolis

 

Corinne and Andrea on our visit to the Naval Academy

 

 

How to catch crabs...

 

How to cook crabs...

 

How to eat crabs.