36:45.0N  75:43.6W   Another beautiful morning!!  As shown in the pictures, "Arbella" and crew sailed along the Gulf Stream with ease.  Temperature hit 88.1 degrees  (when we exited it, it dropped to 75 degrees) in the Stream.  We had very clear skies, and we went right through an area of U.S. Navy exercises....planes and weapons!  The aircraft carriers "George H.W. Bush", CVAN-77, and "Abraham Lincoln", CVAN-72, were both in the area with flight exercises.  In fact, we were interrogated/investigated by a section of F-18s from somewhere...what a coincidence since my Godson happens to be an F-18 pilot!  In the photo below, the guided missile cruiser "Kaufman", FFG-59, passed 3 miles off our beam.  Other guided missile frigates and guided missile destroyers regularly announced on our VHF radio that they were conducting "live weapons exercises" and all ships needed to maintain a 10 mile separation.  Needless to say, we paid attention to the position they provided on VHF, marked it on our electronic chart, and assured that we maintained the standoff distance.  As the afternoon moved on, we marked the official end of Day 7 at 1500, by which time we had logged 1416 miles since the BVI's, with 144 miles left to "Arbella's" pier in Aberdeen Creek, Annapolis.  And finally, looking at the last pictures, the Captain was no longer able to dodge responsibility for meal preparations.....I artfully avoided my rotation (once each 5 days)...Vicki (my Navigator for life) is well familiar with my tactics!  The crew would not let me slide...I had to prepare dinner!  So I sweated until I realized we had several pre-prepared shepherd's pies, which I could pop in the oven for 30 minutes, and call it a dinner...with a few veggies added in...to be honest, Ralph helped me dish it up...but this still counted as "Mike's first prepared meal on Arbella"!  And now, with rain coming, and traffic at the mouth of the Bay increasing, the crew is ready for a night of transiting the bottom of the Bay (where the traffic and channels and warships are most complicated)...charts and light lists and binoculars are at the ready...and likely a rainy transit up the Bay all day tomorrow.  We are planning to dock about 1500 Friday Afternoon!  Captain Mike