38:44.5N 76:16.1W

Sat, Sun &  Mon – 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd June

Saturday morning Sarah went off to view a local art and craft fair and returned rather underwhelmed. We got a few things done and then in the evening there was an impromptu pot luck supper at the condo belonging to Andrew & Digna Gant who are the OCC port officers here.

On Sunday the rest of the boats joining the rally arrived and Rebecca and Digna very helpfully took Sarah along in the car to the grocery store which solved a few problems for us!

In the evening was the first event of the rally which was a dinner in the very grand ‘club house’ belonging to the Condo association here and we got to meet most of the others on this OCC rally.  One or two old friends here, but mostly new faces for us to learn and get to know over the next few days!

On Monday morning we set off sailing to the next rally point in Leadenham Creek, off the Choptank River, Tilghman island on the ‘Eastern shore’ (New Jersey). We were very lucky to set off with a fresh 15 to 20 knot wind from the west, so it was a great run and reach for a few hours before the wind came round more to the north (as we headed north of course) and so we were sailing close hauled until the wind finally died and we ended up motoring the final part. Probably not a bad thing as the depths here in the barely marked channels are mostly only 3 metres and we draw 2.2 metres. But we ended up in a delightful large (but shallow) bay and five of the boats rafted up to make a venue for drinks and nibbles (and enable lots of exploration of other people’s boats, including finally our first tour around a big Amel – lifetime achievement for Sarah, a Halberg 43 which was lovely and a stunning Morris 46). This was briefly interrupted by a very heavy rainstorm, but then the sky cleared and we were treated to a beautiful sunset, accompanied by the sound of the mating cicardas.

I should now dedicate a bit of this log to the extraordinary phenomena that are the Year 17, Brood II cicadas, but it is probably best that I just direct you to one of very many sources of information on the internet. But it is almost like something out of  a Stephen King novel. Read it and be grateful you are not here in a week or so. We have already been joined by one in the cockpit – see the photos on the website.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/06/17-year-cicadas-brood-ii/2139179/