Our last few days in St. Michaels were extraordinarily pleasant. We toured the incredible Maritime Museum, enjoyed a great game of tennis at the courts behind the high school, met new people and even spent an evening aboard the Lady Maryland which is in the picture. Lady Maryland is an all-wood replica of a Pungy Schooner, painted in the traditional green and pink. We met her captain while watching football on Sunday at the bar "Characters". He came from a family of cruisers, and it just so happened his folks were visiting as well. The Captain, Rich Hillman, not only directs his crew of 6 sailor/teacher/biologists, he also teaches hordes of children about sailing. His ship does a lot of public school programs and outreach, and also takes a group of 10 High-schoolers on board during the summer for a learning sail from the Chesapeake to Cape Cod. This is one of the programs for exceptional students that Johns Hopkins offers in the summer. Well, enough of all that - suffice it to say it was magnificent touring the 80-foot schooner and going down below for grog and games. Next weekend the "Great Schooner Race" will take place in which a host of schooners of all sizes will sail from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the bottom of the Bay. The only stipulation is that the many NOT engage their propellers at any time. The bay's wind is flukey at best, sometimes dead calm and somtimes blowing like crazy. As a result, the race usually takes about 36 hours. We will be in Solomons, MD at that time and hope to report from there. At any rate, we now have 3 acquaintances who will be racing their schooners and it is so much more exciting when you know the captains! The swans pictured above greeted us upon arrival at St. Michaels and were seen no more. The other two pictures are of a typical sunrise and the waterman whom we saw crabbing every morning just before dawn until about noon, right by our anchorage. Just prior to the taking of these pictures, we were getting ready to sail which includes taking the motor off the dinghy and pulling the dinghy onto the foredeck. This particular morning Waynqe somehow lost his balance while handing up the motor (the dinghy was damp and slippery), yelled to me "I don't have it..." and splooshed face down into the Miles River. Luckily I had a good hold on the motor and was able to attach it to the back rail while attempting not to laugh hysterically. This stunt was enough to keep us both laughing for some time, and the sail to Cambridge passed by with great weather, nice breezes, and general mirth.
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