La Trappe Creek 38 37.95N 076 07.09W July 27th, 2009
After the July 4th holiday weekend, Jenny went to Tulsa for a week, and had a great time at the club pool with with Olivia, IV and Anna Louise. Also had a fun evening out with friends.
Meanwhile, Charlie and the technicians at Zahnisers Yachting Center worked on getting Lady's maintenance done. The starter for the main engine that had failed again was repaired and overhauled. The generator leaks were fixed, but the generator still overheats, so will need more work later. The air-conditioning was serviced, the fridge was insulated. The TV was removed and a cover built for the opening, ready for the installation of SSB (single side band) radio.
There was still more to be done after Jenny returned, but we were able to leave the dock, and move out to a mooring. A hundred Screwpile 2009 racers came to town.We applied for radio licenses. The SSB radio was installed, and finally after a couple of weeks in the same spot, Charlie was restless to leave.
Thurdsday July 23rd we left the mooring, and in light wind, motored up the Patuxent River, and entered Cuckold Creek, where we anchored for the night. The next day, we went to Dick and Gail Juppenlatz's dock, where Dick (Cruising Services and Supplies) came on board and set up the PACTOR modem, and trained us on using SSB and SailMail. This email system will enable us to send and receive text emails from the high seas. As you might imagine, using high frequency radio for email is rather slow.
After another night at anchor on Cuckold Creek, we had a great sail on Saturday north 
on the Chesapeake, and up the Choptank River to Cambridge, MD. The guide book indicated that this is the second largest commercial port in Maryland, after Baltimore. There was very little commercial activity, and we felt sorry for the third largest commercial port. The water was not deep enough at the town wharf for us to tie up, so we anchored in the tiny harbor, and were part of the scenery for the tour boat.
After a lovely walk ashore in the historic district on Sunday morning, we met Jim Culver, who will be coming with us when we cross the ocean to the Caribbean this fall, and then set off back down the Choptank, past the hydroplane speedboats competition, and anchored in La Trappe Creek, just before a big thunderstorm hit.
We will be cruising the area for another week, before leaving Lady on the hard, back at Zahnisers, while we return to Tulsa and visit the UK. We will be off the boat for about six weeks, and when we return we will be ready to enjoy fall sailing, and do the final preparations for the Carib 1500.
Jenny, I LOVE your post, but I love you being with me at my house the most!!!!!
Posted by: Cindy | August 23, 2009 at 09:47 PM