Early Fall in Baltimore
October 9 thru October 12
—Blogpost written by Bob
Wednesday, October 9
Today was a cool day with intermittent sun and clouds. Only eight days remain before we leave to start heading south for the season!
We are keeping tabs on the temporary closure of the Alligator River Swing Bridge in eastern North Carolina which must open for us--I hope this doesn't impact us. We expect to pass through the Alligator River Swing Bridge on October 31, about three weeks from now. (Last year, we passed through the Alligator River Swing Bridge on November 7.)
One of the ways that we keep taels on this bridge condition is by following Bob Sherer's blog entitled "Cruising Down the ICW'. Bob is currently at the Alligator River Marina at the west end of the bridge, awaiting the bridge repair.
I spent a lot of time today on my primary chart plotter, inputing way points for the troublesome areas of the ICW. The new way points came from Bob Sherer's book, 2018 ICW Cruising Guide, which I purchased in Kindle edition. My review of Bob Sherer's book appeared on this blog on March 4, 2019--it can be quickly found at this link.
Last night, Maggie and I decided to have Captain Jack, our 15-year old orange cat, put to sleep. He's lost a lot of weight this year and has had trouble keeping food down for a long time. The quality of his life has certainly deteriorated lately. This was a tough decision for us to make. (We made the same decision about him last year and he suddenly improved a little and we postponed it.) His last vet appointment is tomorrow (Friday) morning.
We have always kidded with each other about Captain Jack's position in the cat kingdom as the "red headed step child." He was subservient to Bunky (a long time ago), then to Lizzie who passed due to heart failure more than a year ago, and more recently, Lola.
Today, Maggie was sewing with her friends all day in Annapolis and I had a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon.
As part of my efforts to explore and share new musical talents, I ran into a YouTube channel by Ariel McCleary. Her voice has a fantastic range and she has a unique musical talent, not only as a vocalist, but playing the ukulele and, at other times, the keyboard or the guitar.
Her YouTube channel is aimed at a younger audience than me, for sure. But for other people my age, you have to get beyond her hip communications style (and youthful appearance) and focus on her music, particularly for old tunes like Frank Sinatra's Time After Time and My Way. I particularly like her renditions of Easy Like Sunday Morning and Havana!
We drove to Annapolis this morning with Captain Jack and went directly to the vet's office. It was emotionally difficult leaving Jack behind. (I know our emotions will be even more raw tonight when we get back to the boat and he is not there.)
From the vet's office, we went to the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis. This was like going from an "extreme downer" to an "extreme upper." (Sailboat shows as an adult are like Christmas was to me as a kid.)
I just learned that the Alligator River Swing Bridge is opening on a reduced schedule at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm, 7:00 pm and midnight until the permanent fix is installed.
All in all, the day was much more of a "downer" (because of Captain Jack) than an "upper" (because of the boat show). Even Lola seemed "down."
To my surprise, we had another complimentary breakfast in the boater's lounge this morning--I thought they were done for the season. Later in the morning, we repaired the fastenings on our forepeak tent--this took most of the morning.
As usual for me on a Saturday afternoon, I watched some college football games. Penn State plays Iowa tonight but we'll discuss that in our next blogpost...
Thanks for following our blog!
We are keeping tabs on the temporary closure of the Alligator River Swing Bridge in eastern North Carolina which must open for us--I hope this doesn't impact us. We expect to pass through the Alligator River Swing Bridge on October 31, about three weeks from now. (Last year, we passed through the Alligator River Swing Bridge on November 7.)
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| This was the Alligator River Swing Bridge as it closed behind us in the Fall of 2017. |
One of the ways that we keep taels on this bridge condition is by following Bob Sherer's blog entitled "Cruising Down the ICW'. Bob is currently at the Alligator River Marina at the west end of the bridge, awaiting the bridge repair.
I spent a lot of time today on my primary chart plotter, inputing way points for the troublesome areas of the ICW. The new way points came from Bob Sherer's book, 2018 ICW Cruising Guide, which I purchased in Kindle edition. My review of Bob Sherer's book appeared on this blog on March 4, 2019--it can be quickly found at this link.
 |
| My worksheet for some of the new way points I added into the chart plotter. The new way points are denoted as a green "x" while my old waypoints are all shown as a red "x." |
Thursday, October 10
Last night, Maggie and I decided to have Captain Jack, our 15-year old orange cat, put to sleep. He's lost a lot of weight this year and has had trouble keeping food down for a long time. The quality of his life has certainly deteriorated lately. This was a tough decision for us to make. (We made the same decision about him last year and he suddenly improved a little and we postponed it.) His last vet appointment is tomorrow (Friday) morning.
We have always kidded with each other about Captain Jack's position in the cat kingdom as the "red headed step child." He was subservient to Bunky (a long time ago), then to Lizzie who passed due to heart failure more than a year ago, and more recently, Lola.
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| Captain Jack in the Abacos in January 2018. Rest in peace, my old friend. |
When I adopted Captain Jack, he was called “Just Jack”. He had eye problems because his development as a kitten was thwarted by his mother’s involuntary abandonment. Jack had only 10% vision in one eye and only 50% in the other eye but he never had problems in getting around, though I’m sure he wouldn’t have survived very long in the wild. His long hair was always subject to tangles and mats and, in past years, we had his hair clipped to avoid them. I hope we made the right decision about Captain Jack. We will miss Captain Jack. Rest in peace, my old friend.
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Today, Maggie was sewing with her friends all day in Annapolis and I had a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon.
 |
| My quick lunch today was not very healthy. |
As part of my efforts to explore and share new musical talents, I ran into a YouTube channel by Ariel McCleary. Her voice has a fantastic range and she has a unique musical talent, not only as a vocalist, but playing the ukulele and, at other times, the keyboard or the guitar.
 |
| Ariel McCleary singing and playing the ukulele on her YouTube channel. |
Her YouTube channel is aimed at a younger audience than me, for sure. But for other people my age, you have to get beyond her hip communications style (and youthful appearance) and focus on her music, particularly for old tunes like Frank Sinatra's Time After Time and My Way. I particularly like her renditions of Easy Like Sunday Morning and Havana!
Friday, October 11
We drove to Annapolis this morning with Captain Jack and went directly to the vet's office. It was emotionally difficult leaving Jack behind. (I know our emotions will be even more raw tonight when we get back to the boat and he is not there.)
From the vet's office, we went to the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis. This was like going from an "extreme downer" to an "extreme upper." (Sailboat shows as an adult are like Christmas was to me as a kid.)
----------
I just learned that the Alligator River Swing Bridge is opening on a reduced schedule at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm, 7:00 pm and midnight until the permanent fix is installed.
 |
| This image at the boat show was taken from our waterside table at the Fleet Reserve Club where we shared a delicious roast beef sandwich. |
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| I bought some new colorful rope at the boat show. I don't know where I will use it yet but it's pretty. |
All in all, the day was much more of a "downer" (because of Captain Jack) than an "upper" (because of the boat show). Even Lola seemed "down."
Saturday, October 12
To my surprise, we had another complimentary breakfast in the boater's lounge this morning--I thought they were done for the season. Later in the morning, we repaired the fastenings on our forepeak tent--this took most of the morning.
As usual for me on a Saturday afternoon, I watched some college football games. Penn State plays Iowa tonight but we'll discuss that in our next blogpost...
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| There was a beautiful sunset in Baltimore Harbor tonight. |
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