Winter Onboard in Annapolis

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Friday, March 19

The morning was very windy with northeasterly winds at 20 to 25 mph.  The sun was shining brightly but the wind made it feel cool outside.  I was glad that we had both oil-filled radiators running last night, even if the forward one was only set on low.

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After my radiation treatment in the late morning, we stopped for lunch at Italian Market—we both had subs, Maggie a tuna sub while I had an Italian sub.  Then we were off to the Toyota dealer for help getting the satellite radio’s identification number—they got it easily (and at no cost).  (Once on the Channel 000, all one had to do was turn the scroll knob to find the radio ID--I didn't even try this ahead of time.)  I initiated the (3-month trial) subscription in our Prius and we intend to extend it sometime during the summer. (The satellite radio in our Prius will keep us n touch with Penn State football and the like while we are in Mexico next winter!)

Finding my satellite radio ID

After getting some plastic jugs refilled with fresh water at Safeway, we stopped at Fresh Market for some groceries, trying to pack as many errands as we could into Friday afternoon so that we wouldn’t have to "do battle" for a parking space over the weekend.  

By the time we got all the above errands done it was 4 PM and Happy Hour was declared.  We had delicious pineapple-mango daiquiris for Happy Hour to celebrate the last day of winter. (I should have taken a picture of them--they were pretty!)

Saturday, March 20 (First Day of Spring!)

A chill in the air accompanied our wake up.  (The low temperature for last night was 36 degrees F.)  The sun was shining brightly in the morning and some people were already out walking around downtown at 8 AM.  The tide was extremely high as a result of yesterday's high winds I guess, though I am not familiar with the effects of northeasterly winds on the bay since it is an unusual direction for us to experience.  (The boat's deck was about two feet above the finger pier--it was a big step down this morning.)

Today was the first day of spring!  The annual Annapolis Oyster Roast and Sock Burning event at Annapolis Maritime Museum (previously scheduled for today) was cancelled due to COVID concerns.

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On my agenda for the day was reorganizing our green portfolio which contains all our important papers (like passports, boat documentation, etc.).  Also, removing the old GIGstreem hardware (used for our WiFi connection in Baltimore) and generally cleaning up the cockpit of unneeded items was on the agenda.  I guess this was all in the nature of "spring cleaning" without really thinking about it.

Reorganized green portfolio

After reorganizing our green folder of important documents, Maggie began preparing a beautiful berry pie containing strawberries, red raspberries, and blueberries.  The boat never smelled so good!

Maggie's strawberry-red raspberry-blueberry
pie just our of the oven!

The smell of the baking pie and Maggie's insistence that we get some (no sugar added) ice cream, detracted from my afternoon accomplishments.  At least that's my excuse--there's always tomorrow (until there isn't anymore).  Needless to say, I never got around to cleaning up the cockpit today.

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"There's always tomorrow until there isn't anymore."

Sunday, March 21

Outside, the revving of car engines (of the Sunday morning car enthusiasts) and the many tourists walking the dock early soon distracted us from our rather mundane morning routine.  It was sunny and warm outside (mid to upper 50's) at mid-morning and headed to the low to mid 60's in the afternoon.

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Even though I had some unfinished tasks from yesterday, I stuck to my new rule about not working on boat projects on a Sunday.  Downtown Annapolis was packed with tourists today, almost all of them wearing face masks.  Among the recent changes to the views in Annapolis, the Pride of Baltimore II came into port.  Its entrance in the harbor was accompanied by cannon fire, of course.

The Pride of Baltimore II

A close up view of the bow of the
Pride of Baltimore II

We spent most of the day relaxing and reading--real exciting, huh?

Stay tuned for our last week in Annapolis...thanks for following our blog!