Springtime on Kent Island: 3/29 - 4/1

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Monday, March 29

It was surprising cold outside when we got up to take showers in the marina's bath house.  The temperature was down as low as 44 degrees F very early in the morning but there was a very strong wind out of the northwest which made it feel much colder.  (The high for the day was expected to be only 57 degrees F!)

Whoa, that wind is strong!

The boat was pretty far away from the dock (due to the high tide and wind direction) and we had to adjust our dock lines and spring lines (again) just to comfortably get off the boat.

My first impression of our new marina's showers was great--very clean, plenty of stalls, and hot water!  Today was my first day traveling from Kent Island to Annapolis Hospital for my radiation treatments--we allowed 40 minutes, not knowing how much traffic we would encounter due to the new automated toll booths under construction.  (It only took 30 minutes!)

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After my (now routine) radiation treatment, we stopped at Lemongrass II for a delicious (Thai) lunch and then went about running errands (filling our empty propane tank, buying a tube of Super Glue, etc.).  We picked up a package at the Harbormaster's office in Annapolis and returned our car pass for our winter parking spot downtown.  By 3 PM all of our errands were completed.

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When we got back to Kent Island, I noticed that we instantly slowed down.  I went over to the marina office and paid for our slip rental (for the year) and I picked up a bag of ice cubes.  Betsy, the woman on duty at the office, told me that the ice was old and she would just give me a bag.  As I looked into the ice chest, there were only two bags at the very bottom.  I pulled out one of the two bags.  She said that I would have to break it up since the ice cubes would be frozen together.  Then she took the bags out of my hands and said "I love to do this" while slamming the bag of ice onto the floor in the marina office.  I guess when you live on an island, you realize simple pleasures.

Our evening ended with a peaceful Happy Hour in our enclosed cockpit, watching the ducks and their active (but unusual) social life, while we drank watermelon daiquiris.

Tuesday, March 30

The wind had clocked around from the northeast last night to the southeast in the morning at a much reduced wind velocity, bringing along with it milder temperatures.  It was 49 degrees already at 8:30 AM, expected to reach 65 degrees F in the afternoon.

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I still have a hard time believing how quiet it is on Kent Island.  I don't hear any car traffic, no boat traffic. no sirens, nor even airplanes overhead.  It's nice!

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After my normal morning prep. we drove to Annapolis hospital and then, went out for a quick lunch at Italian Market before driving to Baltimore.  Today was the day that we settled on the sale of our condo slip in Baltimore.  We met the new slip owner shortly after 2 PM and completed the necessary paperwork and wrote out some checks (me for the last quarter's electricity and the $50 ownership transfer fee and the new owner wrote checks for the next quarter's condo fee, $50 fee for his background/credit check, and, of course, the balance of the payment to us).  Even though our slip lost 28% of its value in the last five years while drastic improvements were made to the docks, it was very hard to restrain our pure glee in getting rid of our condo slip!

Last trip to our old marina in Baltimore

Not a single person asked us why we were selling our slip or said they would miss us.  We tried to track down the dock master (Wayne) to say our goodbyes but couldn't find him.  On the way home, we picked up some Barefoot Bubbly to celebrate.  (The only thing we'll miss is the the cheap ice at $1 per 7-pound bag.)

Barefoot Bubbly to celebrate the sale of
our condo slip in Baltimore!

Wednesday, March 31

The best description for today was a rainout!  The rain started early in the morning, let up a bit about mid-morning and re-started in earnest at noon--it, then, rained for the remainder of the day.  Over a half an inch of rain fell today!

We went out for lunch at Chevy's Tex Mex today and we each had something new on the menu--their chimichanga. I had beef while Maggie had chicken.  After lunch, we deposited our check for the final payment for our condo slip and did a little grocery shopping before we came home to Kent Island.  We had to dodge the raindrops as we carried our two bags of groceries out the length of A Dock to our boat--we are at the very end, maybe 100 yards from the parking lot.

I rounded out my day with my perfect hot chocolate
consisting of a packet of sugar-free hot chocolate
mix, boiling hot water, 1-1/2 ounces of Rum
Chata, a generous covering of whipped 
cream, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Thursday, April 1 (April Fool's Day)

Brrrrr!  The outside temperature was below 40 degrees F this morning (and that's NOT an April Fool's joke)!  The rain had finally stopped but the sky was still heavily overcast when we woke up.  (The high temperature for the day was expected to be only 50 degrees.  This time of year, the weather is usually very changeable from day to day.)  Our reverse-cycle heat kept the interior of the boat nice and warm throughout the night, despite the high winds.

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We had decided earlier to take Lola with us this morning to get her used to riding in the car (since she will have a 5 or 6-day car ride to Mexico with us in the fall).  Up until now, she hasn't been too keen on car rides.  Lizzie, on the other hand, loved riding in the car--she would sit on the elevated area between the two front seats to watch where we were going.  (Lizzie was our beloved Maine Coon who died of heart failure in the Abacos a few years ago. She died while I was holding her while in the vet's office in Marsh Harbour.)  However, due to the cold weather, we decided to postpone car ride training until next week.

Lola loves to be close to me when I am
working on my laptop writing this
blog.  She has really become
an integral part of our family.

When we returned to the boat, we had lunch onboard (chicken and broccoli slaw leftovers from last week).  We couldn't do much outside the boat, so we relaxed and did some reading (you know, old people exercise).

A Little About the History of Kent Island

Kent Island was the first European settlement within Maryland and the third in the United States after Jamestown VA (1607) and Plymouth MA (1620).  It was settled in 1631, initially as a trading post, but for a long time was claimed as part of Virginia--it wan't until 1776 that the dispute was settled and Kent Island became officially part of Maryland. (Before European settlers, Kent Island was inhabited by native Americans for 12,000 years.)

Both railroad and steam ships served Stevensville on Kent Island before the advent of the first span pf the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in 1952.

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Let's hope the warm dry weather returns...thanks for following our blog!