Monday, May 28, 2012 Memorial Day

Crossing over the Potomac into the St. Mary’s River yesterday ushered us into Maryland.  The morning was clear over the Horseshoe Bend anchorage when we dinghyed ashore to take a jog around St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s picturesque campus overlooking the mile-wide harbor.  Brick paths wind around and through tree-covered naturalized habit.  Other than the barrage of large biting flies under the trees it was enjoyable exercise.  Fritz especially liked the occasional squirrel that temptingly ran across his path just out of reach.  We keep telling him they would not make a good best friend, but he doesn’t seem to get it.  

When we moved to Punta Gorda and began the job of getting Aurora ready to sail every day seemed to be a “boat project” day.  Since leaving home with only minor emergencies which needed attention we haven’t spent a whole lot of time on time consuming repairs.  Shortly after Dennis prepared pancake and bacon breakfast in the galley he announced that this would be one of those project days. 

He began by removing the impeller he had just installed two days before.  After reading the manual he realized he had unknowingly put it in backwards and also that it needed greasing.  What’s that old adage, “If all else fails, read the directions?”  

Ever since Dennis installed the auto pilot we’ve heard an occasional “clank, clank, clank,” sound when we use it.  So next on the list was to tighten its chain-driven mechanism.  We’ll have to wait until we’re under sail to check out if it’s better or worse. Hopefully it won’t be on the list again. 

Last, was another attempt to fix the pesky leaky cabinet that has plagued us for several months.  This would be our second attempt.  Whenever it rained water was dripping into the cabinet where we keep dishes.  Never mind the dirty dishes, water soaked wood anywhere on a boat is not a good thing.  Taking the wood cabinet apart was the only way to be able to see where the water was seeping through from the deck.  With me on the outside pouring water onto different places where it might be getting in and Dennis perched on top of the lid of the freezer in the galley we finally found the culprit to be one of the stations.  After silconing the bottom of the station and tightening the fittings on the other hoses in the cabinet, hopefully this problem is also finally resolved.

With plenty to keep Dennis busy, I decided to take a ride into the nearest town on the Maryland public transit, but after waiting a few minutes at the stop realized they would not be coming on Memorial Day.  Instead I turned and headed up Church Point hill to the site of the Maryland’s first settlement and capital.  Other than the college, post office, and the Trinty Episcopal church, St. Mary’s City is really just an archaeological site of the colonial city dotted with a few replicas of original buildings.  Maryland was founded in 1607 on religious tolerance, by the second Lord Baltimore.  One hundred forty colonists came over on two boats, the “Ark” and “Dove” in 1634.  After the capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695 the city was abandoned and the site used mainly for agriculture leaving behind a rare archaeological record, probably the most undisturbed, intact colony in the nation.  When the first capital was torn down the original bricks were used to build the Episcopal church which still overlooks the river over Horseshoe Bend.  A delightful reproduction of the “Dove” sits docked in the peaceful water just below the city.  It makes short voyages around the Chesapeake with the assistance of an iron jenny.  I thoroughly enjoyed walking the historical paths of the first Maryland citizens.

Students from St. Mary's enjoyed the light winds as they glided sunfish around and through the waters off the shore in the afternoon, while we enjoyed their enthusiasm and joy of learning to sail.

Tomorrow we’re bound for Solomon Islands, and then on to Annapolis.