Tuesday, May 22, 2007

No sailing today and none tonight. But I have been planning the Memorial Day weekend coming in just over 3 days. I have pored over chart books and the Cruising Guide to The Bay I have decided not to be too ambitious in my planed destinations.  That is for 2 reasons: first, historically the weather on Memorial Day weekend turns bad at the last minute. And second, this is still a new boat for me and the wife. So, I am planning on taking it easy.  My plans are weather dependant. If on Saturday we have North/South winds I will go across the Bay and anchor somewhere on Eastern Bay, maybe Crab Alley Creek, about 20 miles from Galesville.  If the winds are East/West I will head North and stop maybe at Mill Creek (outer edge of the Severn River, not far from Annapolis), 13.5 miles or maybe a bit further to the Magothy River, 22 miles away.  The second night in either case is planned for Harness Creek, a dear old friend.  Harness Creek is just 8.5 miles from Galesville so if the weather is bad on Monday we can slog that out without much pain and if the weather is glorious then we can make an all day sail of the return trip. 

So far the only wrinkle in the plans is I had ordered a Forespar Mini Galley (small propane single burner stove) that has yet to arrive after over 2 weeks.  Sure the boat has a 2 burner alcohol stove, but for a quick cup of coffee or some soup that seems a bit much. Today I called the marine store to inquire about the delivery and was assured that it has been shipped and "should" arrive. I am beginning to doubt that it will.  My other project is to install the Bimini top before the weekend.  If I can manage a few hours tomorrow I may attempt installation, but of course Murphy's law says if I succeed that guarantees that we will have rotten weather all weekend. The Grill is all in order and the head seems to be working just fine.  Goods news, my earlier problems with the engine tilt "system" seems to be fixed by changing how I release the tilt lever.  Its complicated but in the past 2 weeks it has worked flawlessly thanks mostly to the efforts of my brother Mike having been lowered head first down to where he could get to the lever and affect repair. 

I notice that we have had many visitors to this site, if you haven't noticed there is a "cluster map" that shows where the visitors are hailing from.  Take a moment and drop me a note if you would, I would appreciate any comments.

Joe McCary

Aeolus II

West River, MD USA

The Chesapeake Bay