October 7 - 12, 2004

Captain Luke and Debbie brought SeaBIrd II from Bar Harbor to Baltimore.  A scheduled week aboard from Boston to New York City had to be cancelled due to weather and other problems.

Admiral B. joined the crew again in Baltimore for a cruise down Chesapeake Bay.

Oct 7 - Met the boat in Harbor View Marina in downtown Baltimore.  S2 docked for just an hour to pick me up then we headed for anchorage in Sillery Bay, a trip of about 2 1/2 hours, arriving at sundown.  Sillery Bay is a small bay just south of Baltimore.  Nice, quiet anchorage.  Took the dingy and explored the area in the morning.  A couple of interesting waterfront properties.  Temps in the 70's.
                                                    

Oct 8 - St. Michaels  A quaint town and popular boating and tourist destination.  We anchored in a prime spot just outside the marinas, near the maritime museum which Debbie and I visited the next morning.  The museum features the Bay history, oyster fishing, etc.  Takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to see.  They also have an old light house which was moved from its original location to this spot.  Lots of shops and a couple of marinas. 

Oct 9 - Solomans Island -  A much larger harbor and boating center with space for about 1500 boats.  Lots of boat traffic, both on the bay and in the town.   Berthed at Soloman Yachting Center and walked to a maritime museum a few blocks away.  This was a larger and more elaborate facility than the one in St MIchaels and had a small aquarium in addition to the nautical museum. Another transplanted lighthouse similar to the one in ST Michaels. Weather holding good.

Oct 10 - Tangier Island - Totally different from Solomans.  Tangier was settled by just a few families in the 1600's and many of their descendants still live there.  A dozen last names account for about 80% of the population.  Very small marina with space for only 7 or 8 boats and only room for one our size.  A walk around town was interesting, lots of cemeteries, may of which were in peoples front yards.  Folks speak with a distinct accent, somewhere between down east, Cajun and ?

Oct 11 - A rather windy and rough 5 hour trip to Norfolk.  Fortunately the wind was on our stern and with the stabilizers the ride was pretty smooth.  Passed by the fleet before docking at Waterside Marina.  My third visit there. It was too late to visit Nauticus Maritime Museum which closes at 5 PM, but will do this on the next leg.  The battleship Wisconsin is now berthed next to the Museum.  Dinner with Capt. Luke and Debbie that night at Todd Jurich's BIstro a short walk from the Marina and also one of the best restaurants in Norfolk.

Oct 12 Flew home to KC for a 6 day shore leave.