Cruising

Location: Mill Creek, off the Patuxent River, MD
Date: 20 Oct, 2006
Current position: N 38 20 13.49 W 76 30 09.09

We don't want you to all think our lives are only full of adventure and excitement. Our day-to-day life is, when we are lucky, quite calm and mundane. There are a few things that one needs to know when arriving at a new location:

1. Where can you land your dinghy without getting into trouble
2. Where can you dispose of trash without getting into trouble
3. Where can you get water without getting into trouble
4. Where is the closest grocery, because you are going to be walking there if you need anything, and if you buy anything heavy, you are going to get into trouble.

If you are lucky there are already some boats that have been in the anchorage for a while, so you jump into the dinghy and go on a fact finding mission and, of course, make new friends. If you are not so lucky you have to find these things out on your own by trial and error.

We actually like to find the most secluded spots to anchor most of the time but after a week or so it's nice to have some social interaction, and groceries and laundry are beginning to work their way toward the top of the list. The grocery list is well thought out, especially when carrying everything you buy back to the dinghy and then to the boat is taken into consideration. For example, liquids are heavy! So are potatoes and canned goods. There's a fine line between having "enough" and having to carry too much.

When we arrived after our night sail, we anchored at Back Creek in Solomons, MD. We'd been there before so we already had a free dinghy landing scoped out and knew where the grocery, post office, marine store (chandlery) and (very important) liquor store were. We did, however, dinghy around the anchorage and met and chatted with a few other cruisers and befriended a couple on a home made wooden trawler.

We hung out for happy hour on each other's boats and traded stories and tips.

Location: Mill Creek, off the Patuxent River
Date: 23 Oct, 2006
Current position: N 38 24 37.69 W 76 29 18.70

On Saturday we decided to head up the Patuxant river to St. Leonard's Creek. It's supposed to be a really nice spot and is the home of Vera's White Sands tikki bar and restaurant. Vera has recently sold the restaurant but we decided to dinghy over there for dinner and drinks and were not disappointed. Mark was hoping for something more "kitschy" and a bit less upscale, but the margaritas were very good, the view was excellent, and we had a very nice dinner by a window overlooking the creek.

The anchorage was quiet with lots of wildlife to watch and hardly any visible houses. Julie spent some quality time with Rachel's woodwork on deck as the weather was warmish and sunny, while Mark also spent some quality time in 'the basement' with our electrical system - with the "appropriate language" toolbox.

We weighed anchor around noon on Sunday and came part way back down the Patuxant to Mill Creek, an anchorage that we discovered last year. It's also quiet, we get good internet connectivity and there's a lovely county park with walking trails that we can dinghy to. Our trawler friends from Solomons were there and invited us over for dinner. We told them about the park and we all decided to dinghy over for a walk in the woods before we ate.

The next day when we came up for air from working they were gone, heading south for the winter. This is another cool thing about cruising - you make friends and have fun together, then go your own ways and maybe meet up again in a few days, a few years or never. You could meet in the same spot, or halfway around the world. You never know, and, so far, anyway, they're invariably old friends when you meet again.

Today has been rainy. We got up early and started work, ate lunch, and worked some more. We now have a pot of curry on the stove and the rice is "tsst tsst tsst'ing" away in the pressure cooker for dinner. We're looking forward to an evening of reading and then off to bed early.

Mark & Julie
s/v Rachel