Weekend in Baltimore. I need a nap.

I am writing this post as we head home to CT from Baltimore after a weekend visit to our son Rob and his new bride Kandice who got married over the weekend.  We had such a great time.   Yes, I know that this is a sailing blog but trust me, I’ll get to that soon, I promise.

For the moment though, a few photos from the wedding in downtown Baltimore.

The happy couple.How many weddings have you been to that included a dog in the wedding party, tie and all?A good time was had by all, even in the elevator on the way to the ceremony.Anyway, great weekend.  It’s going to take a few days to recover from all the festivities.  Forgive the major digression.  Ok, thanks for staying with me.  You’re still there, I hope.  Now, back to boat stuff.

Along the way, I was able to steal a few hours to walk around the inner harbor waterfront.  Interestingly, along with a number of marinas around the harbor, there is room to anchor in the small basin downtown.  However, the restrictions on where you can drop the hook are significant and I understand that there is only room for a boat or two.  It would be pretty annoying to schlep all the way up from the bay only to learn that there is already someone in “your spot”.

However, once you are there, by land or sea, it’s quite a hopping place.  With many inner city waterfront areas developed over the years, Baltimore was one of the early ones and remains a popular spot.

Of course, Pride of Baltimore II is good for a look.  Pride I sank years ago, with the loss of several lives.  Pride II incorporates safety features that Pride 1 did not have, as a result of the tragedy.  She’s a good looking ship.The “dragon” boats are a bit different and very popular. The lightship Chesapeake, one of the surviving manned lightships from along the East Coast, is there. She’s not in quite as good shape as Nantucket, now a B&B but fun to see, never the less.“Screw pile” lights were once common on the shifting sands of the Chesapeake Bay. With the exception of Thomas Point Light, near Annapolis, those remaining have been moved to waterfront parks and museums like this one in the inner harbor.There’s also a WWII sub, the Torsk, that is credited with sinking the last Japanese vessel in WWII. And a retired US Coast Guard cutter, the Taney an the last American vessel floating that saw action in Pearl Harbor. I walked around the waterfront with my friend Craig, who was also in town for “THE WEDDING” and along the way we found our way up Federal Hill, an earthworks built during the Civil war and used to protect the harbor then and in the War of 1812.  It’s an impressive pile of dirt and affords a remarkable view of downtown Baltimore.  The panoramic view on my phone tends to distort things but, with a little imagination, you can get a feel for the spot.Well, with the festivities behind us I’ll again focus on Pandora and some of the remaining projects including the new glazing that I am fitting between the bimini and dodger.  Last week I prepared a template aboard.  It was a bit annoying to do as the wind picked up to 15+kts as the day progressed, making it hard to keep everything in place.  I had to use extra masking tape in the wind.Once home I transferred the measurements and did some of the preliminary sewing in Brenda’s studio.This week I’ll head up to Wickford again to see if it fits (I’ll have my sewing machine in case it doesn’t) and install the zippers and final panel attachment points.  It will be a nice addition to the boat when we are out in unpleasant weather.  Without it, anyone at the helm when it’s raining gets pretty wet.  I prefer to stay dry and I KNOW that Brenda feels that way.

The last remaining project, not including painting the bottom in September, is the swapping of the watermaker so that we have more production capacity.  I don’t know if I am going to tackle that this year but I’d like to.  We’ll see what the next few weeks bring.   I have to be sure that we have enough water on hand to keep the washer going.  You know how girls like their jammies clean.

It’s hard to believe that I’ll be in Hampton VA in less than two months preparing to run Pandora to the Caribbean.  Wow, time flies when you are having fun, going to weddings (that’s great fun) or are at least busy and busy I am.

Whew… I need a nap.

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