Mark and Nicole's Big Adventure

Mark has always been a fan of cruising to an isolated bay or creek and dropping anchor for a day or two or longer. Initially I was less enthusiastic. Will the anchor hold? What happens if it lets loose in the middle of the night? For most newbie on-anchorites, those are probably the two biggest questions. What if? Many years of boating under my belt, I am now a true-blue aficionado of hanging on anchor. There isn't another experience that compares. First, it is QUIET. Birdsong is the most common noise. Inevitably there will be a lovely sunset. For some reason, we have also seen more than our share of full moon risings while on anchor. You may share your water space with another boat or two, but they want the same thing you do. Privacy, quiet, space. It's doubtful you will ever feel crowded in an anchorage unless you choose it. Dinghy rides, swimming, sunning, eagle watching, grilling dinner and drinking wine on the aft deck. That's about as complicated as life gets on ancho...

No season is complete without a visit to a botanical garden. On the cusp of summer, we finally made the 40 minute drive from Baltimore to Maryland's beautiful Montgomery County to see the even more beautiful Brookside Gardens. Many botanical gardens are part of historic properties or estates owned by the well to do that are in turn generously shared with the rest of us. Best I can glean, Brookside Gardens was instead the result of a community effort to create a formal garden open to the public on land once owned by a landscape nursery. It's a lovely garden and obviously an integral part of many local residents' day to day routine as they take their regular turn through one well-designed garden room after another. The butterflies, bees and cicadas were happy, too. Enjoy the photos!

We arrived in Baltimore nearly three weeks ago. It feels good to be home. Temps are up, the pandemic is easing, and peonies are in bloom. All good reasons to celebrate, sniff a flower and take a hike in pretty Patapsco State Park.

Looking at my photo stream since April 6, I would like to see shots of pretty sunsets, spring flowers, charming watertowns. Instead, I have photos and video of water and steam being expelled out the starboard backside of our boat. It’s an issue we’ve been dealing with for weeks, but especially this past month.  I won't bore you with all the the details but suffice to say the water you see coming out is supposed to be there. The steam is not. That steam usually means something is impeding the flow of cooling water to the engine. This creates flashes of heated water (steam). For us the problem exhibited itself when running the boat at high speeds. Run fast over a period of time and the engine begins to overheat. Even I know an overheating engine is a very bad thing. For a long time, we just did not go fast.  Mark spent hours researching and more hours in the engine room, testing, checking, replacing, pulling things apart and putting them back together. We involved two different ...

Beaufort, Mosquito Creek, Charleston, Georgetown. We re-acquainted ourselves with these four South Carolina stops as we continued our trip northward. It's a good feeling to return to towns and marinas you know. Plus, it's spring in the south. The azaleas were in full, glorious bloom. As for Mosquito Creek, one of our favorite anchorages, we experienced fully the reason for its name. Them little buggers were prolific and hungry! Cruising past Hilton Head to Beaufort, we enjoyed pretty skies and water. A pod of 10 dolphins, adults and little ones, kept us entertained for several minutes near Hilton Head. The sighting was by far the most impressive of any we've seen on this cruise. In a seemingly purposeful "final act," the entire pod swam next to the boat, the dolphins pressed side to side as they gracefully launched themselves through the water. Lowcountry marshes nearly close enough to touch. Beaufort sunset. Charleston's two marinas on the Ashley River are ho...