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26 May - I've finished writing my book, Sailing with Carol. It traces my time with Carol as kids and teens and of course, the last 21 years we spent together as adults. I believe I've conveyed her growth as a woman and as a sailor, with all the romance, passion and adventure that she brought to those roles. It will be available in mid December at Amazon.com 26 May - Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore was nice but my anchor windlass broke and I got more than my daily share of exercise hauling up 120' of anchor chain by hand. Went to a ball game at Camden Yards to watch Baltimore beat the Yankees. It was good to see everyone including the Tremels who sailed down from Sassafras River. 14 June - Sailed to Annapolis and crossed tracks with my high school, SS John W. Brown which was out on one of her cruises down the bay. Treated myself to a Father's Day dinner but Carol and I used to go there often so like so many things, it was more bitter than sweet. 25 June - I departed Kent Island and sailed my way down the bay, stopping at Solomons Island where I ran into our old friend Dave from Mears and he and his two lovely ladies came aboard Lastdance for a while. I also hooked up with Russ and Maggie aboard Integrity and we shared an anchorage until Seawoof and Bliss arrived the next day. From there I sailed south to Reedville on Great Wicomico River where I weathered a storm at anchor downwind from a smelly fish processing factory. From Reedville I stopped at Gwynn Island then Jackson Creek, then went on to a very rough ride to Yorktown in 25 knots of wind right on the nose. I anchored in Sarah Creek the frist night to ride out some big thunderstorms then motored across the river to the town dock the next morning. Yorktown was a great place to visit, full of history and a few good restaurants and pubs. I squeezed in a day at Williamsburg but had to put off seeing Jamestown for another voyage. From Yorktown I sailed north to Fleets Bay and tucked into Antipoison Creek where Captain John Smith was treated by indians for sting ray poisoning, hence the name! Still sailing north, I rafted with Bliss and Seawoof in Trippe Creek on the Choptank River after spending Independence Day back at Solomon's Island. 7 July - I now sit at anchor in Fogg Cove in St. Michael's where I'm taking a rest day before going on to Annapolis. The 2 weeks have been a mixed bag of weather with more motoring than I wanted to do but all in all, it was good to be out on the bay. As with everything I do, I wish with every fibre that Carol could have been with me. Sailing is not now nor will it ever be as special without her to share it with. 5 Aug - Since returning from Annapolis, I've been sailing around the middle bay, making several trips to St. Michael's and a lonely bittersweet cruise to the Corsica River, where Carol and I used to go often. 8 Aug - Sailed up to Fairlee Creek and hooked up with Tranquility and Belle Amie for a week of cruising including stops in Rock Hall and Magothy River. A week later I saided to St. Michael's with my nephew Nicky and his kids Timmy (aka swabby) and Caitlin. We had a great time! Afterwards I've been out alone most of the rest of August, mostly in quiet anchorages in the Choptank river. I did a land trip with my daughter-in-law Michelle to North Carolina to help her with house hunting. They will be back in Camp Lejuene on Nov first and then Christopher is deploying to Iraq again in January. 6 Sept - I spent most of yesterday getting Lastdance ready for tropical storm Hanna but the highest winds I encountered today were only gust to 47 knots. It got a bit loud and we rolled around in my slip a bit but but 9pm, the wind was down to 15 knots and I can see stars in the sky. Tomorrow, I'll go sailing! 17 Sept - Sailed to Annapolis in perfect conditions and took a slip right in downtown at City Dock. people watched and had a few rum and cokes too many. I had dinner at my cousin Lauries the next day with her and her husband Randy. FANTASTICO! On Friday, I met two women who were soliciting donations for Special Olympics. I invited them aboard Lastdance to dicuss a sailing trip donation but 2 bottles of wine later, I had to call my friend Sailboat Bill to help me entertain them! Bill and the ladies came back Sunday and I sailed back to Kent Island with them. On Saturday, Mike, Jennifer, Michael and Megan came down for the Navy-Rutgers game. We had a nice lunch aboard Lastdance before they went off to the game. Afterwards we went to a great dinner at Buddy's. I'm now back from my 40th reunion at Maine Maritime Academy and scrambling to get Lastdance ready to sail south on or about the 15th of October. 6 Oct - Sailed to St. Michael's over the weekend in company with s/v Galena, s/v Beleza, s/v Cloud Nine and s/v Trust Me. Galena and Beleza rafted to Lastdance and crews from Cloud Nine and Trust Me dinghied over for drinks and snacks until the wind shifted and we almost dragged down on a nice Cabo Rico anchored behind me. After breaking up the raft-up and reanchoring, we went ashore to Carpenter Street Saloon for many more drinks and dinner of many orders mini tacos. I think of Carol all the time but more then usual this weekend. Oct 8 - I had my test at U of P Hospital and the good docs say the nodes remain unchanged and stable so I'm good to go for my voyage south. My plan is to depart on or about 15 Oct and sail to Camp Lejuene, NC and spend a month with Christopher and his family before he deployes to Iraq again. After that I'll sail to florida and the Keys and then on to the Bahamas, returning north in the spring. Once i leave, I'll start a voyage log for anyone who is interested in following my progress or lack of it. My goal is to finish the voyage that Carol and I always dreamed of making but to do it safely and slowly. My book Sailing with Carol is now scheduled to be out in late December or January so look for news of it's release on the "Book News" page of this site. Oct 23 - I'm ready! The wind generator is installed but the depth transducer has still not arrived but I'm going to depart tomorrow and have the transducer forwarded to Norfolk, VA where I'll install it. All future logs will be recorded in the "Voyage Log" page of the website. Sail on, Carol. Sail on!
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