End of an Era...

Sad News…we received the call early Sunday morning at 4:30 am, that Ron’s beloved grandmother, Ally's great-grandmother "Nana", Jessica Cone, passed away at 96. We were underway from Bay Bridge without the chance to say good bye to anyone there, and were back in Baltimore before noon. From there, it was off to NY for Ron, to help coordinate the funeral arrangements and begin our grieving. Nana personified elegance, generosity and grace, and we miss her dearly.

Jessica Cone with Ron, circa 1960

Nana with Allison, Mother's Day 2006

Bay Bridge Marina!

We came over to Bay Bridge Marina to be with our friends Al & Kim Baldoni, and Rick and Maria Davis and their kids. It was of course, low tide when we came in the Bay Bridge Marina channel; I called ahead to get local knowledge from Capt John, a friend of the Baldonis, who told us to keep to the starboard side of the channel coming in and we’d have plenty of water. Nevertheless, I hate seeing the depth sounder going blank, unable to get a reading because its mere inches from the bottom! (They say you haven’t cruised the Chesapeake if you haven’t gone aground…but that’s another story!) At any rate, Ron had no problems piloting the boat in, and pivoting and placing her against the bulkhead just past the entrance to the marina. And…SO GOOD to see the Baldonis and Davises again! Ally and the kids took off to the pool immediately and we adults soon followed for some Vitamin D ourselves, along with cocktails. Full blast sunshine, good friends, and a few drinks later, all was right with the world! We had a great late dinner in Stevensville at Rustico’s, and returned for dancing out at the tiki bar behind Hemingway’s overlooking the bay until the wee hours. Ahh!

Cruising in our backyard, the Chesapeake

We've done a couple weekends back to back over in Fairlee Creek, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, meeting up with various friends and having them raft up with Equinox while we're on anchor. For those who haven't been there, Fairlee Creek offers both a marina and a protected anchorage inside a large cove. Getting in through the cut can be tricky at times, depending on the time of the tide and the resulting current that rushes through, but once inside, the river is a great place to anchor, swim, wakeboard, tube or water-ski.





Ally always has a smile on her face wake-boarding or skiing. She loves it!





With our good-sized ground tackle and all-chain rode, we prefer to dig in and set it well so that we can rest easily at night. Despite how calm it can be on some summer nights, the current always affects our deep hull, so we will swing, even in no wind. (Wind doesn't seem to affect us as much, since we're so heavy, but the current definitely does.)

The only drawback to Fairlee is that it is a very popular anchorage, and often, it becomes quite crowded. This often results in watching the "anchoring olympics": watching folks anchor who clearly haven't done it before or (worse) haven't a clue as to how to put out enough line to keep the anchor set. Forget having them even think about the appropriate swing room needed between any nearby boats...!

The first weekend we were there, we too had a bit of difficulty anchoring, but only because we fouled the anchor on a huge, 50' long aluminum piling that was lying on the riverbed. I can say that with certainty, because our windlass pulled the entire thing up out of the water! It was scooped up in our Delta anchor, caught almost precisely at its middle, so was teetering out to either side as we pulled it up. Ron came out of the PH to check it out, because he couldn't believe what I was telling him. We managed to slide the anchor off the piling on the first try, thankfully!

Later, we were joined by Dan and Trish Carney along with their friend Cynthia, aboard Serenity on Saturday. They rafted up to us and we were delighted to find we had a crab feast planned, thanks to Ron's ingenious buying of nearly a bushel of crabs from a local waterman, who happened to be working his crab line in the river. I steamed the crabs in Old Bay that evening and we all ate like kings! Perfectly done (if I say so myself), heavy and sweet!! We had enough left over that I picked crab meat for the next two days, making crab dip, crab balls and crab-mango-avocado stack appetizers.

This past weekend we were with the Messanos aboard Clairbuoyant, and again, enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The kids all went tubing and wakeboarding, and Ally and I went skiing as well. A great place to spend a hot summer weekend, for the breezes on the flybridge were wonderful!

Ode to a Boat Dog

A sad day for us, as we have lost our beloved dinghy dog, Trek. At the age of ten, he developed a bad disc in his back. Despite various treatments, it never improved and he lost neurological function in his hind legs, and could no longer walk. He will be greatly missed by us all.

Wedding in Cancun

While not aboard this week, nevertheless, we've had a fun week in the Yucatan at the Club Med. We flew down to Cancun the last week of June for the wedding of Paul McDonnell and his fiancee, Muriel Cornelis. (Ron was the best man, as Paul had been for Ron when we were married 22 years ago!) A fun group of family and friends attended, literally from around the world, from Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Maryland.

Ron and I dove the first five days we were there, from north of Cancun proper, then over by ferry to Cozumel's Columbia Deep with Paul, after which, we said a brief hello to Don Julio for old times sake. (See photo at right --->) From there it was to the cenote Chikin Ha, then to Puerto Morelos for immense nurse sharks and the wreck of the C-56. All in all, a satisfying time underwater, amongst the preparations and partying for the wedding celebration!

We all got to know each other during the week-long vacation, and kept very busy. Some enjoyed the sights from Chitzen Itza to Tulum, others the Club Med activities, from tennis to sailing to waterskiing to lounging on the beach with a drink in hand.

The wedding was truly elegant; held seaside on the lawn of Club Med on Friday evening, followed with a beachside reception, dinner and dance party until late in the night. Dancing in the sand barefoot to the steel drum band was fabulous! We all enjoyed it and were delighted to share the memories together!

Jimmy Buffett: The "Year of Still Here" Tour

Yes, we couldn't resist, and did it again....! While it meant a weekend away from the boat, it was worth it, as we had 2nd row center seats at Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Stadium, with Dan and Trish Carney, Allison and her dear friend, Claire Messano. Ally had just finished her week at tennis camp in Florida that morning; Claire and I picked her up at the PHL and then rejoined the others for an entertaining afternoon of tailgating, people watching and music at our own little "Tiki Bar" amongst the hundreds of other parrotheads. The weather was brutally hot and humid, and of course, it wouldn't be Buffett if it didn't rain....and rain it did!! Right after G Love opened the show, a huge thunderstorm cell aimed right at the stadium, drenching us all in the outfield. After a bit of a lightning delay, we commenced to rocking out with Jimmy and the Coral Reefers for the next two hours, uninterrupted and undeterred by the continuing rain and drizzle. As usual, Jimmy seems to truly enjoy his summer job! It was a GREAT concert, with all the old favorites and gold standard songs; while it didn't have the synergy of a new album/CD like last year's "Take The Weather With You" Tour, it was, for us, still fabulous after all these years! After his encores, Jimmy threw his wrists bands to the audience, with one aimed DIRECTLY at Allison...who was most bereft when she dropped it!! As the kind souls in front of her bent to retrieve it for her, another woman to the left snatched it up and kept it herself. Luck of the draw, I guess...but it was intended for Ally!!

It was a great time, a family event that made memories to cherish and enjoy. Here we are!

Steve's Yacht Yard, Annapolis

This first full week of June after Ally finished school and was off to Evert Tennis Academy for a week, Ron and I took the boat down to Annapolis for a week of scheduled boat work. Ron will commute from Eastport while we address the final few nagging punch list items that remain to be rectified. While the boatyard and the docks aren't much to brag about (new docks are due in July -- much needed!), the view of Annapolis and the Naval Academy to the west are glorious indeed!! We arrived in the midst of a heat wave, and with the temps hovering around 100, we've missed having the BMC pool nearby, but dinghy rides have helped to cool us down each evening after Ron has returned from work in Baltimore. Trek is doing much better on his course of prednisone, and is able to get up and about without too much discomfort. Of course, I'm walking him 7 times a day, with his need to pee from the steroid use. Poor guy!