The Womb of Hampstead Harbor

A quick continuation of my synopsis till the present; Aug.19 th A)Solomon Island,MD. highlight:AnnMarie Gardens, such an oasis of art mostly donated or borrowed from the Hirshorn in DC.
B)Aug.23 The fine city of Annapolis,we loved it,reminiscent of Amsterdam.We moored At Annapolis City Yacht Club, Tracked down ,Ridout Row,Our dear Ridout ancestral home. Got work done;2sails repaired,new fridge and freezer,upholstery in to the shop all in very very hot weather .
c) Joey and I bike 90 km to fetch van from Solomons and drive back to the city. That night Joey and Olivia drive to Baltimore airport to get Philippa.They have an accident, swerve off the road and get a flat.The cell phone dies when Olivia calls us , we get in the dingy,in a taxi . Drive to try and find them -somewhere near the airport.Before we reach them,Joey calls.They are recovered,triumphant.Joey fixed the flat(!!)drove to the airport,found Philippa,borrowed the phone they were on.We turned about and headed back to the boat.It was a drama day.
C) St Michaels ,across from Annapolis very quaint ,a days sail,arrived late,David instilled in all of us the mantra,never arrive at an unknown place at night. Left in am .The hurricane,Earl was making himself a name and we were watching the reports carefully.Philippa who was with us for a holiday wanted to fly out of NYC,we reluctantly mindfully headed north.We anchored in ,StillPond lovely anchorage E) North to Chesapeake City,met some nice locals,very sweet town,Kids were on local radio and got a free pizza.F) Sept4- 5 sailed 33 hours into NYC Jeremy's 25th birthday S of Liberty says,Hey. G) Stay a week in the city H) Leave early on Sat. Sept. PRESENTLY:in SeaCliff ;September 27 .
Still,with hardly a bob.Quiet,with about3 boats by ,a siren,like Fred Flintstones call to the pits and a far off plane. Just me,all alone. What a "sea change"that is!
We had the best time in NYC. We left SeaCliff Tuesday and spent that night anchored on the Hudson River.David was very anxious,shouting sailorly that it is just not right. He didn't sleep much.Poor guy. It turns out that despite currents and lots of full moon wind /tide play,our anchor was actually good and stuck on some mystery object deep in the nasty waters.
Wednesday was my birthday and I was treated like a queen.I was given enough presents for good 'guilt is so last decade" practice . A fat red/orange kayak and the most popular pad on the block,i!,i!,i! marauded bootie.
The plan was to go out for a 8:30 dinner,just before we hopped in the dingy all duded up,we heard and were beginning to experience some very atmospheric weather,quite threatening ,lightning show on the horizon and forboding wind at the back of our necks We went out to Modern the restaurant at Moma with my very good friends,Liz and Tom and Anne O'Hagan.I was feeling very loved and lucky

We had lots of fun in that very perfect medium of the 79th st BoatBasin,after getting a slip at the dock the mood transformed.Fri

in the beginning... till now ... briefly (not)

O.K. Now,no more coffee email dishes food distractions

this is it

now

If I look up,trying not to be distracted,I see sea,it's actually ,The Hampstead Harbor and long island sound. At night we see the lights across the sound of Rochelle. 

           We are moored at The SeaCliff Yacht Club. We have come to visit my good friend Liz . Liz,Tom and their 3 children;Henry (opti racer/salty dawg) ,Eddie and Anna live here in this 1 square mile precious town. From here, I swivel to note the beach and then up to green hills. The 1 square can provide a tight workout with stairs and steep windy roads . 

  Not today,Im blogging! 

  The houses..!!!! so beautiful, we love liz and Toms house big brick with property on all four sides. Joey erected a tire swing during our first dinner together.

 It has been a boon being welcomed and warmed in a real family after 21/2 months,they have fed us driven us to get food lent us cloths,an address to receive text books,a washer/dryer,printer,scanner,advice,information,invited us to join them and 100 others on an annual camping trip to Montawk this weekend...and mostly made us feel at home!

today,serious about this blog,I really want to accomplish a synopsis  of this "THIS" so far. 

No one has time to read long blogs but this has to be and after this,just stories and Geography in chronological sequences

"THIS"-sailing and living on rhythm our 46 foot catamaran with Joey 16 and Olivia 14 for an intended voyage around the world.

OK,David left solo from T.O 2 weeks before us.

Joey Olivia and I drove down July 28th 2010

I left my parents house ,my parents,my dog Sister,our son Jeremy ,daughter Philippa and lots of very loved peeps

We drove for a very long time,Joey  at the wheel ,Olivia navigating.I literally took the back seat and channeled my 8 year old self.I was helpless. Don't argue with the man on the wheel. We arrived in little St Marys Yachting Centre ,MD at 4;30 am

David and Rhythm were bigger and better than remembered.

 This takes real disapline  to keep on the narrow word path here...

so, St Marys,Hot,HOt,HOT! It was a perfect way to begin. The marina was lilliputian,a camp ground too. The first day it was so hot I put on big sunglasses and a bountifully brimmed hat and went to run in the pool. The camper people didn't say Hi . David and I took our bikes to the old town of St Marys,the college had students participating in archeological digs. They were resurrecting the original settlement starting with framed strictures they called Ghost Houses.

It took us ages to orient our stuff  to the hiding spots on the boat. 

Then find them again.

Its still overwhelming how many crazy electronics adhere to this vessel,we just discovered we have a fish finder!

OK so there we were,on the Potomac,of The Chesapeake Bay and no swimming!!  There were hundreds of ghosty white jellyfish and the water was otherwise nasty.  How very torturous it was,Canadians out of water! 

The kids went to the the pool to cool off. They were good sports considering 3 disappointments in Chesapeake: 1)The no swimming, 2) No wind for sailing e v e r 

3)No rowdy fun families sailing about with teens like us

#4)for me was-What's with the engines on and air-conditioning  !!!!!???? I bragged about town that we were,"going off the grid"! It felt wrong

Our very first experience off the dock was a days motor north up the Potomac to Washington DC.  David and I got up at 6am,unleashing  us,I asked ,"should I unplug us?" Yes Yes David multi tasks..Turns out that giant sized yellow plug was attached to what "us sailors" call a pigtail which attaches the extension cord to the main vein on the dock.It was ours to take ,but I didn't

We put hope in finding it back when we returned.such a nice quiet friendly place.

It was hot there,hotter than I had ever been and we were on the water!!  We arrived at The Capital City Yacht Club and anchored out front for  $15 a day.We were called Transients and we could use their facilities. We were right there!!!  The National Mall was at our finger tips ,it was enriching,gorgeous,close, free and air-conditioned ! I just loved the long lost (back in a previous life)feeling of being amongst very beautiful works of art. Pieces Id seen printed,artists names a common thread to my own brief history,like smells.It was comforting. We discovered the very best Gelato ever,and went there everyday. I loved the fact that in Washington there are no locals out on the streets,especially in the deep thick weighty heat of August.We were all tourists. I looked at the crowds and thought,I bet every middle class American family feels the responsibility to bring their children here, like Mecca. We had bikes and it was such a fun departure from life back home;riding up to Lincoln's Memorial in the warm dark of night.  Together!

Across from our anchorage was a park David and I rode our bikes early in the morning,I was stung by a bee. I ran one morning and felt stupid as it was just so hot. It was hot at night too and our little birth was suffocating. I tried sleeping outside but the cacophony of noise was like being in India,Washington;no flowers,few bikes,lots of art,history important policy makers and alot of armed guards .

Back to St.Marys. No pigtail.

   

First Entry

Not queasy tummies nor 'Earls' of wind,voluble seas...oh no, the mighty nature that challenges me  to brink is the condition of human.
Yes,in that vein, the frustrations of internet anemia and my own  tech deficit ,the  control-less helplessness is unbearable .
Bring on the cyclopean!!!!!
Hows that for a first blog entry?