February 18, 2008

 At anchor, Dinner Key

Coconut Grove , Florida

Inner Harbor Delights, but no Orioles

We moved on to Baltimore which was an easy sail but tricky docking as Lyn was still pretty immobile. As we had been at anchor for several weeks, the boat needed filled, pumped and washed so we stayed in a marina for several days while Lew worked and Lyn recovered. Even with an excellent grocery and a West Marine within easy walking distance, we were anxious to get out of the marina and back to anchor, this time in the Inner Harbor.

After a short motor up the river we dropped our hook in the Inner Harbor which would be our home for the next week. Like our last stop in St. Michaels, Baltimore is not only steeped in nautical tradition, but uses that connection as the centerpiece of its downtown renaissance. The relatively compact area of the Inner Harbor contains two marinas, cultural and entertainment venues, the National Aquarium, and museum ships including the Constellation (sister to Constitution), Pride of Baltimore II, a WWII submarine, Coast Guard cutter and a Chesapeake Lightship. And only several blocks away are Camden Yards, and historic Little Italy and Fells Point. To make getting around even easier, the harbor area boasts an excellent water taxi service that covers several miles of downtown shoreline.

Our week there was actually pretty busy trying to see as much as we could and Lyn pretty slow to get around with her bum knee. But we got it all in including free Beach Boys concert outside the Hard Rock Café. When we arrived the Pride was not in port but was back several days later and we enjoyed seeing her strike sail and dock only a few yards from Sea Wings.

The Pride sails with a small crew and everyone has to do multiple jobs including going into the rigging to handle the sails. Even with all the practice that they get it was still a little surprising to see three young people, one a woman, scamper up the rigging and out onto the yard arms………….one in sneakers, the other two wearing Croks! Up they went, higher than the top of our mast with no safety lines and Croks for footwear. I’d say they were so practiced at it that it was almost casual to them. Not for me, much less in Croks.

Knowing that most “replica” ships don’t stray too far from home and that the Pride had several times visited Jacksonville, we asked the Captain where else the boat had gone as an ambassador for Baltimore. We suspected it would not be much farther from home, particularly as the first Pride was lost at sea. When he started to rattle off China, Russia, Africa, South America, etc it was apparent that Baltimore uses its nautical heritage to promote itself to a truly world wide audience. Perhaps this could be an example for Jacksonville to see the River as more than merely a ‘water feature’ and take more advantage of its own nautical history in promoting itself. Might help fill all those empty condos downtown????

We truly enjoyed our week in Baltimore. It was further enhanced by Lew’s dad and his wife Linda coming down to spend a day with us. Our visit fell short in only one way. Lew has never been to a professional baseball game and was looking forward to an afternoon at the Yard watching the Orioles play. Just our luck, they were on a road trip for the entire week.

A fun time was had by all but it was time to get moving on. We did not want to miss the Annapolis Boat Show and planned to sail down and grab a mooring right off the boat show site. So we left Baltimore and sailed to Annapolis knowing we would have two full weeks before the show, plenty of time for a comfortable front row seat. Or so we thought.

Best to all and fair winds,

Lew and Lyn

SV Sea Wings