solstice sail

Technically the solstice was yesterday, but I'm taking a literary liberty. Anyway.....after a very long week of nursing my back, struggling to make it through work, and missing what was one of the best windsurfing days of the season, I finally got a long overdue session on the water.

I spent the morning at the chiropractor and my massage therapist. They both worked me over pretty good and I left their office a whole lot better than a week ago. I'm still moving slow and stopping fast, but at least I'm moving!

Sarah left work early and met me at the boat around five. We had a nice sail across the Bay and got back to the dock just after sunset. Sarah did all of the work, and on the pretense of my back being a wreck, I hung out in the rear of the boat, gave orders and steered. Sometimes it is good to be the Captain!!!

may daze

Saturday night I left work with the plans for an early bike ride Sunday morning. I got home and put a pot of water on the stove for the pasta and threw a jar of my favorite sauce on the other burner.
The sun was starting to set and the clouds across street were bright red. I grabbed the camera and walked over to the marina to snap a few pictures. Of course by the time I got there the vivid colors had already faded.
OH Shit....the pasta. Big problem, I had turned the water to low and the sauce to high. The water hadn't boiled, but the sauce had. I returned from my "photo shoot" to find Sarah wiping pasta sauce off about every conceivable surface in the kitchen. OOPS!
A short while later I filled up my carbo tank with bow ties and piping hot pasta sauce, did a few stretches and went to bed in anticipation on the Sunday morning ride.



We were awakened at 6 am not by the alarm, but by a wicked thunderstorm and torrential rain. What happened to Sunday's sunny forecast? I flipped on the computer and the weather radar showed a narrow band of red and yellow working its way from DC to the Chesapeake Bay.
Also working his way from DC to Annapolis was our friend Iggy who had decided to ride his bike the 45 miles to Annapolis to join us for the ride. About 8am, just about the time a very soggy Iggy arrived on our door step, the skies began to clear.

Iggy

We pushed the ride back from 8:30 to 9 in order to give Iggy and the roads a chance to dry out a bit. It turned into a beautiful day and Sarah, Tammy, Iggy and I had a nice 36 mile ride.
We arrived back to City dock and took in the sights and sounds of the harbor. Tammy took off and the rest of us headed back to the house for cheese burgers. Play then eat.

We loaded up the cooler with Gatorade and more food and headed off the the boat. Iggy's girlfriend Maureen had driven to Cambridge earlier in the morning to pre-ride the course of the Eagle Man Triathlon that she is racing in a couple of weeks, and she met us at the boat.

When we got down to the dock, John was teaching Lilly and Nora to windsurf. The girls were doing great. They would sail across the creek and then John would reel them back across. I expect they will be doing it without help from dad soon.

Nora, John, Lilly

We left Whitehall, sailed across the mouth of Severn River, the back north to the Bay Bridge.
We had about 12 knots of wind and "Captain Mo" did a great job of driving the boat. Almost out of nowhere, (no clouds, no squalls, nada) the wind went from 12 to 25 in about 10 minutes. I took over the helm from Mo and sailed back to Whitehall. We cleaned up the boat and then stopped for pizza before Maureen and Iggy headed back to DC. More play and more eat.

Capt. Mo

Sweet DAZE off!