Labor Day Weekend, 2011

We kicked off our weekend with a birthday celebration on Friday night for the 1st Mate (me!).  After a nice dinner at Mango's we all enjoyed cupcakes from Curbside Cupcakes (the cupcake truck in downtown DC).  YUM!


Happy Birthday to me!



 
Saturday morning we got underway with our sights set on Annapolis.  We had some great downwind sailing and passed at least 3 regattas on the way.  We weren't terribly surprised that there weren't any mooring balls available in the harbor, but there was plenty of room off the USNA quay wall so we dropped the hook and all 100' of chain in anticipation of higher winds in the afternoon.  We were planning to meet some friends in town so we dropped the dinghy (exciting in a stiff breeze and chop!) only to discover that the engine wouldn't work.  After some troubleshooting Frank though it was the fuel line from the gas can to the engine.  We caught a water taxi (thank goodness for that service!) into town so we could meet up with our friends, try to get the part for the dinghy, and of course get ice cream!  The whole gang caught the taxi back to the boat for a simple dinner of burgers.

Sunday morning Frank tried for a few hours to get the dinghy going, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Even after painstakingly cleaning the carburater it wouldn't run.  Seeing a few mooring balls had freed up, we decided to shift to a spot a little closer to town.  The moorings in Annapolis are great!  After the bit of relaxing we headed into town via the taxi again and walked amongst the crowds.  It was a little much!  After some treats and a nice walk we decided to head back to the boat.  We just aren't into crowds like that.  Frank put up the hammock, the kids got out their fishing rods, and we relaxed!


Captain relaxing in the hammock while the 1st Mate supervises the swabbies.



Kiddos hanging in there during some choppy conditions.



 Our trip back home today was a little rough!  There wasn't a ton of wind, 13-15kts on the nose, but the seas were square, ~3' and 3 sec period, and it was rough down below!  Poor kiddos didn't even feel that great up in the cockpit.  We made it home just fine though and after giving the boat a good scrub we hit the pool for about an hour before the rain started.  All in all, a decent weekend, though I could have done without the troubles with the dinghy and would really like to go back to Annapolis when the streets aren't so packed.