It’s a new year filled with 365 days of opportunity, adventure, happiness and endless possibilities. We’re ready to make the most of this upcoming year and have some exciting plans in the works!
For those of you that don’t know, Dave and I bought our first sailboat together in the Spring of 2015. We spent the first half of the summer down in beautiful Annapolis, MD, the mecca of East Coast sailing. We were absolutely spoiled being surrounded by fabulous restaurants, historic landmarks and picturesque scenery.
After about 8 weeks in Annapolis, we moved the boat up to the sleepy town of Middle River, MD because frankly, we couldn’t afford Annapolis’s pricey marina fees.
We kept her docked at Bowley’s Marina where we found extremely reasonable rates and accommodating staff. Nearly every weekend was spent on the Chesapeake anchoring out and discovering new gunk holes (ie- quiet, sheltered coves where you can anchor for the night, swim, fish and crab).
The protected environment of the bay was the ideal location for testing every piece of equipment on the boat. Soon we discovered a few items that needed attention and have spent the off season planning on how we will tackle these issues in the Spring.
In early September, Hurricane Joaquin threatened to come up the Chesapeake, so we hurriedly had her towed out and put on the hard. Fortunately Joaquin moved out into the Atlantic and never got close to land. However, our sailing season was cut short as we were planning on keeping her in the water until mid October.
Come April, we plan on applying a fresh coat of bottom paint, having her hauled back in and de-winterizing while planning a move down to the Jersey Shore.