We spent the last three days enjoying the festivities of the Annapolis Gam. We had rain on Saturday and Sunday and some pretty decent winds on Saturday night which helped to keep our batteries charged. The weather did not impact the crowd if the dinghy dock was any indicator. We haven't seen such crowds since our last visit to the Exuma Market.
Along with the great seminars,
there were many opportunities to mingle with the other cruisers. We had happy hours, lunches, dinners, ad hoc get-togethers, and the dinghy shuffle at the dock. The cruising clock hit us both pretty hard as bed time flirted with 2000 and wake up at 0600. Fortunately, every one else was on the same clock.
Our favorite seminar was Beth Leonard's discussion of her Chile expedition. She had a very professional presentation with great slides and a well thought out discussion. It was a standing room only crowd. We volunteered to work the lunch line right before the presentation. Ann did a great job handing out the sandwitches. Bob struggled a bit with the sodas though. Oh well, we were free.
All good things must end and so
it was with the Gam. We left right after breakfast so as to miss some of forecasted nasty weather. Fortunately the early morning yuckiness had cleared somewhat and we had nearly sunny skies all the way to the well at HHN. This week we go on the hard for the 3rd time in three weeks to rectify the transducer problem. We will also have our stuffing box replaced.
Jule III was splashed yesterday after some work was done on the shaft. We are now equipped with a new cutless bearing and a new stuffing box, both which should last many years. Today, the provisioning is complete, the boat washed, deck rigged for cruising, and pretty much everything checked out. For many reasons, we begin our cruising again. Sammy will our able bodied cat while Gina will spend time with Chris and the family. Levi will be in our thoughts every day. We are excited. The trip to Wilmington is a shakedown of sorts in preparation for the larger trip early next year.
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