When we got back on the boat we headed for Solomon's Island. We spent a few days just relaxing after the excitement of the wedding and the road trip. Other than taking a walk to the grocery store and West Marine, we didn't even get off the boat.

After resting up our next stop was Annapolis at Performance Cruising where the boat was made. A rubber boot called a "gator" that holds the oil for the outdrive had a leak, so we had ordered a new one. We anchored in Back Creek and had a lovely stay. We strolled around old downtown and took the dingy looking at the multitude of boats.

Next we headed North to Baltimore. Richard Stanco, a long time sailing buddy of Clay's took the train down from CT to meet us. We decided to wait an extra day because the weather wasn't the greatest, so we enjoyed some shopping and dining. We were eating dinner at Recreation Pier (where the boat was docked) when Richard said he though this was the spot where the shot a scene from Sleepless in Seattle. It was the scene where Meg Ryan and Rosie O'Donnell were sitting on a bench on the water. We asked the waitress, who asked her boss, and sure enough he was right! The pub that we had lunch at had over 800 different beers with like 120 on tap.

We got an early start and left Baltimore with a fair tide, carried it North up the Chesapeake, East through the C&D canal and had the current against us down the Delaware to the Cohansey River where we stopped at a marina and were reacquainted with someone we met there four years ago. Early the next morning we took the Cape May Canal to Cape May. We fueled up and continued on our way in light air to Atlantic City. Once again, Clay kept Richard and I far, far away from the casino's. We anchored in a little lagoon on the first try, last time it took four attempts because the entrance was so narrow we kept backing out for fear we wouldn't make it.

We had beautiful day going from Atlantic City to NYC where we anchored behind the Statue of Liberty. We waited in the morning to catch the current going up the East River, but didn't wait long enough, we had strong current the entire way. Once we got out onto Long Island Sound the current had changed and was now flowing into Long Island Sound against a 15 knot breeze, creating a very short nasty chop. We anchored behind a peninsula until the tide changed and the wind died down and then motored to Stamford. We took an empty mooring and spent a quiet night, planned to leave in the morning. In the morning we waited for the fog to lift and headed out of the harbor only to find the same conditions as the day before. We turned around and came back in and picked up another empty mooring. We expected someone to come collect, but they never did. The next day we motored to Milford in flat seas. We enjoyed our time with Richard, but he had to return home.

We spent the next few weeks in Milford. One of the first projects was to change the "gator" on the outdrive. In order to do this, the outdrive had to be removed, which meant we either had to have the boat hauled or find a nice sand bar with a good drop off and wait for the tide to go out. The first would cost $$$, the second option free, what do you think Clay opted for?? With the help of Richard and Keith Satterlee the job was done in a matter of hours. Thanks Guys!!

Keith was extremely kind and generous and lent us one of his cars while we were in town. We stayed on the boat until June 1st when our winter tenant left the cottage and then we moved in. The boys (cats) were very happy to be on dry land. The time went fast, got to see a lot of friends, but we were anxious to get back on the boat to continue our journey.