Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Great Chesapeake Schooner Race

                The reason we stayed in Annapolis after the boat show was to witness the start of The Great Chesapeake Schooner Race.   After having sailed on the “Pride of Baltimore II” ten years ago, I have become one of her biggest fans.  This Annual event brings dozens of schooners of all vintages and sizes to race from Annapolis to Norfolk.  We sailed out to the bay from the backwater we spent the last two days in.  We could see a collection of two masted boats coming under the bridge, south from Baltimore (where the crews had met and partied the day before.)  The parade was led by Baltimore’s “Pride.”  She is a modern replica of the “Baltimore Clippers” which established themselves around the war of 1812.  These swift boats were successful in running the British blockade and as privateers harassed the enemy into submission.
                After a run of sunny and warm days, this one was a little harsh.  The sky was a low hanging brooding gray.  But the boats kept coming, about forty in all, and being midweek and poor weather, we were one of only three spectator boats.  I guess Schooner races don’t have the draw of roller derby or curling, IMHO.  The racers were divided into several classes with separate starts about fifteen minutes apart.  There was good wind at first, 15 to 20 knots.  When the third group started, so did the rain and the wind dropped to about three knots turning “Kodak Moments” to oil paintings. 
                Well I’ve been taking pictures of our trip all along, but have yet to have an opportunity to share them with you, dear reader.  Besides the daily rounds of boat work, regular chores and having new adventures piling up day on day, we are beset with technical glitches on all sides. From balky software for my new camera, to slow Wi-Fi service, the gremlins were everywhere.  On top of that, Microsoft’s vista had a brain fart and blew up Judy’s e-mail world.  This was followed by the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH. 
                How lucky we are to have Ankur, our IT guru.  He got us back up and running by phone, but the rest of the stuff, photos, videos and GPS tracks will have to wait.  Stay tuned.
Steph,  10/14/10

1 comment:

  1. Great meeting you both,
    Looking forward to updates on your travels. We understand those gremlins!! We can never find the stowaways!! Stay safe and Have fun!

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