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August 27th, 2006  The signs of fall are all around us now.  The Swallows and Osprey have left the cove.  We have had 3 cold fronts come through the area in the last week.  The mornings are dry and cool.  I sit in the cockpit to watch the sun come up and smell the decaying leaves that have fallen early.  The corn in the fields is starting to turn brown.  Its time for the world to change again.

This week in the Dive Master training we helped mix and fill nitrox for scuba diving.  Both Nancy and I are certified to dive with the gas mixture called nitrox.  So it was very interesting and educational for us to do the blending of the gases.   We worked with steel and aluminum dive tanks and after filling those we filled a bank of cylinders.  One bank we filled with air and another bank we filled with a 45% nitrox mix.  These banks of tanks are used to fill individual dive tanks to a prescribed mixture, normally from 31 to 36% nitrox mix.  The nitrox is a gas with additional oxygen added that allows longer dive time a depths normally that would only allow a short working time.  It is a preventive method to help stop the bends that is possible for a diver to get (nitrogen bubbles in the blood).  This is Art our Instructor and owner of the Dive Shop showing us what to do to get the proper blend. 

We had a retirement party last night for our dock neighbors Steve and Lisa.  They both retired from their jobs and as Steve said "we are the class of '07".  They plan to start cruising next summer.  Their boat is a power boat and the cruising they plan is limited to the Bahamas and part of the Great Circle.  You know--- its the gas bill.  We went pool side for the party and everyone pitch in with food and wine.    After the pool closed we went to their boat and continued the celebration. 

Our neighbor Jay had a little surprise that his wife arranged.  She flew his daughters in from the west coast and while he was in the parking lot they just walked up to him.  He was speechless.    Way to go Nicky.

August 20th, 2006  There are a few things about the Chesapeake Bay that no one ever told us -  Sea Nettles, for instance. Every summer these stinging jellyfish (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) invade the Bay in numbers unequaled anywhere else in the world. They are most abundant in little tributaries of the middle Bay where the water is brackish - exactly the conditions in our Marina. Some days you look into the water and can literally see hundreds of the little white jelly fish. The tentacles of the sea nettle contain millions of microscopic stingers.  When a swimmer brushes against a tentacle, the resulting sting is painful and annoying. That put the end to Nancy's love for swimming laps in the Marina and diving in when at anchor. Her swimming is confined to the Marina swimming pool. The other negative effect should have dawned on us when we saw our neighbor, who runs a marine refrigeration, heating and air conditioning business stop using his marine air in favor of a portable unit stuck in a hatch. Those pesky little nettle clog up the grill to your water inlet and raise all sorts of havoc with the sea water pump. We have spent the whole weekend trying to get the air conditioning to work consistently.

Despite our AC woes, we still had a pretty good week. Wednesday night we continued training for our Dive Master certification.  The class was on equipment repair and went into more depth that what is required for the certification.  We did inspections on steel and aluminum tanks learning the requirement for passing the test.  We also took apart the first stage regulator and tested pressures.  Then it was onto the part that fits in your mouth.  We completely disassembled the Octopus and main second stage and set the pressure requirements of both.  Very interesting class and because we went into such depth of training we also qualified for the PADI equipment repair card.

August 13th, 2006  Long time friend (long, long, long) Marilyn came to visit for the week end.  We met her in Alexandria VA for dinner her first night in town. On Friday, Nancy picked up Marilyn and they went to the fish market on the waterfront in DC to shop for our weekend meals.  Well, they came to the boat with the biggest shrimp and crab legs that I have ever seen.  The crab legs were as long as my leg from knee to floor and as big around as my wrist.  The first night we had Maryland Crab Chowder followed by the shrimp - Butterflied and grilled - we had our fill.   The second night we had the Alaskan King Crab and what a meal!  Nancy had made her new favorite sauce for the crab and bread dipping. Marilyn helped.  You have got to try that sauce (see Nancy's latest favorites recipes in Galley Notes).  It is great. We couldn't move after dinner and Marilyn just rolled over sideways and tried to take a nap.   Earlier that day, she and Nancy had shopped their way from Deale to Annapolis and back - when I got home from working at West Marine, the cockpit of "Solitaire" was filled with packages and bags. They found some great deals at the annual West Marine tent sales and also the Chico's sale rack.

August 06, 2006  Last week was mostly work.  This morning we went for a boat ride (coffee cruise) with Steve and Lisa aboard their power boat Akita.  We headed north up the Chesapeake Bay and intercepted other dock neighbors,  Ron and Pat, who were taking their sailboat, Vela Nova, to Harve de Grace, up by the C & D canal for some boat work. It will be a two day trip for them and the boat will be out of the water for about 3 weeks.  They are just glad that the work is being done in the hot month of August.

Yesterday we went to Shady Side (a little nearby village) and took part in their annual "Blessing of the Fleet" and Seafood Festival.    The blessing is for the working boats that gather the oysters starting in September (a month with a "R").  We saw something at the Festival that really astonished us.  The Save the Bay folks had taken about 2-3 gallons of bay water and put 2 to 3 oysters in the glass tank of bay water and then recorded the time.  Within an hour the water was clear.  The demonstration showed how the oysters filter the bay water and that, by getting the population back up, the waters of the bay could again be clear.

The oyster population was decimated many years ago by over-harvesting.  Sail boats like this one, would sail across the Bay dragging rakes across the oyster beds to gather oysters for export all across the country.     Our marina and dock neighbors support the repopulation of Bay oysters by growing the seed oysters in cages hanging from the dock.   In some areas they have had tremendous success with reseeding the oyster beds and have increased the population 1000 times over.

A group of people from Shady Side rebuilt another working boat, Miss Edith. It is considered the finest example around.  This type of boat is still used today for oyster harvesting, trot lines, crabbing and commercial fishing charters.  The one that was rebuilt was about 50 years old and the style hasn't changed much. 

The blessing of the fleet started with a  general prayer from one of the local pastors and then as each working boat went under a 200  foot water-cannon arch, another prayer was offered for that boat and crew by name.   The festival featured vendors with great food (everything from crab cakes to pulled pork - beer to Shaved ice.) There were also crafts and artisans - Nancy found a cheese board made out of a bottle of Chardonnay that had been heated and flattened. You put it in the freezer or refrigerator before using it as a serving dish - it keeps your cheese chilled. It was a wonderful day! 

At the end of the festival, we took a water taxi back to the parking lot (free) for the short drive back home.    In the background of the picture you can see the fire boat and some of the working boats. Later that evening, we formed an impromptu dinner party with several friends from the Marina and their families.