Tag: Cambridge

A summer in Cambridge, MD.

Once we were settled in our slip at Cambridge Municipal Marina, it was time to tackle some boat projects, make some trips to Connecticut for doctor appointments, and have some fun!

Our first priority was to bring the car down from where we were storing it in Connecticut. Cambridge is very small, and we didn’t have a car when we were here for Covid summer which was pretty constraining – even without the separate issue of Covid! This time, once we brought the car down, we were free to roam and see if the Eastern Shore of Maryland was someplace we could settle down some day (Spoiler alert: it’s not. It’s too small for us.)

The marina is very protected which basically means that an AC is mandatory once July rolls around, so we bought a small window unit and Jeff made a frame out of plywood so we could install it in the companionway. Last time we installed it in the hatch and didn’t really care for that location. Fortunately, the companionway worked out much better even though it’s a bit of a stretch for me to step over it.

For the rest of the summer we basically traveled to Annapolis or Baltimore every week or two, taking in the larger city vibe.

Jeff did some metal detecting at Sandy Point State Park:

Cambridge had its annual Choptank Heritage Skipjack Race which we enjoyed watching from the docks at the marina. Skipjacks were traditionally used on the Chesapeake for oyster dredging, and less than 20 still sail:

We also hauled out the boat at the Yacht Maintenance Company in town. We had a list of things to take care of including preventative maintenance on our dripless shaft seal by replacing the bellows a year before what is recommended. We weren’t sure when we would be hauling out again, and we did NOT want that part to fail. Basically, water would start gushing into the boat and we’d be lucky to avoid sinking. Better safe than sorry when it comes to that particular maintenance item. Between the PSS, new bottom paint, and several coats of wax that Jeff put on, Pegu Club was spiffy and ready to go by the time she went back into the water.

Yacht Maintenance Company was great and VERY reasonably priced. You can tell it’s a small community because when it was time for us to leave, they said they hadn’t written up the invoice yet so we could just go and they’d e-mail it to us! Typically, a yard won’t let you leave with the boat until you pay. Needless to say, we were surprised and charmed. We wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

Once our boat projects were done, it was time to have fun again. And the highlight of the summer was yet to come.

Unbeknownst to us, Maryland has a large Renaissance Festival every year on the edge of Annapolis. It’s held on permanent grounds over nine weekends that are chock-full of performers. It’s actually one of the largest Renaissance Festivals in the U.S., covering 27 acres with 1,300 participants. There are more than 130 craft shops, 42 food outlets, 8 major theaters, 4 smaller stages in taverns, a children’s area, and a jousting field with seating for 3,000.

We had never been to one, but my sister and her husband have been to several. It sounded like a blast, and after talking to her we decided to give it a try. What followed was a day of laughter, entertainment, revelry, and merriment. We weren’t dressed up, but we enjoyed watching the people who were. And the amazing thing is that although there are usually 15,000 attendees each day, everyone was having a good time. No one was drunk, there weren’t any fights. It was just pure joy and pleasure. The food was good and very reasonably priced, and so was the beer and mead. Huzzah!

Jeff enjoying the traditional meat on a stick before we watched Paolo Garbanzo, an international jester and juggler extraordinaire. Ballerina fight! Ballerina fight! Architecture fight! Architecture fight! (You had to be there.)
The King and Queen of Revel Grove.
Jeff loves birds of prey, so the falconry show was a must-see.
My sister loves owls, so of course I had to take this picture.

The costumes were wonderful:

The Topsy Turvy Twins were fun.

The Piper Jones Band was great!

And we finished up the day watching the jousting match:

All in all it was a great time, and VERY reasonably priced for a full day of entertainment. As we drove back to Cambridge, we agreed that we would need to make it an annual event if at all possible. Huzzah!

Next up: heading north to head south.

Hands down my favorite Cay in the Bahamas – so far.

One of the things we wanted to do this season was to spend some time in the Bahamas Land and Sea Park. We had spent a few days at Shroud in the past, and anchored once by Warderick Wells for one night, but we had never spent any extended time exploring the hiking trails and snorkeling.

The Land and Sea Park is a series of protected areas within the Bahamas, and it’s strictly a no-take zone. No fishing, no shelling, etc. If you see it there, leave it there. We had heard the snorkeling is outstanding and the coral was in very good shape, so we were excited to check it out. You do have to pay .50/foot to anchor or $30/night for a mooring ball (for our size boat), but it’s a reasonable price to support an NGO that is doing very good work.

We spent a few more days in Staniel after getting our outboard, and of course it’s impossible not to take pictures of a such a pretty place:

One of the dinghy landing areas at Staniel Cay.
Staniel Cay has some of the most amazing blues in the Exumas.
Staniel Cay Yacht Club rents mooring balls now, but you choose them yourself so you need to know if there is sufficient depth for your boat at that particular ball. This guy learned a good lesson about the tides.

But eventually the weather was cooperating so we were off to our first ever visit to Cambridge Cay. We spent four nights there, and by the time we left, I knew it was my favorite non-settlement cay in the Bahamas (at least of those we’ve seen). I could have spent all winter there.

The water was so still when we raised the anchor to head to Cambridge that we could see the marks in the sand from our chain as the boat swung back and forth. By the way, this is 8 feet deep.
No wind for sailing on our way to Cambridge, but it’s hard to complain when you can see the bottom so clearly at 15 feet of depth.
The water color – it NEVER gets to be ho-hum!

Cambridge has a few hiking trails that we thoroughly explored. The longer one is the Ridge Trail which offered up wonderful views. Jeff and I didn’t go all the way to the end – it was hot and we had only brought one water bottle each – but that just gave us a good reason to go back again next winter.

There typically isn’t much elevation in the Exumas, so it’s a nice treat to find a trail that gives you a view from above. The anchorage and mooring balls are on the top right.
With the exception of the water color, some of the trail reminded me of the scenery when we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway last winter. I feel very fortunate to be able to travel like we have. Memories to last a lifetime, for certain!
I was teasing Jeff by singing “Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music as we walked up the trail. Now that song goes through my head every time I see this picture.

The trail to Honeymoon Beach was shorter and flat, but it led to a gorgeous beach that we had virtually to ourselves. The only other couple there had arrived on a small power boat and were on the opposite end.

Our dinghy on the beach that leads to the Honeymoon trail.
You can’t miss the beginning of the trail!
Honeymoon Beach – stunning.

We also took full advantage of our bigger outboard and went to Rocky Dundas in the dinghy for some snorkeling. Our friends Lyn and Ken will be bringing our Olympus Tough camera when they arrive (we had it delivered to their house), so soon I’ll be able to add underwater pictures to the mix. I sure wish I had it when we were snorkeling the Rocky Dundas. There were TONS of fish everywhere and they were following us. I suspect people feed them.

An added bonus was seeing our friends Marc and Nancy on Mer du Jour, who joined us in the mooring field on our second day. We had a great time playing Euchre each night and laughing a ton. Nancy and I even went on a girls hike on the Ridge Trail.

It’s always so much fun when Nancy and I get together!

Since Mer du Jour has a much larger outboard than we do, we all went snorkeling together at a spot called the Aquarium where we saw plenty of fish and a turtle. We also snorkeled the sunken plane where there were a ton of fish and a nurse shark sleeping on the bottom. The current was so strong though that we had to keep kicking our fins just to stay in place. Marc stayed in the dinghy to keep an eye on all of us.

Finally, although we didn’t get a chance to get together for sundowners with them, we were also able to see and chat with our friends Chuck and Helene on Aurora. Their trip to the Bahamas was a bit shorter so our paths never did cross again for those sundowners, but hopefully we’ll see them again this summer. In the meantime, Chuck snapped this fantastic shot of Jeff and I are in our dinghy as the sun went down one evening. Thanks again, Chuck!

Next up: Warderick Wells.