By the time she arrived back from China, we wanted to have all the preliminary orientation and delivery activities finished so she could come aboard and simply enjoy the boat. She landed early in the morning on Sunday the 29th and we headed to Osprey Point Marina Monday morning to find Seas The Day (425) decked out with red carpet and ribbons.
She cut the ribbon and we celebrated with a bit of bubbly, then spent a few minutes chatting with Brian, Andy, and Linda (Andy's wife). Brian manned my camera and Linda contributed some photos as well.
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
After a bit of chatting, the party broke up and Vicky and I went to Waterman's Crab House for her celebratory crab dinner.
By that time jet lag had started to catch up and she went below for a nap while I worked on photos and headed over to visit Andy and Linda on their boat.
In the evening, we prepared our first meal on-board and watched the TV (our first TV on a boat). It was the National Day in China and we were able to catch a bit of the festivities via YouTube among other content.
Tuesday morning we took her out for the first time on our own. It was a warm day with nice winds and fair weather. We got the sails up and enjoyed our first time on our own on the Chesapeake Bay.
Linda captured the first few photos of us departing!
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
(Linda's photo)
After our day of sailing, we discovered that The Wheelhouse restaurant was just a bit down the road from our marina so we stopped there for a late lunch on their deck. The pretzel appetizer was huge (and hot)! Vicky headed for a bit of a nap and I watched TV until sunset.
Wednesday was supposed to be the day where temperatures would reach a heat index of >100F so we just basked in the AC. Well... I basked in the AC and did some cleaning and boat chores (figuring out how to fill the water without a vapor lock, mounting safety equipment, etc.) inside while the admiral cleaned her boat. Prior to all this, we had breakfast at the Java Rock coffee house.
Here she is all ready to go to dinner downtown (we ate at The Pearl on Main Street but I have no photos). After naps (I love Vacation), we decided to cook onboard. I made a Mountain House dinner, but someone only choose to have a bit of fruit.
Thursday morning was much cooler if a bit foggy. Today was a "put hours on the engine" day... we only motored. Touring around the bay and getting as far south as the entrance to Kent Narrows. Vicky tried out the "yoga mat" that's a part of the 425.
Again after a motor and a bit of a nap (we're getting caught up on jet lag), we finally tried the restaurant at our marina. Let's face it... even on weekdays on the off-season, Rock Hall is filled with pretty good food. This place easily earned it's #1 ranking on the Yelp searches in Rock Hall. The food was simply exquisite. My fillet was perfectly done (not too large and lots of fresh veggies) and well-presented and Vicky's pork chop was the best I've ever tasted. Realizing that Vicky would be mad at me for weeks, I took the risk and ordered dessert. WOW! The bread pudding was the best dessert I've had in a long time (and that's saying something).
The best part is this top-notch restaurant is only 200 yards from our boat (closer than our car). Walking back, though, I was glad I only had a couple glasses of wine. You wouldn't want to WUI (walk under the influence) on this dock with no handrails in the dark.
I had been dreading Friday because the wind was predicted to be a lot harder and sure enough right at 6:00 AM the 30MPH gust hit and we quickly decided that this would be a perfect day to cuddle on the couch at home. It settled enough so we could pack and leave (yes... she actually washed off my final footprints) and headed to breakfast.
She somehow tricked me into going to Figg's Ordinary, a vegetarian restaurant for breakfast. I found out only when I asked for a side of bacon with my scrambled eggs - I think I shocked the nice lady behind the counter - clearly, this was payback for dessert last night.
It took a loooooong time for food to arrive (I think they were hand-feeding organic food to the free-range chicken so it could grow old enough to lay the fresh eggs), but when it did arrive, it was delicious. The coffee was great too!
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