Fourth of July Weekend with Deb & Nathan (and Fireworks from the boat!)

I headed down to Rock Hall late Thursday evening and arrived right at sunset, and just before a storm came through.  Seas The Day strained at her docklines and tilted a few degrees making the unpacking just a bit of a challenge.

Taken at sunset, but it's a view to the NorthEast
(just a hole in the clouds)

My world is tilting (from the storm)

New "Seas The Day" pillow

I set up in the Salon for a day of working from the boat on Friday, and after a day of being cooped up inside (it was quite rainy), I splurged with a pork shank from Osprey Point Inn.

You HAVE to try this (if you can get a reservation)!

Deb (my cousin's daughter), Nathan and their family (Marianne and Brian) came for their yearly sailing adventure on Saturday morning.  Typically, their visit means that day will be the hottest day of the year and I'm glad to report that this year they were off by a few days.  (We had a brutal heat wave earlier in the week, but the storms I encountered on Thursday and Friday seem to have broken it.)

Marianne claimed her reading chair

Brian worked the jib sheet winch

With Brian aboard, I usually look for something interesting to observe and this year the Chesapeake cooperated wonderfully.  As we headed out of Swan Creek, I noticed that active dredging operations were well underway in the East Channel.  So we ventured over to that general vicinity while maintaining enough of a distance so as not to get in their way.

We had the sails out (hasn't happened on a Deb & Nathan visit for a while) and it was a wonderful sail, reaching across the bay at a gentle 4 to 5 kts.

After being out for an hour or so, I noticed that some of the clouds looked a little ominous and a few minutes later, a little micro squall hit.  The winds went up to around 20kts, Seas The Day leaned into it and picked up to 7.5 kts.  At that moment, I needed to make a quick decision and it appears the wind was continuing to build.  I rounded up and went into irons to settle the boat and looked around.  The squall seemed to be very local - just our section of the bay, but I also noticed a worried look on a face or two (maybe even mine).  I started the engine and Nathan and I quickly pulled in the sails.  I motored slowly (in case the squall was short) back towards the Green #3 heading into Swan Creek.

As we motored back, I noticed that there was a rainstorm over Baltimore and another small one a bit to the south.  The seas state had also risen significantly with a few whitecaps visible.  Assuming they might head our way, we continued on back to Osprey Point, where we had our lunch a bit later than usual (around 1:40 PM).

Relaxing after lunch

After a bit of visiting, they headed home and I headed for a nap.  

The rain did arrive but later in the afternoon (around 5:00).  Several more showers arrived throughout the evening.

Later, I went out on the foredeck to watch Rock Hall's fireworks display (which always happens on July 3rd).  We're about 3/4 of a mile from Rock Hall harbor (as the crow flies), a perfect distance.

I woke up early on Sunday morning and was able to go out and catch the sunrise before heading home.