Getting through the Virginia Cut was fun and beautiful. We sailed over night in the Chesapeake and arrived in Galesville as the sun was setting. Got a nice welcome home from the folks on the dock. Good to back in home waters.
Being in Galesville is great! We have a car, a slip, metered electric and know the stores and vendors. Time to get some work done. When we bought the boat we weren't sure what electronics we wanted to install as the final choice. We bought an internal antenna chartplotter and a wheel pilot autopilot. The chartplotter has been a good choice, but the wheel pilot is a bit undersized for large sea applications. Time for a new autopilot.
We chose a Simrad system. We are getting an AP24 autopilot with a hydraulic drive, an 8 inch chartplotter and a sonar/depth system. We saved the money from our original purchase six years ago. We always planned on upgrading our electronics when we REALLY went cruising. The time has come for some serious electronics install. We are working with MTS, a company located in Herrington North. We have worked with them before in having our SSB radio installed. We meet with them, they acquire the hardware, we run the wires, and they do the hookups. We get their expertise and save money by doing the scut work. Works for us.
We have become a cruising station for the friends that are moving north. Annapolis has made some restriction to the anchoring areas. Galesville has no restrictions. We have a town dock and we let the cruisers use our marina head and showers. There are two restaurant/bars close and we let people use our car if needed for laundry or groceries. Dirk and Silvie stopped by and used a slip while the went back to Germany. They just finished their circumnavigation and need to get back to Michigan, to sell their boat and their house before starting new jobs in Germany. Kenny is a fellow Valiant owner we met in Beaufort. He has family in the area and was hanging out before his trip north to Massachusetts for a major rig refit. He left his boat in the basin and went visiting. Matt and Karen, Valiant owners, were in Herrington North. They stopped by. Lots of good meals, good conversation and good libations. Had barbeques and pot lucks with our boaters in transit and our friends from the marina. It is like cruising and being home at the same time.
Got to go to Liam's t-ball game. Watching 4 and 5 year old kids play ball is like watching cat herding. The boy and girls watch the ball roll by and them scramble to get it. It almost looks like a rugby scrum. They lose their hats and gloves. When they get bored the kids dig in the dirt of the infield. They watch birds and butterflies in the outfield. The cute factor is almost too much. Thank goodness the games are only three innings long.
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| Galesville Welcome |
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| Our wonderful crew... |
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| Marshall at the ball field |
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| I think Liam found a bug! |
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| Don't even think about stealing second |
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| Liam rounding second |
Got to visit my parents and good friends in the Shenandoah Valley. It feels funny not planning a course and moving around the next bend. We will just have to take some road trips till all our boat chores are complete.
