Long Cruise 2010 - Day 1

Relayed from Caitlin to Skipper via cell phone this morning:

Ship 7916 arrived at Fells Point, Baltimore, MD about 9:30am yesterday. Scouts stowed gear and provisions and prepared the boat. The crew followed instructions for the engine checks, however, someone had switched the caps for water and radiator, and so water ended up in the oil. This necessitated pumping out the oil and replacing it—a task that took about 4 hours. While our crew was sitting at dock, the wind was coming from the west, perfect for sailing. They watched “all these sailboats passing by, sailing along on nice tacks, heeled over about 20 degrees.”

With this setback, der PeLiKan left the dock at 4pm. By then, the wind had shifted to the south, so sailing to Annapolis was out of the question, so they motored the whole way. The “best part was going over wakes of 4 tankers, yelling ‘WAKE’ and bouncing up and down. It was good we had ramen for dinner because it was easy to prepare under way.”

Each scout had a chance to take positions at Nav, Helm and Lookout. They arrived in Annapolis around 9pm. Emily steered the boat into the harbor to pick up mooring ball, where David and Daniel snagged it on the first try. It was good cruising at night last night, to get a taste of it. It was pretty dark past the Bay Bridge, then another hour to the mooring in true darkness.

They decided to wait until arriving in Annapolis to change Bosun of the Day (BoD). MT Enright brought brownie bites and they ate those, looked at the stars, talked about Annapolis, then went to bed at 10:30. Sleeping on deck was quiet. “Usually we’re here later in the week, but it’s very quiet this time."

Rebecca is BoD today and woke her crew at 6 am. Evidently, it took some effort to rouse Eric. “We pulled Eric out of his sleeping bag to wake him up.”

“We’re at the row of mooring balls closest to the Naval Academy. The cadets are singing America the Beautiful and sound horrible.”

“Depending on the wind, we plan to sail in morning, hang out in Annapolis in the afternoon, and sail at night. Right now, it looks calm. Cameron and Eric are cooking pancakes and sausage for breakfast and it smells so good and I’m starving!”