Well here we are at the start, the die is cast, the hand is dealt, we shall see how it plays out. A lot of fun we hope. It's pretty certain to be unforgettable.
Irene, Patty, Catherine and Nick were at the dock to wish us bon voyage and toast us with mimosas.
We motored down the river that I have travelled so many times but this time it was different, it was the route to the Bahamas! We expected light winds but the wind picked up as we reached the Naval Academy and being the sailing capital of the mid-Atlantic we felt we should sail too.
As we got out into the Bay the wind picked up even more and we were racing along at 7.5 knots. We passed a pirate ship off Bloody Point (OK it was a replica a sailing ship but that doesn't scan so well with Bloody Point).

We finally came up with a way to rig the Stars and Stripes so we dug out the box that it came in which also included instructions on how to avoid premature flag failure and the importance of maintaining your pole. We also learned about flag etiquette, that it should be raised quickly and lowered ceremoniously. I'll definitely give that a try.
Around lunchtime (notional lunchtime that is we didn't have lunch) the wind started to drop so we dropped plans to go to Solomons and put into the Little Choptank. We anchored to the north of Casson Point one of my favorite anchorages around here. It's very quiet and you can watch the sun set over the bay.

Phil cooked mussels while I made place mats for the new teak table. Some discussion of why I don't like eating mussels, probably Freudian. OK, it's alright to taste them but chewing and swallowing them just seems wrong :^)

Rigged up the grill and Phil cooked the sirloin steak which was excellent.

Lowered the flag, ceremoniously.