Summer is close to ending in the Chesapeake

It is amazing but we are closing in on the end of August and that means one thing......almost time to head south.  We continue to work on Nati and make the necessary trips north but things will begin to change when September comes along.

Sails are scheduled to arrive the week of 9/8......can't wait to see them!!

Rita has done the template for the rest of the canvas work.  It is going to be really cool.....

Anne has cleaned and waxed the whole topside, the engines have been readied for action and we are getting prepped for our annual haul-out for the middle of September.

New halyard.....new sails need new stuff, right?!

We went for another 6 inches of halyard

The days are getting shorter around hear.  Sunset is before 8pm now and it is funny the way it appears  to get dark faster every day.  We have had very little wind and the sunsets have been spectacular....

view from the cockpit

The gang is all here!

Just the other day we had a nice surprise visit from a portion of the O'Connor family down here in the Chesapeake!  Steph & Teagan continued on their whirlwind tour of the eastern US and pulled into Pasadena last Thursday.  So.....you know what that meant......kids everywhere!!

It was a long drive Mom

T & E were really happy to get together for a few days of fun on Nati.  We didn't have a pool to use but we did have a playground, sand box and some how Nati actually worked for hide & go-seek!  Those two had rules for that game that I have never heard of but it worked for them so who cares what old people think!!

Trains by Ikea

Teagan found E-man!

On the second level of the playhouse

Sand for everyone!

For the last night we had everyone on board for a late night spaghetti dinner and Bubble Guppy videos.  What more could anyone want!?!?

Bubble Guppies are serious business

Thanks for driving down Steph........lots of fun for all!!

Going north to get off the dock!

It is time to get Nati off the dock!  Enough said!!

Captain E-man at the helm

Really we had to get Nati's bottom cleaned off as 6 weeks in the dirty, warm water of the Chesapeake is enough for any boat.  Nati is in need of new bottom paint but she has to wait another month and then we will be on the "hard" for a few days of sanding and painting.  So..........we head to the east shore to get some swimming in and also some bottom cleaning!!

I'm ready to go in Captain!!

Amy had Friday off so in the morning we head out to parts unknown.  It didn't take long to decide we were going to Worton Creek for the night as Nati was very slow and there was virtually no wind to help the engines move her.  It was our first trip to the anchorage and it was a lot of fun.  Evan showed us some new swimming tricks and we got off much of the lawn we were growing under the waterline.

The next day we decided to make another move and this time we made it to Georgetown.  It was Amy and Evan's first time there so we took a mooring ball and had the use of the facilities on shore.  Evan, once again was a swimming fiend and now he is swimming underwater, eyes open and seems totally at ease.

Once again he wants to drive!

m/v Smoke in the Wind

The motor back to Fairview was in light winds but now Nati can move again in the water.  No more barnacles and no more lawn to mow!

Binnacle 2013.........some time in the north country!

It has not been all work while in the Chesapeake this summer.  On top of our numerous trips north for family we also had scheduled our annual week at Binnacle Island.  This is where we meet up with friends and family for boating, swimming and eating.  We continue this with more eating and cocktails and this usually ends up with more eating and cocktails.  It's a good thing the Chief gets the fire going at sunset as that usually means we can stop eating!

Camp is ready!

More people showing up

Here comes the firewood!

We had a lot of our friends show up this year with one exception......JACK-SON was MIA!!  The really funny thing about this is that for once we actually had a "super-model" on Binnacle for a day and she was wondering where he was!!!???  Once again his timing was perfect!

Teagan, once again stole the show for the year.  She is getting bigger and now likes boating and swimming.  She wanted to go in the river and in her own pool every day.  Steph and Anne thought the water was a little cool.

Somebody is getting very big!

Look......I'm swimming!!

Sunset at Binnacle

Racing Grannie to the finish line

Ahhh.....another rough day!

A new vessel showed up this year and so far we believe the name of the 36 foot CS is Assador.  The crew may have other notions but our treasurer of Pump Out Productions, LLC said the invoice we provided Tom with must be paid in full in order to get the boat lien free!!

All in all it was a cool but fun week.  Dream Chaser, our own F24A provided good ice tea and a bunch of other goodies.  We met Joe & Sue, where they came from, nobody knows but the scallops and salmon was great!  A week at Binnacle wouldn't be complete without the "Steelhead & Co." showing up to empty the docks.  And yes, the "Bite Me" flag still flies!!

Never see this "girl" again!!