Day 68 - N37 58.650' W75 51.402' Still Crisfield, MD

We won’t be leaving Crisfield on Friday…. and not on Saturday either.  The forecast for milder weather keeps moving out a day or two as a front moves through.  We have added more dock lines and are sitting listening to howling winds that are gusting to over 30 knots. Now Sunday is looking like a possibility for us to move on.

I thought I might use this occasion to write a blog entry about “some of my favorite things” that we particularly appreciate having on this cruise.  This includes information from friends before we left as well as items that we use.  Our friends, Gordon and Linda Reynolds, shared their log books with us from two previous trips they had made to Chesapeake Bay. Their advice has helped us choose some of the locations we visited and some we still intend to visit. It has been great to have more to go by than just the guidebooks.

Another bit of advice we got years ago from sailing friends, Gerry and Nicky Cooper, was to get the headsets that let the captain and crew talk to each other during anchoring.  It’s SO much better than trying to yell or give hand signals when there is a problem raising or lowering the anchor.  We have even used the headsets when grabbing a mooring ball since the captain can’t really see where the mooring is once we get close to it.

My new favorite thing this year is a pressure cooker.  It allows me to cook in only minutes some foods that usually take a long time like grains, so we use less propane and don’t have to go looking for a refill. It was the “Gourmet Underway” cookbook from my friend Debbie Ortis that sold me on the idea of doing more with a pressure cooker.  On this trip I have even “baked” pumpkin pie, cheesecake and apple crisp in the cooker.  And speaking of food, what would I do without the little hammock, also from Debbie, that has become exclusively for our bananas because it works so well to spare them from banging around and bruising when we are underway.

 

Note banana hammock and "Wilson", our signal booster (blue box)

Our Wilson signal booster that Peter added to the boat prior to the trip has proved to be helpful a number of times.  In a remote anchorage, if Peter’s iPhone has even a weak signal, we use the booster with the iPhone serving as a wi-fi hotspot to get an internet connection.

And how do I keep so fit you may be wondering? Well, as if climbing around the boat, cranking the winches, and walking or biking everywhere were not enough, I like to use a set of stretch bands my sister, Leila Gill, gave us. It takes up almost no space on the boat, and helps me do some core-strength exercises especially for my lower back so I can keep doing all that climbing, walking and cranking. I should also mention our folding bicycles we got a few years ago. The two full-size bikes fit well in our cabin when folded and they  have vastly expanded our range when we go ashore.

 

Folded bikes in their cases in the salon

Now I’m still looking to find a “weather controller.”  Anyone got any suggestions???