Tonight we reside in the Sassafras River, in the northern Chesapeake.

Earlier in the day, Mark showed his seamanship by not only manoeuvring Bushranger out of a tricky slip but also showing how Bushranger can ‘turn on a dime’ in the narrow marina basin after pump-out duties. 

We quickly settled into our sailing routine.

We were warned of the large amount of debris washing down the Chesapeake from the flooded areas caused by the low depression, Ida. We stealthily wove our way through branches and tree trunks, clumps of grass and weeds – not to mention the numerous boats plying the waterway on the US Labor Day long weekend.

Being a craft of high speed (7 mph) and battling the ebbing tide, we made our destination in 5 hours and 17 minutes. We only had to go 35.5 miles! Still, our cheeks resembled the flapping jowls of dogs hanging out a car window.

And now? In our little lazy bend in the river, chosen for protection from southerly winds forecast for tonight, we are enjoying the river vista (and neck-jerking bobbing) of men raging with testosterone and probably fuelled with alcohol, chasing each other on PWCs, doing doughnuts in high speed pleasure craft, and using Bushranger as a rounding mark. Only another two hours until sundown!

Such is Life!

Ex-hurricane Ida came and went. We felt her majestic but waning presence. We battened down the hatches, tripled the lines and waited out the tempest. Heavy rain accompanied by strong north winds on the port quarter buffeted our old girl. She is one tough cookie! Listening to the banshee howls and feeling the slight rocking motion, we remained safely sheltered. Mark slept, I didn’t!

Unfortunately, we were unable to sail today as the winds were still blowing strongly and seas a little nasty.

But, there is always a silver lining. We put the cooler temperature and sunny weather to good use…

Oh, and if you are wondering about the workload, Mark’s t-shirt says it all.

Such is Life!