ONE Seasick First Mate, TWO Stressed Ducklings and a THREE Hour Tour (Guiligan's Island?)

We did not go anywhere last night... I was too woozy to get off the boat!  Though I sure wanted to be on hard unmoving ground!!  Something about anchoring in a harbor.. a busy harbor... it was constant waves hitting us abeam & all around.  We anchored with the bow into the wind which usually helps the rocking but with the sea wall here we think the waves were just bouncing off it over and over.  I love the swinging on the “Hook” when we anchor up a river but this was/is up and down & rolling side to side.  This is no problem for me if we are under weigh.  On rough sea days I just stay put on the bridge and look off in the distance....no reading or working crossword puzzles... take over for the Captain when needed.   

Last night I couldn't wait until dark so I would no longer see the up and down through all our windows... only the side windows are shaded with blinds.. it was somewhat better as it got later but I sure didn't want any dinner!  Walter surprised me as he has been seasick in past years but he was fine. The water did calm a bit by 10p. 

The other thing to be concerned about was Drag Queen... would the siren go off in the middle of the night?!  Should I sleep in my clothes to be ready to help Walter retrieve the anchor/move the boat??  

I dared to take off my sea bands as I was slipping between the covers... It was nice and cool... Walter had turned on the AC to help me feel better but we turn off the generator at night.  The temps outside were now dropping into the 50s.  And praise God I slept well.  

First thing this morning:  I stood up and the next thing I knew I was back on the bed thankful for a soft landing!  Yep, someone in a big boat must have run the waterway just out from our boat.  It rolled so bad and I was just waking up..where was Walter??... oh! My Goodness! Was he moving the boat?.. it rolled bad again!... I mean really bad... I guess it is obvious that I don't know much about boating but I really did think that we might tip over!  THEN the Drag Queen siren went off!  I held on to every thing as I made my way to the salon.....Walter was on his way up to the sun deck to see what had caused the rolling. The water settled down and we never really found out what or who might have caused this disturbance.

I was feeling better than last night & after breakfast we decided a trip to West Marine was necessary.....it seems to me we should soon have all the parts to fix any boat on the water OR go into business to help pay for this trip!  We found out last night that the Water Taxi doesn't go to boats but only to docks. So we took our dinghy to a free dock nearby.  The store was only a few blocks away.  While Walter was tying up the dinghy I found a mother duck and two tiny darling fluffy ducklings on the dock.  I startled her and she took off landing in the water.  Her two babies began running up and down the dock in a real panic!  She called to them and they would get close to the edge but would not jump the foot to the water.  I wanted to take a picture but I was only a few feet in front of this scene and to move to get my camera out would have spooked them more.  Mama duck took off and flew over the dock all the while scolding the babies.  The bravest one then approached the edge and jumped in and swam furiously to the mother. But the other little guy just cried and paced back & forth and then hid behind a piling! So cute... I wanted to scoop him up and gently place him on the water but knew this was a lesson he needed to learn by himself... so then he peeked around the piling and saw mama duck swim off with the other baby! It was then that  "dock" baby got some nerve and still crying leaped into the water.. ever so happy to be joining the family.    And here is the fam drying off after their swim:

  

While Walter got the boat supplies I walked about a mile and came back and met him at the dinghy.  We put the packages on the boat and took off in the dinghy for a tour of the inner harbor.  We were hoping to find a dinghy dock.. there was one or two but they didn't look very safe and it cost $20 for 4 hours.  So thus what seemed like a 3 hour ride took place...Those dinghy seats are hard! We saw it all from the water.... really nice area and lots of folks out on Memorial Day. 

One thing that really disappointed us was all the trash in the water!  Styrofoam cups and plates, chip packages, bottles & cans were floating all over but everything else on the waterfront was so clean... it looked like someone had just thrown these things in the water after a big party.  Even where we anchored we were surprised to find this junk floating around our boat this morning.

One Cannon Ball Weighs 440 Pounds!

Late in the afternoon we took the last water taxi to Fort McHenry.....a very interesting place.  This is where Francis Scott Keys had his inspiration to write the Star Spangle Banner.  Did you know he was on a British ship during this, one of the last battles of the war of 1812, while the cannons were firing?  The British had a huge military presence on the Chesapeake Bay and were winning and now they wanted Baltimore!  But this fort sits at the entrance to the Harbor on a hill and had the advantage of being high and on solid ground... easier to aim those cannons than on a bobbing ship.  Francis was a lawyer and was trying to win freedom for a friend taken prisoner on this British ship... so while the battle raged he was there... they had told him that his friend would be freed but they kept both of them on the ship & wouldn't let them leave.  Finally, the noise of battle ceased but in the early morning light it was foggy and smoke was every where... they kept looking for the flag..which flag would they see?  And then they saw Old Glory... all 30 feet by 42 feet flying high!  The flag flying today was an exact replica.

From Outside Ft. McHenry

From Inside Ft McHenry 

We saw a reenactment in a short film that was very good and then toured the Fort before catching the water taxi home.. home?  Yes... this has become my home!  God is good!