Where Did Everyone Go?

The Marine Trawler Owner Association (MTOA) northern rendezvous ended last night with an awards ceremony and party. Karen and I each received a highly coveted ruby pin. By this morning, most of the boats had disappeared.

Our presentation on ActiveCaptain went really well yesterday afternoon. There were some excellent questions and the response was wonderful. It's times like this when we realize that we're onto something important and believe even more strongly that we're headed in the right direction.

Going even further in the "we believe" direction, OceanLinez.biz released a feature article about ActiveCaptain on Wednesday called, "ActiveCaptain Could be the Wave of the Future." Quoting their first paragraph:

Telling you that ActiveCaptain “could” be the wave of the future is probably a little bit like saying the Internet will “probably be a big thing.”  The truth is, ActiveCaptain already is a fantastic resource for cruisers and passagemakers, but it might actually become something huge — a source of real-time, up-to-the-minute information that your navigation system can access while underway.  That’s saying something and the more ActiveCaptain develops, the less far-fetched it sounds.  But more on that later; let’s see why it’s already worth your time to “become” an ActiveCaptain.

The MTOA seminars that we attended were great. We met hundreds of people, ate exceptional food, exchanged sea stories, and made plans for future get togethers with new friends. All of this was exhausting! Today we lounged around, went grocery shopping, caught up on computer work, and arranged play times for Dyna and Dylan with other dogs.

The grocery store in Crisfied is pretty small with few selections. I was, however, able to prevail in getting Breyers ice cream. Karen was seriously considering a type called Turkey Hill and another called PET. I now have veto power over ice cream selection and I draw the line far before ever purchasing something with an animal name or any play-on-words cute names. PET ice cream? That's just asking for trouble!

There are a bunch of DeFever trawlers still here so we're all getting together for a group dinner tonight. It'll be a group of a dozen or so people. Dyna and Dylan were specifically invited and will tag along for the fun. You know, our song was right - it isn't about the boat, the places, or the sunsets. Cruising is about the people you meet.

Helm Philosophy

As I sat for hours piloting aCappella through the Chesapeake Bay, I considered the following question: Is it better to have bad ice cream or no ice cream?

On one hand, having no ice cream means that you have the promise of having good ice cream eventually. On the other hand, having bad ice cream is better than just wanting it, isn't it?

To the manufacturers of "Shur Fine" ice cream, please, pick some other name. I realize that Shur is not sure or surely but still. Bearly Edible would be a better name (note the bear instead of bare).

Although we left Rock Hall late to wait for an extra foot of tide, the current and wind pushed us strongly south on the Chesapeake. We planned on anchoring near Annapolis but found ourselves there at around noon. So we kept going and anchored in Solomons. That effort means we can stay here tomorrow since Crisfield is only about 35 miles away. Karen wants to do laundry and the 10 knot winds forecast tomorrow will be perfect for drying the clothes outside (we put up closelines).

Dinner tonight was grilled hamburgers with onion and fresh tomato. I also made grilled asparagus on the side along with a fresh plum.

Oh yeah, there was ice cream too.