Showing posts with label sailing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sailing. Show all posts

Sailing on the Chesapeake Bay during a storm - Annapolis - Eating Blue Crabs

I've sailed twice on the Chesapeake Bay. The first time it was an almost windless day and we used the motor... My boss owned the boat and first we had to paint the Teak with varnish. Then we went out on a different weekend.

The other time there was a dangerous storm. A client of my friend Ken's owned a boat but just being rich does not automatically make you a Captain. We were sailing along on a normal day and then quite quickly the storm came up. We had to get back to the harbor before we were in danger. Another passenger "staged a mutiny" and took over steering the boat. My friend Ken got hit by the sail's boom and his glasses fell overboard. He can't see without his glasses... We made it home safely... but it was really scary at the time.

JoAnn and I visited the Naval Academy at Annapolis. I remember that there was an open casket with the famous sailor John Paul Jones. His hair and fingernails were really long as they continue growing after death. They have the world's largest antenna. It's used to communicate with submarines anywhere in the world. They use an ultra low frequency carrier wave for transmission. The lower the frequency the larger the antenna has to be. That's physics... This antenna is about a half mile in diameter...

JoAnn and I also went swimming upstream of Baltimore in the Bay. We were at an Agency party. The water was cool and lightly salted.

My brother and sister in law came visiting and we had a great time eating Blue Crabs and drinking beer. At the restaurant they cover a picnic table with a big roll of paper and let you crack the crabs with a hammer. They are spiced with Chesapeake Bay Seafood Spice thats really hot. Makes you really thirsty. Their daughter drank beer and made a lot of noise... Shouting "Daddee!" with joy... and intoxication... she was about 6 years old.

We also went to Catalina Island with my parents. We drank a Tequila Drink called a Margarita... Mom told me that the drink was named after her... Marguerite... It's a fine boat ride from the mainland.

Read more of my autobiography at: http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

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