LAT: N 38° 58.6' LON: W 76° 29.0'		40s, sunny, winds NE 5-10 kts today's sunset
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Reflective Water Makes An Impression

900 - Swing back into the canal from Chesapeake City.
1000 - Glassy and beautiful.
1104 - At the mouth of the (sassy) Sassafras River. Just about the 500 mile mark for our journey.
1302 - Passing the Patapsco River that goes up to Baltimore.
1500 - Entering Severn River.
1540 - Arrive in Spa Creek and fill up with diesel and water, and empty waste tank.
1600 - Find a nice mooring very close to downtown Annapolis.

Arggg me maties, that thar Naval Academy brings a tear to me eye, i was waitlisted.

Shop Slowly

Another item in our bold and salty line of merchandise has been added! A long sleeve shirt. There's plenty more to come, so keep checking so you can purchase your most favorite Slowly design. click here.

I'll take my boat frosted please.

Noses Nipped

[These allegations are true. -Ed]

Jack Frost- guest Editor

It was a day to stay in bed. Warm and safe from our guest editor recently down from Canada. Tim turned on the oven and espresso machine to try and warm the place up. In the subsequent steam room (with a nice smell of burning bits from the oven) we prepared coffee and cream of wheat. Our temporary neighbors also came over for coffee which was great fun. One drawback of cruising late, besides the cold, is not meeting many other cruisers.

Outside our floating cafe, an icy frosting had decorated Slowly and her surroundings. It was a mistical (har har) morning indeed. Shortly after our friends on Sweet Chariot left, we too slid back into the canal. The water was glassy like Chihuly. It made for a day of titanic sized relaxation. We could even work on the computer without getting sick.

After departing, we caught up to Sweet Chariot (who cruises at 7 knots); it was the first time little Slowly felt fast. Shortly before turning up the Severn River for Annapolis, we were given a special water view of the colossal Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Wow. Lastly, turning into Spa Creek, we made our way into the small Annapolis harbor, using the huge Naval Academy as a landmark. At a marina there, we fueled up, pumped out, and freshened up our fresh water tanks. All we had to do to finish our day was to choose our favorite of many free moorings. Our mooring gave us a fun view of a gaggle of young sailors who amazed us with their dexterity as they dodged about between moored boats and concerned looking owners.

We spent our evening discovering Main Street, a pleasant brick surprise. This active downtown had a nice mixture of galleries, funky touristy shops and clothing shops, and actually useful stores (hardware, music, mini-market). There are also enough cool Taverns and Restaurants that it takes some patience and powerful decisionary skills to make a final selection.

We found our Sweet Chariot friends (Buckley and Sherry) downtown and enjoyed some beer and hot wings together. Then, as usual, we were overcome with the sandman's mighty powers and were soon asleep against our wills.

Annapolis gets high marks in our search for a small city near the water with broad variety of people and quirky charm that is possibly affordable (to be determined). Annapolis gets four and half propellers. We are excited to discover other contenders!

With twin engines, it is quietest and enjoyable when the engines are "synchronized." This means that both engines are turning at the same rate. Some newer boats perform this task electronically, but on Slowly, it is done by ear. Just like tuning a guitar or piano to a tuning fork, you can tune one engine to the other. You can hear a low and slow "wa wa wa" sound when they are out of tune, and then adjust the throttles until the sound slows down to a halt.

Speaking of sound, the engines vibrate the boat the most (shaking glasses and the oven), and are the loudest at idle (turning at their slowest, around 700 rotations per minute). When we cruise we keep them around 1600 RPM which is a nice gentle speed for these old engines. It was a higher RPM that started the starboard engine vibrating enough to break the injector pipe (remember last week?).

Animal of the Day

This is an American Coot, Fulica americana. Coots are dark birds with a flashy white bill. They apparently have huge lobed feet which we unfortunately did not get to see. They are pretty funny to watch while they dive because they are not graceful like a Cormorant which dives head first and reemerges head first. Instead, the Coot flips to get under water and then pops back up with a splash like a rising rubber duckie. They make a "grating kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk" sound and can be found in the winter along the eastern coast from Boston south.

Grub Report
Tonights dinner (shared between four) at the Oyster Bar Restaurant was three plates of a dozen wings (hot and teriyaki), a bucket of mussels, and Copperhead beer from the local Fordham Brewery. This beer was amber without a lot of sweetness, and had okay body. We normally expect more "meat" from local brews. The wings were great though, and they came with plenty of celery, carrots, and blue cheese dressing.

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