Sunday Summary #70

We made it further!

Hi ,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 70th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written aboard PIVOT who is anchored in Annapolis, Maryland.

Last Week.

After enjoying a delicious lunch and a beautiful night in Reedville, Virginia, we made our way up the western coast of the Chesapeake Bay to Solomons, Maryland.

This was a pretty exciting cruise for us as we celebrated going further north on America’s Great Loop than we did last year! As we passed Smith Island, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment and awe for how far we’ve come in the past year as well as excitement for completing the loop this year. After Elliot broke his wrist, we had to embrace the Pivot. We couldn't have guessed what this past year would hold and we just look forward to each day and making the most of it. While we have seen many new stops on this loop, like Fort Frederica, Darien, New Bern, Ocracoke, etc., we still felt like we were finally getting into new waters!

Two days later, we made our way to Oxford, Maryland, and absolutely loved it! We had the most perfect cruise for us as we crossed the Chesapeake Bay with low winds, the current in our favor, and pure sunshine. The town felt like quintessential eastern shore of Maryland filled with boats on either side of the harbor, a few great restaurants, and colorful spring flowers all around. We enjoyed some of the best ice cream we’ve had on the loop thus far.

The next day we enjoyed another short cruise to the ‘backdoor’ of St. Michael’s. Our time there was spent helping a few other boaters in the area including one looper who was dragging anchor near us, a couple whose dinghy motor almost fell off their dinghy, and a local waterman whose engine died. We’re not happy these situations happen to other people, but we are happy we’re able to lend a helping hand since so many people have helped us aboard PIVOT!

Lastly, we ended our week heading to Annapolis! We’re loving Annapolis’s large city with lots of people, full of activity, live music, history, creeks to dinghy and explore, and so much more. Today we took a guided walking tour of the Annapolis Naval Academy. It was really neat to learn some of the history of the US Navy, traditions, and the academy.

This Week.

Tomorrow we continue our time at the Annapolis Naval Academy by watching the “Plebes” (freshmen; first-year students) slip and slide as they attempt to crawl up a lard covered pole to retrieve a hat and replace it with another - a tradition that has been going on for several decades. The activity can last between 2 minutes to 4 hours. We’re excited to be here to watch the tradition as it seems like it should give us a good laugh. We'll also be moored to watch the Blue Angles fly over Annapolis this week. 

Later this week, weather permitting, we’ll be docking PIVOT so we can travel to Knoxville, TN to attend a family wedding. We’re excited to see some family and celebrate their marriage. The remainder of our time in the Chesapeake Bay will be purely weather-dependent as we have two large bodies of water ahead of us: the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean around New Jersey.

 Videos. 

Incase you missed it, here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

Cruising through Myrtle Beach and heading to Southport on our Trawler

Choosing our PERFECT weather window to cruise CAPE FEAR to Carolina Beach

 Great Loop Recommendations. 

We are looking for recommendations for destinations and spots along our Great Loop to go see, visit, and enjoy. It's been a real challenge for us to keep track and stay organized with the many wonderful recommendations we've received thus far. So we've created a Google Form to help us stay organized. Thank you to everyone sending us recommendations so far! We really appreciate it.

 Gratitudes. 

Seeing the Bay Bridge off in the distance as we cruised into Annapolis was amazing! It felt surreal as we drove over that bridge a few times last year to attend the Annapolis Boat Shows and get supplies for our boat projects last fall. Tears were shed as we made our way into Annapolis and the challenges we felt to get here in the past 3 weeks. It felt SO good and were so grateful for the progress we’ve made!

Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot