Since
our departure a year and a half ago we have, in general, been blessed with very
few weather related travel delays. That
good fortune came to a halt this September.
We waited in Staten Island for one week for the effects of Tropical
Storm Hermine to dissipate. We spent an
extra 2 days in Cambridge waiting for calmer seas, then sat at anchor in
Solomons for five days waiting for calmer winds/seas, and now we are spending
at least 8 days in Portsmouth, VA to avoid the effects of Hurricane Matthew. Considering what has happened in Florida we
are not complaining, just making an observation.
Our
extended stay in Cambridge turned out to be interesting as Russel Baker, the
gentleman we met at the yacht club, came by and offered to take us on a tour of
his farms. Not sure how much land they
actually own, but he and his son farm a total of 2000 acres. They have all the latest equipment for
planting, fertilizing, irrigating and harvesting corn and soy beans. We saw the original farmstead of his
ancestors as well as the farm he lived on up until a few years ago. Interesting to us was the fact that when they moved out of the farm houses they just closed the doors and left everything intact. Utilities are active, but no one occupies them. At age 90 he and his wife of 66 years live in
condos in town now, but he still drives every day and is very active in the
business. Note the use of plural. His wife lives in one condo and he lives in another in the same complex. They join each other each evening either at the yacht club or in his condo for dinner then go their separate ways.
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| Russell and Jim Grandpa's 1930 Barn |
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| Russell and Debby Most Recent Farm House |
Eventually
we were able to move on to Solomons where we anchored and commuted by dinghy to
see the sights and do some reprovisioning.
The reprovisioning involved a dinghy ride then a one mile walk to the
store. Unfortunately, on the return trip
it poured down rain. Debby was a surprisingly
good sport about it. We spent one
evening at the Solomons Island Yacht Club for drinks, and as with most clubs
found them very friendly and accommodating.
LYC could learn a few things with $3 wine and $5 martini pricing. Again the weather delayed our departure, so
we had to bypass Tangier Island, one of our intended stops, and move directly
on to Deltaville and Portsmouth to await Hurricane Michael.
