Sailing Along

It is 62 degrees at the end of my pier with a gentle breeze of 1 mph from the North-North West. The barometric pressure is 29.80 and falling. This means that we are headed for some decent weather, I think. Barometric pressure is an inverse relationship between a weather system and the pressure it exerts on a column of mercury. I have not quite wrapped my mind around the total concept, yet. Perhaps, this is due to the newness in my meteorological hobby. If you look closely at this photo, you will see my new Davis weather station at the end and left of the dock. The sun is out this evening after a night of rain and my vegetable gardens look like they might begin making progress after many  freezes and a decent snow last Monday that draped about 6-7 inches of heavy, wet snow on the Wye River watershed.

My students, myself, and many others on the shore had a magical March day to revel in an early and very unexpected springtime storm. My son, Downes, and I have a forever tradition of walking in every snow storm, and we did. Because the temperature hovered at 31, it snowed, but it was not frigid. We caught snow flakes on our tongues, threw snowballs at each other, and relaxed. There is something about a snow storm that puts me in a zen place that I wish I could always find. We saw a pair of Osprey soaring and courting. For a girl who frequents the out-of-doors this was not the first time that I have seen these birds in the snow. However, I will never tire of seeing these springtime denizens, winging through a curtain of white.

So, this brings me to my first independent blog….thank-you, Pat Mc Bride.

I want to tell you about my 16 foot 1984 Hobie Cat. This type of boat is a catamaran. It is very fun to sail and can be pretty crazy and even dangerous, if you are not somewhat savvy with weather and wind. I have had this boat for 30 years. This week I donated my boat to The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. They will sell her at an auction and the benefits will go to education programs about the Chesapeake, as well as, keeping the museum alive. The director of boat donations came by yesterday and told me that they have never seen a Hobie in such stellar condition after so many years. I have kept a kind of weird faith with this boat.  I just about capsized her in her infancy and mine, when I was in college. I got caught in a Nor”easter, alone, and nearly drowned (this is another story). I do not use this boat any more. So, a family will buy her and have great fun. They don’t know it, but I do. When they are enjoying this boat that I have washed, waxed, repaired and loved for 30 years, I will be sailing along………..

Chris W……………..on the Wye