Ocean City, and sailing beasts.

   We had a very nice stay in Ocean City, MD. When i say very nice, i mean it was OK. A lot of things did not work as we would have liked, and food was so-so. Starting into the inlet was the first issue. We were basically blind. As seen in the previous post, we came in, in a fog bank. So i called the marina, and asked if they could send a skiff out to meet us. She told me she was the only one there, and she could not. OK, whatever, i can find a 200 slip marina, right? So i peeked at google, stared at the chart plotter, and saw a 100' wide, by 15' deep channel. No problem. so i called the woman from the marina a second time, told her i was by a restaurant. She say's, in a snooty voice, "Well your in the wrong channel, so you might as well stay there. I sent someone out to the dock to find you and you never showed up"..... Wow, does this person want my $70 a night, or not? So we turned around.
   I have become quite proficient at U-turns at this point. I remember my first day on the yacht, i though i had to do a 3 point turn, to turn about in a 300' channel. It has been a major change from the 50' my powerboat required. At this point i can do it, in the yacht, in less then 70'.
   So we got back to the fog bank entrance. We passed the signs a second time, before i turned back and made it in. All i can say is i am glad i am a pilot. I did this entire inter-harbor journey by instrument alone. As i said to my crew, after the lines are tied up, the fog will lift. Within 10 min of arrival, it had.

   We had arrived, and the search for good food had started.
I thought in a town like this, good food should be an easy find. I had visions of 48oz steaks, bacon and cheese covered fries, funnel cake!!! What we found was a far cry from any of that.
   The first place we ate was the sunset grill (or whatever it was called) the over priced marina restaurant.
I ordered the scallops. After the awesome ones we had at Babes in Haverstraw ny, i thought these must be divine. Actually they were grease balls. The prices were, insane. $48 for about a 6 oz filet, stupid stuff like that. The second place we went felt like a health food joint, Sharks Grill. I had the bison burger, they overcooked it, the wife loved her tuna. She said it was the best she had ever had. She was one for two, i was zero for two.
   Monday we tried to find a new place. Everyplace was closed, almost. we found a place called Station 7.
It was a firehouse theme, with a nice waitress, and ok food. we saw a sign that said mon, tue, half price entrees, so we went in and i had an inside out chicken cordon bleu. The food was, good. i pulled out a $20 bill and asked for the bill. $35.... The waitress told me the entrees were full price until 4, and the sign said this. I simply said, no, it does not. She walked outside, saw that the sign was wrong, and marked the price down after calling her district manager. lol. well, not a bad day. We went to West Marine, i further contemplated getting the 18"x32" fenders, got a few bolts and left.
   The manager had told us about a free taxi, that was full of volunteers, and operated fully on tips, and donations. We were in. We called the number, and got no answer. About 2 min later someone called me back asking if we were looking for a taxi. What service, thought I. So after a little while a GMC van pulled up running on about 1/2 its cylinders. What i expected of a free taxi. The driver was filthy. I thought to myself, "AH! community service i bet!" he was unpleasant, the radio was so loud i had to repeat the destination 3 times. Off we went, on our first free taxi ride. He started a meter....
   So i tried to strike a convo with him about the free taxi, after we had traveled about 3 miles, and he says, "oh, they don't do that no more. No money in it, the drivers were all broke"..... our free taxi meter was at $6.... so i said, ok, drop us off right up here please. We debarked the taxi, walked to the boardwalk, and instantly found my sister in law. Great timing.

   We walked the boardwalk, stopped in the two open shops, then we started looking for food. We walked 5 miles, everything we saw was closed. Being the thinker, i decided to call the Holiday Inn. I am a returns member, and know that if anyone knows anything about town, it was them. HE told us the two places, and we went to the one i had been to 3 years prior.
   I believe it was called, Crab Bag. I asked to see the difference between a medium large, and a large. He was awesome and brought out live crab, and let me play with them. Dana had never tried blue crab, and when she had one she agreed, it was more work then food. The food here was the best we had in the entire Ocean City.

   11-18-2013 It has been two months now since our son has died. It has had a lasting impact on my happy-go-lucky spirit. Thou i can manage to have fun, smile, and laugh, i find the times between the laughter much harder. I have been more grouchy, lower energy, and more rude.
   I decided to make a personal change, to maybe help myself come out of my depressed tone.
So i shaved.

   I gave myself a wolverine. The best i could manage with a mirror. I actually asked my wife if i could get heterochromia. One eye blue, and one brown, as i have two brown now. She still declines.... maybe someday....

   Overall our visit to Ocean City, MD, was nice. One of our traveling crew decided she did not have the finances to keep up the trip, so she headed home, and will be missed, we had fun Liz!
At 10am, me and Dana, left port.

Onto the beasts!

   We have 3 pets aboard. Two dogs, and a cat.
They have been adjusting to life on a moving, rocking, slamming, noisy, odd smelling (to a dog or cat) yacht.
They get credit. Only one puke each so far. with my crazy sailing... that is not bad.
here are photos of them coping with rough seas.

  Iif you want, we have a donate button on our blog, help keep us sailing!!!