On July 1, we planned to cruise to Solomons, MD and at 7:30 AM the engines were running when Bob on Legrace called to say, "the forecast out here and reality are not close". The forecast called for winds of 10-15 knots with waves of 1'; the reality was winds of 22-27 knots with waves 3'-4'. Jim decided that we did not need to make ourselves and Alex uncomfortable and shut down the engines. On July 2, we cruised into the A-Dock of Solomons Harbor Marina bethind the Holiday Inn Select for a month's stay. The above picture shows the Afterdeck bar with the striped roof, and as you can see, it was a short stroll from the stern of Palmetto Moon.

On July 4, John, the dockmaster and his family, invited all the boaters up to the patio area for a cookout with tons of food and drink. Unfortunately, it ended with a thunderstorm; fortunately, the storm left before the village's fireworks display. We walked down to the Island and looked out over the Patuxent River. Jim loves fireworks and was thrilled with the impressive display.

We spent time relaxing and doing chores but mainly socialized with new friends met at the marina and old friends who came to visit. Bob and Lynn on Legrace came and spent two weeks on A-Dock. Jim is very appreciative of the hours Bob spent with him working on the navigation software program for the desktop on the flybridge. Dave and Laurie drove up from Hilton Head and spent the night on their way to Cape May, NJ for their daughter's completion of USCG boot camp. Larry and Sue drove down from Baltimore for a visit with all the boaters in Solomons. George and Jackie on Sea Otter II, who we had met several years ago in Vero Beach, taught us the bus system so we could go shopping at Target, Staples, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc. We had wonderful meals at Boomerang's and Naughty Gull -- more times than one can imagine, as I needed my softshell crab fix and Jim need his crabcake fix.

Solomons is a unique boating community with more than 2,000 slips and the infrastructure to handle boater's needs. Jim decided that we should extend our stay into August before seeing more of the Chesapeake. In fact, he likes it here so much, he made reservations for next summer!