Sanda Mithuri : Kasun Kalhara ft. Raj
Lyrics : Achala Solomons
Music : Raj
Camera/Edit & Directed by Amila Galappatthi
Assistant Director : Samir Fernando
Produced by Krutthi Creations

Maryland's beauty flourishes in the summer months – especially around our gorgeous, treasured, waterfront.  I am often surprised to hear that so many people have never ventured out to enjoy the natural beauty of our plentiful rivers and the Chesapeake Bay, and surrounding waterfront areas - just a short trip away, by boat or by car, these areas offer history, nature, beauty & some downright fun, affordable recreation!  Here are a few of my favorite spots:

Assateague Island: 

I was awe-struck from the very first moment that I entered this pristine, untouched island on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Wild ponies, among other wildlife, are everywhere – walking on the beaches, through the campsites, down the street…it is breathtaking, to say the least.  The best viewing times that I have experienced are in the early evening toward dusk.  Be sure to pack your mosquito repellant as the mosquitos tend to swarm.

Tilghman Island: 

My stay here was short, having been forced on the island while boating and being caught up in a storm last summer…but what a nice surprise.  We docked at a small marina for the evening, just off of a channel that cuts through the center of the island.  This sleepy fishing town was quiet, picturesque and filled with friendly locals and others stranded in the storm.   We will definitely revisit Tilghman Island!

St Michaels: 

Quaint, Gorgeous, Charming, Amazing…this little town offers a perfect weekend getaway!  From shopping to boating, sightseeing to great dining, this is among my favorite Eastern Shore destinations!  We have gone to St. Michaels by land and boat, stayed in wonderful hotels as well as on our boat in a local marina.  It can be a little pricey to stay overnight, however, it is a wonderful day trip destination, too! 

St Clement's Island / St George's Island – St Mary's County, MD:  This is a great day trip if you wish to visit beautiful St. Mary's County in Southern Maryland.  St Clement's Island has a historical significance as Maryland's Birthplace and the location of Maryland's first Catholic mass.  "The Blessing of the Fleet" is a festival held annually.

St George's Island marks the location of the first battle in Maryland during the Revolutionary War.  This beautiful, natural area is rich is wildlife and offers various recreational activities including campgrounds, environmental & ecology tours, and more.  I highly recommend a tour on the "Dee of St Mary's", a skipjack boat… it is an enjoyable and beautiful experience!

Solomon's Island:

This gem of a town is located in Southern Calvert County.  Solomon's Island is a boating center for both sailboats and power boats at the mouth of the Patuxent River.  There is always something to do in Solomons Island – concerts at the Calvert Marine Museum, 4th of July fireworks, events at Ann Marie Gardens, water tours of the harbor and Patuxent River, education at the Chesapeake Biological Lab, charter boat fishing, casual and fine dining, light shopping and more.  As a resident of Southern Maryland, living a very short distance from Solomons Island, it is still a favorite weekend getaway spot!

The Annmarie Gardens – Sculpture Park & Arts Center. Annmarie Gardens is located in the southern end of Calvert County in Solomons, Maryland.

It is owned by and supported by the Board of Calvert County Commissioners. Arts hold a high place to those in Calvert County, and their show of commitment to the arts with this facility are impressive.
The gardens host special events ,programs, and exhibits through out the year. See the link http://www.annmariegarden.org/Calendar/index.htm

Annmarie Gardens came to be because of the vision and generosity of Frances Koenig and his wife Ann. They purchased 30 acres near St. John’s Creek in Solomons, and the kept it as such for 32 years.  After many offers from developers. Francis had the idea for a sculpture garden and donated the land to Calvert County for Annmarie Gardens as it stayed such forever, in gratitude for his enjoyment and love of the County and the Bay.  It is a place that shall always be.

The Gardens offer camps and classes for young folks and for adults in all types of arts.  My favorite is the pottery classes.  These are wonderful classes, and the children gain so much from exposure to the arts, and they love expressing themselves!

The current exhibit is “Wild Things”

Excerpt from the Wild Things Program from the Annmarie Gardens:

What is it about animals that enthrall, delight, terrify, inspire, comfort, and intrigue us? Some of the earliest forms of art, stunning prehistoric cave paintings and bas relief sculptures estimated to be at least 30,000 years old, are dominated by representations of animals. Our ancient relationship with animals – wild and domesticated, real and imagined, extinct and extant – is the inspiration for Wild Things.

As you view the sixty-eight pieces selected for this exhibit (located outdoors in the garden as well as in the Main Gallery), consider the emotions that animals arouse. How do the representations here affect your emotions? What is it about animals that enthrall, delight, terrify, inspire, comfort, and intrigue you ?

I highly recommend that Everyone visit Annmarie Gardens, and check out the variety of arts and programs and exhibits that are available for the community.  It speaks volumes for Calvert County’s commitment to their residents and the communities as a whole!

I want to share a few pictures from last night.  We had a pot luck dinner on Good News with Jim and Lisa Favors, Bob and Deb, Brad and Patti and us.  It’s too bad you can’t have sound because the laughter was contagious and plentiful.

The evening began with cocktails on Salvage Crew.  The had selected to have Jim and Lisa be their recipients of the “Pay it Forward” bottle of wine.  The tradition began when a woman aboard Candy Dish made the bag.  She placed a bottle of wine in it as well as a luggage tag.  Each person who received it was to drink the wine, replace it with another bottle and put their boat card in the luggage tag.  When they met another couple who they felt worthy to be included in this fine tradition, they would “pay it forward.”  We received the bottle from Bob and Deb several months ago.  In the Abacos, we gave it to Brad and Patti and last night they gave it to Jim and Lisa.  Wonder who the next recipient will be?

After the ceremony we moved over to Good News where Jim and Lisa presented me with a bottle of “Mommy’s Time Out.”  Thanks guys…that may come in handy.

Since there were eight of us we had to split up into two tables.  We had the boy’s table.  It looks like Bob may have been boring them with a story because Brad and Andy had their eyes closed.

The girls’ table appeared to be having way more fun!.  A fun night was had by all.

We heard rain all through then night and it rained all day today.

Jim and Lisa kindly offered to loan us their truck for the day.  We left about 10:30 and explored a bit of Solomons Island and the surrounding area.  There is just one marina after another here. Several towns have boasted more boats than people but we really believe them here.

This statue keeps watch over the harbor.

We stopped at Stoney’s for lunch and Patti finally got the “spider crab” sandwich she had been wanting.  It is soft shelled crab.  I was glad she liked it, but it didn’t look too appetizing to me.  Brad, Andy and I enjoyed our crab and seafood soup.

The other day we stopped and saw the replica of Drum Point Lighthouse.  We had hoped to return but that was our only nice day here so glad I took the picture then.  It sits behind the Calvert Marine Museum.

Because of the rain we spent an extra day here in Solomons and will move to Oxford tomorrow.

Well, we finally popped the good weather bubble we have been traveling in for most of the year.  It has rained the last two nights and has rained on and off today.  Also the high is 68 compared to the 88 we had yesterday.

We got the bikes out and rode into town.

Our first stop was, where else, West Marine.

This event is what we like to call “Team Shopping.”  You can see Andy and Brad (actually asking for help), and Bob is behind Andy.

When we spotted Andy we asked what he was looking for.  He said he was checking to see if he could substitute a deck box for a coffin.  It might actually be a less expensive option worth considering someday.

Our next stop was where else?

As the guys can’t seem to pass up a West Marine, Patti and I can’t pass up a good gourmet market.

We are looking forward to Jim and Lisa Favors (Kismet) coming for dinner tonight.  We met them last August in Charlevoix and have run into them on and off throughout the year.  We last saw them in the Abacos.  We always enjoy their company and laughter.  They are spending the entire summer in Solomons before turning and heading south again for the winter.  Brad, Patti, Bob and Deb will join in the festivities as well.  Guaranteed to be a fun night.

I realize that this Father’s Day activity is not “close to home” here in Montgomery County, but it is so different and crazy, that I just had to mention it. AnnMarie Garden in Solomons, Maryland is having a Father’s Day Fling! As the website say – “This Saturday afternoon hiatus challenges dads, granddads, and the families they love to build their own catapults and use them to hurl paint at at a large canvas - much in the spirit of Jackson Pollock.”  How great is that!?!?  The fling does not actually take place on Father’s Day itself, but rather on Saturday, June 20th.  The fee for the event is $60 per family, and includes admission to the Garden and Art Center.  Now that is one original Father’s Day idea!

Thanks to Luke Metzger at the Environment Texas blog for this take on pending net metering legislation (read: making sure folks with solar panels get paid back for the excess energy they produce):

On Monday, the Texas House will decide whether to promote solar energy by requiring utilities to pay consumers fair prices for surplus solar power or to codify anti-consumer practices in order to benefit big utilities like TXU. Here’s the story.

Sick of riding the rollercoaster of high electric rates and concerned over pollution and dependence on foreign oil, many Texans are turning to solar power to get more choices than their electric company provides. More than 40 states help consumers do this by requiring electric companies to pay a fair price for the surplus electricity solar panels put back on the grid (known as net metering). In return, the electric grid benefits from a supply of pollution-free electricity during peak-demand time periods, such as hot summer afternoons, avoiding congestion costs and dampening real-time on-peak wholesale energy prices. The more renewable generation that is located at customer’s houses and businesses, the less will need to be charged in the future to all customers’ electric bills for wires, fuel and pollution costs. Incentivizing solar will also help create jobs and attract manufacturers to the state.

In addition to consumer rebates and tax credits, net metering is a key financial driver making solar power a cost-effective investment for consumers. Texas had such a policy in place in the 1980s, but with the restructuring of the electric market, old definitions of electric utilities no longer applied and net metering was inadvertently ended.

In 2007, the Texas Legislature attempted to correct this mistake by declaring the intent in HB 3693 that “that net metering…be deployed as rapidly as possible.” Unfortunately, because net metering was not defined in the legislation, the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) determined that “use of the term ‘net metering service’ could be confusing … and is not necessary to implement the statute”. Their rule essentially makes net metering optional, leaving the decision to purchase surplus electricity up to the Retail Electric Providers. In their 2008 report, the International Renewable Energy Council (IREC) singled out Texas as a state with one of the “Worst Practices” with regard to net metering.

CSHB 1243 (Rep. Gallego, D-Alpine) improves the situation by requiring electric companies to pay consumers at least 80% of the retail price, minus non-bypassable charges. While this would not have been considered true “net metering”, it would have been a big improvement over current rules.

Rep. Gallego has been a longtime advocate of renewable energy, but now, electric companies like TXU and Reliant have convinced him to amend the bill so they only have to pay the wholesale price, which can range between zero and just 1/3 to 1/2 the retail price, minus administrative fees of their choice. In addition, the amendment caps the size of renewable energy systems to just residential systems under 10 kw. Schools, churches, and small businesses would be left in limbo on buyback just as they are today. For example, the Shallowater High School — in a suburb of Lubbock — installed a 150 kW and wanted to go bigger.

Proponents of the Gallego amendment argue this compromise is the best policy that can be passed at this point, despite the fact that the House State Affairs committee already passed the original (good) Gallego bill and the full Texas Senate passed nearly identical language in SB 545. They also argue that, even if the buyback rate is lousy, at least consumers who serviced by electric coops could finally get some renumeration. However, coop customers would be covered under Rep. Solomons’ HB 1866, which has already passed the House and will soon be considered by the Senate.

We can do much better than this TXU-written policy.

Last weekend was sad, and Tuesday even sadder still, for we took the final voyage on our boat.  We are moving it to a better sales location on the Chesapeake Bay where it will be stored in drydock until sold.  Yuk.

Our boat isn’t just a boat.  In the finest Walter Mitty tradition she was, variously, a well-armed coastal patrol boat with deck-mounted twin .50 caliber machine guns, a fireboat with full rescue capabilities, and a luxurious megayacht worthy of billionaire Paul Allen. In reality, however, our boat is a 38′ aft cabin motor yacht with a flybridge, three cabins, twin diesels, dual zone air conditioning, and satellite television. One of the smallest boats you can own and still legitimately refer to as a yacht.

Oh, how we loved her! We showered her with gifts: flat screen TVs, DVD players, new bridge radios, boat hooks, lines, rear deck canvas – the list goes on and on. And in exchange she rewarded us with sun filled weekends visiting exotic ports of call and unexplored coves and inlets, endless boat parties with good friends, and lazy afternoons at the dock.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. It used to be that we could take a boatload of friends to Alexandria and back and just pass the hat for fuel – $10 a person or so. That was when diesel was a $1.35 a gallon in 2002. When fuel spiked to $4.50, she sat at the dock and I didn’t want to go near her because it just hurt too bad. Now we’ve just moved on.

The good thing was that we would get one final, long voyage through new waters. Out trip would take us down the Potomac to the bay, and then up the western shore where we would overnight at Solomons on the Patuxent. The next day we’d finish the voyage by crossing the shipping lanes to go up the Eastern Shore, passing the Choptank area and then heading into the Eastern Bay and then on to Kent Narrows. All told, it would be about a 180 mile journey.

The last week we watched the weather every day. Rain or cold we wouldn’t mind – it was all about the wind. The Chesapeake is much longer than she is wide and has deep water so she can produce some legitimate heavy seas, especially in a good north or south blow. Unlike the ocean, where a four-foot swell would just be a gentle rolling action, the Bay would have a four foot chop with whitecaps: real hull pounders. So we watched. And waited.

By Thursday the forecast was shaping up. Temps would be in the 60s and cloudy with 5 mph winds. Hooray! Our trip was on.

Out intrepid crew would consist of yours truly as Captain, my spouse the Admiral (I may run the boat but be assured, she gives the orders!), and fellow boat owners and friends Anthony and Denise.

Saturday arrived cooler than expected and cloudy, but thankfully dead calm. We met at the boat at 7 am as planned and were underway by 8. The first 20 or so miles were in known waters and the trip was smooth. Down towards the 301 bridge, however, visibility started dropping. By the time we got to the Cobb Island area you couldn’t even see Colonial Beach – visibility was less than a mile. Something else was apparent, too: our radar unit was not functioning normally. Lovely, just lovely.

Denise and Anthony kept a sharp lookout while I manned the helm. We picked our way through Kettle Bottom Shoals and set course for Coles Point, our first fuel stop. The channel markers at Kettle Bottom are about one mile apart and run that way for five miles – easy pickings. But as we exited the last pair of markers the fog really set in and we realized, as we set compass bearings, that the compass was, umm, well, off by about 30 degrees.

How do compasses become “off”, you might wonder. Trust me, you are not the only one. We were all scratching our heads pondering the same question, eventually giving up and resigning ourselves to having to translate every heading manually. Yuk. And thank God for GPS chartplotters.

By the time we rounded Coles Point visibility was down to a quarter mile. I turned and headed for shore and stared ahead into the fog. Anthony called out the depth while I switched between straining for a glimpse of land and monitoring the chartplotter. I was getting nervous and so was he. Finally, with about 800 yards to shore I could start to make out the tree line. We could then get some of the details and I was finally able to line up on the small channel into the marina area.

Fueling a boat our size is simply an exercise in patience and requires a certain financial mindset. With twin one hundred gallon tanks and diesel at about $2.45 per gallon, well, you do the math. I figured about 70 gallons per tank to fill it, and I was right as far as the starboard tank was concerned. But when we started pumping the port side, things were different: 70 gallons came and went. Then 80. Then 90 (Omigosh do we have a freaking fuel LEAK???), and finally, at 96 gallons, she was full. Yikes! We had come within about 10 minutes of running out of fuel on the port engine. In fog. With a suboptimal radar. And a goofed up compass. Sheesh! Best I can figure, we hadn’t completely filled the port tank to begin with. Did I mention that the port-side fuel gauge didn’t work, either?

With her belly full, we set about fixing a bit of food for ourselves, and finally got underway again at about one o’clock, heading about due east for the mouth of the Potomac. Visibility was decreasing, and at times there was no horizon – just water fading into the mist. My guess is that it was down to a quarter mile.

By 2:30 or so we reached Point Lookout – surely some of the most treacherous water in the bay. Except, thankfully, for today. Not only was there no wind, but it was slack tide and nearly dead flat. So we headed north, hugging the western shore of the Bay, and made for the Patuxent staying just outside the channel markers to avoid any shipping traffic.

The channel markers on this stretch of the bay are about five to seven miles apart, so a bit of dead reckoning navigation is in order. We’d line the GPS up on the next marker, get a bearing, and try to hold it. At fourteen knots, seven miles is about 30 minutes of peering into the fog and watching the compass, with the last five minutes frantically spent trying to locate the marker so we didn’t run into it.

Our path would take us near a set of markers and obstructions known locally as “the targets”. A seeming odd name, until you realize that just nearby is Patuxent River Naval Air Station, and “the targets” are just that: Aerial bombing practice targets. Our course was set such that we’d pass within a half mile of them on the starboard side.

All was well, except that with the fog, larger body of water, and it being March and all, it was now much colder. Like about 45 degrees. The weather had been forecast for the lower 60’s, but we knew it would be cooler on the water, but this level of chill was unexpected, and a light drizzle was now falling. We were cold. No, scratch that. We were chilled to the bone.

I was hunkered down at the helm with my jacket up around my ears so only my nose and eyes were showing. I was looking more at the instruments than ahead. The admiral was at my right, a but hunched over herself, and Anthony was at my left, peering ahead. The cold was really taking its toll.

Anthony was saying something I couldn’t quite understand and I looked up and to my horror, there was a large yellow marker about 50 yards ahead. We had drifted off course and run up on the targets. I shouted an expletive, yanked the wheel and threw the boat into a turn. We veered left and avoided the marker by about 35 feet. Not a hair-raising close call, but close enough. At our speed, another fifteen seconds later and it would have been a different outcome.

As I was turning the boat I asked Anthony why he didn’t say anything. He said he thought I saw it, but he was getting ready to grab the wheel if I hadn’t made the turn. The Admiral was just too cold and wasn’t watching. My response was to tell everyone to never assume I see anything – call it out if you see it. In retrospect, the cold had taken made its mark – we were all chilled to the bone and our vigilance had suffered.

About a half hour later we arrived at the mouth of the Patuxent. We maneuvered around the outer markers and lined up for the entrance. Our destination was Spring Cove Marina. I picked up the radio mike.

“Spring Cove Marina, Spring Cove Marina, Spring Cove Marina. This is motor vessel [omitted]. Over.”
“Roger [omitted]. This is Spring Cove Marina. Switch to Channel 68, over.”
“Six eight, roger.”

I fiddled with the radio knob.

“Spring Cove Marina, this is motor vessel [omitted] on channel six-eight. Over”
“Roger, captain. I see you have a slip reservation.”
“Affirmative, Spring Cove. We are inbound at red two. I estimate our arrival in about two zero minutes.”
“Roger, captain. Call us when you get to red 8.”
“Will do, Spring Cove.”
“Spring Cove clear, switching back to 16.”
“[omitted] clear, going back to one six.”

We wound our way to Solomons and up the creek towards our destination. The marina never answered our second radio call, but the fuel dock was well marked and we stood off while another boat cleared, and then headed in. We had made it with about 20 minutes to spare: It was 4:40 and they closed at 5:00.

We did it.

In the next post, I’ll tell the rest of the tale as we finish the voyage to Kent Narrows.

View my listings in Southern Maryland. Contact me about buying or selling in Charles County, Saint Mary’s County and Calvert County, MD. Marie Lally / O’Brien Realty – Direct: 301-748-8698 / Office 301-884-7400. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY