sailing2008-82, originally uploaded by The Bywaters.

Just got back from probably one of the most tiring sailing trips in awhile. It was AMAZING don’t get me wrong…just with 3 kids for 10 days…even a 65 foot boat starts to feel VERY small!

We (Robyn, myself, the kids, and TIO Miguel) drove up to Falmouth, MA where we swapped crews after a couple days in Nantucket…and then we along with my parents sailed around MA, CT, and NY until finally descending down to the Chesapeake Bay in Solomon’s Island, MD where we keep the boat. One of the most beautiful stops was in a place called the Thimbles – a group of 25+ inhabited islands with crazy homes just hanging out in the middle of the ocean.

Felt very much like Northern Maine coast…rocky shores/cliffs and pine trees right to the water. We dinghied over to one of the islands without a house and climbed around on some of the rocks. Really wish we could have stayed awhile longer and jumped off some of the rocks. It dropped straight off into DEEP water.

Another view we don’t usually get was sailing right down Long Island Sound and through the East River right along NYC. The view was unreal. The buildings in downtown Manhattan never looked so impressive.

Oliver taking it all in!

And then it was a two day straight sail to Solomons. The first night in open ocean about 5-10 miles off the coast – passing by the lights of Atlantic City at about 2 am. And then the next night we had made it into the Chesapeake. Michael and I decided to give grandma and grandpa a rest from their watch. The rain was coming down pretty hard at times – so we pushed our watch from midnight all the way through the morning. It was pretty fun trying to decipher what all the lights were and navigating through the Bay at night. a couple tug boats with massive barges behind came a little too close for comfort which kept the adrenaline running and us up all night!

Now it’s time to pack and prepare for our next CRAZY adventure. Still can’t believe we’ll be in Prague in a week! We finally were able to arrange our apartment over there…and we can’t be more excited. A good friend’s friend has been helping us out…and we struck GOLD with this friendship! He not only is going to give us an awesome deal on THIS PLACE (follow link and click on “FRANCOUZSKA 5”)

That’s where we’re well be for 3 months! Maybe we’ll be suckered into extending it!! Looks AMAZING!!) and he will also be “the one with the rainbow umbrella – rain or shine” – he’s arranged a member of our church that owns a van to pick us up directly and take us to our apartment! I have a feeling he’ll be a pretty good tour guide and help for us around the city! CAN’T WAIT!!!