Picture Post - Annapolis Naval Academy Museum

Back in 2015 we had the opportunity to tour the Naval Academy grounds, including the chapel and the museum. The part that impressed us the most was the collection of model ships on the second floor of the museum. I took a ton of photos during that trip that you can see at the original post.

This time, since we had already been through the display in 2015, I was fascinated mostly with all of the small details of the models—the figureheads, the lifeboats, all of the filigree details. Ships were the pride and joy of their respective countries and were decorated as such. At some point, though, the bean counters discovered that a whole lot of money was being spent on artistic flair and put a Kabash on the whole thing. Here's the description of the order.

It's unfortunate, because we've lost something in the removal of this art. With the decoration of features from their homeland, there was some sense of the culture they were fighting to preserve. While we have evolved from some of the more socially unacceptable portions of those cultures, the art is still an important look into that portion of history, something I fear we are losing with our dismissal of art in our current culture.

If you ever find yourself in Annapolis, please take an afternoon and visit the Naval Academy. It's free and open to the public and is one of the best kept secrets out there.

Naval Academy Chapel

The famous pipe organ on the balcony

The crypt of John Paul Jones in the basement of the chapel

One of the ships carved out of bone by the French prisoners of war. They carved them from 
bones left from their dinners.

Bone carved ship

Bone carved ship

Bone carving

Bone carved ship

An Ironclad ship

An early submarine

A replica of the famous Iwo Jima statue

Fair Winds and Following Seas

When cruisers say goodbye to one another they nearly almost always say, "Fair Winds and Following Seas." There's a reason they do that, and today was the reason.

Back Creek Annapolis

We set out from Back Creek at about 0730, passing our new friends Carl and Ardys as they brought their Saga 43 in to the dock for service. A quick hello as we passed and then we motored just out of the channel before cranking out the staysail. The apparent wind was cranking up to the low 20s, substantially higher than the 5-10 predicted, and we were hard on the wind until we could make the turn to the south, so we decided on the staysail rather than the jib. Even with just the small staysail up and 3-4 foot waves, we were skimming along at 5 knots. Once we cleared the point and turned south, the apparent wind dropped to 15-20 so the staysail was stowed, the genoa cranked out, and the whisker pole set. It was magic. 45.8 miles, 9 hours 13 minutes, top speed 7.7 knots, average speed 5 knots, perfect temperature, and the new autopilot performed flawlessly. It was the sail cruiser dreams are made of, and the "Fair Winds and Following Seas" greeting is the best wish I can pass along to the rest of you making your way south. We hope you get to share the magic.

Back Creek in the Solomons