Southbound & Down

The times, they are a changin' around here and boy, we can feel it. There's a crisp chill in the air, the leaves are starting to change, and the Great Migration South has begun.

No, we're not talking about geese. We're talking about the hordes of cruisers who are now beginning to make their way south to warmer weather. We can't pinpoint exactly when it started, but all of a sudden… BAM! They're here. We saw the first signs last weekend, when we noticed that all of the moorings downtown were taken. Odd, we thought. The annual boat show isn't for another 3 weeks, and nothing else that we know of was going on. Oh yes. It's the snow birds, migrating from areas north, stopping over in Annapolis as they bounce their way down the coast to the Caribbean.

The boat stores are all in the loop, advertising some sort of seminar on provisioning, navigating, boat safety, etc. All of the charts and books on navigating the ICW, Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean are strategically placed at the front of the store. It's both annoying and intoxicating at the same time. We are so excited for the day that we join them, and frustrated that, this year at least, we're not.

Instead we will be toughing it out in the cold, the dark, joining the last of the few that cling onto the lifestyle long after the fair weather and following seas leave. We'll be hunkering down, toughing it out and become more self reliant. We're looking forward to earning our stripes and coming out the other side more confidant with ourselves and our abilities.

Until then, we'll stare with dreamy eyes at the boats headed south and know that our time is coming.