Boat Show and a Party
What a way to spend a gorgeous October Saturday! Attending the power boat show in Annapolis with a friend was a blast and then I zipped up to Baltimore for a party at lifetime member Willie and Meg’s house in Edgemere with locals and sailors who are passionate about their waters and lighthouses. The recurring theme of the day was hearing about the guy from Minnesota who bought Smith Point light and apparently talked to most of the boat show folks before I did. The difference is he owns Smith Point privately (and seems to have plenty of money to pour into it) while Craighill is owned by a non-profit (us) and we rely on donations and help from other people. This Baltimore Sun article was mentioned to me several times. I find it fascinating he got stuck out there for three days. I would feel safe enough in any storm in the lighthouse, but I can’t imagine what my poor boat would go through. I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t survive. Wow, he has internet out there!! I checked out the ISP and they’re only in Northern Neck, VA, so I guess I need to find a wireless provider in Baltimore who wants to broadcast a clear signal in exchange for free access and a webcam at Craighill Front. Then I could watch baseball games on my laptop via the SlingBox I have wired up at home while I’m out there 
Although, I don’t mind listening on the radio now and then and thankfully, the signal does carry up to Baltimore (yes, I’m a Nationals fan - never really got into the American League). Funny that the article mentions the fishing line trick as my very helpful assistant keeper (my son) and I strung some up last weekend finally to deter those nasty birds.
Anyway, back to the boat show. Mental note: I need some business cards! I’ll print Flickr mini-moo cards which is what I did for my baseball blog. I can use my own photography on the cards and they’re more unique and interesting than regular business cards. I hit up a couple generator booths, and hopefully will get a donation of some equipment out of that (generator, water pump, pressure washer). We desperately need these items so I can stop breaking my back hauling 5 gallon buckets of water 20 feet up to dump on the deck, lather, rinse, repeat. By the time we get it clean and ready to paint, the day is done and we’re exhausted and we end up repeating the whole thing again. So once I get these highly coveted items, we’ll plan a painting party for the exterior!
Other interesting notes from the day… I bought some waterproof cold weather gear so that I can continue going out until the Bay freezes or my outboard won’t run in the cold water. Awesome! The outfit includes some high boots since I have to step into the water to get the boat off and on the trailer. My friend and I wanted to look inside some of the big boats just to oooh and ahh, but most had long lines, so we walked deep into the docks until we ran across one that didn’t have a line. The funniest thing is this is the only boat we looked at and falls in the “small world” category. I was chatting with the husband/wife owners who also built the boat. I thought the bunk bed cabin was awesome and my kids would get a huge kick out of it. They have kids nearly the same age. The more we talked, the more they seemed familiar to me and I finally glanced at the husband’s name tag and went nuts! See, my family bought this 1893 Victorian house five years ago from a family who grew up in it and had owned it since the 1950s. They still come see the house and the renovations we’ve done whenever they’re in town and one sister lives right down the street from us. Well, the husband of this boat building couple is the youngest brother in that family!! Too funny! We hugged and sat and chatted in their (beautiful!) boat for a while before Kim and I had to move on.
At a shop near the docks, I bought little Harbour Lights sculptures of the Craighill Channel Lower Range front and rear lights, but ended up giving Willie the front light one. I’ll have to investigate becoming a dealer and selling those through the website. I’m going to put the rear light (which has the keeper’s quarters) on my desk at work.
After the show, I went up to Willie and Meg’s party and had a wonderful time talking to people about the lighthouse. They have a really neat old house up on a hill from the water with a nice pier and dock. The setting made me wistful about not living on the water. Two guys said they had stories to tell of going out to the lighthouse as kids and taking the keeper back and forth to shore. Unfortunately, they didn’t really spill the beans on any of those stories! I’ll have to find out more another time. I met a wonderful couple who sailed in to the party and have made a marriage of visiting and photographing all the lighthouses they can. They have one of the last photos of Cedar Point taken before it disappeared. More conversations on whether or not a dock at the lighthouse is really feasible occurred. Locals echoed my concerns that the water gets too rough for a dock to stay in place, particularly with the soft bottomlands around the lighthouse. I assured them that I’m working on rehabbing the davits and getting a boat lift installed currently anyway as a far more pressing matter.
Which reminds me, I met a guy at the boat show who is selling floating docks made of plastic squares that all fit together so you can make them as small or large as you like. The reason it caught my eye is because the display in the water had a Zodiac sitting on top of it. He explained that you can drive an inflatable right up onto the dock, leaving the motor hanging over the edge. He suggested rather than a cage for the lift, use one of his configurations which can also be lifted out of the water. I was thinking they’d make a great barge surface that I can stage supplies on and then just tow back to shore. Interesting thing to consider. I don’t think I’d use it with the lift as it would detract from the sight of the lighthouse, but I would consider towing something out to tie up and use as a platform next to the light.