Activities for a Quiet Day

Activities for a Quiet Day

Monday 24th May 2021

During the night the wind swung round to the north and strengthened and our anchor alarm went off. It didn’t cause us too much concern because we were confident we weren’t dragging but had merely set an inadequate radius to take into account 80 feet of chain on the bottom and swing through 180 degrees. With the passing of the cold front the temperatures dropped a lot and we were able to sleep more comfortably and didn’t get up until 8 am. We awoke to a grey, cool and windy day and spent the morning hanging out on the boat. What do we do to amuse ourselves under these circumstances? Gloria spent some time on a cross-stitch project that she has been working on and I made a start on generating a boat-jobs list for the 2021-2 off season. We also ate a large breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee and read our books.

I have been reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “Long Road to Freedom”.  It is really well written and fascinating to read, but at the same time hard to accept the injustices that he endured. I have for a long time been fascinated by the history of South Africa and comparisons between the emergence from the Apartheid era and the end of slavery in the USA. We visited South Africa in 2013 when Tasha was studying in Cape Town on a semester abroad and it was an outstanding experience in so many ways. We were struck by the energy of the country but also the challenges facing a nation that was only 20 years on from setting aside its abhorrent past. Apartheid set the nation back many decades in terms of economic development. In contrast, the USA was about 150 years past the end of slavery and has been through peaks and troughs over that time, but still struggles with consequences. In South Africa there was a determined effort through “Truth and Reconciliation” to acknowledge the past for what it was and to move on. My sense is that the USA missed this step and that makes it harder to move forward. I wonder if you still see pro-Apartheid / National Party flags being flown in South Africa the way you still see Confederate flags being flown in parts of the USA. 

In any event I would like to say that I believe Nelson Mandela, because of his commitment, personal sacrifice and ability to lead South Africa out of apartheid without a full-blown civil war, is the greatest and most inspiring leader the world has seen since the industrial revolution. Who else do you think should be considered in that context?

We did get ashore this afternoon and wandered around the old St Mary's City, which is an archaeological exploration in progress. It was interesting but a little damp as it started to rain almost the moment we got to shore!

Mike

38 11.595 N, 76 26.002 W

The cockpit of Cotinga with our additional sunshades deployed. The white sections zip onto the dodger and bimini filling up the gap. (Photographed yesterday evening)

Sunset off St Mary's City (last night)

An 18th century barn built on the site of the old city which was abandoned shortly after the Capital was relocated to Annapolis in 1695

Inside the local Trinity Episcopal church

A rare (priceless) shot of the old geezer himself. See I really was here on this trip!  (photo: Gloria on her iPhone)

The lovely rowing dock at the college water-sports center. We happily used this as our dinghy dock these past two days. See Cotinga in the background, right of the pillar.