Maryland's 375th

On June 20th, Maryland celebrated the 375 anniversary of its founding. As part of the celebration, they invited in the 17th century reenactors who normally come to the Grande Muster in October (which has been canceled this year). While not actually a pirate event, there were pirates there. The Sea Rats and the Pirate Brethren were present. We were there as colonists. That weekend usually has a nautical festival and a number of people brought their boats. My Whitehall fit right in with these. There were some full-sized ships and a couple of larger boats - the John Smith Shallop and the Explorer.

I had been worrying about the heat. They held the Grande Muster that weekend a few times in the 1980s and it was extremely hot. This year wasn't too bad, mainly bacause of a couple of thunderstorms which cooled things down.

Military manuvers for the event were minor. We lined up, turned and fired a single shot, retired behind the pikes while charged by a single horseman, then returned to our original position.

I did get to go sailing a couple of times. The first time Michael and I took the Whitehall out but the wind died and we had to row back. The second time there were three of us. There was a good wind but we didn't make very good time and it didn't want to answer the rudder. I think that having a third person in the bow changed the weight around too much. Also, the wind was not with us.

At one point the wind changed direction and the boom swung around unexpectedly, knocking Michael's hat into the bay. Undetered, the Sea Rats went out and found it. They claimed that a sea monster spit it back up.