Lying at anchor at Horseshoe Bend, St. Mary’s City, off the Potomac on the Chesapeake.

38 11.51 N
76 25.92 W
 
How does one describe the camaraderie, the feeling of family when a few hundred misfits, with a passion so frighteningly simplistic, gather on a dock?
 
Pretty damn good!
 
A surprising positive was the respect shown to us and our vessel, Skinwalker.  During our wandering, visiting, talking, sharing, before, during, and after the “Trawler Crawl”, an event each day that allowed the public to tour participating boats, one of which was our Skinwalker, we found that many of the men and a few of the women dreamed of casting off all lines from shore and joining us in our exploration of life.  Since we were visible to most in our speaker’s role for the event, they came to us to ask questions.  Some out of sheer curiosity at the daring to leave homes and family, most came to live the dream vicariously. Some, like I did before we started cruising, came to milk every bit of knowledge from us we could or would share.
 
There was more than one couple that upon finishing touring our boat, returned to our pilothouse, sat, absorbed the feeling, asked hours of questions until they were so brain tired they couldn’t comprehend another answer, yet they could not force themselves to leave the oh so good feeling of the boat gently swaying at the dock.  There was more than one couple we eventually had to gently persuade to leave. 
 
One nice couple from New Mexico said, “Please don’t make us leave yet, please let us stay awhile longer”. 
 
We did. 
 
We remember.  We still know the feeling, the soft motion, the smell of the soft warm breeze caressing.  The calmness of soul, the stillness of body and the synergy effect of all the senses and emotions playing an old symphony of pleasure, of being, that no man has yet described effectively.
 
Personal highlights of the event, aside from the wonderful new like-minded friends, the confirmation of some of our skills and the learning of new ones, was the reception of our presentation and the fact that our boat garnered no awards but certainly a significant acclaim from our peers.  This surprised me greatly and left me with a better understanding of how well our boat is laid out for cruising.
 
Oh, my, God.  Here is a word of warning to those who enjoy exploring new customs and cultures.  Be careful of great Danes. 
 
We immediately formed a close bond with Peggy Carr & Hans Bjarno of the MV Aqua Vitae.  Peggy is one of the other enthusiastic presenters and is also the primary boat driver in the family.  We shared a great number of experiences with them during the several days of TrawlerFest.  One of the most interesting was a Danish custom involving Danish beer and Aquavit, a clear sweetish, high alcohol content drink.  The custom comes from Viking days of old when a man had to keep a sharp eye on his allotment of food and drink.
 
First we were directed to take a very heavy, thinly sliced rye bread and spread it with butter, corner to corner, then cover with Herring.  One takes a bite of this using knife and fork, chews, swallows partakes of a shot of Aquavit followed with a chaser of the Danish beer. This takes place while looking the others in the eye the whole time to make sure they know that you are alert and will not tolerate any snitching of food, drinks or, I suppose, your favorite wench.  
 
Upon finishing the first open faced sandwich we had another, this time a firm white bread with butter, tomato, sliced egg, mayo and a liberal spread of caviar.  I liked this sandwich far better and the Aquavit and beer chaser wasn’t too bad either. 
 
I probably would have been a little better off if I had understood from the beginning that one didn’t drink a whole shot of Aquavit with each bite of sandwich. 
 
It was a good evening.  Peggy & Hans and the crew of the Skinwalker fit each other like worn, buttery leather gloves instantly and inexplicably upon meeting, a feeling that is missed when gone.
 
I felt fortunate to wake up the next morning on our own boat.  I am also grateful I didn’t go blind that night.  Although, I think Hans now needs new glasses.
 
I had written a note to the Trawler email group that from my position at the fuel dock I had full command of the entry to the harbor and my one pound water balloon cannon could hold off the complete English fleet if need be.
 
Lynn Love wrote back and suggested I bombard a vessel called Southern Charm, friends of his.  This boat had already gone by twice and was at dock, but I wrote back and said I would.  (Heck, I don’t even have a water balloon cannon and I certainly wouldn’t send balloons into the bay for fish to eat.) I told the crew of Southern Charm and they laughed and then we concocted a plan, the gist of which will be taken up below.
   
An act of contrition and reparation is requested:
 

Dear Admiral Love,
 
As Master of the Skinwalker and acting under your admiralty orders of the Conch Republic we proceeded with aggressor action and initiated engagement of hostilities on the crew and vessel the Southern Charm.  It is believed to be the second salvo with an elevation of roughly 31 degrees of azimuth and a double powder canister which shattered the port saloon window.
 
The incident has created a certain degree of havoc in the trawler community and agents acting on behalve of the master of the Southern Charm have petitioned the court for seizure of the offending vessel.
 
We hence are referring this matter back to the admiralty in order to dispatch this matter with due haste, while we hide our ass up the Potomac River right under the very eyes of the seat of power.
 
It is our intent that you consult with the offended master directly upon your delivering this note along with your intent to reimburse our expenditure of munitions and reward our expertise.  We don't have Southern Charm’s email address so we suggest you forward this with your outreach for reparation.
 
Your faithful servant,
Master of the Skinwalker
Wayne Flatt

 
To: Crew@MVSkinwalker.com
Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 20:12:03 EDT
 
Please give the details to the engagement.  Were you under attack?  I know a couple of those windows have been known to break on their own while the boats sit still.

 
Despite Mr. Love’s frivolous reply, he contacted the crew of Southern Charm who strung him along for awhile before revealing our pretty well played prank.

My feet are itchy.  Those who follow our logs understand it is time for us to move on to the next part of the adventure. 
 
Tonight we will likely be in St. Mary's on the Potomac, arriving next Monday in Washington, D.C. to offer our opinions on how to run the government.  Well, ok, maybe we will just wander the mall and tourist attractions and think oddly confusing thoughts about politicians, military decisions and post human conditions caused by Aquavit. 
 
We welcome all our new friends to our mailing list, Peggy & Hans on Aqua Vitae, Al & Meredith crew of Pelican also Sean & Jane on Gandalf.  We look forward with great anticipation to crossing wakes with all our friends in the constant dance of en passant meetings that cruisers have come to enjoy and we thank them all for sharing.
 
There is a touch of melancholy in our eagerness to leave good friends, ascend the Potomac and storm the citadel of power in Washington.  Good thing we will be meeting our son, the Navy JAG attorney, so that he can go our bail when we demonstrate a little too much in the local pubs on the river.
 
From the pilothouse, with shock and awe we celebrate the value of Trawlerfest.
 
Capt'n Lynnie and Skinwalker