Sunday, September 4th - the final stretch

At 6:30 AM, the anchor is raised for the last time.  It is Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer and the end of our summer cruise.  By 1:30 PM, Cutter Loose has a full tank of fuel and is safely in her slip at Osprey Point Marina in Rock Hall.  Thinking of all of the places we've visited, people we've met and things we learned, it is an exhilirating feeling to have completed this voyage.

The Subaru is unharmed by Irene and starts immediately.  Access to a vehicle is the first sign that our lives are about to change for the next few months.  Armed with soapy water and scrub brushes, we attack a three month buildup of salt on the deck of Cutter Loose.  After several hours of labor, she is much cleaner, but darkness requires that we postpone the polishing for tomorrow.  She has served us exceptionally well.  We spend the early evening hours catching up with our slip neighbors, Bill and Alice.  Then we are visited by the crew of Calliope, an Island Packet 485 that we chatted up whilst transiting Delaware Bay.  This crew sailed directly to Rock Hall from Nova Scotia.

Summer cruise by the numbers:

• duration: 94 days


• nautical miles: 1,848


• overnight anchorages: 37


• overnight moorings (paid a fee): 38


• overnight moorings (no cost): 10


• overnights at marinas: 9, including tonight's stay in our slip @ Osprey Point


• gallons of diesel fuel consumed: 350


• engine hours: 327


• generator hours: 62