Trips of Discovery

Make the best of your journey, make some memories.

Trips of Discovery - For me, boating is never just about the destination, it's always at least as much about the journey.

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A general, bushwhacking, body booting, and $1,144,600 send me to Crisfield, Maryland

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes – SBFL* 3 – VISITED – What took me to Crisfield, Maryland, was an eye-popping $1,144,600, somehow tied to body booting and bushwacking, and it all started with a general. It has been an unexpected journey to Crisfield, Maryland. Decoys ducks and an Army Major General My journey was kicked-started by a great, 91-years-young, retired Army Major General, Warren Magruder, an avid fishing and hunting enthusiast. When I say avid enthusiast, trust me, he is. As was covered by The Baltimore Sun back in July 2010, he caught a black drum fish in the Chesapeake Bay that was 50-inches long, 36-inches around, and weighing about 70 pounds. His pedigree is equally...

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Before crossing the Maryland line

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes – SBFL* 2 – PLANNED – My Slow Boat to Florida (SBFL) Intracoastal Waterway trip was inspired by National Geographic authors Dorothea and Stuart E. Jones. (See SBFL) In their 1958 National Geographic article, they describe how they sailed down the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis and stopped in Solomons, Maryland, and then crossed the state line over to Virginia. My second source of inspiration, Allan C. Fisher, covered a bit more territory above Solomons in the Chesapeake Bay in his 1973 book, America’s Inland Waterway, published also by National Geographic. While I intend to follow the path of both authors in this 2019 boating season, I also plan to do a...

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Pick your inspiration — 1902, 1958, 1960s, or 1999

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes – As they say, the horizon is not a boundary but an invitation for discovery. My blog, Trips of Discovery, is based on that invitation of the horizon, any horizon when I look into the distance. However, I never forget Dale Carnegie’s quote, “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.” Inspirations and discoveries are all around us and I do take advantage of that, every day, really. At the same time, I...

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The Bay, the eighth sea

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes – It is a late February Sunday afternoon in the Chesapeake Bay. A bright, sunny winter day started with cardinals singing outside our window. Now, the daylight is fading away with a wonderful sunset, preparing to proudly display its colors. Limitless shades of blue, pink, yellow, orange, and red streak across the evening sky. Soon, the surface of the water also reflects those beautiful, harmonious colors, saying goodby to the daylight and welcoming the night. The honking of a flock of geese flying by reminds me that even the night is alive in the Chesapeake Bay. There is something about wanting to take photos and freeze those special moments in...