Paintings and Pirates

Joan Steinman

Jul 1, 20242 min read

So far, our summer has been pretty low key and enjoyable with a notable accomplishment: Dave is officially a Captain - he completed the NauticEd Captain course!

We have been exploring the Hampton Roads area and going for day sails interspersed with boat projects. Dave is the actual boat project guy. My boat responsibilities revolve more around daily life things like feeding us and managing dog hair. July will bring longer boat journeys. The dog is still not a sailing fan; I'm thinking she will go on boat vacations to the dog sitter's fairly often.

I've been able to do some painting in an off-boat space here at the marina. It is great to leave my painting stuff set up. I love being able to take my time and not have to put everything away each time I paint.

Interesting fact: our current marina (Safe Harbor Bluewater) is located on Blackbeard's Point, where the head of the notorious pirate was hung from a pole to discourage other would-be pirates. To commemorate the connection with Blackbeard, and to have an excuse to drink rum while wearing fun costumes, Hampton holds a Pirate Festival each June. The festival features a pirate camp and sea battles. It is good fun.

I like this area. There are fireflies (magical) and dolphins (adorable). We have had some colorful sunsets, and interesting walks. While I do miss the smell of sage after a rain, the morning air here smells like perfume with a mix of floral scents: magnolia, lily, honeysuckle. The dog and I have our morning walk routine. We explore the neighborhood and usually meet up with a land neighbor and her two dogs. We are both getting a fair amount of social time as there are a number of dogs in this marina, several on our our dock. All us dog folks tend to wander our beasts at the same time in the evenings, so the dogs (and people) get a chance to visit. Even though she isn't a big fan of sailing, I think Sofie is finding the other components of boat life to be pretty darn cool. Lots of walks, adventures to new places, dog friends, and the occasional ice cream. On one of our walks, we found a little gnome village in the forest.

We recently went in to Norfolk to see glass blowing at the Chrysler Museum. We will definitely be making return trips! I love art museums. I find them inspiring.

I recently spent a week cat sitting in Baltimore while Camille was in Mexico. I like Baltimore. It is such an intriguing mix of gritty and artsy. I did a bit of wandering, and only got slightly lost once.