With north winds of 8 to 18 knots most boats got an early start to enjoy a great sail down the bay to Broad Creek on the Magothy River. One gybe was all it took to take Annalee from Middle River to Broad Creek.

The early morning sail was briefly interrupted by a squawk on the radio to the raft captain. It was Narsilion of the FSC Black Watch wondering if we wouldn'tconsider moving the destination to Bodkin Creek since he had anchored with two other boats there the night before. The Wine Tasting raft captain took quick and decisive action to assure all that the destination remained unchanged. There was no good reason to cut one of the best sails short, and any real sailors should have weighed anchor by now and joined the rest of us out on the bay. There will be plenty of time to be anchored soon enough; Winter is coming. This turned out to be good fortune since the Bodkin Creek was clearly cursed. Silent Running departed immediately to join the fleet but did not escape the curse completely and had to limp home with engine trouble. JoLinDy spent all day trying to correct an electrical problem and Narsilion felt obliged to remain as anchor boat until it was too late to catch up to the fleet.

Despite the near miss with bad luck the fleet pressed on and by 1600 hours there were 14 boats in the creek and Silent Running had arrived by car to be picked up by Dinghy. Annalee kicked off the proceedings by welcoming Mel and Karen (Four Winds) to their first raft up and proposing a toast of Cava sparkling wine from Spain paired with smoked salmon on romaine. Tenacity went second with a bottle of champagne to celebrate their 28th anniversary and a food pairing of wedding cake (petit fours). Everyone took turns and we moved from light wines to heavier wines. Andiamo paired their wine with a toast point covered with a flavorful fig preserve. In the middle of the festivities the host knocked a partial bottle of wine from the cockpit table which broke and splashed wine all over the cockpit. This put the guests at ease and everyone seemed much more relaxed afterwards. We ended the formal tasting with Treasure Hunter who introduced a wine called "Sexual Chocolate" paired with fudge. Dale's salacious description could have made a dwarf in a brothel blush and the wine did not disappoint.

There were too many great wines and food pairings to list them all, and too few brain cells left to remember half. The party went on and eventually we came upon Tir Na Nog's opened but as yet unconsumed bottle of "Invetro", a wonderful blended red unique for its glass cork. The fact that the crew of Tir Na Nog had departed early did not deter the remaining wine enthusiasts from devouring the wine. The next morning looked like a scene from "The Red Wedding" with red wine stains over most of the foredeck. The captain made short work of dabbing it all clean with some bleach before most people pulled their head from their pillows and all was well. An uneventful trip soon saw everyone back at their home port and ready to do it all over again.

In Attendance:
Annalee
Andiamo.................BEST APPETIZER
Champagne
Contigo
Elsie's Phantasie
Four Winds
Pain Killer
Pisano
R&R
Schatzi
Silent Running
Tenacity.......................BEST PAIRING
Tir Na Nog
Treasure Hunter...........BEST WINE INTRODUCTION
Wanderin Currents
WindSprint

"Everythings better with some wine in the belly." - Tyrion

Chris
S/V Annalee