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Just two days ago, we held the Memorial Service in honor of the 15^th anniversary of the loss of the original Pride of Baltimore. Pride II would have been there had it not been for an accident in the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal in which a tug sank with the apparent loss of one of it's crew. Since that accident, the C&D Canal was closed to all but recreational traffic. For vessels wanting to go to Philadelphia from Baltimore that are too big to pass through the canal till the salvage experts can raise the sunken tug, it means waiting till the clearing operations are completed in a week's time – or heading south down the Chesapeake Bay and around the Delmarva Peninsula. Pride II was deemed by the Coast Guard as too big to pass through the canal and it is an extra 400 miles the long way round. Consequently the ship departed Baltimore on Saturday, May 12, and had to forgo the Memorial Service on May 14.

This was unfortunate because, for the first time in fifteen years, two of the eight survivors who have not been able to attend a previous Memorial Service were in attendance. Sugar and Leslie Flannagan sailed into Baltimore aboard their 65-foot schooner Alcyone along with their two daughters and a number of friends.

Sugar and I sailed together aboard the first Pride back in 1981-82. He later sailed aboard her again with Captain Armin Elsaesser in 1982-83 where he met Leslie. They both returned to Pride again in 1986 for the fateful homeward voyage from Europe back to Baltimore.

During the height of the accident that sank the first Pride, Leslie told Sugar that they should get married if they survived. They did, and they did.

It feels like only a little while ago that we were sailing together aboard the old Pride. Now look at us. Leslie and Sugar are a family on a voyage to Europe carrying paying passengers from Port Townsend in Washington State. I am master of Pride of Baltimore II - a vessel that would probably not have been built except for the loss of the first Pride. For me, it's another example of how we merely pass through life rather than controling it.

We had a good sail to Philadelphia. It started as Pride II sailed out of the Inner Harbor to escort Alcyone into Baltimore. We met them east of Fort McHenry and set sail in a westerly breeze. She had sailed up from Annapolis. The two vessels sailed in tandem most of the way into the Inner Harbor. Tack for tack the two schooners worked their way up the North Branch of the Patapsco River.

On each tack, Alcyone came about quicker and accelerated faster. Eventually she led Pride II by about five boat lengths when the edge of a light rainsquall caught both vessels with some blustery wind and sail was taken in. Pride II anchored down near Domino Sugar and where she spends winters while Alcyone tied up and got ready for a party with old friends.

While Pride II's crew stowed sail, I spoke with the Coast Guard (USCG) about the situation in the C&D Canal. Despite my efforts to convince them Pride II was in fact pretty small, they felt she was too big to be let through. I then consulted with the Executive Director of Pride, Inc., Dale Hilliard, about our dilemma - remain in Baltimore for the Memorial Service or be in Philadelphia on time? He regrettably told me it was more important that the ship be in Philadelphia on time. I told him we could make it if we left that evening. He said, "What ever you think is best, Jan." I estimated we had an hour and a half for visiting the Flannagans. So Pride II 's crew and I had a short visit, and then we hauled back the ship's anchor and sailed away down the Bay. Fortunately, the wind was out of the north so the sail to the Atlantic was easy and reasonably fast.

We arrived in the Atlantic at 1400 hours Sunday, May 13, and then, with all plain sail set and trimmed for sailing to windward, we slid up the southeast coast of the DelMarVa Peninsula. By 0200 on Monday, we were just south of Ocean City when the wind veered toward the northeast which forced us to sail east. But not for long. We still had 124 miles to go northward to be in Philadelphia by late Tuesday morning. So at breakfast time, we took all sail and motored on to Philly via the Delaware Bay and River arriving at 0400. On time and ready to fulfill Pride II 's mission. We were very sorry to have missed the 15^th Memorial Service with old shipmates.

Cheers,

Captain Jan C. Miles