The Captain's Logs are below.

Read the Crew's Views from John, KC, and Caroline as they reflect on their experiences in Asia.

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As Pride II made her way down river, we passed a number of different types of tugs going about their business - sometimes alone, sometimes working. The skyline of Philadelphia glistened in the early morning sunlight.

As we passed the retired Navy Yard, we saw a World War II flattop, the Guadacanal. We also saw some modern Navy vessels.

Further down the river, we passed different kinds of liquid cargo vessels - oil barges with their tugs secure in "the notch" at the back; oil ships at the dock or at anchor.

There were "oil tank farms" on shore as well as other industry, like a ship building yard with all of its cranes, and a Boeing aircraft facility with several helicopters.

And, of course, power plants and factories from a mighty industrial era gone by.

We passed under a number of bridges too. The last was the Delaware Memorial Bridge, just below Wilmington, that serves road traffic between the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 95. As these views made abundantly clear, this part of Deleware Bay and River up to Philadelphia has been, and continues to be, a major industrial site for the mid-Atlantic region.

By about late afternoon, we reached a section of the river that was nearly 90 degrees to the wind direction from the southwest. This enabled us to make use of the wind, so sail was set and the new crew and the guest crew got a chance to feel and see Pride II sailing. At dusk, we took sail in and motored into the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal. We arrived at Chesapeake City, half way through the canal, at about 9 PM and secured to the dock at Schaefer's Canal House Restaurant, a well-known establishment. The purpose of this stop was to participate in a special lunch event being hosted by the Maryland Port Administration the next day.

The C&D Canal got it's start pretty early in American industrial history. A route for such a canal was suggested by Agustin Herman, Lord Baltimore's very own surveyor, as early in 1661. The first canal, one with locks, was actually opened between the two Bays in 1829. However, the canal did not become capable of handling seagoing vessels of size till early in the 20^th Century when it was taken over by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Since then, it has been enlarged repeatedly and now handles vessels with drafts greater than 30 feet that are up to 600 feet long. The importance of the canal is measured in terms of steaming time. Without the canal, ships transiting between northeast ports, such as New York and Philadelphia, and Baltimore have to go around the DelMarVa Peninsula. On the other hand, going through the canal saves a modern vessel about 30 hours of steaming time.

Friday's lunch event with the Maryland Port Administration was a special celebration of "Port of Baltimore Day." It was also intended to recognize the concerns and contributions of the people affected by the commercial marine traffic that passes through their part of Chesapeake Bay and C & D Canal. As modern times have proven for all commercial enterprises, the local citizenry are deeply concerned about how commerce affects the local environment as well as their own economic opportunities. In this case, as ships get bigger, the need for dredging the Canal and its approaches become topics of concern. Not to dredge means reduced traffic by commercial vessels, which probably means fewer jobs. Dredging, on the other hand, brings environmental concerns. Successful compromise seem to be achievable only if the two parties have good relationships with which to have courteous dialogue. It is the Maryland Port Administration's hope that by arranging for Pride II's visit and hosting the local citizens to a party in their honor, respectful relationships will be fostered on which to base future successful compromise solutions. My father often ended discussions involving the future with "which we hope is sure to come." I, too, hope the sunny day and Pride II's visit helped to establish a courteous relationships between everyone concerned about the future of the environment in the Canal area and the future of Maryland maritime commerce. I was glad that we could be a part of the proceedings.

Immediately after the luncheon in Chesapeake City, we got Pride II underway and motored down the Chesapeake to Annapolis. An event in Annapolis was on our schedule for Saturday morning. That meant we really had to push to get their on time. The event was the handing over of the Roger Taylor Naval Research Center to the local citizenry. Rushing down the Bay under power and against the wind meant we could be dockside by midnight and the crew could be rested for the Saturday show.

Dressing ship is a tradition reserved for special occasions. Dressing involves setting the alphabetic code flags in a special order end to end from bow to stern and over the highest portion of the vessel. For Pride II, this means stretching them from near the waterline at the bow, up to the end of the jibboom, to the top of the foretopmast, then across to the top of the maintopmast, then down to the end of the main boom, and finally down to the waterline aft. It takes two hours and a significant complement of crew to get this done. The crew successfully dressed ship in time for the 10 AM deadline. The ceremony also called for cannon shots as the facility's flag was lowered for the last time. The crew rigged the two portside cannons over to the starboard side. This gave us five cannons that could be shot in slow order as the flag was lowered. Everything went off as planned. We spend the rest of the afternoon welcoming visitors aboard.

After 4 PM, Pride II was shifted to the Annapolis Town Center Dock for the rest of the weekend. During the Sunday afternoon Open House, we welcomed over 2,000 visitors from Annapolis and environs aboard.

On Monday, September 27, we set sail for Baltimore for the first time since Pride II left home in the spring. Aboard for the sail were many members of our organization and some special guests. Sadly the day was gray and a bit wet from rain. But coming home is always special.

A cannon salute was given to Fort McHenry as we entered the north arm of the Patapsco River on our way past Fells Point and home of the original 1812 privateers that Pride II closely resembles. Many cannon shots marked our arrival in the Inner Harbor at 4 PM. What a pleasure it was to see the rebuilt Constellation back at her berth in the Inner Harbor! She looks grand and gives a certain maritime air to Baltimore nestled in close to the tall modern buildings in the background.

It is good to be home where Pride II is always safest.

I am off the ship now 'til November. Write to you then.

Cheers,
Captain Miles