Mike Pitchford

Sep 19, 2024 | proptalk.com | Mike Pitchford |Alan Shearer |Jim Kizziar

If you read PropTalk, you live, work, and play here. You know. The Chesapeake Bay is an awesome cruising ground. But sometimes you ‘cheat’ on the Bay. You charter in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) or maybe you cruise your boat to Long Island Sound. It’s okay. We all do it. The Bay is a very forgiving mistress. And so it was, this past July, that a fleet of 11 sturdy cruisers out of the Annapolis Yacht Club (AYC), headed north to explore the Hudson River and circumnavigate beautiful Lake Champlain.

Aug 21, 2024 | proptalk.com | Mike Pitchford

You can only imagine the lovely navigable creeks and forested lands of Hampton visited by Captain John Smith in the first decade of the 1600s. On several occasions, he and his crew reconnoitered what is now Hampton, before founding the city in 1610.

Jul 22, 2024 | proptalk.com | Mike Pitchford |Kevin Hoffman

Beer saved the world! At least that is the theme of the 2011 documentary, “How Beer Saved the World.” The documentary leads the viewer to an understanding that brewing beer saved early humans from drinking tainted water, and was behind the agricultural revolution, the birth of the factory, and the construction of the pyramids (as payment to the pyramid construction crew).

Jun 24, 2024 | spinsheet.com | Mike Pitchford

A loving restoration of a Day Sailer makes a returning sailor curious about racing. Years ago, suffering “sailing withdrawal," the author found a 1984 Day Sailer II with her original sails and generally in serviceable condition. Here is the story how that boat, many years later, was restored and renamed by the author, who is now curious about racing her in Annapolis. I am a sailor. Okay, yes, I own several powerboats. And yes, my biggest boat is a cruising powerboat.

Jan 21, 2024 | proptalk.com | Mike Pitchford

There is no way to sugarcoat this. It’s winter. It is in fact an El Niño winter. So, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Sorry to say we have a lot of winter and a cold wet spring yet to come. Brrr… Winter is a well-known “recurring” condition. Literally hundreds of your fellow Bay boaters have determined the cure for winter is spending time on their boat, a little farther south, for at least some of the coldest months. If you are among that group, congratulations.