Call the Docker

 A sure sign of spring, from the vantage point of our upper deck, is the arrival of the first fishing boat of the season. It has come for repair work at the boat works across the river from us. It is always a delight to our eyes to watch the vessel nestle up and into the cradle that will raise it slowly to its perch on land. Then, several days later, sometimes longer, it will be lowered, repaired and often repainted, into the water again. And we’ll watch it disappear slowly down the river and into the Annapolis Basin. Sometimes, this is as another boat is approaching the wharf, awaiting its turn at the "spa". We never tire of being a witness to this ritual.