Captain Michael Dodd was born in 1946 in the port city of Baltimore when it was a lovely southern town. His father, Bill Dodd, introduced him to boating at a young age. His father loved the water and would often take his family out for a week on the Chesapeake Bay on a 38 ft Chris Craft charter motorboat.

Michael’s father and his older brother would do the navigation and operate the vessel. According to Captain Dodd, “If I was good, I was permitted to steer the vessel under direct supervision. We slept on board nightly, under the silence of the clear Bay sky. This was before cell phones, even before TV, at least TV on a boat. Reading was encouraged.”

Those happy childhood memories were planted in his cerebrum and never left him. “When I completed my training as an ophthalmologist, I got back into boating part-time. During that period, I learned to sail and spent consecutive summers on week-long overnight trips with my wife, Maureen. Later, we enjoyed chartering powerboats with other couples and our children.”

By the time Captain Dodd was 60, he had accumulated many hours at the helm of various sail and power vessels and decided to test for a US Coast Guard Captain’s License. “I took an online course for 4 months and then a qualifying exam, which I succeeded in passing.” After a physical exam and laboratory tests, he was awarded a 50-ton Inland Waterway license with master’s addition. This allowed him to operate a vessel of up to 50 tons for commercial purposes. Captain Dodd has maintained his USCG Captain’s license. He now owns a 1984 classic 61-ft Hatteras Cockpit Motor Yacht that was designed by Jack Hargrave and constructed at the Hatteras plant in New Bern, NC. Captain Dodd and his wife Maureen can handle the vessel themselves and there is room for up to 4 overnight guests to join them on their excursions. It is this vessel, named Time Out, that we have used to explore the Bay for this trip.