Worton Creek to Cabin John Creek, July 29, 2011

We awoke at about 5:30 after a restful night on Worton creek.  A breakfast of Sausage and eggs with a blob blueberry muffin and apple juice got us off to a great start.  We cleaned up the boat and pulled the anchor and motored over to where Rolph and Robyn were moored and said our “so longs.”  Robyn had evidently been taking pictures of Panache and us and yelled that she would be sending them via email. 

We motored out of our little cove and directly to the Green Point Landing Marina where we were assisted in our landing by a young fellow who had been working on his really beautiful 36 foot boat.  Once tied up, he and I struck up a conversation about his beautiful boat and what he was doing.  He and his girl friend who was originally married to the original owner of the boat had bought to previous guy’s interest in the boat and were hanging around the Chesapeake in a situation that appeared that they were working to earn more money to continue cruising.  We spent time talking about his boat and their activities in the Bay.

We bought Ice at the marina and I jumped on their WiFi to send out yesterday’s blog.  On the dock outside of the office where I was connected, a group of old guys were sitting telling lies.  The main attraction for me, however, was a large black lab that had his own special stick.  Someone would throw the stick out into the water.  The dog would run at top speed in a somewhat complicated path to the end of a finger dock and fly off into the water.  He would swim to his stick, retrieve it and then swim over to a launch ramp, run up out of the water and back onto the dock.  He would drop his stick at the feet of one of the guys then stand back and nervously watch in eager anticipation for the next fling.  If he got no response in about 10 seconds, he would pick it up and drop it then again concentrate on the potential flinger.  After several of these cycles which produced no results, he would take his stick to another of the dock philosophers.  Finally, someone would sent the stick back into the water and the process would start again. 

We motored out of Worton Creek and once on the main part of the Bay, we plugged a course that would take us to Cabin John into the GPS.  Creek Cabin John Creek, which is directly across the Chesapeake – Deleware Canal (Elk River) from where we will be pulling the boat out of the water tomorrow. Once we were finished dodging the crap pot buoys, we unfurled the sails and tapped the following wind to carry us up the Bay.  The wind was light and we were traveling around 2 mph.  Our GPS estimated the time of our arrival at Cabin John would be about 1:00 am tomorrow if we continued at the same speed during the entire trip.  It was another of the “Heat Advisory Days” that was supposed to reach 105 on the heat index scale so we thought that as the day progressed and we would start the motor to provide us with a bit of a breeze.  As it turned out, the wind did pick up a bit and we actually got to our anchorage at about 5:00.  It was hot but we drank a bunch of water and enjoyed the opportunity to be sailing. 

Whole in Baltimore, we had bought a “book on CD” by John Grisham and helped pass the time of day in the heat by listening to the first portion of that.  We knew we would not finish it but we had plenty of time to get through to the end on our trip back to Ohio in the truck.

Cabin John Creek is a medium sized cove that is fairly well protected on three sides.  It open to the C-D Canal to the northwest and has a fetch of about 2 miles.  A wind blowing over 2 miles of open water can kick up some fairly significant waves, however, since during the early part of the evening, the winds were from the south and dying, we assumed that this would be a good anchorage.  It is a shallow cove so we pulled up our centerboard and cruised into about 4 feet of water.  The tide was at low tide so we were in as shallow of water as we would see.  We set our anchor and began taking the boat apart in preparation for the haul-out tomorrow.  We removed the sails, all of the lines and set up the genpole tht is used to lower the mast.  We had planned to lower the mast while in the however, it really clutters up the boat when down so we decided to drop it in the morning. 

We fixed our last evening meal on the boat.  It consisted of a Killians predinner beverage, chicken Alfredo and Bob Evans Sausage patties.  We had an apple dessert cup to wind this fine meal up.  We turned on the weather radio for our overnight forecast and found that there were thunderstorm warnings around us and the southerly winds would be changing to northwest later in the evening.  As we were sitting and relaxing after dinner, we watch dark clouds pass over head, the wind swung around to the northwest and began to blow more strongly.  I took my handheld compass and took a sighting on a tree on shore.  That would be my benchmark.  Later sightings, if they were different, would indicate that we were dragging anchor.  I also set the Dragging Anchor Alarm on the GPS.   The winds continued to build as the storm clouds passed over us.  The waves caused the boat to buck; however, my observations of the tree on shore indicated that the anchor was holding.  We decided to put out a second anchor as a safety precaution so we started the motor, moved upwind, and dropped in the backup anchor.  It quickly grabbed and tied it off giving us to well set anchors and security for the nights rest.

We had been sweaty all day and felt that a freshwater shower was a must!  All along the trip, I have refused to use our freshwater from our water tank for showers.  However, since this was our last night, I filled the Sun Shower Bag full.  We waited until it was fully dark, and wandered onto the cabin  roof for a wonderful freshwater shower.  It really was delightful.  We dried off, listened to a bit more Grisham and were in bed by about 10:00. 

Cabin John Creek to Elk Neck State Park  July 30, 2011

It was a restless nights sleep.  The wind continued to blow through most of the night and the waves kept the boat bucking and swinging from side to side all night.  Really, this is the first time on this trip that we have had a bumpy night sleep.  We got up at about 5:45 and fixed coffee and prepared our last breakfast food.  We had one package of blueberry muffin mix, a few fresh berries, one egg, two sausage patties, and two patties of SPAM.  The plan was to make the blob muffin, fry the sausage, fry the egg (for Janine) and fry the SPAM for me.  As I was getting out the ingredients from the cooler, I lightly stepped on the egg!  I checked it and the only damage was a crack in one end of it but the contents were still all intact.  I prepared all of the rest of the meal and when it came time to cook the last egg, I hit it on the water spicket over the sink as I was swinging around to get to the stove.  It exploded in my hand and dropped into the sink and disappeared down the drain.  I offered Janine one of my two patties of SPAM, however, she respectfully declined my generous offer.  Go Figure!

We worked around the boat finishing up preparations for loading and headed for the Elk Neck State Park launch ramp at about 8:30.  Bob, Janine’s brother is to be there between 9:30 and 10:00.

Rock Hall to Tim’s Creek off Worton Creek July 28, 2011

We were up early this morning.  It promises to be a hot day.  Our goal for the day is to cross the Bay to Hart Miller Island and meet Stuart Harshberger.  He plans to sail out of Middle River and we will meet somewhere in the bay.  Breakfast this morning was back to my old favorite Sausage Gravy and Biscuits and V-8 juice.  We took some time to tidy up the boat.  The fore deck was really muddy after the fiasco of the previous anchor dragging incident and so I bucketed Bay water onto the deck and scrubbed with a stiff brush.  It sort of put one to mind of holystoning the decks of olden days.  We said our goodbyes to Sherry of the other Panache and pulled out at about 8:30. 

The first couple of miles out of Rock Hall is all shallow so we picked our way through the crab buoys and shallow spots until we got into the main channel of the Bay.  I then set a course directly to the “Cut” around the south side of Hart Miller Island.  For about the first ½ of the trip, there was little wind so we motored.  However, the last half provided us with enough breeze to unfurl the sails and coast along downwind at about 3.5 to 4 mph. 

While traveling up the bay, we encountered a tug boat pushing a barge of some sort and our AIS system alerted us that we were on a collision course.  The AIS is neat in that it alerts you and then provides a number of pieces of data about the other vessel including name, call sign, speed over ground, point of collision, type of vessel and so forth.  I used that info to call him on the radio and he responded.  I told him that I was the little sail boat on his port side and that I would alter course to get out of his way.  He responded his appreciation and wished us a good day sailing.

As we moved across the Bay, Stuart and I communicated back and forth and decided to meet on the back side of Hart Miller Island and to drop anchor off of a sandy beach and dingy in for a picnic lunch.  We had been warned by Stuart and Bill of the other Panache that the Cut was extremely shallow and we might drag even in the center of the channel.  In preparation for that, we raised our center board up about half way and furled our jib.  That reduced the power that we had pushing us through and if we did run aground, it would be easier to work with the boat with one less sail.  The sail through the cut was, however, was uneventful.  We had plenty of wind and sailing on the main only we still moved through at about 4 mph. 

Once on the back side of the Island, we found Stuart and we sailed side by side to the far end where we found a long sandy beach with gently sloping depth leading up to it.  We dropped the sails and motored into about 4 feet of water – about 100 yards from shore--and dropped anchor.  Stuart did the same.  We rigged Damn Dink, put our typical lunch fixings in a bag, putted over to Stuart’s boat and loaded him in.  Three adults in the Dink is a load, but he handled it admirably.  We got to the beach with out incident. We had a nice gathering.  Stuart gave us a bottle of local blush wine which we luckily had no way to get into.  We appreciated the gift and vowed to save it for a special occasion.  We probably spent an hour on the beach.  Back in Dink, we traveled back to the boats, said our goodbyes and head out.

On our way over to Hart Miller Island, we discussed our activities for the next several days.  We had made arrangements with Janine’s brother, Bob, to pick us up at Elk Neck fairly early on Saturday morning and some quick calculations indicated that would be a pretty long run to be made in one day if we stayed on Hart Miller Island.  So, we decided to continue our travels on back across the bay heading in a basically north easterly direction.  If we could knock off another 15 or 20 miles, the last part of the trip would be more doable.  Also we would have more time and leeway if the weather decided not to cooperate.

Old Lighthouse in St. Michaels Maritime Museum

The wind had continued to build a bit and it looked like it would be a great sail back across.  So, while still anchored, we raised the main sail, pulled up the anchor and sailed away.  (That is one of those neat things that you sometimes get the opportunity to do when there is a lot of room and no boats close.)  We unfurled the jib and headed out, rounding the north end of Hart Miller Island and set a northeasterly course for Worton Creek on the eastern shore.  Our course took us past the Aberdeen Proving Grounds where the army does testing and training of munitions.  We have heard the booming of these tests as we traverse the north end of the bay.  Our sail across the bay was really great.  We flew our sails fully unfurled and made really good time.  We arrived in the area of Worton Creek at about 5:00.  As we headed into the creek, the wind fell off and we cruised slowly through what seemed to be a maze of crab pot buoys.  We were weaving around trying to avoid them when we snagged the line of one with, I assume, our centerboard.  The buoy disappeared and didn’t come back up.  We continued to sail but not well and the boat would not respond to the tiller.  We were obviously dragging the line with us.  I raised the motor, nothing.  I then raised the centerboard and finally we saw the buoy pop up behind us.  I felt badly that I had drug the line a half a mile away from where he set it. 

The cruising guide suggested a really nice anchorage inside of Worton Creek up a small tributary called Tim’s Creek.  The guide suggested that the approach would be difficult but the end would justify the effort .  We made it although we drug bottom at one point.  (We were entering at low tide.)  The anchorage was in a small circular area behind a sandy hook.  We got there and there was another boat anchored right on the beach so we dropped our anchor in the middle of the cove. 

We wrapped up the boat and set to dine starting with smoked oysters on crackers, Rex Goliath Giant 47 Pound Rooster merlot, chipped beef and gravy on bread.  Ah, what a feast.  After dinner, we were hot and sweaty so we decided to take the Dink over to the end of the sand spit and cool off in the water.  Once on the beach and in the water, the lady of the boat offered conversation which ended with us enjoying a glass of wine and great conversation on the back deck of their fine boat.  Robyn and Rolph were pleasant, gracious hosts.  We probably spent an hour together.  I didn’t get the particulars but I would say their boat was about 32 feet in length and very comfortably appointed with many extras that they had added over the years. 

As darkness began to arrive, we noticed lightning off to the west so we said our goodbyes and headed back to Panache.  The time was about 9:00 when bed time arrived.

One of thousands of nice boats seen on the trip

Chestertown Anchorage at dusk

Swan Creek to Rock Hall July 27, 2011

We finally awoke and we’re happy to announce that the boat is in the same location as it was when we finally got to sleep the second time.  The boat was a mess.  Ropes, mud and stuff scattered around.  We cleared out the mess to the point that we could get a pot of coffee going and start breakfast.  The menu  was bacon, eggs, blob strawberry muffins enhanced with fresh blueberries and apple juice. 

After breakfast we began the task of cleaning up the boat and getting ready for the day.  We planned to go to Rock Hall which is really only about a mile away from where we were anchored.  Stuart Harsberger had mentioned that they have there a unique marine railway that some guy built to move boats around his boat yard and it sounded like something that I would be interested in.  They also have a couple of museums that we may be able to take in.

Under way at about 9:00, we left our windy anchorage heading for the open water of the main bay.  I assumed that with the wind blowing down our creek, we would encounter rough seas in the open bay.  That was amazingly not the case.  As we left the river, the wind was still following us but it was quite light and so I unfurled the jib and sailed Panache as a cat boat all the way to rock hall.  By water the trip was maybe 2 miles.

Two Panaches side by side

Upon entering the breakwater in which the marina is located, I called the marina to request dockage.  When doing so, you give them, on the initial call, your boat name and intentions.  The guy at the marina paused for a moment and said, “Uh, aren’t you already moored at the end of A dock?”  I said, “Uh, No.  We were here a couple of weeks ago.”  He then enquired as to the type of vessel we were and in informed him that we were a 26 foot sailboat and he came back with a dockage assignment of A-22.  I thanked him and headed for our spot.  As we approached and turned in, the boat at the end of the dock was a large 35 foot motor cruiser and we realized that her name, painted boldly on her stern was “Panache” and hence the confusion.  As we passed the, we commented to the woman sitting of the aft deck that they had made a wise choice in name selection for their boat. 

We tied up and had a good laugh with the dock manager when we discussed the coincidence of two boats with unique names sitting next to each other in their dock.  Back at the boat, we took over some of the cups with the Panache name on them that we had picked up in Chestertown.  We struck up a conversation and spent considerable time talking about all types of things boating.

From there, we walked to the Rock Hall Railway Marina which according to the dock master where we were staying, is the oldest business in the area.  He mentioned that they are now in the 3^rd generation of family that started the business.  We entered the office/marine supply store and approached the owner who was a quiet soft spoken unassuming man of few words and told him that we had heard about unique set up and would like to see it.  He said, “You can look around. It’s out back.”   Basically, it was a systems of railways that lead from the water back into the middle of two rows of boat storage and repair buildings there were probably 12 or 14 or so individual buildings in two rows each with a set of rails coming out of them.  Down the middle between the two rows of buildings was a single track that was perpendicular to the one that came out of the water.  On that center track was a carriage that that rolled back in from the main track to all of the tracks coming out of the buildings.  This thing was old, but according to the man in the office, it all still worked.  The whole system was driven by electric motors.  They would pull a boat out of the water on a cradle, roll it to the carriage on the middle track then that carriage would move the boat and its original carriage to a set of rails going into a building.  When the tracks lined up, they would roll the boat into the building. 

We walked to town and had lunch at the Java Rock Coffee Shop again.  I had the roast beef Panini bread special sandwich and Janine had a ham and cheese Panini bread sandwich.  They do some special things the make these sandwiches really good.  From there we went to Durding’s Store.  It is a restored soda fountain shop that has worked had to relive the era of the soda jerk.  We both had a dip of butter pecan ice cream.  They had a the two soda fountain spickets – one for water and one for carbonated water with which they still make ice cream sodas.

Next we traveled to the local grocery.  We have finally run out of fresh meats so we decided to pick up enough for a couple more meals.  The only meat that really appealed to me was in the form of precut paddies of Bob Evans Sausage.  I have found two more packages of gravy mix so I thought I would treat my loving wife to two more days of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits.

The museums were closed – only open on weekends – so we went back to the boat, got on our swim suits and headed for their wonderful pool.  We took along our books and spent the remainder of the afternoon reading, cooling down in the pool and having a shower!

We ran into the folks from the other Panache and asked if they would be interested in going out somewhere to dinner and they said that the Bay Wolf restaurant was coming to pick them up at 6:30 and they would enjoy our company.  We agreed, put on our most unwrinkled duds and rode to the Bay Wolf for a wonderful meal.  I had Crab Imperial with a twice baked potato and green beans and carrots.  Janine had salmon with rice and the beans and carrots.  The Imperial was truly outstanding.  It is wonderful way to prepare crab. 

Back at the boat, our new found friends, Bill and Sherry invited us to join them on their boat for some fresh strawberry shortcake.  I must stop accepting invitations like this.  Janine sees how other folks live on these big luxurious boats and I am not sure where that will lead.  Their boat was truly nice.  But I saw one real draw back.  At his cruising speed, he burns 35 gallons of fuel per hour.  He has two 100 gallon fuel tanks that he can burn out in about 5 hours.  Fuel on the water is $4.00 plus per gallon so he can go through over $800.00 worth of fuel a day.  YAH! We had a wonderful time talking about boating and telling tales.  We said our farewells and headed back to our Panache and bed at about 9:30.  It was a relaxing day.

Abnchorage at Leeds Creek - the best!

Sunset on Swan Creek before the anchor drag

Drawbridge at Kent Narrows

Leeds Creek to Swan Creek July 26, 2011

It was a Great Day!  We both slept well, the cave was comfortable and the waters were calm so it was a truly good night.  We both got up at about 6:30 and while I was cooking the blog enhanced blueberry muffins, I took a dip in our gorgeous little cove.  We both agree that this was the most beautiful place we have stayed to date.  It was small and complete surrounded on three sides with loblolly pines.  My dip was a suited one because of the other boat that was sharing the cove but it felt good to get the perspiration salt replaced with Chesapeake Bay salt!  Back on the boat, I finished our menu out with an egg each and a slice of bacon.  For a bit of variety, we had apple juice for our daily juice.  (I am not sure why we drink juice every morning on the boat; we don’t do that at home!) 

We raised the anchor without incident at about 8:30 and headed out into Leeds Creek.  As we were motoring down, I noticed a commotion in the water about 15 yards or so from the boat.  I realized that there were three dorsal fins of sharks circling doing something.  I was surprised to see them but I had heard that they were in the bay.  I have no idea as to their size or their type.  A bit further down the creek we came across a tall dead tree with a huge nest perched on top.  Next to the nest was a bald eagle.  We could also see activity in the nest but could not make out who the residents were.

About a quarter of a mile further down the stream, there was a cove along the shore of which a castle had been built.  The cruising guide mentions that rumor had it that a member of the Winchester family had built it.  It was said that he was afraid of being assassinated so he built in secret passages and safe locations.  It was behind trees and impossible to get a good photograph. 

Out in the Miles River, we started north and with a nice northerly breeze, we put up the sails and began tacking on our way to the Kent Narrows.  We had a vigorous sail for about two hours when the wind finally died.  We motored on to the narrows.  As we pulled into the narrows, the current pulling us towards the bridge was quite strong and required that we pay close attention to stay away.  This is also the location where we bought the fabulous crab cakes that we had on the boat earlier on the trip.  We motored up to the dock of the Fisherman’s Crab Dock Market and I ran in and bought three of their fresh made cakes.  Unlike the majority of those that I have had in Ohio, these are 90% meat and 10% dressing.  I ran back to the boat, pushed off and got to the draw bridge just in time for the 2:00 opening.

After passing through the bridge, we moved out into the Chester River headed for the village of Gratitude.  There was a bit of wind so we raised our sails and began a nice downwind ride.  After about 30 minutes, the wind again died so down with the sails.  The weather was warm, the humidity was low and the sky was a dark blue.  It was truly the most pleasant day we had experienced weatherwise.  An hour or so after we dropped our sails, the wind reappeared so we again rigged for sailing.  This time, we were able to sail all the way to our destination; including up to dropping our anchor.  The town of Gratitude is the upscale neighbor of Rock Hall, according to the cruising guide. We bypassed the marinas and moved on up Swan Creek where we joined 7 other boats for the night.  We were in a wide open river with what seemed to be good holding ground for our anchor. 

We both donned our bathing suits and went over the side for a cool off.  Back on the boat, we prepared the crab cakes and accompanied them with Alfredo pasta and Killians.  We waited until just before bed time to have our apple caramel cake smeared with cream cheese icing.  We lazyed around until about 9:30 before retiring.  We had set the Wind Scoop upon our arrival but considered it cool enough that we wouldn’t need it through the night.  There was a nice southerly breeze blowing with a forecast of 5 to 10 knot breezes from that direction until midnight then shifting to northerly winds with no speed indicated.  The breeze was strong enough that we set our “dragging anchor” alarm on our GPS and monitored our movements for about 3 hours. To save the batteries, I shut it off before we went to bed.  All was well, cool in the cave, good night’s sleep.

At about 2:30 I awoke to the sound of a halyard (rope) slapping against the mast and the movement of the boat indicated that the wind had increased.  I normally would leave the slapping halyard alone but for some reason, I got up and went up to secure it.  On the deck, I noticed that the wind had indeed shifted to the north and was blowing quite stiffly.  I finished securing the halyard and was looking around when I noticed the boat swing an abnormal amount to port and the dinghy hit Panache’s side.  It appeared that we were dragging anchor down the river.  I checked the boats around us and none appeared to be in our path but we were definitely moving fairly rapidly.  I turned on the GPS and saw that we had already moved well over 300 feet.  Luckily, there was about a half mile of river between us and the first things that we could hit – probably 150 $200,000.00 boats in the marina that we had passed coming in.  I quickly got out our second anchor and dropped it over the side.  As we moved back I allowed the rode to play out.  When I got about 30 feet of rode out, I felt the anchor take hold.  I allowed another 35 feet of anchor rode to play out before I secured it to the front of the boat.  (When anchoring, the more anchor rode you have out, the higher the probability of a secure anchor hold. The original anchor I had out about 30 feet.)  I then tried to pull the bigger first anchor in and it came to the boat with all but no resistance at all.  It was not set.  I checked to see if it was somehow fouled but it didn’t appear to be so.  We spent the next 45 minutes sitting looking at the GPS and listening for the dragging anchor alarm.  It was not dragging so we went back to bed.  As you might imagine sleep did not come easily.  But, it did finally happen albeit a fitful sleep.

Sawmill Cove to Leeds Creek July 25,2011

Sawmill Cove to Leeds Creek  July 25,2011

Our overnight was a nice relief from the hot ones that we have experienced for the past week or so.  I slept really well until something woke me at about 3:00.  As I became aware, I realized that there was a tremendous amount of lightning and thunder popping all around us and our hatches were wide open.  The one above our head had the wind scoop flying above it and had it started to rain, we would have had wet heads.  I hurriedly went out onto the foredeck and took down the scoop.  It was an interesting experience to go out on the deck in all of that lightning in the pitch black dark on the rocking boat.  I didn’t tarry.  Back in bed, I lay awake for about an hour waiting for the storm to hit.  The wind was blowing from the southeast and that was the only direction from which we did not have protection of a land mass.  We seemed to have a good holding anchor.  The rains never came.  Our boat is getting filthy and a good soaker would do good things for her appearance. 

Breakfast was again eggs and bacon with a strawberry blob muffin enhanced with fresh blueberries.  V-8  and coffee provided our fluid intake.  Life is good.

We were unusually efficient in our preparations to travel this morning, we were ready to move out at 8:30.  I got the motor running.  It is a bit cantankerous when cold.  It usually runs very well for about a minute then slowly begins to die.  If you are sitting with her, you can work the throttle and keep her running.  I did all of that and she was ready for the day.  Our usual procedure when there is a bit of wind is: Janine stands by the tiller and motor as I pull the anchor rode and move the boat to just above the anchor.  When I break the anchor loose, I signal Janine to put the motor in gear and move forward as I wash the mud off of the anchor.  This morning, just as I had broken the anchor loose, the motor decided to die. I dropped the anchor back into the water and waited while Janine unsuccessfully tried to start the motor.  I went back and tried my magic also to no avail.  I check the large fuel tank and it had run dry.  I switched to the reserve tank and sure enough, she was willing to run again.  I went back to the bow and began pulling the boat back to the anchor.  Again, as I raised the anchor and signaled for forward progress, the motor died violently.  While we were switching tanks, the boat had drifted back to the Dink and her tow rope contacted the propeller and when Janine put it in gear, it wound very tightly and choked the motor.  Luckily, I could raise the motor and see the problem and would not have to work on it with the prop under water.  Luckily, it the motor only made about 2 revolutions before dying so the tangle was fairly manageable.  Back onboard Panache, Dink tied up close with all tow ropes out of the water, I went forward and pulled the boat back up to the anchor – again!  When I raised the anchor this time, Janine put the boat in gear, we began to move forward.  

We motored back across the Tred Avon River heading for Campbell’s Boat Yard for more ice, 5 gallons of fuel and an internet connection.  The folks there are really nice.  This time, the lady offered me a desk at which I could work and a muffin. 

The weather forecast for the day has a 50% chance of thunderstorms so we made haste heading north for St. Michaels.  I wanted to spend some time in their Maritime Museum and it the tributaries of the Miles River on which St. Michaels sits offer good anchorages with good storm protection.  As we headed north we were followed by a southerly breeze that was blowing at about the speed we were traveling so it offered no relief from the heat.  The Passage back through the drawbridge at Knapps Narrows was uneventful as was the trip on to the tip of Tilghman Point, place in Eastern Bay where we enter the Miles River.  As we rounded the point, the wind began to increase and since we were now heading south, it impacted our forward progress. 

The weather radio came on and provided an alert of a storm passing north of us.  I opened the radar app on my phone and noticed a huge storm that ran most of the way from Baltimore to New York City with a small tail heading for our location.  We were about an hour out from St. Michaels, the skies were getting dark and the bay was getting rough.

We made the harbor of St. Michaels, motored around to the back of the museum and dropped our anchor.  We crawled into Dink and headed for the dinghy dock at the entrance to the museum.  The time was 3:00, the museum closed at 6:00 so we had time to at least visit all of the display locations that are spread out over  about 15 acres.  I could spend a number of blog pages describing all of the things that we saw and learned.  I highly recommend a visit to this one if you are ever in the area.  By the way, about half way through our tour, it began to rain.  It felt soooooo good to get wet with unsalty water that neither of us worried about the fact that we were getting soaked. 

At 6:00 we left the museum and went to the Crab Claw restaurant which is located next to the museum on wharf.  I again had all you could eat crabs.  I really like them and I enjoy the leisurely way that you meal progresses as you eat your way through the pile of crabs.  I ate a dozen this time.  It still too over 2 hours to get through them.  Janine had a crab cake and baked potato.  She was impressed that it was all meat and little dressing. 

From the Crab Claw, we got back into Dink and took a bumpy ride back to Panache.  The wind was blowing directly into the harbor so the Dink had to claw her way through the waves.  She handled that task well.  Back on board, we pulled the anchor and headed across the Miles River into the beautiful Leeds Creek.  The homes, like we were getting use to seeing, were fabulous.  About a mile upstream, we pulled into a little cove that was highly recommended by the cruising guide as very beautiful and good protection.  This little unnamed nook is undoubtedly the most beautiful place in which we have dropped anchor with lots of loblolly pine, egrets, and other water birds.  There was another boat already located in the mouth of the cove so we motored on past and dropped our anchor about 200 feet behind him.  As we passed, the young man in the cockpit hailed us and after we dropped anchor, enjoyed a long conversation.   He and his buddy were sailing his buddy’s father’s boat for several days out of Annapolis.

We treated ourselves to a piece of apple caramel cake with slathered cream cheese icing before reading and falling asleep at about 9:30.  A cool night – should be good sleeping.   

Sawmill Cove to Plaindealing Creek July 24, 2011

We awoke after a much better night’s sleep than the previous one.  Janine opted to sleep on the pilot birth in the salon which allowed more air to flow over her and I used the fan in the cave again.  We were both up at about 5:30.

Breakfast was again special with the added fresh blueberries to the blob blueberry muffins.  They joined thick cut pepper bacon and fresh Maryland eggs washed down with V-8 juice.  The only thing that could be better would be Sausage Gravy and Biscuits, but I assume my partner would not feel the same.  She is a good sport.

We tidied up the boat and got under way at about 8:30 heading out into the Choptank River under motor.  Upon entering the river, we were greeted with a nice northerly wind and since we were heading south towards the town of Cambridge.  We had a nice run for about 2 hours.  As we traveled, Janine reviewed our resources and found that there was not much to draw us into the town of Cambridge so we turned around and began beating up wind towards the town of Oxford.  So far on this trip, I have always come up with an excuse why we didn’t want to beat (sail up wind) but today, I decided it was time to get back to basics and sail the way I used to when I didn’t have a motor to rely on.  The wind was stiff and after burying the starboard rail in the water a couple of times (that’s healing pretty far over) I decided to reduce the size of the jib.  The boat continued to work well and we tacked back and forth up wind for three or four hours until we arrived at the town of Oxford. 

During the trip, Janine prepared a fine luncheon of Spam with Horsey sauce on a wheat bun, chex-mix, and a pudding cup for me and a PBJ, a cup of yogurt for her.  We do eat well!

After dropping the sails and starting the motor, we headed for some place where we could buy ice and possibly get on the internet to make another posting on the blog.  The marina we chose was Campbell’s Boat Yard.  We tied up at the gas pumps and were greeted by a friendly young lady who offered that we could come into her office and use their wireless internet connection, drink her cold water and enjoy her air conditioning.  It was another really hot one, however as were sailing up wind, the breeze kept the sting of the heat at bay.  When we stopped, it really hit.  The young lady is a senior at Tulane University and comes home to the Eastern Shore for the summer.  I soaked up as much of the AC as I could and drank as much of her cold water as I could hold before I went back into the intense heat.  It seems that there are no good places to tie up while you go into their town and since the weather appeared to be threatening, we decided forgo visiting the town of Oxford and try to locate a mooring spot fairly close to where we were.

The place we decided on was Plaindealing Creek which is off the Tred Avon River on which the town of Oxford is located.  This was described as having a well protected cove that would protect one from all points except from the southeast.  Southeasterly storms are rare and since they also said that the hold capacity of the bottom was good, we figured that it would be a good place to ride out a thunderstorm.  We moved into the suggested cove, dropped anchor and went looking for a sandy beach.  A good one was near so we donned our suits and took the Dink to the selected spot.  The area was really nice, but the water was quite warm.  It was, however, much better than the scorching sun and sweltering heat. 

Back at the boat, we enjoyed hors d’oeuvres in the form of Tillamook Cheese, Club Wheat Crackers, and a glass of Gnarly Head red zinfandel.  We grilled a couple of marinated strip steaks and had garlic mashed potatoes on the side.  Our dessert was apple caramel cake with slathered cream cheese icing.  We do eat well!

After supper, we battened down the boat.  They were calling for storms and we could hear thunder in the distance.  I put a bungee cord around the jib to prevent it from unfurling  in case the cleat that holds it were to fail.  (We had that happen to us on a previous boat on Lake Erie when we got caught in a storm.  It damaged the sail.)  We put the sail cover on the main sail and put away everything in the cockpit. 

For a while, the wind reversed and came from the southeast – the only direction that our cove did not provide protection.  That wind didn’t last long and up until bed time, no storm has passed over us.  Bed time – 9:00.S

A few more pictures:

Osprey family in Queenstown Harbor

Dink avoiding the heat in Kent Narrows

Damn Dink at rest!

Huge Freighter in Francis Scott Key Bridge

Wye River to Sawmill Cove on La Trappe Creek, Choptank River July 23, 2011

Last night in the cave was the hottest night that we have had.  There was no breeze blowing in our neat little cove and the air that our fan provided was hot air.  Our breakfast had a couple of exciting embellishments; the blob blue berry muffins had a bunch of real blue berries and we had a cup of yogurt.  The main course included eggs, bacon, and V-8 juice.

After breakfast, I took another skinny dip and Janine showered on deck with the sun shower.  The water is becoming saltier as we travel south so the dips are not as cleansing as they were further up.  I was able to rinse off the salt water with the sun shower this time.  After the hot night, it really felt good. 

We tinkered around the boat until about 8:30 before heading out.  As we were leaving our cove inlet, I was impressed by the number of watermen who were already out working their lines.  I was motoring along when I noticed one of the end floats that they use suddenly jerk and come under our boat.  I had caught his line with my centerboard.  The waterman came over and as I am apologizing profusely, he calmly says that it happens with all of these lines out here, one can’t tell when the line runs from the float and it’s no big deal! Luckily the line came free on its own and no damage was done.  I asked him if he was a commercial waterman or catching crabs for his own use and he stated that he was a commercial.   

The bay was like glass so there is not much to tell about the next four hours of the trip.  At one point it appeared that the wind was coming up so we raised the sails only to have the flop aimlessly in the minimal breeze. 

Tilghman Island Bascule Bridge

As we were leaving

We rounded Tilghman Point and headed south for Tilghman Island.  It jets out into the Choptank River and forms the Upper Bay of the Choptank.  The Island is separated by Knapps Narrows, which forms a convenient shortcut into the Choptank.  It is also home to a sizable waterman fleet which lines the narrows on either side.  The road onto the Island crosses the Narrows by way of a drawbridge (bascule) that opens upon demand 24 hours a day.  This bridge replaced the original one in 1998 and was built to the specifications of the original one with modern upgrades to make it more functional.  The old bridge was moved to St. Micheals Maritime Museum in 1999.  We blew our brass trumpet for opening but he must not have heard us (or assumed that no one actually uses a brass trumpet for a horn).  We called him on the radio and he quickly opened the bridge for us.

Bell Buoy Near Tilghman Island

We stopped at the Knapp Narrows Marina to pick up some ice and water.  Their setup is not at all like the really nice marinas that cater to the big yachts in the more affluent villages.  This one had the essentials but not much more.  They did have a really nice office and offered that we could use it for our internet connection and I must say, the air conditioning was really refreshing.

Back on the boat, we began a 10 mile trek across the Upper Bay of the Choptank River.  We were heading for an anchorage in Sawmill Cove on the La Trappe Creek which flows into the Choptank River.  The cruising guide says that this creek and cove are amongst the loveliest on the bay.  The trip across the Upper Bay was long and hot.  The water was glassy all of the way and the temp was reported to have a heat index of 110. 

We pulled into Sawmill Cove and agree it is a really nice place.  There are several homes near but they don’t detract from the beauty.  I quickly pulled Dink aside after we dropped anchor and we donned our swimming suits in preparation for a cooling swim.  We found a sandy beach and pulled ashore, crawled out into bath water temp water almost too hot to bathe in.  The bottom was not sand but an oozy mud but we were desperate for something other than the oppressing heat of the air so we waded out into deeper water and did find a bit of comfort there. 

Sawmill Cove Swimming Hole (or hot bath)

Back in the boat, we prepared a shrimp scampi dinner.  The wine was Gnarley Head, the sardines in mustard sauce were Beach Cliff, and the cheese was Tillamook.  After dinner, we baked a blob apple caramel cake and while it was cooling, we took the Dink for a ride around the beautiful cove.  The ospreys were nesting in several locations around the cove and we saw a neat encounter when one osprey attacked a flying great blue heron.  The heron squacked loudly but continued on her way seemingly uninjured. 

Back at the boat, we smeared cream cheese icing on the cake and dug in.  A great bedtime snack.  And then there was bed!

Queenstown to Wye River July 22, 2011

Today would have been a perfect cruising day had it not been for the extreme heat.  The Inner Harbor where we spent a day and two nights reported today a heat index at noon of 117 degrees.  We were hot all day but were sailing for most of the time and the breeze cut the heat significantly.  We are both drinking voluminous amounts of water.  I estimate somewhere between 1 and 2 gallons each. 

I started the day with a skinny dip in our private little cove.  Boy was that refreshing.  We fixed breakfast of bacon, eggs, blob strawberry muffin and V-8.  After cleaning up the boat and ourselves, we headed out at about 8:30.  We plan to go to the town of St. Michaels.  We had visited there on our earlier reconnoiter trip and found it to be a great place.  The water was again glassy so we motored to the Kent Narrows.

There are two bridges that cross from the Eastern Shore to Kent Island.  They lay side by side.  One had a vertical clearance of 65 feet and the other is a draw bridge.  We have a mast height of about 40 feet above the water.  The draw bridge opens every half hour, so we were in good shape as we entered the narrows at 9:45.  I checked the current on the GPS for the time we were passing and it said that it would be at about 0.4 mph which is really nothing.  The cruising guidebook suggested that the current could be a significant factor in passing through the narrows.  We were motoring along at about 5.2 mph as we approached and as we got closer I noticed that we were slowing down.  I checked our GPS speed and we were down to 3 mph.  The current was really roaring out towards us and as it turned out, we just barely made the bridge opening.  I called the bridge tender on the radio and told him we were coming but he seemed to open the bridge early.  I revved up the motor and ran for the opening as fast as I could.  We made it with no problems but it was another moment of excitement as it happened.

We were in need of ice and a few other supplies so we pulled into and tied up at a dock that was obviously a yacht sales organization.  One of the salesmen came out and agreed to let us stay there while we got our supplies.  We walked a half a block to the “Fisherman’s Inn, Crab Deck, Market” and bought a bag of ice.  As we were looking around, we noticed some really nice crab cakes and decided that we would have fresh crab cakes for supper. They packed them in ice for us and we headed back for the boat. 

The channel coming south out of Kent Narrows winds around but the markers are good and we had no trouble.  Our trip to St. Michaels would take us about 4 to 5 hours if we motored at 5mph.  There was still little wind so we started the trip using the engine.  After a short while, a nice breeze came up and we put up the sails and had a wonderful ride.  The wind was a few points off of the starboard bow so we were not able to follow our original course, however, there was plenty of deep water so we sailed as high as we could point and then tacked to get back on course.  It was a really nice ride.  We were able to move along at about 4 to 4.5 mph. 

As we were arriving near St. Michaels, a large boat passed us from behind and slowed way down so as to give us no wake.  A few minutes later, a very large cruiser, probably 70 feet or so, came past throwing the biggest wake I have ever experienced.  He did not slow down and Panache pointed her nose to the sky and then drove down into the next wave.  The bow went under water sending a wave back across the deck, up over the cabin top and back into the cockpit.  The worst thing was that the hatch above our bed was open so a significant portion of the Chesapeake Bay ended up on our bed.  Thanks Pal! 

We motored into the harbor of St. Michaels, contacted the Maritime Museum for permission to dock at their wharf and their response was that we could do so if we would become members of the museum.  I enquired as to the fee for membership and he answered $70.00 plus $15.00 daily dockage fee.  I respectifully declined his offer to join and went looking for a spot where we could drop our anchor and take the Damn Dink into town.  We wound such a spot in a corner of the harbor, dropped the hook, and headed for an ice cream parlor. 

As we were walking into town, we met a couple who were eating ice cream cones and we cornered them and asked for directions to their source.  It turns out that the ice cream shop was less than a half a block from where we were so we made a bee line for the establishment.  We opened the door and walked into a wonderful atmosphere of air conditioning.  Janine and I both ordered one scoop of butter pecan in a cup and sat down to savor the special treat.  I enquired about internet service and the proprietor said that the public library which was located a block away directly behind the grocery store provided the service.  Ah – a grocery and internet. 

We left the ice box climate of the ice cream shop into the oven outside and the contrast was amazing.  By now the air temp was above 100 degrees with a heat index of above 110 degrees.  We walked to the grocery and while Janine picked up a few supplies, I walked back to the library to check their times.  They close at 5:00 and it was approaching 4:00. The computer was back on the boat so back to the dink, back to the boat, back to the library with  30 minutes to get the blog out into cyberspace.  I planned to put a number of pictures on the site but the computer acted up and we ended up just getting the posting completed by 5:00. 

We had decided to seek out a secluded anchorage for the night in Wye River so we rode dink back to the boat, fired up the engine and headed out.  By the time we raised anchor it was 6:00 and the trip promised to take 2 hours so we discussed the menu for a late supper.  As we entered the river, we were greeted with beautiful scenery, pleasant winds and smooth water.  We decided that even though we would be late getting to our anchorage, a dusk sail would be worth it so we again raised the sails. 

We got to our anchorage at about 8:15 and found it to be a very secluded pond-like cove with trees completely surrounding it.  I tested the waters for the feasibility of a swim and found them to be the temp of a very warm bath so that did not appeal to me at all.  Janine fried our crab cakes in butter and prepared a Alfredo pasta dish for dinner.  We opened a bottle of Knarly Head red zinfandel and enjoy a wonderful meal on the deck. 

We were ready for bed by a bit after 9:00.  Temp in the cave was abSove 90.  Fan helped some.

Some pictures.

USS Constellation

Lenny's Deli

Fort McHenry