Corsica River to Chestertown - July 16, 2011

Corsica River to Chestertown  -  July 16, 2011

We got underway by about 8:00 this morning.  The lake was glassy, and the departure was uneventful.  We were the first ones stirring of the 6 of us that claimed this little spot as our anchorage.  It was a good one.

We motored back out of the Corsica River and entered the Chester River by about 8:30.  The only boats on the water, (and there were a bunch of them) were the local watermen who were crabbing.  We saw everything from pontoon boats with guys sitting on the front throwing their traps and bait to fairly large boats that were designed for the purpose.  One guy had a runabout type boat with a cover on it that he had designed for crabbing.  He must have had a baited line that was close to ¼ mile long.  On the side of the boat, he had an arm that stuck out onto which he placed his longline.  The bait was probably placed on strings about 10 feet apart and as he drove along with the line and bait coming over the bar, he would net crabs hanging on the bait and pop them into the boat before the bar drug them off.  His partner was sitting in an easy chair watching the process.  When they got to the end of the line, the partner got up and drove the boat back to the beginning of the line while the original guy graded the crabs that he had caught.  It was a slick operation.

Entering the Chester River, we began to travel in a northeasterly direction with a wonderful following wind from the southwest.  We were able to ride that wind all the way into Chestertown, a distance of probably 20 miles.  We had to tack one time when the river made a 90 degree bend to the left.  The scenery was really beautiful and I find myself at a loss to come up with words to describe how neat this ride was. 

At one point we passed a skipjack heading down stream.  This was a restored member of a family of boats that used to ply the waters of the Chesapeake.  They had no motor because Maryland law requires that when they are dragging for oysters, they had to do it under sail so in order to get down the river when the weather was unfavorable, they had a motorized push boat snuggled up to their stern for that purpose.  The push boat was really nothing more than a little tiny boat with a big engine.  They would securely tie the push boat to the stern with her bow snuggly fitted into a receptacle, start the motor and used the skipjack’s rudder for steerage.  When they got to their dredging location, they were required to hoist the push boat out of the water and did so with strong davits designed for that purpose.  The vessel that we saw was the Ellsworth which is now owned by a school with an environmental mission.  They use it to take school kids out onto the bay and do various environmental studies.  Later in the day, it came into dock while we were in Chestertown and we were able to view it closely.   While I’m on the subject, parked next to the Ellsworth was another restored vessel called a “buy boat.”  These motorized boats had a stout mast at the bow that was used to load and off load large batches of oysters.  These guys would run up and down the river and bay and buy the oysters off the skipjacks so that the skipjacks could continue to dredge. 

I must interject this.  It is 5:30 in the morning as I type this and it is just turning light.  We are anchored in the middle of the river near a bridge in Chestertown.  Already, there are three crabbers working the waters within 100 feet of where we are anchored.  These are the boats with the arm over the side.  One of the boats has two adults in it; the other has two adults, a teenage boy, and two pre teen kids; a young boy and a young girl.  They are laying out their baited lines and the young boy is standing with his net ready to flip the crabs into the boat.  They laid their line 20 feet from our starboard side.

The Cruising Guide and a fellow traveler that we had met several days ago suggests that you can anchor anywhere in the river in Chestertown and use you dinghy to travel into to town.  Mooring at the town dock is free for dinghies.  The guide book advises that anchor holding is not good here because the tidal currents are fairly strong and reversing.  The book suggests that a Danforth anchor, the kind that we have, is not good here so when we prepared to drop anchor I was a bit uneasy.  However other boats were anchored and there was lots of room for the anchor to drag before one would get into trouble so we anchored.  To be safe I did put out a second Danforth. 

We pulled Damn Dink up alongside and got it ready for the trip into town.  We now tie her gunwale tight to the side of Panache so that when we step aboard, she is stable and unable, although willing, to flip us into the water.  The wind was blowing and the water was choppy, however, the little trolling motor pushed the Dink easily to shore.    

We tied up along the wharf and wandered into town.  It is a neat town what was established in 1698, long before our country as established.  A number of beautiful old brick homes line the waterfront.  According to a gentleman we met on the dock, the houses were made of bricks that were carried over from England.  The ships used the bricks for ballast coming across then carried various cargos back to Europe.  One of the most impressive is the 300 year old “Customs House” that was originally used as a Port of Entry.  The houses have been wonderfully restored and make for an interesting setting.  We walked the streets and enjoyed the old architecture.  Chestertown has been named one of “America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  We were looking for an ice cream parlor but were not successful.  We stopped at a little restaurant that appeared to be of the ice cream parlor variety, but had to settle for a glass of ice tea instead.  As we walked along I noticed a coffee shop, Play It Again Sam, which offered free wifi.  Of course I didn’t have my computer so we headed back to the wharf, I jumped (well carefully stepped) into Damn Dink and headed back to Panache to pick up my computer.

Back in town, we made our way to the coffee shop and found it to be a really interesting place.  It was obviously a local hangout with a number of folks banging on computer keys or enjoying a beer or one of the specialty coffees.  I had an Anchor Steam Beer which, I was told by the waitress, was a local beer.  On close inspection of the label, I found that it was, in fact, brewed in San Francisco.  It was good just the same.  Janine had some kind of ice coffee with a lot of cream and other goodies.  It too was delightful.  I fired up my computer and sent out my yesterday’s blog.  While we were enjoying the atmosphere and air conditioning of the shop, Janine noticed that the brand name of the coffee listed on the cup was “Panache.”  I called the waitress over and asked if I could buy about ½ dozen more of the plastic cups and she told me that they also had Styrofoam cops with the name on them, so I asked for 6 of those also.  She came back with the 12 cups and refused payment. We now can sail in the style of Air Force One with our own monogrammed cups. 

From there we went to the Fish Whistle Restaurant that was highly recommended by a local policeman.  He suggested the fish taco but other items appeared more appealing to both of us.  I ordered a pulled barbeque pork sandwich with cole slaw and potato salad and Janine a chicken enchilada.  For dessert, we ordered a brownie sundae which we shared.  That was really good.  The Fish Whistle sits along side  the wharf and as we were sitting there, a gal driving a big34 foot power boat pulled into the dock, pivoted the boat around a piling and backed it into a slip with skill that I couldn’t believe.  On our way back to Dink, I stopped by the boat and informed the skipperette that the judging committee sitting on the veranda had evaluated her landing and judged it to be the absolute best.  She was flattered.

 Back at the boat, we typed, read, worked on pictures until about dark.  We ended our day sitting in the cockpit enjoying the arrival of the night in the cool air.  It was really pleasant.  (I failed to mention our lunch today included a Spam sandwich, chex-mix, and pudding cup while Janine had her “Uncrustable PBJ.)