We arose at about 5:45. It was a really hot night and I found myself awake and really perspiring for some extended time during the middle of the night. But I also awoke rested and ready for another great day on the Chesapeake. There is absolutely no wind in our cove this morning; the water is like glass.
I fixed a gourmet breakfast of blob Biscuit and Sausage Gravy topped off with a can of V-8 juice. Ain’t it great! Tis true livin! We brew at least one pot of coffee every day keeping the bulk in a Thermos. That usually keeps our caffeine level at the appropriate level through the day.
Today promises to be another hot one however, the weather radio offers that it will cool down tomorrow. There is a slight chance of thunder storms in the late afternoon so we will be monitoring that as the day progresses. It is my understanding that this is a relatively shallow area and the waves come up fast and in ugly form so we hope to duck into a cove somewhere before we get smacked. We have been in storms before and the boat and we can handle most of what comes however, it is sometimes a bit uncomfortable.
We got underway at around 9:00 and motored to the mouth of the Sassafras River. As we approached the main bay, there came up a light breeze so we raised the sails and had a truly gentle little sail for about 2 hours. And then it all died. There were no waves and no wind-- scorching hot. It brings to mind “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” but unlike that poor soul, we were able to start our motor and move on. Probably 30 minutes later, the breeze returned, however, it was from the direction we were traveling and we decided to continue the motoring. While I piloted our craft, Janine began a continuing education course required for her nursing license. This is a great place to study. There are few interruptions except when the wind is strong. We have an autopilot that we can use to set a course and it will keep the boat moving in that direction. Once the autopilot is programmed and the sails are set, there is little to do other than stay on watch for other boats and lobster buoys.
We are heading for some marina that can provide some ice, cooking oil, internet service, and water to top up our potable water tank. We pass an area named Still Pond. It is evidently a super place to moor for the night however there are no facilities so it doesn’t fit us today. The next place we passed was Worton Creek. It had a marina but it appeared to be limited in offerings so we pressed on to Fairlee Creek. The Mears Great Oak Landing appeared to be quite large and provide all services.
As we travel, we use a Cruisers Guide that is an encyclopedia of information about all things in say the Chesapeake Bay area. When we decide upon a place we are headed, Janine reviews and reads pertinent information about such things as approaches, moorings, services provided etc. The entrance into Fairlee Creek appeared to be tricky so we reviewed it several times. There seemed to be significant shoaling and some tricky buoy arrangements into a very narrow entrance channel. What she didn’t read was that just as you make a 90 degree turn into the cove, the narrow channel can have very swift current if the tide is falling. And today, the tide was falling. We came upon this right angle turn and I could see the current flow and commented on it as we approached it and as soon as the nose of the boat hit the current it turned us sideways to the direction we wanted to go. I throttled up the engine and swung the rudder to the starboard side, brought the boat back onto course and we moved into the cove without further incident.
The Great Oak Marina left a bit to be desired. They did have ice and water; however, their store had few supplies, none of which met our needs. We bought our ice and refilled our non-leaking water tank and headed back into the upper reaches of the Fairlee Creek cove. The time was about 2:30 or so but we had just received a weather alert that a storm was moving into the area and we figured it would be prudent to find a well protected spot that would allow us to ride out anything coming.
The cove/creek are shallow and we proceeded slowly about a mile inland looking for a nook into which we could duck and drop anchor. Our depth gauges, both of them indicated that it was too shallow to record so with our centerboard raised all of the way up and drawing about 3 feet of water, we kept moving. Toward the upper end of the cove, I realized that the rudder was dragging in the mud so I forced it to starboard, kept the motor revved up a bit and we moved into deeper water. We found a little inlet that looked good and headed for it. We again drug the rudder, but figured that we were at low tide and since the mud was soft and no damage would be done to the boat as it sat there, this would be a good spot.
We set an anchor and awaited the storm. The weather radio began continuous warnings regarding a bad storm that was coming through the area. I have a radar app on my iphone and watched as this massive storm passed over Baltimore, Washington DC, Annapolis and headed south across the Bay. We were sitting in the very tip of the activity and actually got very little wind and rain.
Rain and wind gone, the sun came out, the wind went away and the cove became a glassy mirror. I took Damn Dink for a cruise with my fishing pole and after donating a new lure to the Fairlee Creek I rejoined Janine for dinner preparation. We began our dining on the deck with appetizers of sardines on wheat crackers. I opened a wonderful bottle of Columbia Valley Riesling into which I dove a bit too deeply. I built a fire in our charcoal grill and we grilled a couple of burgers which were accompanied with macaroni and cheese. Dessert this evening was an apple sauce cup. We lit the oil lamp and enjoyed the full moon and the quiet environmental sounds of the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. We went to bed at about 9:45.
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