Rock Hall to Corsica River July 15, 2011

It’s 5:00am, Janine is still asleep and the coffee pot is just beginning to perk.  The sky is just beginning to show signs of life and I can see about 5 anchor lights on the mastheads of the boats who, like us , have chosen this lovely spot to spend the night. 

Yesterday was a more typical day (if there is such a thing as a typical day on a trip like this).  We arose at about 6:00 after a restful night in the marina.  If the marina in which you are staying is quiet and no reveling partiers sharing their vacation with you throughout the night, the sleep is usually good.  No worrying about dragging anchors and wind and waves concerns to contend with.  You are tied to a dock inside of a breakwater so your worries are few.

I prepared a wonderful Sausage Gravy and blob Biscuits with V-8 for Janine while she showered in the marina bath house.  Places like these all provide showers so when we come in and spend the night we always partake.  As you can imagine that after several days of dips in the water baths, sun shower rinsing on the deck or sponge baths in the salon, we really savor a good hot shower with unlimited water.  I took my shower before I started breakfast.

I spent a significant amount of time compiling the massive missle that I sent forth yesterday while Janine rinsed out some of our shirts and undies in the sink in the bath house.  We didn’t find a laundry facility nearby so this was the next best thing. 

We had planned to visit a couple of museums dealing with the bay and the watermen who make their living here, however, the marina folks wanted us to leave so that they could rent our slip to another boater.  Their checkout time was 11:00 and although my plea was logical and passionate, they would only extend our time to 12:30.  So, at about 10:30, we started for town hoping to get in at least one museum.  Along the way another couple caught up with us and in the ensuing conversation, it turned out that they had just come into the marina where we were staying and were traveling in a HUGE motor sailor.  This thing docked on the other side of our site and dwarfed us.  It was 60 feet long but that is the small part.  It looked like a ship with two masts.  Most sailboats are sleek, low to the water craft but this thing was really big.  The guy bought it several years ago and has spent the last several years restoring it.  It is made of molded mahogany and painted in such a way that I assumed it was a steel hull.  The fellow stated that the master suite is bigger than many apartment bedrooms.  The boat was made in Italy and had spent time voyaging around the Mediterranean before coming to the US.  This boat was so big, he had to plan his entrance into the marina to match the high tides.  They were an interesting couple.  This type of encounter really adds to the fun of the trip.

Once in the heart of town, we found a delightful little coffee shop “Java Rock” where we grabbed a couple of sandwiches and ate them on their outdoor umbrellaed tables in the street side eatery.  I can’t remember the catchy names that they had for their sandwiches but mine was a roast beef, Swiss, kraut horsey sauce combination on Panini bread and Janine’s was a ham and Swiss on Panini.  I can only speak for mine, but I must say that they have come up with a great combination.  They also provided kettle chips and sweet pickles on the side.

Back at the boat, we added some more ice to our coolers and headed out at about 12:00.  There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing up a bit of chop on the water as we headed south for the Chester River.  The wind was again on our nose so we used the motor option for the early part of our journey.  We also needed to charge one of our two batteries.  The extended use of the computer and other things we had running had killed one of our batteries so the charging system on the motor was needed to restore it. 

We motored for about 5 or 6 miles on our southerly course then turned east and were able to set the sails and enjoy the peacefulness of the sail for the next three or four hours.  We swung around a long peninsula called East Neck and headed back north up the Chester River.  During the winter months, I had scoped out potential overnight stopping points using a couple of cruising guides and my chart book for the area.  I felt that the Corsica River looked to be an ideal place.  It is Friday night and many folks will be spilling out of the Annapolis/Baltimore area heading for the seclusion and quaintness of the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake and marinas and popular mooring sites become quite crowded.  As it turned out, the place we chose on the Corsica had only about 5 or 6 other boats already in place when we got there so we decided to carve out our anchor site and drop in.  It was a fairly wide spot in the river that was well protected from both wind and waves.  However, it was also a great spot for a loud powerful ski boat pulling a trio of young hulks around and around.  This made for a bit of rocking but that died down at around dark.

I started the charcoal grill and Janine made hash-browns on the stove.  I grilled the last of our burgers and we polished off the remainder of the Riesling.  After dinner, I prepared a blob carrot cake in our Bake Packer and while it was cooling, Janine and I took a spin around the anchorage in “Damn Dink.”  The Dink was nice to us and her little trolling motor pushed us around the area in grand style.

On the opposite side of the anchorage, we met a gentleman who had rowed his dog in his rubber dinghy over to the shore for some doggie relief.  We spent some time talking to him.

Back on Panache, we slathered some cream cheese icing on the cake and enjoyed a bedtime snack.  The time was 9:00. We were tired so to bed!