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
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