Chestertown: friends, the festival and about that Dark 'N Stormy party

Just another great Sultana Downrigging Festival in Chestertown, it seems to get better every year.  Tall ships, bluegrass music and friends, what more could you want?

Friday begins with small boats from the Traditional Small Craft Association putting their boats in the water.  I had seen both Pete and Jim a few weeks earlier in St. Michaels.

And Dave, a friend of many years now, came down for a sail.  

The Pilgrim, our oldest daughter and her new husband came in for the festival.  We grabbed an Airbnb for the weekend.  Friends Harold and Anna from the beautiful boat BELLA joined us for dinner at the house, then we joined them on BELLA for the fireworks.

A few Dark 'N Stormies on the dock, but more about that later.

How nice to wake up and walk down the waterfront, finding SPARTINA surrounded by tall ships and beautiful boats.

It seems everyone in town is out on the water.

Aussie friend Matt joins us for an early morning sail.  He is a new owner of a Pathfinder, still working on learning the yawl.

Good to have the Pilgrim out for a sail.

About that Dark 'N Stormy party on SPARTINA last year...  First of all, I wasn't even there when it started.  I was blocks away having dinner with friends, coming down to the docks with my daughter and her boyfriend to find SPARTINA full of Schooner VIRGINIA crew members with the party in full swing on my little boat and adjacent dock (How many people can you fit on a small yawl?  Many more than could have imagined.).  The fireworks are exploding above, a retired USCG admiral is pouring Dark 'N Stormies on the dock and everyone is having a great time.  At first they tried to turn us away, saying it was a private party. I'm getting strange looks from friends on neighboring boats, what is going on here??  Pointing out IT WAS MY BOAT - yeah, ok, they couldn't argue with that - got us into the party.  The story of that evening has been told and retold, getting better (as all good stories do) each time.  So this year I was gifted enough Goslings Rum to last me a long, long while.  Or at least until the next party.  My thanks to all who donated!

More visits to Evergrain.  Got to get there early before the long line forms.

Tall ships everywhere, and crews always busy in the rigging.

Lady Maryland, out for an afternoon passenger sail.

The KALMAR NYCKEL, at right, always dominates the water front.

Oldest daughter and new husband join us for a sail.

Friday through Sunday, tall ships, blue grass and sailing.  My thanks to the Sultana Education Foundation for organizing a great weekend.  Can't wait until next year.

 

Chestertown, arrivals

Midweek the tall ships arrive.  Classic boats, working boats, replica ships, it is quite a fleet.  KALMAR NYCKEL, PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, LYNX, MARYLAND DOVE, A.J. MEERWALD just to name a few.

And of course another breakfast at Evergrain.

 

Chestertown, before the festival

Pre-dawn darkness in a parking lot by a bbq joint and a family dollar store, the MUST (Maryland Upper Shore Transit) arrives 6:00 a.m. like clockwork.  As a senior citizen, a buck-fifty gets me a 50-some mile ride down to my truck and trailer in Cambridge.  Most the way I'm the only passenger.  A second passenger joins us in Easton.  The bus route doesn't stop near the boatyard where I need to go, but the driver is kind enough to make an extra stop just to save me a couple miles of walking.

Standing along the Choptank, I think about the 30 days since I had cast off in Cambridge.  Great sailing, a couple of windy day and time spent with friends along the way.  It is difficult to remember it all.

I pause to look at my sailing track.  Yes, a lot of memories in there.  

I get a roundabout welcome from the festival committee, an instagram post noting our arrival in town.  How nice.

And then from Germany, an unexpected painting of SPARTINA.  Again, how nice.

So it is time for some daysailing on the Chester with the SULTANA out for a children's sail...

nights in the quiet marina...

blueberry muffins and iced tea at Evergrain bakery...

and quiet walks through town.

 

day twenty-nine - cold, tacking, the last day

I don't need an app to tell me it is cold, but my phone confirms it anyway.  Layered up with thermals, I get warm as I stow the sleeping gear and break down the boom tent.

7:45 sail off the mooring in the lightest of breezes just as the sun crests the horizon.  

8:10 round Ship Point, jibe, making 1.3 towards the Chester.  Listen to a symphony of birds.

8:45 the wind fills in.  2.7 then 1.3. 9:00 slip past Spaniard Neck to the Chester River.  Making 3.5.  Wind comes and goes and I am content with that.  Thoughts of anchoring in Southeast Creek go away, I realize it is the last day of the trip.  I'll be in Chestertown by late afternoon.

10:00 tacking up river.  10:45 pass Deep Point and the river narrows.  Sailing against the tide, tack, tack, tack.  11:15 shifting winds.  11:50 better wind, finally warming up.

12:05 making 3.0.  12:40 ghosting on calm water, a wind line ahead.

1.9, then back to 0.5, then 2.1.  Overcast slipping away.

Red marker "4" shows the tide has turned and now helps us up river.  

1:50 round Melton Point, 1.3 with the flood tide.  I hear a toot from a horn and see the skipjack IDA MAY.  And now I know why I saw her tied up on Reed Creek, she is heading to the Downrigging Festival too.

3:15 the wind fails.  Under power past Rolph's Wharf and up the Devil's Reach.  At Primrose Point there is just enough wind to make the last couple of miles to Chestertown under sail.  

Docked 4:25.  A few days ahead of the festival to relax before the crowds arrive.  

Monday evening and the town is quiet.  I am surprised and pleased to see an "open" sign on The Kitchen and The Pub at the Imperial.  A nice dinner, then a Dark and Stormy to celebrate a nice cruise.

 18.73 NM

day twenty-eight - Corsica River and crab cakes

Wake in the early morning feeling like I did not get much rest.  Something to do with a tractor doing late-night harvesting a nearby field, not only noise but also the headlights shining on the boom tent.  Roll over and go back to sleep.

Wake to a calm morning, surprising with a small craft warning in effect.  Under power out of the creek at 8:40.  Langford Creek 8:45.  Northwest wind, 2.6 on a pleasant morning.  Jibe at green marker "7"toward the Chester River.  Two bald eagles fly along the shore line, blue skies and no clouds.  

9:15 on the Chester River.  9:20 jibe to the Corsica River, 4.6 with wind on the port quarter.  

9:40 on the Corsica River, making 4.7 as the wind builds.  Getting gusty all of a sudden.  9:50 calmer water, less wind off Emory Creek.   10:20 making 5.7 on the winding river.  Round Fort Point, less chop on the river, still plenty of wind.  

10:40 round up in sight of Centreville Wharf.  Wind really picking up.  Under power, follow the channel to the southwest, turn back toward the docks.  Very gusty now and I time my approach poorly, coming in harder than I like.  Oh well.  Docked 10:50.  

Walk up to the Creamery for an iced tea and to catch up on some email.  I sit outside and watch a fall festival in progress at the town square.  Fun and entertaining. Back to the boat to get rid of trash and do a little cleaning and organizing.  

Walk up the hill to Doc's Riverside Grille for a great lunch of crab cakes, fries and caesar salad at an unexpectedly low prince.  How nice.

Back to SPARTINA and motor down the very gusty and choppy Corsica.  At the Corsica River Yacht Club - the name sounding much fancier than it is- there are several empty moorings.  It is after the sailing season and most of the boats are gone.  One mooring is tucked up near shore in protected water behind Ship Point.  I tie up there at 3:00, put up the boom tent, take a nap.

11.04 NM