Rockin in Rock Hall

We had never been to Rock Hall. I am not sure about Steve, but I didn't know what to expect. Would it be like Ewell on Smith Island or more like Tilghman Island? The first we saw of Rock Hall was the water tower sticking up above the horizon. We had motored out of the channel at Kent Narrows and thinking that we were in for a long, rough ride. I had just stowed the mooring lines and was putting some gear away when Steve says, "see that water tower, that's where we are going." Well it made a huge difference in our mind set just being able to see where we were headed. Mary Lou and Fred shot this picture of Spartina and her "lost" sailors pulling into the harbor at Rock Hall.

As we posted earlier, it was one heck of a ride to get us there. And once there, it was still a challenge to find the right marina and get tied up, what with all the wind. But we got it done with energy to spare. (That little bit of energy we had left was for eating and drinking a beer.) And of course the most pleasant surprise was in being greeted by Mary Lou and Fred. Great people and really warm friendly smiles. After they helped us tie up and we exchanged some pleasantries, we agreed to meet them for dinner later that evening. Steve and I headed over to the motel to check in and get our gear squared away. The hour and a half sped by and we headed over to the Waterman's to meet Fred and Mary Lou for dinner.

(That was the first time on one of our cruises that someone had met us at the dock. What a great feeling! Mary Lou had been helpful throughout the summer answering questions about tides, bridges and anchorages. It had not occurred to me that she would be nice enough to meet us at the dock. - steve )

We had a wonderful evening sharing stories about our adventure and hearing about their adventures sailing the local waters. They are very experienced sailors and are involved in all kinds of museums, their local yacht club and other sailing activities. One thing we learned is that Rock Hall has a large contingent of boats and folks from Pennsylvania. Fred and Mary Lou were from the Philadelphia area themselves and have since settled in Rock Hall. During several walks that Steve and I took, looking at the marinas and docks, we noted all the many boats with Pennsylvania home towns. More than anywhere else.

(Bruce is right about the Pennsylvania connection. The charts might show Rock Hall as being in the state of Maryland, but I think it is really part of PA. - steve )

We sampled the crabcakes and Steve made the following notes......Large batch of fresh crab meat, not exactly shaped into a "patty". It seems like it had been spooned on to the platter and broiled in place, brown on top but not on bottom. Taste was good, texture not great. Somehow a splotch of bbq sauce (from Bruce's ribs????) ended up on my crabcake in the kitchen. Bbq sauce tasted ok, but not exactly traditional on a crab cake. Excellent beer, good conversation, life was good.)

Fred and I had the crabcake and ribs combo. Both were tasty and the beer went down mighty smoothly. The dinner was perfect and the company even better. About nine o'clock we said our good nights and looked forward to meeting up again the next morning.

(This was a great dinner. Fred and Mary Lou were great to talk with, funny, very informative about the area and sailing. It was a treat to spend the evening with them - an unexpected and very pleasant surprise. - steve )

As usual, Steve got up early, but not that early as it was overcast and dark and gloomy. The wind was still kicking up and we knew we weren't sailing anywhere. I got up as well and so we got cleaned up and headed to downtown Rock Hall. The sky started to clear. It might just be a sunny day after all. We had a nice walk and along the way we passed the middle school. In the field next to it we saw three nice size deer walking along the fence. They walked up towards us as if expecting us to feed them. Perhaps the locals give them a treat now and then. We easily found the downtown area. (That's basically it in the above photo.) It is one street and a block or two each way at an intersection.

We got some coffee and muffins at a local coffee shop, Java Rock. Steve surfed the web and made a post to the blog. We then spent the next seventeen minutes exploring the downtown. Since it was still too early to meet Mary Lou and Fred, we walked back to the marina and checked out some of the boats. About 9:45 we headed back to the coffee shop to meet up with Mary Lou and Fred.

When they showed up we chatted a bit and then they invited us to take a tour of some of the sights around Rock Hall. (We had already seen the downtown.) We drove over to their yacht club and got a chance to see their boat "Fretless".

We really liked it. It is a Rhodes 22. They have it rigged nicely for camping and sailing. I liked the cabin, Steve said not to get any ideas. After sharing some knowledge of some of the areas they have sailed, we secured their boat and checked out some of the other boats in their marina.

We saw a lot of different kinds of boats including this really classic skiff (below). We also saw a lot of cruising type sail boats. These are really top end boats with all the trimmings. Steve, again, told me not to get any ideas.

We spent the remainder of the morning checking out some local points of interest, they even invited us over to their house. Very lovely. (If it weren't for the mosquitoes and humidity for a lot of the year I might even want to live in this lovely town myself.) We ended up having lunch with them at a local eatery. It was a great morning. After saying goodby, the afternoon was spent doing our laundry and Steve and I doing more exploring around the harbor and marinas near the motel on our own. We ended the day back at the Waterman's and had another great dinner. We had a rockin great time in Rock Hall. Our sincere thanks to Fred and Mary Lou for their warm hospitality.

(Fred and Mary Lou tooks us to a couple of spots on the Chester River and explained the geography up there. It has got to be a great sailing area with all the creeks, rivers and coves. I could easily see spending a week just sailing on the Chester River. Maybe someday.

That evening Bruce and I walked down by the harbor. The sun was setting to the west with dark clouds above us. It made for some beautiful light, warm rich evening light set off against the dark clouds. It would have made for some great photographs of the piers and boats if we had brought a camera. But that was back at the hotel. It was just one of those sights that was there to be enjoyed. You don't have photograph everything, sometimes you just enjoy it.

- steve )

bruce

Fisherman Island

I got a chance to run over to Fisherman Island today. That is the tiny little island at the very southern tip of the Eastern Shore. You'll see it on various charts, maps and signs as Fishermen's Island or Fisherman's Island, but the real name is Fisherman Island.

Somebody was smart enough years ago to make it a federal national wildlife refuge. Access is very limited. I had driven over it countless times over the last 20 years - the last high rise bridge of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel touches down there as you head north on to the shore - but I had never set foot on it. I was very glad to go today.

Signs of wildlife, both marine and otherwise, were everywhere. Those are deer tracks below. There were thousands of birds, ghost crabs, horse shoe crabs, sand dollars and just about anything else you could imagine.

It was the first time I had been around the water since the sailing trip. And of course it got me to thinking about where we might go sailing next year. There was one pretty little creek that reminded me of some of the places we saw on the last trip. I would like to head back north on the Bay maybe in late spring to visit the creeks around the Honga, Little Choptank and Choptank Rivers. We would probably cover less territory, but spend more time checking out the creeks, marshes and fishing villages.

And I would like to head south in late summer or early fall to Pamlico Sound. I've done four cruises down there, two solo and two with Bruce, but there is lots more to see. Bruce is checking on his schedule - I didn't realize retired life could be so busy - so we can compare notes and work things out. The planning will be a fun project for winter.

We've had bad weather the two weekends since we got back from the trip. But the forecast is looking better this Saturday and Sunday so maybe I'll get out for a day sail on the Elizabeth River. Now is a great time to sail - if the weather is good - as the snowbird fleet of sailboats are passing through our area on their way to Florida and the Bahamas for the winter. A lot of spectacular boats and very nice people are out there on the ICW right now.

Today on Fisherman Island we could feel the weather shifting back and forth. Early in the morning it was hot and humid, then it cleared and cooled down. A very nice, interesting day on a beautiful little island.

steve

no muss, no fuss

Yes, this is the one very popular piece of gear I forgot to mention, thanks Bruce for pointing that out. It is the Sealand 962 Sanipottie Portable Toilet. About $75 and worth every penny. Odor free, easy to use and maintain. My feeling is that the secret to keeping it that way is a quick spray of citrus-based cleaner in to the bowl before and after each use. It fits up forward of the mast under the foredeck (there is a ton of storage room under the foredeck on a Pathfinder). You don't even know it is there.

(You may not know it's there but you are really glad it is. It is very comfortable as well. Additionally, you can't be too modest to be able to relax and enjoy the moment. If the tent isn't set up, well, it's just you and the good Lord. Fortunately we usually anchor in secluded places and nobody is around anyway. This really is a great piece of equipment.)



steve

favorite gear

We've had a few people ask about the equipment we used on the trip. I thought I would list, in no particular order, some gear that I am really glad to have on the trip....

I can't imagine going on a trip now without a SPOT satellite messenger. I got mine, a gift from my Mom, for $125. A year of service, including tracking, is about $150. It is safe. It is fun (a lot of people told us they enjoyed watching our trip on the SPOT track page). Bruce and I each bring our own SPOT on the trip, you see them both below (we've since added snap hooks to them so we can quickly clip them on our flotation vests).

(Steve gave me a call one day and told me about an offer from SPOT for a free SPOT with the purchase of one year of service. What a great deal. I now carry it on all my hikes and camping trips. Don't leave home without it.)

We carry two gps's on each trip, Bruce's newer GPSMAP 76CSx, right, and my older Garmin eTrex Legend (no longer available). We use both, plus a chart book. My eTrex has very low-tech gray scale charts and sometimes that is a good thing. It gives me a very simple overall geography, the electronic hand-held version of someone up forward in the cockpit pointing with their arm saying "go that way!" Bruce has put Garmin's Bluecharts on his gps, easily readable on a nice color screen. It shows navigation markers, depth contours, all sorts of information. We use that for the finer points of navigation - skirting shoals, entering harbors.

(You still have to learn all the little tricks the gps has to offer to get the most out of all the features. Then, you have to keep refreshed on its use because the knowledge is perishable, so to speak. If a few months slip by and I haven't used it, I have to think hard about how to do something. That's why I always bring the instruction manual with me in a water tight baggy. I have spent time at the end of a day reading and figuring out how to do something. I also always carry the camera instruction manual, ya never know.)

We carry two Rubbermaid RoughNeck tubs. The one on the starboard side contains the cook kit, the one on the port side the tub contains our lights, notebooks, candles, etc. I've added bungee cord that runs across the top to hold the lid in place and allow for storing items on top of the tubs. These things are great. Cheap, indestructible and very reliable. Rain, spray and occasional waves get in the boat and yet I've never had a drop of water get inside of these tubs.

(We also use the tub with the cooking stuff as a kitchen tool. The lid works as a great cutting board in a pinch (I know you have to keep the cut marks really clean.) and the tub itself doubles as a wash basin for clean-up. We use Campsuds which works great in cold water, good for body, clothes and dishes. Some dish cleaners can cause real havoc on your stomach and bowels if you don't get it completely off your dishes and eating utensils. Campsuds won't cause that kind of problem and its biodegradable. When we are done, everything packs back up nicely for storage.)

Inside the cook kit tub is the MSR Quick 2 System cook set. That was a gift to the boat this year from Bruce. Good even cooking, plates with tall sides so food stays on the plate, easy to clean. And it all tucks together in a very small package.

(Let's face it, never compromise in the galley. When you use good gear, getting good results is easy and makes life ever more enjoyable. Be nice to your stomach.)

I'm wearing a couple of my favorite pieces of gear in the photo below, my West Marine Third Reef Foul Weather Gear and West Marine inflatable collar pfd with built in harness (the one in the link is not the exact one we use, but it is very close).

If you watch the sales, and there should be a lot of discounts this holiday season, you can find the full foul weather suit - jacket and bib pants - for about $130. This is their low-end product, but I have been very happy with it. If you cruise in an open cockpit boat you are going to want gear that will keep you comfortable and dry. This suit will do that. I leave mine rolled up and tucked under a bungee beneath the port coaming year round.

(I use a set of foul weather gear from Cabela's. It is their Gortex Guideware. It is rugged and holds up well. I use it for camping, too. Buy it when it is on sale, which it is now.)

The inflatable pfd is very comfortable in hot, humid weather. We wear them all them time while sailing. When things get rough we connect the tethers to the harness (when I am on a solo cruise I wear the tether all the time). This is not a cheap piece of gear, but in my opinion it is well worth the price.

Below is Bruce relaxing in a North Carolina bay with the Outdoors Research Alpine Bivy's set up and ready to go for the night. I bought mine for $200. They have since improved them and increased the price to about $250. It will keep you warm, dry and - most importantly - mosquito free. I can't imagine sailing without one. (These fit very well on the Pathfinder's bunk flat, the area between the thwart and frame #1 up under the foredeck.)

(As you read earlier, I finally figured the pole system out on my bivy this trip. They are worth every penny. If we were to camp on shore one night, we wouldn't need a tent as these babies can really take the weather. A great design and well built.)

I made the boom tent out of polytarp, three-inch wide tape, grommets and rope for about $60. It takes less than five minutes to set up and we do that only when there is a good chance of rain. It keeps the boat reasonably dry even in a heavy rain. (If there is no rain in the forecast we leave the tent stowed and just use the bivy's.) When tied up in slip along the way we'll set up the tent at night just to minimize access to the boat and to keep rain/dew out.

(The tent works really great. It is a valuable piece of gear for sure. But as with any tent, it can get hot and muggy inside on a warm or hot night. A night without the tent is like a day with sunshine and fair winds.)

The l.e.d. anchor light cost under $10 at WalMart. It uses three aa batteries. I'll hang it from the lazy jacks or jib halyward. It is not waterproof, but I've put it up several times in heavy rain and wind and it keeps on going.

(I like the way the shadows dance at night as the light swings with the movement of the boat. I find it very relaxing. We also bring small lights that strap to your head. They are great for working on things at night and perfect for reading. They are small, and the LEDs burn for a long time before the batteries need replacing. Great camping item.)

Below is Bruce at the stove, a Coleman propane stove with a griddle on one side and a burner on the other. I wrap it in a piece of polytarp and bungee it against the hull up forward when we aren't using it. We've had some pretty good meals off that camp stove.

I'm very happy with the gear we are using these days. It works, it fits and it stands up to the water, salt and sun we deal with on cruises. After each trip I sort through the gear and try to see where I can improve things. Right now I think we are in good shape.

(One piece of gear I am really fond of is the porta potty. I don't remember the brand, but it stows away up forward while we are sailing and fits perfectly in the cockpit for use when we are anchored. We talked about this on one of our earlier trips)

steve

DAY SEVEN - on to St. Michaels

On the last official sailing day of the trip we raised anchor at 7:20 and followed Slip Jig down Dividing Creek on our way to St. Michaels.

The wind was great out on the Wye River, I think John Welsford would have been proud to see a Navigator and a Pathfinder sailing along together in a nice breeze. Bruce took a lot of photos of Kevin's boat, it looked great in the morning light.

Kevin zipped around behind us and moved up forward, Slip Jig is a very quick and nimble boat. Kevin certainly knows how to sail her.

And Kevin shot some photos and even some video of Spartina. That is Spartina below, one of the nicer photos I have seen of her under sail. I swear I am on the boat somewhere, must have been ducking down to pull out some gear. But it does look like Bruce is sailing her single handed.

(I took the tiller first thing that morning. I decided to follow Kevin as I figured he had local knowledge of the water we sailed over. I did keep an eye on our gps and compared our path to the day before. We were essentially backtracking, but this time we were much closer to the shallow side of the river. Kevin made a sudden turn ahead of me and headed out into what I could see on the gps as the deeper water of the channel. As I looked at the gps I noticed our position on the chart was over land! But we were having no problems. So I say to Steve, "I guess these charts are old as we are sailing over land". I think this is really funny. As I handed him the gps so he could see we hit bottom. Now I know why Kevin made the sharp turn. We were stuck. Steve couldn't raise the center board. So we raised the rudder and let the wind push the boat off to the side so it was sitting flatter. That allowed him to raise the center board and we were off again. Kevin had waited for us to catch up and when we told him we had grounded he told us he had, too. I vowed not to doubt the gps in the future.)

Kevin led the way up the Miles River into St. Michaels and pointed out a good spot to tie up at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. We straightened things up on Spartina and then borrowed Kevin's car (thanks! saved us a bunch on a rental) to drive to Crisfield to get my jeep and the trailer. By the time we got back to the museum grounds oysters were being served, both raw and roasted.

And of course steamed crabs. Not much better place to have steamed crabs than St. Michaels. Spicy and hot, they made for a great afternoon snack.

We had planned on staying on the boat that night, but rain was hovering around and a southeast wind was rocking Spartina in her slip. So where could we stay that night? In our bivy's in the park? In our sleeping bags in back of the jeep? We decided to discuss it over a beer in one of the pricey restaurants in St. Michaels. We came to no clear decision. But as we walked back to the museum I turned around to see Bruce standing motionless on the sidewalk, looking up as if he saw a vision in the sky. I'll let him explain......

(We had originally thought we would spend the night on Spartina. But it was still blowing and lots of wave action at the slip and out where we could anchor. I wasn't looking forward to spending a night rolling around. Steve had tried to find us a room in St. Michaels way before we started the trip but everything was sold out due to the boat festival. Bummer. I did suggest we sleep in the bivys or maybe in the back of the jeep. After all the bivies would keep us dry even if it rained. We discussed the options, I love options, but came to no decision. Steve said we should go and have a beer and not to worry, everything would work out. He is always saying that, just ask his family. So off we went for a brew and an appetizer. After we consumed our mini feast we decided to walk around town and check out some of the shops. We wanted to find some beer for Kevin to thank him for letting us use his car. We really appreciated the kindness. We found some beer and headed back to the festival. As we walked along we noted some of the features of the restored fine old buildings. One was an old inn. As we stood there looking at the architecture, I looked up and saw a most remarkable sign. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a sign for the inn and it said, Vacancy. Hallelujah. Steve just might be right, things would work out. I grabbed Steve and made a bee-line for the office. So in we walked, two unshaven, sorta disheveled men with no luggage, carrying a 12 pack of beer and looking for a room for the night. I inquired if I had seen the sign correctly. "Yes," said the receptionist as she looked at us with raised eyebrows. I joked that I would trade her the beer for the room. She laughed. I explained we had just sailed in to attend the festival and she said she had only one room and that it was just the perfect room for us. (a last minute cancellation) It was called the Captain's Quarters. It was a great room. I slapped Steve on the back and said, "you were right". After negotiating the room rate we checked in. We then headed back for the jeep so we could unload all our gear. Then it was off to dinner to try the local crabcakes. What a way to cap off a great trip.)

(By the way, we left the beer in Kevin's tent before we headed off to dinner. I saw him the next day and he told me he had had trouble sleeping. I asked him why and he said with a smile that he had hard cylinder shaped lumps under his pillow. Go figure.)

Distance - 8.26 nm

Max Speed - 5.6 kts

Ave Speed - 3.5 kts

Moving time - 2 hours 22 minutes

For the entire trip......

Distance - 136 nm (less than we expected, but the wind was with us the entire way, every mile sailed was a mile made good, virtually no tacking)

Max Speed - 8.6 kts (somewhere off of Hoopers Island on day two, surfing down the front of a wave)

Ave Speed - 3.7 kts (pretty good when we consider that our goal is an average of 3.0 knots)

Moving Time - 36 hours 24 min (of pure adventure, excitement and fun)

So that is it. We had a great time on the trip, from the moment we started planning back in June until we reached out and grabbed the dock in St. Michaels. Thanks for taking time to read the blog, we hope you enjoyed it. We'll be happy if maybe you learned something from either our successes or failures on this trip.

This trip was once again confirmation that John Welsford designs some great boats. And it was also confirmation that a few decades of good friendship makes for the best sailing partner. Thanks Bruce for being part of the adventure!

(What helped make this such a fantastic trip was Steve's great planning and preparation plus his exceptional sailing skills and knowledge. He kept us safe and and got us to journey's end with big smiles on our faces. I really enjoyed all the marvelous people we met along the way. They added so much to the fun. Great job Captain!!)

We'll do some posts on the festival itself, the final voting on our crabcake challenge and a nice day off in Rock Hall, plus some notes about what we did right, what we did wrong and what we'll change next time, once we catch up.

See you on the water.

steve

on to Dividing Creek

With two fish on ice we headed southeast and entered the Miles River. To the south I could see a group of sails rounding the point from St. Michaels, the overnight fleet from the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival.

(Apparently the term for the type of boating/camping we were going to do this night is "gunk holing". A gunk hole is apparently a shallow inlet or cove. So camping in one is gunk holing. I had never heard the term before this trip. Didn't sound too appealing, but it sure turned out to be a lot of fun.)

Bruce and I turned east and then north as we entered the Wye River, a beautiful meandering River that surrounds Wye Island. We took the eastern branch and followed it to Dividing Creek, the anchorage for the overnight fleet. When we entered the creek, which was both long and wide, we were surprised to see four larger boats (three sail and one motor yacht) anchored there already. We later heard it was one of the more popular anchorages on that part of the bay.

(There was no shortage of big estates and impressive homes along this part of the Wye River. The wind had dropped off considerably so we had a very relaxing sail. For the first time on the cruise we had time to talk and share our thoughts from the past week. The sun was warm and it was a great afternoon. We used the gps to help us locate the mouth of Dividing Creek. It was a bit confusing looking at the charts as they did not provide enough detail. I asked Steve why he hadn't asked for the gps coordinates when he talked to the folks about the location of the creek. He paused, thought a moment and said, " that would have been too easy." We found it anyway.)

We followed the creek all the way to the back and anchored where we could see a small clearing on the shore. We figured that must be where the camping would take place. (Turned out we were right.) Once we were settled in I got the fish out, that is the rockfish (also known as striped bass or striper) below, the blue fish and cleaned them. The fillets were zip-lock bagged and tucked away in our remaining ice.

About an hour later we looked down the creek and saw a series of small sailboats coming in to view. A total of eight boats, some single-handed, some with a few people on board, tacked in a light breeze up to our anchorage. Some of the boats were old classics, some were recently built. Some wood, some fiberglass. Some professionally built, others home made. They were all great boats. They looked great as they came up the creek.

I don't know the designs of all the boats in the fleet, but in the photo below you can see a Core Sound 17, at left, a Sea Pearl 21, center, and a John Welsford Navigator, second from the right.

In the Navigator, called Slip Jig, was Kevin B, a sailor and boat builder I had exchanged emails with over the last year or so. This was my first chance to meet him in person, also my first chance to see a Navigator on the water.

Kevin tied alongside Spartina, Bruce, Kevin and I spent an hour sitting in the warm sun, drinking a cold beer (thanks Kevin) and talking about boats and trips on the water. It was a treat. I was thrilled to hop into Slip Jig for a few minutes and get a feel of that classic design. Though I eventually built the Pathfinder, it was the Navigator that first caught my eye. What a great boat, and in this case, a very well built one.

Later on Pete Lesher, the curator of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum came by with supplies for the overnighters and stopped to say hello. He's a very nice guy that runs a great museum. (If you are ever on the eastern shore be sure to stop by in St. Michaels and check that place out - give yourself a few hours and even then you won't see it all.)

Later we motored over to shore, tied alongside the other boats and carried our food and stove up to the clearing for dinner. I guess the other sailors thought we were kidding when we said we had caught some fish. A few were surprised, to say the least, as they saw Bruce cooking up surf (our fresh fish filets) and turf (cubes of sirloin that had been frozen in our cooler since the start of the trip) with sauteed garlic, onion and sweet peppers and a side of mashed potatoes for dinner. Bruce took it seriously enough that he had me splashing white wine on the griddle in the final minutes of cooking - the steam from the wine, he said, softened the garlic and onion just right. It was a great meal and there was plenty to share with others. And the others were generous with their meals too. The wine, sitting around the campfire, tasted extra good that night. (I don't know what those guys thought about the boat or our cruise, but I think they were impressed by the chef.)

(The boats were all rafted up against this small dock. We were tied up along the outside and next to Kevin's boat. We had to carry our cooking gear across four of the other boats to get on the dock. Some of these were not all that stable to walk across. Never done this before. But we made it and set up on a picnic table in the camp area. Most of the campers were setting up tents and would be sleeping on shore. Several of us would anchor out and sleep on the boats. I grilled the steak first seasoned with salt and pepper and a dash of Greek seasoning, set it aside. Then on the same grill I sauteed the onions bell peppers and garlic. I added a little fresh squeezed lime juice and salt and pepper. Then at the end Steve splashed on some chardonnay. I set that aside and then grilled the fish. It picked up all the flavors from the beef and veggies. Splashed some lime juice and some Cajun seasoning and we were done. Hard to beat really fresh fish. It was moist and delicious. You can eat well anywhere you are.)

We carried our gear back down to the boat. I had to use the paddle to push Spartina off the mud bottom as the tide had gone out. We anchored out for a great evening. We could hear laughter and singing coming from the sailors on shore.

(This was another great evening. It was cool, a bit breezy, enough to keep the bugs away, and the stars were brilliant as ever. Perfect camping)

Just one more day to go for the Crab House 150.

Distance - 25.03 nm

Max Speed - 6.5 knts

Ave Speed - 3.4 kts

Moving Time - 7 hours 26 minutes

DAY SIX - fish on!

After our day off in Rock Hall we carried our gear in the darkness back to Spartina at the marina. It was cool ( so cool that we slipped on our foul weather gear for warmth) and clear. Stiff breeze out of the north, perfect for our southbound trip. We motored away from the dock a little after 7:00, Roxy (or was it Roxanne??), who we had met on our arrival, wished us a safe journey as we passed behind the Catalina that she and her husband weekend on.

We navigated out the harbor (Rock Hall Harbor is fairly shallow but has well marked channels) and set mizzen and jib. The wind was still pretty stiff and we headed south in one to two foot chop at 4 to 4.6 knots.

The Kent Narrows bridge was in sight by 8, we raised double reefed main at 8:30 and then by 9:00 we were under a single reefed main doing 4.8 to 5.1 knots. The wind continued to drop and by 9:15 we were under full sail.

That says something about the wind on this trip - we had been sailing for six days and this was only the second time we had been under full sail.

We were in the Kent Narrows by 9:45 headed southbound for the bridge. We passed Harris Crab House, above, where we had been served great crab cakes a couple of days earlier. We still had about 15 minutes before the bridge opened so we circled around under power in the channel.

I learned a bit about bridge etiquette that morning. A northbound sailboat had put in the first request for a lift, I called the bridge tender with a request for the same 10 a.m. opening a few minutes later. When the bridge started to open I contacted the bridge tender on my vhf radio and asked if I should let the north bound vessel go through first. He said no, I was the south bound vessel and the current was running south at that time. The boat going with the current has the right of way in this situation. So we passed through first, giving a wave of thanks to the tender looking out from his small window above.

We continued south under full sail, a sunny warmish day, passing through the narrows into Prospect Bay and eventually entered Eastern Bay. It was very pleasant out there on the calm blue water (about time!).

Half way across Eastern Bay we saw gulls and terns diving for the surface. I pushed the tiller over and grabbed the fishing rod. Those gulls were feeding on bait fish that were chased to the surface by schools of hungry blue fish and rockfish. Our gps track shows us chasing the school around as they popped up to the surface, disappeared and popped up again and again over the next twenty minutes. The first couple of fish I caught were too small and I threw them back.

But then we got a tug on the lure we were trolling behind the boat. It was a nice taylor blue. (In blue fish terminology "taylor" blues are the smaller ones, maybe 24 inches or less, and usually the best tasting. "Chopper" blues are bigger than that - up in to the 36 inch range, they put up a great fight. But my experience is the chopper blues tend to be oily and are best eaten only when smoked and made into a blue fish pate with cream cheese, horse radish and a few other ingredients.)

(When Steve landed the blue and asked me to pass him the cooler I was surprised. Did he really want to keep the fish? He did. And he kept saying how great it would be for dinner. (I was later glad he did.) He also wanted to keep fishing, I wanted to take pictures of the birds feeding. So he moved me into position for some shots, but it was just too bouncy. So I figured heck, Steve really wants to fish, so I took the tiller and said for him to have at it. He caught a couple of small releasers, and then hit the big rock fish. Into the cooler it went. Then as quick as it had come the excitement ended. The birds either flew away or landed on the water. The fishing was over and we headed for Dividing Creek.)

By this time Bruce had taken the tiller while I cast away. The school disappeared for a while, then popped up again where he put me in the perfect position to cast and catch a nice 22 inch rock fish.

Fresh seafood was quickly added to the menu for that night.

steve

wild ride to Rock Hall

Bruce and I had a long discussion about our goals for the afternoon before leaving Kent Narrows (above). The wind had picked up with sustained wind in the mid to high 20's and gusts to 30 mph. Rock Hall was almost due north, we agreed to give it a try and see how Spartina handled on a beam reach in the wind and waves. Our fallback, if we weren't comfortable, would be to head back in to the Chester River and go to either Queenstown or one of the creeks along the way.

(Steve is correct that we did spend considerable time discussing our goals for the afternoon sail. And the winds were getting stronger. Of course we couldn't actually see what it was going to be like once we got out of the channel from the narrows and out onto the bay. The water looked pretty nice sitting at a comfortable table in a great restaurant and eating #2 crabcakes. Kind of lulls the senses a bit. So after some discussion of the options, I like options, Steve says, "it will be just like day two." How soon we forget. Day two was no problem and besides this day was nice and sunny. How rough could it be I thought. Then Steve added the kicker. "We could make Rock Hall and stay at the motel and have a great crabcake dinner with some cold beer." Sold! I'm easy I guess. So off we went.)

We don't have any photographs from that sail. It was just too rough to mess with the camera. The wind was now out of the west and the waves built with a fetch of about eight miles across the bay.

We made it out of the winding channel north of Kent Narrows under power, then raised mizzen and jib - plenty of sail with all that wind on the port beam. For a while were in the protection of Kent Island. But as we passed Love Point, the northern tip of the island, we got the full force of the wind and waves. And we kept on going. The boat handled fine. It was an eerie feeling being surrounded by the tall waves, many of them three feet tall and often breaking as they approached the shallows on the eastern side of Chesapeake Bay. The waves seemed to come in groups of three. Sometimes I tried to turn in to them and cross them at 90 degrees, but if I angled properly in to the first two waves I would be out of position for the third wave. Sometimes I tried to take them on the beam and worked fine for the smaller ones, but I thought it best to turn directly into the big ones. It just depended on the size of the wave and our speed at any given time. We did pretty good for the most part with one notable exception. I'll let Bruce explain that. But all I'll say from my point of view is that it was only for a brief moment that I lost sight of Bruce in a wall of white water.

(Where we redefine, "just like day two." The journey out of the channel was fine, it was a bit choppy but hey, very do-able, better than day two. We move on. Swells and wind increase. Ok, getting some real action but still very do-able, close to day two. We move on. Right from the start we could see the water tower in Rockhall, at first a tiny speck now getting larger. The bridge at Kent narrows receding in the distance. We are getting close to the halfway point with the swells really getting big. I'm glad Steve is at the tiller. Spartina is making great progress in spite of the conditions. (At this point we confer and decide to go on, just as far back as forward, no retreat and besides by now we could really use that cold beer.) A quick check of the safety harness and I'm feeling like still do-able but passing day two. We press on. We have been taking on water from the spray as Spartina pushes onward. Some of the spry is more like a shower, still no problems but we have blown past day two and are on the wildest ride of the trip, or any trip we have done together. I am riding up front with my back to the bow bailing water with a sponge and a cup. It keeps me busy but I can't see the oncoming swells, leaving that to Steve to negotiate. We head up and over a series of particularly large swells, some cresting with a whoosh as we climb over their peaks. I can see them off the starboard side as they slide past. Way bigger than day two I'm thinking. Neither of us says anything focusing on our own tasks and thoughts. But as far as I am concerned we are safe and having fun. (ahh, ignorant bliss) Spartina rises up and over a really big swell and it slides past breaking as we reach the peak. Then it comes, without warning. Spartina really rises up and then a wall of water envelopes me as if I were surfing in a "tube" of a big wave. I can only see the water coming over me and light beyond that. Water fills the boat, and then it is over. I turn and look at Steve, he is trying not to smile, and mutters, "sorry about that, missed the timing". I just shoot him a look and then we both laugh. I had some serious bailing to do so we move on.)

We hung in there sailing north with the feeling that the boat could handle it. I stayed at the tiller and Bruce sponged the spray out of the boat. One thing that helped was that we could see the water tower in Rock Hall for most of the trip - being able to see our destination seemed to make the trip do-able. My biggest concern was that if we had a problem we could be blown towards the beach a mile and a quarter to the east. If we got closer to the beach the waves would be bigger. So I focused on keeping us on a due north heading.

Along the way we had to dodge of series of fish traps and what I thought at the time were gill nets (we later found out they were strings of crab pots placed out over the bottom of the bay with flag markers at either end). It was too hard to turn into the wind to pass the obstacles on the windward side, so we ducked between them and the shore with Bruce tracking the depths on his gps.

(Besides bailing and holding on, I helped Steve with the navigation and gps. Although we could see the water tower in Rock Hall and knew our course visually, the swells were so large and we sit so close to the water it was often difficult to locate buoys, fish trap poles and other potential hazards. Since I was riding with my back to the bow I couldn't visually help out. So when I wasn't bailing I would be looking at the gps to give Steve guidance to our location and water depth. Occasionally he would ask me to verify something he had seen off in the distance, or thought he had seen. I would get out the binoculars and try to see if I could find what he saw. Very difficult to do. Kneeling down, trying to stay balanced and peeking out from under the jib. Spray and the rolling boat made viewing difficult. Occasionally I had to stand, hold on to the mast and one hand the binoculars. As we got closer, I would zoom the gps out for our overall position relative to the entrance at Rock Hall, and then zoom back in to keep track of water depth as there were a lot of shallow areas surrounding the approach. Locating some of the channel markers turned out to be a challenge. I could locate them on my gps, but we couldn't see them if they were buoys. The pole markers were visible and really helped. We relied on the gps to get us through the shallows and up to the entrance. We were very focused through the last part of the trip. It was quite a ride.)

And finally we got to the entrance channel to Rock Hall. The entrance there was not as simple as I would have liked because there are two entrance channels - one to Rock Hall and one to Swan Creek just slightly north of Rock Hall. We eventually figured it out by looking at the chart and gps. When we were due west of Rock Hall we brought in the mizzen and ran downwind under the jib, starting the outboard just outside the jetties.

By this time on a typical day of sailing Bruce would be at the tiller and I would be looking at my notes on the harbor, marina, etc so I would know exactly where to go. But we were so busy throughout the afternoon that I had not even glanced at my notes. You can see us above in the harbor, a nice photo from Mary Lou (thank you) trying to find our marina (I just could not remember the name). Below you'll see our gps track as we wondered about the harbor finally finding the right marina by chance.

And there at the dock were two folks waiting for us, Mary Lou and Fred. They had watched our SpotTrack during the day and came down to the harbor to welcome us. Boy it was a great feeling, after such a long afternoon, to be greeted by friendly smiles. I had never met Mary Lou in person before, but she had been in touch with me during the summer passing along helpful information. It was a pleasure to meet them in person. Below is a photo of them when they dropped by at St. Michaels to say hello.

(Now usually I will bring Spartina into the harbor as Steve reviews his notes on where we are going to stay. He then takes the tiller as we head into the slip. I don't want to crash into the dock so I man the lines. Well, the harbor at Rock Hall is compact, has a narrow channel and we had poor water conditions what with the strong winds and occasional white caps adding to the challenges. So Steve is at the tiller right away and trying to remember where we are supposed to be. We circle, just avoiding shallow water and me I'm searching the area with the binoculars trying to find a place I'm not sure I know what I'm looking for. I see two people watching us from one of the docks. We head over there. Steve is focused on the boat and all the conditions swirling around. We decide to tie up at an end tie and then check on the details. The couple moves from the dock they were on over to where we are coming in. They have smiles on their faces. I was not aware Steve knows anyone in Rock Hall. I am guessing they just saw us coming in and were interested in the boat. We get a lot of that. I get out and start to tie up the boat. The couple helps us with the stern line. Steve gets out and the next thing I know he is shaking hands and seems to know them and smiles all around. It turns out to be Mary Lou and Fred, who have made contributions to the blog comments and provided Steve with useful information about our trip. How neat was this. It felt so good to have someone there to greet us after a wild day of sailing. Besides, they knew where the closest bathroom was. Steve relaxed. He had done a great job sailing us safely to Rock Hall.)

They helped us get tied up at the marina and then joined us later for a great dinner at Waterman's Crab House. And that was just the beginning of their hospitality.

(Steve and I met Mary Lou and Fred for dinner at the Waterman's where we sampled their crabcakes. I had the baby back ribs and crabcake combo, both excellent. I don't remember how Steve rated the the cakes, but I think we agreed that they were No. 3 on our crabcake challenge. The evening with Mary Lou and Fred was very enjoyable. We would spend the next day with them as they graciously toured us around the Rock Hall area. What great folks.)

Looking back I've got to say that the twenty four hours, from 3 pm the previous day until we tied up in Rock Hall just after 3 pm, were the most pleasant, interesting and exciting days I have spent on Spartina. A great afternoon anchored on Warehouse Creek, a beautiful evening under the stars and a wild ride to Rock Hall. Can't beat that.

Distance - 23.35 nm

Max Speed - 7.4 knots

Ave Speed - 3.8 knots

Moving Time - 6 hours 7 minutes

steve

DAY FIVE - north to Kent Narrows

It was a really great night on Warehouse Creek. A cool front had moved in on the previous afternoon and it was the clearest, coolest night ever on the boat. No need for the bug screens on the bivy's. I would wake up now and then, enjoy the stars above and curl back up in my sleeping bag. Just fantastic.

(It was the best evening and night we have had on any of our cruises. After the moon set, the stars were brilliant. I could see some shooting stars and the occasional satellite streak across the sky. The coolness of the night made the sleeping bags warm and cozy instead of hot and uncomfortable. I must admit here I did zip up my net for some of the night, it just was working so well with the proper poles I didn't want to miss a single chance to use it. The morning brought a gorgeous sunrise. As we got up and prepared Spartina for the day, flocks of Canadian geese rose from the waters around us and into the rich golden colors of the morning. Fantastic. This night and morning, and the exciting sailing during the days, reinforced why camping on Spartina and cruising is such a wonderful adventure.)

The next morning the wind, still strong, had swung to the southwest. We still had small craft warnings, in fact we had had four days of small craft warnings in five days of sailing. We raised mizzen, jib and double reefed main for the reach down Cox Creek out towards Eastern Bay. That is the mouth of Cox Creek Below.

We used Bruce's gps, with the great charts that showed all the shoal depths, to sail east past the remants of Long Marsh and Bodkin Islands (and their shoal areas which were once part of the islands) and then on past Parsons Island (with a beautiful-looking farm on it) in a pretty stiff breeze. On the open water we dropped the double reefed main and sailed under mizzen and jib doing a respectable 4+ knots. The swells were still up on Eastern Bay and we spent some time trying to photograph them without much success. Below is the closest we got to a good picture, but it really doesn't convey the size, force and thrill of riding down the front of the wave. You'll just have to take our word for it. It was a great ride

(What was so great about this portion of the day was the weather. It was cool and blustery. The sun shone brightly and the water looked incredibly blue in most directions. The bay was alive with energy pushing the swells into and past us as Spartina surfed like a pro from Sunset Beach. We were warm in our foul weather gear. The wind was perfect for us and we took on little spray. I saw a lot of larger sail boats motoring along with sails furled, especially those heading into the wind. It was fantastic and we were charged up with the excitement the day had brought.)

By 9:45 we could see the bridge at Kent Narrows. I had been sweating the currents in area for a long time but with some wonderful advice from our friend Mary Lou we timed it to be running north with a moderate north-bound current. Another sailboat was ahead of us and requested a lift.

I called the bridge tender and gave him our position near red marker #6 and asked if we could make this lift or wait until the next lift 30 minutes later. He said keep on coming so we throttled up the outboard and made it through no problem at all.

The Narrows are lined with marinas and restaurants so we decided to tie up, top off the tank, get some ice and have lunch (a good move here). We tied up at a place called Red-Eye's or something along those lines. Nice marina with a helpful attendant, but their restaurant was closed for the day. But he said we could leave Spartina tied up there and walk to a restaurant nearby. Below you see the wind tugging at the boat alongside the fuel dock, the wind was getting stronger.

We walked next door to Harris Crab House, an old family restaurant and had a great lunch - crabcakes - looking out over the Narrows. From my notes......

Crabcake sandwich on a potato roll with a big serving of perfectly cooked french fries. Fresh lump crab meat, large patty pressed flat like a thick hamburger and broiled a rich brown color. No filler, light seasoning. Excellent. Came with tartar sauce, lettuce and a large slice of tomato. Very good service from our waitress Kim.

(Definitely No.2 on our hit parade of crab cakes.)

(After lunch we had to wait for the attendant while he was helping a large motor yacht attempt to pull into a slip at the marina. The wind was still very strong and growing. There was some chop around the slip. The current was starting to make itself known. I would say the boat was probably a 40 to 50 footer. It presented a lot of surface for the wind to play havoc with. The owner tried to head in, back in and just get into the slip. He must have had four of five attempts from all different angles. On his last attempt he drifted broadside into the bow of another vessel. It didn't look like any damage occurred. He finally succeeded, and the dock attendant was freed up to help us out. I learned a lot by watching the proceedings. There is more to boating, sail or power, than just going straight.)

It was an unplanned stop that worked out very well. By the time we fueled up and packed the ice it was just after noon. We still had a long way to go that day.

steve