From Tangier Island we'll sail north to Smith Island and hopefully time it right to have a nice lunch at the Drum Point Market in Tylerton. I stopped there on day seven of the Bay Days trip and really enjoyed the lunch and a nice walks through the streets (lanes really) of the village.
We would be coming from the south entering the wide, shallow Tyler creek between Peachorchard Pt to the west and Horse Hammock, a salt marsh, to the east. The navigable part of the creek is a very narrow channel marked only by a few stick and pipes put out there by the locals. We've have two gps, including Bruce's with Garmin Bluecharts to help us stay in the channel.
After a visit to Tylerton we would like to continue north. There are three different paths we might follow to get through Smith Island and our choice of the route will probably be dictated by the wind. We could head west to Rhodes Pt and turn north to Sheep Pen Gut. We could take Tyler Ditch north from Tylerton to where it intersects with the Big Thorofare and head southeast to come out on Tangier Sound. Or we could take that same ditch north to the Big Thorofare and head west past the village of Ewell and then out on Chesapeake Bay. Bruce and I sailed the Big Thorofare from the sound to Ewell and then from Ewell to the bay a couple of years ago on the Crab House 150. It was a beautiful winding creek through the marshes of Smith Island.
So one way or the other, depending on wind, we'll end up either on Chesapeake Bay or Tangier Sound. The question is where do we go from there. If you look at the map at the top of this post you'll see I've got us going to Deal Island on the east site of Tangier Sound. The mileage on that route, as drawn in yellow, is about 28 or 29 miles. That sounds like a good distance for the typical cruising day.
Deal Island is home to at least one of the very few working Skipjacks. I caught a glimpse of this boat's sails on the horizon on the Bay Days trip. Wouldn't it be nice to sail into the harbor and get a closer look at her?
On days two and six of the Bay Days trip I was within a mile of Deal Island as I tacked across Tangier Sound but I was on my way to other places so I did not get to visit the place. Maybe this year. You can see my tracks from those to days below, and in the photo above I think that is Deal Island on the horizon as I sailed from South Marsh Island on the morning of day two.
Then again South Marsh Island could well be the stopping point for day two on the next trip. It just depends on wind and weather. The two islands are just about four miles from each other. I like having options of a couple of anchorage and I know from my last visit there that Little Pungers Creek on South Marsh Island is a very nice place to drop the anchor.
That's my gps and chart heading down Tangier Sound on the way to Little Pungers Creek, a decent 4.2 kts sailing into the wind and waves, reefed, with small craft warnings.
And there is the salt marsh that lines Little Pungers Creek. It is a shallow creek but provides good protection from wind from just about any direction but due east.
So day two could end at Deal Island or South Marsh Island. Those are at least two of the options - we like options - and a quick look at the charts shows there could be lots of other stopping places. But these are nice places for me to think about on a very cold winter day.
steve
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