book of days, 2013/aftermath

I received my 2013 Calendar of Wooden Boats in the mail yesterday.  Wooden Boat calendars have hung on our kitchen wall for as far back as I can remember, reminding us of birthdays, vacations and anniversaries.  I promptly marked off the weeks for next years sailing trips; a week in the spring when the Eastern Shore inlets have outgoing tides in the mornings and incoming in the afternoon, and two weeks in the fall to sail around both Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds in North Carolina.  Marking down of birthdays, anniverseries, etc, will have to wait.

I've been wondering, worrying about Bowers Beach, Delaware, the nice little beach community on the Murderkill River where Bruce and I tied up to JP's on the Wharf for an excellent dinner.  Pete, the co-owner of the restaurant let us stay at the dock for the night and even helped us adjust Spartina's lines to accomodate the six foot tidal drop on the river.  The town sits between two small rivers and faces east out to Delaware Bay.  How had they fared in the storm?

Checking google news for Bowers Beach I see that they did fine.  Yes, some flooding here and there.  But overall the town "dodged the bullet" as one headline said.  I'm sure there is plenty of work to do to get the town in back shape, but it seems to have escaped the level of damage that occurred up north.

Where I live the storm seems to have gone unnoticed.  There was a little flooding, but people tell me it was just wind and rain for a day.  Oysterman of Chesapeake Bay and its rivers are hard hit, though.  Waters have been shut down to harvesting until the quality of the water can be tested.  I think that testing may have begun yesterday.  With all the rain who knows what kind of run-off the Bay water experienced. 

In addition, several oyster houses were flooded and I'm sure the crates for farm raised oysters were tossed about quite a bit.  I talked to one oysterman friend who said they are busy trying to get things back in order and hoping the water will be proven clean for healthy harvesting soon.  I'm sure those guys want to get back to work, get the cash flow going again as their busiest time of year approaches.  And I know that I want to get hold of some good, fresh oysters.

steve