the best, the worst, the weirdest

From the 2012 cruises.......

Best Anchorage - Codjus Creek on day one of the Over the Top 200

Best Cloud Formation I Did Not Want to See - A dark grey cloud spreading over the Little Annemessex River burying the golden light of morning.  I could hear the thunder over Tangier Sound, just made it to the dock, tied up and ran for cover as the rain, lightning and wind hit on the last day of the Tangier Sound Walkabout.

Best Named Anchorage - Murderkill River

Oddest Sound in the Middle of the Night - The whooshing sound of my life jacket self-inflating as the little "pill," eroded by rain and spray, broke apart anchored in Swan Creek on the first night of the Tidal 214

Nicest Clouds - sailing down Chincoteague Bay

Most Miles Covered in a Single Day - 51.7 nautical miles during the Over the Top from Chesapeake City, Md, down the C and D Canal, then down Delaware Bay to Bowers Beach

Best Afternoon of Tacking - Beaufort Inlet, between Radio Island and Bird Shoal, sailing into the wind and tide on a beautiful afternoon day two of the Tidal 214

Best Morning of Tacking - Beaufort Inlet, day three of the Tidal 214, tacking between Shackleford Bank and Bird Shoal, into the wind and tide for over two hours to reach the inlet on a very pretty morning - I could have sailed that water all day long

Best Bridge Tender - the guy at Lewes Bridge who did a lift for us, then drove to the Rehoboth Bridge and waited for us there so he could let us pass through, all the while ignoring the requirement for 24 hour advance requests for bridge lifts

Best Cooling Off - Allison Creek after a sweltering, windless day crossing the Pamlico River on day five of of the Tidal 214

Best Fight Interrupted - Two guys, one very inebriated and the other moderately so, nose to nose over a woman who seemed amused by it all, at Gilligan's in Lewes, Delaware.  Both would-be boxers said "Excuse me" and stepped back as Bruce passed by on his way to the restroom, then went nose to nose again until a waiter broke it up.

Most Tortured Body of Water - Indian River Inlet Channel, a surging mass of water with giant eddies, steep chop and breaking waves

Best Brunch - Grilled speckled trout and sweet potatoes in Mouse Harbor after catching the fish off of Pamlico Point on day seven of the Tidal 214

Best Tide-Aided Speed - eight knots at times down Delaware Bay

Best Live Performance by a Dead Singer - The voice of Elvis drifting across Rehoboth Bay from an Elvis Impersonator weekend at Dewey Beach on day five of the Over the Top

Coldest Day on the Water - sailing from Crisfield to Smith Island on day one of the Tangier Sound Walkabout, a dark grey day with a temperature of 46 degrees when I launched the boat

Worst Decision When Launching on a Cold Day - not bringing shoes

Best Appetizer - Tuna Wontons at Gilligan's in Lewes, Delaware

Best Skinny Water Sailing - across the cut between Middle Hooper Island and Lower Hooper Island, board all the way up and rudder nearly so as Spartina's bottom scraped over the gravel

Best Place to Hide the Beer - Behind the bale of hay and under the flower pot of a fall display outside of Bill's Prime Seafood and Steaks in Chincoteague after the manager told us we could not carry a six pack into his restaurant on the last day of the Over the Top (best Oysters Romanoff anywhere at that place)

Latest Running Tide - Outgoing tide at Ocean City Inlet that was still running out at over three knots an hour and one-half after the predicted low tide.  "Yeah, it does that sometimes" said the woman at the fuel dock in the boat basin.

Worst Storm - Three storm cells in a row that passed over Spartina in Abel Bay off the Pamlico River on day six of the Tidal 214

Most Unusual Visitor - The snake that swam across the Little Annemessex River, nosed up against Spartina's hull, then continued on his way to the marsh grass about a hundred yards away

Best Hamburger - The Rusty Rudder, Dewey Beach, Delaware

Most Disorienting Music in the Middle of the Night - Mariachi music as the radio shorted out and turned itself on after an evening of storms on Abel Bay

Nicest Park Ranger - the one that opened the store at Janes Island State Park to sell me three bottles of cold green tea on day four of the Tangier Walkabout

Best Sail with the Dolphins - on the ocean from Indian River Inlet to Ocean City Inlet, the dolphin swam so close we could almost touch them

Best Floating Artwork - a topless mermaid on the door of a home-made houseboat at the basin in Chesapeake City

Best Luck with the Weather - a day of north wind, the only day in our time frame, to carry us down the coast from Indian River Inlet to Ocean City Inlet

And that's it, selected by a panel made up of one judge.  Looking back, 2012 was a good year on the water.

  

I'll take it as a good omen for 2013 that the January photograph in the WoodenBoat Calendar shows a yawl.  A much larger and more expensive yawl than Spartina, but still - a yawl.  Got to love those yawls.

Here's to a good year for everyone!

steve