plans "A" and "B"

Just a little over two weeks until what I'm calling the "fall" trip, though it will be over by the time fall arrives.  Finished the trail mix today with the addition of golden raisins.  Started sorting through the clothes - a couple pair of Northface pants, three or four sun block shirts and some tee shirts -  and checking batteries and notebooks. 

I have two  different routes to follow, the wind forecast for the first couple of days will determine which plan I will sail.  If I have a north to northwest wind for the first two days I will follow the path sketched out above.  Out Chincoteague Inlet to Wachapreague Inlet, then south on the inside passage, rounding Cape Charles, then heading north visiting along the way the town of Cape Charles, Tangier Island, Smith Island, Oxford and ending possibly in St. Michaels.  

The complication with this trip is that Spartina and I will finish in St. Michaels, the jeep and the trailer will be in Chincoteague.  I found a website for a car/taxi/limo service in Easton, right next to St. Michaels, that claims they will drive passengers anywhere there is a road.  I've got an email into them to check on cost/availability.

If the forecast for wind is anywhere other than out of the north to northwest, I'll follow the route above.  I'm not sure of the starting point, either Onancock or Crisfield, sailing north on Tangier Sound, the Honga River, Choptank River, East Bay and then the Miles River.....and then back.  This trip could include visits to Taniger Island, Smith Island, Deal Island, St. Michaels, Oxford and Cambridge.

Both trips sound good to me, and I'll be happy whichever way the wind blows.  Drawing out these trips on google earth I was surprised to find that they are very similar in length, both about 220 miles with the simple straight line ruler segments.  Sailing the route would certainly be more miles, but definitely practical in a two week time frame (with some relaxing, reading, fishing built in).

Above are my two buffs for the trip, redfish on the left, which I've had for a couple of years, and striper on the right which just arrived this week.

Weekend sailing is up in the air.  Thunderstorms are forecast for the next several days.  Below is a photograph from this past Sunday's windless sail.