the last full day

With plans no more certain than the wind we slip out of Cod Harbor.  Maybe tie up in Tangier for a walk in the village, or head southwest across the sound to Onancock to visit some friends.  We turn southwest, but the incoming tide makes for slow going on an overcast morning.

Surrendering to the wind and tide we turn north as the overcast breaks up and the morning light reaches over the starboard side to catch the sails.

Moving north in Tangier Sound the skies are blue and the sun becomes hot.  Deadrises cross cross the water loaded with stacks of crab pots.

A day that begun as uncertain is now perfect.  Steady wind, open water.  Tangier Island on the horizon to stern, the buildings of Crisfield in the distance off the bow.

The wind falters and dies near marker 6 just along the Maryland/Virgina State line.  The cormorants stare as we drift past.

Crossing Cedar Straits in the lightest of breezes, dry and hot out of the southwest, we find water shallower than expected.  The bottom is a fine silt, and a layer of silt coats both the eel grass and the blue crabs that hide within.

We enter Broad Creek, one of my favorite waterways, with a puff of the breeze.  Carried by an incoming tide we follow the winding path through the marsh.

Halfway down the creek we pass a small house surrounded by trees on a high spot in the marsh.  Trees growing together on a high spot I've now learned is called a tump.  When the high ground is in a marsh the locals call it a marshtump.  Hence the name of a mythical restaurant I tried to find on an earlier cruise - The Marshtump Cafe.

Evening in a deep pool of water inside of Great Point.  Calm and peaceful, we enjoy the breeze until the sun does down.

Just remembering the last full day on the water.....