a loss

Sad news from Maria on the Eastern Shore.  The Chesapeake Bay Bugeye Charlotte E. Foster, sketched out on a brown shopping bag and built at a commune off the Choptank River in the 1970s, is gone.  She was up on the hard in a boatyard when tornado-like winds knocked her over and damaged her beyond repair.

I met Maria and her husband John through the Charlotte.  We spent an evening sailing together on Onancock Creek aboard Spartina, then rafted up to the Charlotte in failing light, a bottle of white wine shared in the darkness.  I slept aboard Spartina that night, waking before dawn to find a curious cat on board.  With a crisp wind I cast off to sail down creek before any stirrings at the homes along the along shore.

I hope to see Maria and John this fall on the eastern shore, maybe visit their home and look out back to where they had kept the Charlotte.  I might even sail up Onancock Creek on my way north and tie up at the dock.  But it won't be the same without the beautiful white hull and tall masts of the Charlotte E. Foster.