pennant

Jeremy asked about the pennant that flies at the top of the mainmast of Spartina. I wanted something that would reflect the design of the boat. The thing I liked about several of John's designs was the use of the yawl rig. So I combined the three sails of the yawl with John's initials.

The flag was a gift to the boat from my Mother, but she did not sew it. That was done by The Sailbag Lady. It wasn't cheap. She had to hand sew two flags and then stitch them back to back. She did a very nice job, the flag is very well made and will last a long time.

The flag arrived at the post office the evening before Spartina's first cruise, a spring trip to Tangier Sound in '07. I got it tied on that night as I packed the boat. It has been on there ever since - a total of six cruises and a ton of day sailing. I really like looking up past the bright white mainsail and seeing it there (it reminds me of my folks).

As far as I'm concerned anybody with a Welsford boat is welcome to the design.

steve

small boats everywhere

For spectators the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival is a one day event. But if you come in a sailboat like we did it is a three day affair. Our festival started on Dividing Creek off the Wye River. Below is the gunkholing fleet arriving mid-afternoon on Thursday. The boat in the middle is Kevin B.'s Navigator "Slip Jig", a John Welsford design similar to my Pathfinder.

A couple of boats tied up to an old pier on the creek and the rest of the fleet rafted up with them. I think Slip Jig and Spartina were the last two boats to raft up as we sat out on the creek for a while and talked about our boats. Eventually we headed to shore and carried our stove/cooking gear/food (steak and fresh caught fish) up to the park area on shore and had dinner with everyone else, a nice evening with an excellent dinner and great people.

(Steve and I anchored out for the night. Most of the others set up tents on shore and enjoyed a late campfire.)

After a quiet night on the creek we sailed in to St. Michaels with Kevin and Slip Jig. High winds were in the forecast, but we had a great ride in. Kevin sailed with us for a while, but as we were weighted down with two people and all our gear he eventually sailed away from us. He met us at the entrance to St. Michaels and showed us the way in past a shoal.

(I still relied on the old gps after running aground earlier that morning, no offense to Kevin or anything. :) )

Kevin even loaned us his car to run down to Crisfield and pick up my jeep and trailer. By the time we got back to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum oysters and steamed crabs were being served.

Talk about a great afternoon snack!

But it was only a snack, Bruce and I headed over to The Crab Claw right next to the Museum for dinner. I had a salad and steamed clams. I don't recall what Bruce had but I do remember we both enjoyed the evening.

(I can't remember what I had, but we did have a great time. We could walk back to our B&B and it was a perfect evening to enjoy the boats and the quaint streets.)

It was glassy calm the next morning, the day of the festival. Bruce had decided to stay ashore and take photographs while I took Spartina out on the Miles River. I think I was the first sailboat to head out.

I said I went for a sail, Bruce said I went for a "drift". In either case it was a pretty morning and I enjoyed myself. I really like this photo (below) that Bruce shot of Spartina, that's a very nice reflection in the water (it reminds me of some Winslow Homer paintings). Nice shot, Bruce!

(It was a drift. A drunken sailor in a life jacket could have made better time getting around. But Steve did look pretty out there.)

Bruce checked out all the boats on shore and on the water. There were probably a couple of hundred boats there, everything from large wooden sailboats to beautiful wooden kayaks that looked like works of art.

(We have lots more pictures of the boats at the festival, perhaps we can do a post with just the boats, maybe tomorrow?)

Below is a log canoe, a very classic Chesapeake Bay Boat (and another classic to the right -Kevin's Navigator Slip Jig).

Of course Bruce could not stay away from photographing birds. I can't remember what kind of bird this is, maybe Bruce will tell us.

(I believe this is a Green Heron. It was hanging out in a pond near the museum. Birds are great subjects to photograph, especially when they pose for you.)

And below I'm taking Mary Lou and Fred out for a sail. I made four sails that day. One by myself (the morning "drift"), one with Mary Lou and Fred (our friends from Rock Hall), one with Seth (a Pathfinder builder) and Barbara, and the last with my neighbor Jim and his friend (also) Jim. Taking those folks out sailing was really the highlight of the festival for me. I would get Spartina out of the harbor and then turn the tiller over to whoever was on board. It was fun to watch Spartina's guests feel the sails catch the wind. By late morning we had a nice breeze and blue skies, it was great sailing and a lot of fun to talk with the folks on board.

The festival made for a great ending to a real adventure. We've started picking out dates for next year's trips. I can't wait.

steve

thinking out loud

The short days and cold wind out of the north is telling me that the sailing season (at least for me) is almost over. The water temperature is just about 61 degrees, in a few weeks it will be down in to the 50's. I would like to sail all through the winter, we do get some nice warm days in January and February. But the water will be cold enough that I really ought to wear a dry suit to be safe. And I can't quite afford one (yet).

So I find myself thinking about trips next year. We had been considering a spring trip on Chesapeake Bay and then heading back down to North Carolina in the fall. But I get the feeling that with our schedules we won't be able to do the spring trip until late spring - early to mid-June. I don't want sail up on Chesapeake Bay after Memorial Day when all the jet skiers and cigarette boats (do they still call them that?) are out on the water. So we'll switch the two, do Pamlico Sound in late spring and back up on Chesapeake Bay in the fall.

Above is a trip I roughed out for North Carolina. This is just the starting point. Bruce will take a look and have some input, then we'll have all winter to adjust, tweak or completely change our minds. Planning is a huge part of the fun for these trips. But at least this will give us a starting point for discussion.

We could start out at a marina on Broad Creek just east of Washington, NC. Follow the Pamlico River (hopefully it will be calmer than last spring) down to Goose Creek and the ICW. Take that south and come out on Pamlico Sound through either Jones Bay or the Bay River, heading southeast to West Bay and cut below Cedar Island (or we could even go above Cedar Island) to Core Sound. Sail south on Core Sound to Harkers Island and the Cape Lookout area. There we would have the interesting choice of sailing to Beaufort inside of Shackleford Banks or going to Cape Lookout Bight and sailing across Onslow Bay to Beafort Inlet. From Beaufort we could go north on the ICW to the Neuse River and Oriental (got to stop in Oriental anytime we have a chance), then back on the Neuse to New Bern. That sounds like a lot of distance to cover but straight line it measures out to about 150 miles. Certainly do-able. There would be some great places to anchor out overnight, and there would be a couple of places - Oriental, Beaufort - to tie up at a marina, stay in a hotel and have a nice dinner in a restaurant.

The map above is a possible fall trip on Chesapeake Bay. We would do it after Labor Day when most of the vacation crowd has gone home, the summer heat has left and the fish are starting to feed. But that trip is ten months away. Don't want to put too much effort on that. Got to think about the spring trip now.

Like I said, the sailing season here is nearly over. But we do have a little time left. There is a nice forecast for Sunday. Sunny and warm. The wind might be a little on the light side. If so that's ok, I'll anchor in Crawford Bay, read the NY Times, have a sandwich for lunch and take a nap. Sounds pretty good to me.

steve

we have a winner!

Bruce and I have reviewed our notes on the crab cakes we had on the sail up Chesapeake Bay. We found ourselves it complete agreement. Here are the results.......

First Place

Ruke's Seafood Deck in Ewell on Smith Island had, by far, the best crab cakes. Ewell was the first stop on our trip, so these were the first crab cakes we sampled. We knew right away that they would be hard to beat.

The kindly ladies at Ruke's stayed open a little late - restaurants on Smith Island close at 4 pm when the tourist boats leave - to fix our dinner. The crab cakes were made of nice fresh lump crab meat, no filler, broiled to perfection.

You want to get the best, go to the source. Smith Island (and neighboring Tangier Island) make their living off of blue crabs. There are good crab cakes elsewhere on the bay, but if you want the best this is where you go.

(All I can say is that when we were in St Michaels at the Small Craft Festival, no one was surprised that Ruke's was number one. I was surprised that anyone would even know the name Ruke's, let alone know the wonder of their crab cakes. It made us feel our quest was righteous and that the final decision of the impartial and intelligent judges was impeccable.)

Second Place

Harris Crab House on Kent Island finished a very strong second. Nice crab cake patty, lightly seasoned and served with excellent french fries. Friendly service and a nice view of the Narrows as we ate lunch. This is an old family place and they have kept the family tradition alive.

(I agree, great views of Kent Narrows. This place must rock during the summer. Steve is right, the staff was very friendly and efficient. We didn't have any beer with these crab cakes because we were still going to be sailing on to Rock Hall, where we made up for it later that night.)

Third Place

Waterman's Crab House in Rock Hall came in with a very good third place crab cake. Atmosphere was great, view - of the Rock Hall Harbor - was fantastic. These were good crab cakes. What I have heard since is that the crab cakes are good, the hard shell crabs are GREAT! Those will definitely be on the menu the next time we sail through.

(These were good. I had them two nights in a row, and I didn't mind a little BBQ sauce from my ribs mixing in. I know, I'm not a purest, but I didn't use any thing else like tarter sauce either.)

Fourth Place

And bringing up the rear were the crab cakes at Harrison's Chesapeake House on Tilghman Island.

(What a great setting. It was a neat restaurant and they had a fabulous buffet set up that I would have loved to try, but we were going to have dinner at the Tilghman Inn, which turned out to be a great dinning experience, so we chose wisely.)

These were "ok" crab cakes. A little too much of what seemed like mayo, deep fried. But hey, when eaten out on the patio by the little beach with a cold beer in hand, blue skies above and an old Skipjack sailing by on the way to Dogwood Harbor, they are pretty darned good. I don't recall hearing any gripes from any of the judges on that beautiful afternoon. Sometimes it is about the food, sometimes it is about the place, and sometimes it is both, combined with the fact you are sitting there with a good friend talking about being in the middle of a great adventure. Yes, those were pretty good crab cakes, too.

(These crab cakes were ordered as appetizers, however, they were billed as tasting just like the ones off the regular menu. So, we felt it a fair comparison by Harrison's own description. I think the second round of beers really added to the rating. It is hard to compare a fried thing to a broiled thing, and all the other crab cakes were broiled. I don't think we got a choice at Harrison's. We also had the fried broccoli, which mysteriously had a similar taste ???)

steve

don't the Lord love a two by four

You ask him how to do somethin'

and he's say just like Noah built the ark

you got to hold your mouth right son

and never miss your mark....

(from The Carpenter by Guy Clark)

Got a nice trip down memory lane courtesy of Seth who is building a Pathfinder up in the mountains of Virginia. He finally sent me a photograph of his build (thanks Seth!). The photograph gave me flashbacks to the 20 months I spent building Spartina. I've got to say that is was a lot of work, a lot of fun. I remember the hand plane peeling off slices of wood, the rich smell of douglas fir, sawdust so thick on the garage floor it was like walking around in snow. When I finished the boat I went in to a period of mourning, something was missing from my life when I came home in the evening and did not have a list of boat building jobs.

It looks like Seth is doing a great job and will have a very nice Pathfinder. He was at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival last month and came by to take a look at Spartina. He had told me he would be there and wanted to take some photographs of the boat. I said why not take a sail too! That's Spartina below with Seth up forward taking a look at the construction and his mother Barbara to the right (Barbara was a delightful woman and a great conversationalist - I've kept your business card Barbara, you'll be hearing from us next time we are up your way on the Bay!). We had a nice breeze and a great sail once we got out on the Miles River. Seth had a lot of questions about construction and I tried to answer as best I could, but it has been four years since I built Spartina and I have forgotten many of the details. He is obviously doing fine without my help, I look forward to seeing his progress on the boat.

Now that I think about it, building the boat was fun, but sailing it is a lot more fun. You'll see what I'm talking about soon, Seth.

steve

the best reason for having a SPOT

This sad story from the LA Times illustrates what I think it the best reason to have a SPOT satellite beacon.

Anytime search and rescue personnel are in the air or on the water they are at risk. It is the nature of their jobs, they do it gladly. Having a SPOT satellite beacon could minimize the search time in a rescue operation. Less time searching means less time at risk for the people conducting the search. From the story......

"The C-130 had been ordered to the area from its base in Sacramento to assist in the search for a boat described as a 12-foot skiff."

I don't know any details of this search and I would not suggest that anyone in particular is to blame for this tragedy. The collision might have happened regardless of having a SPOT. But it does make me realize that my adventure is not a good reason to put anybody else at unnecessary risk. Carrying a SPOT on board Spartina - in fact we carry two - increases safety on board and, at the very least, helps minimize search time by would-be rescuers. The quicker they find us, the better off we all are.

steve

crossing paths, past and present

Meetings on the water, by way of water, can be interesting. I came across one chance meeting from several years ago involving a couple of sailors I admire. And I had the chance myself to meet some fascinating people myself just yesterday.

I was rereading some chapters in Frank Dye's Sailing to the Edge of Fear the other evening. Dye pushed the boundaries of dinghy sailing with a 16' Wayfarer. His trips include sailing from Scotland to Iceland (11 days and 650 miles of open ocean sailing) and then later from Scotland to Norway (four capsizes and a broken mast). Very exciting for an open cockpit boat.
Sailing to the Edge of Fear is about Dye's sailing from Miami to Canada, a voyage he completed over several years. Along the way he talks about an encounter with a catboat sailor. After visiting Washington D.C. he sailed across Chesapeake Bay to (please excuse his geographic confusion) to "Queenstown, D.C." (really Queenstown, Md., on the Chester River) and found a nice looking 17' catboat in the harbor. The owner notices Dye circling the catboat and introduces himself as "Tut" Tuttle. This was the same very same man I wrote about a while ago in the post called "in search of Washington Tuttle." Tut will always be in my personal sailing hall of fame his single-handed circumnavigation of the Delmarva Peninsula in his catboat (identified by Frank Dye as "Dumpling"). What are the odds of two of great small boat sailors meeting like that?

Tut must have been getting on in years at the time, he had had a heart attack and his family did not want him single-handing his catboat to an annual gathering 30 miles away. So Dye crewed for him to the catboat gathering and regatta. I would have loved to have heard their conversations on that trip, two sailors who relied on nothing more than simple boats and skill to cross some very interesting water.

I had my own chance to hear some interesting conversation yesterday when SandyBottom (Dawn, above) and her husband DanceswithSandyBottom (Paul) were in nearby Hampton, Virginia to see their son Alan off on a round-the-world sailing trip.

Alan is a crew member for the EYE of the World project, a circumnavigation on board a 40' Rhodes Reliant yawl. The goal for the project to to creating a traveling real-time education resource for school children. What a cool idea, what a great adventure.

Back when I was building Spartina I began following SandyBottom's blog, learning from her meticulous training and stealing all sorts of ideas from her kayaking adventures. She is a regular competitor in the Everglades Challenge and this year organized the Watertribe's NC Challenge. Paul sails a Core Sound 20(that's Alan on the cs20 above) that he and Alan built a few years ago. If I recall correctly, the very first time they put the boat in the water was at the starting line of an Everglades Challenge. What a way to test sail a boat.

Needless to say, Paul and Dawn are a very interesting and adventurous couple. I had corresponded with both of them over the past year or so but had never met them in person. I was thrilled when Paul told me they would be up near my home.

Saturday I had hoped to get them out for a brief sail on Spartina, but scheduling did not work out. Yesterday I did drive over to meet them at the docks in Hampton. It was a treat. They were fascinating, fun people to be around. In the couple of hours I was with them we talked about - it seemed like - everything small boats. Sailing, kayaking, watertight ports, mosquitoes, packing, cabins vs. open cockpit, the joy of planning, weather, food (Dawn is a fan of Bruce's small boat menus), rowing vs. outboards (Paul would rather row), competing vs. cruising, training (Dawn got after me a bit for not intentionally capsizing my boat), sailing rigs, weekend trips vs. weeklong trips, journeys made and journeys planned....I can't believe we touched on all that, plus Alan's trip, in such a short time.

They have travelled over waters from North Carolina to the Florida keys, a lot of territory that I have not visited. But we did have the Carolina Sounds in common and it was fun to compare notes on Pamlico Sound, Oriental, the ICW and Cedar Island.

I enjoyed my time with them (that's Paul and Dawn at the Everglades Challenge finish line below) and hope to see them again. If I'm lucky someday maybe I'll cross paths with Paul and Dawn on the water.

steve

Rockin in Rock Hall

Fisherman Island

I got a chance to run over to Fisherman Island today. That is the tiny little island at the very southern tip of the Eastern Shore. You'll see it on various charts, maps and signs as Fishermen's Island or Fisherman's Island, but the real name is Fisherman Island.

Somebody was smart enough years ago to make it a federal national wildlife refuge. Access is very limited. I had driven over it countless times over the last 20 years - the last high rise bridge of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel touches down there as you head north on to the shore - but I had never set foot on it. I was very glad to go today.

Signs of wildlife, both marine and otherwise, were everywhere. Those are deer tracks below. There were thousands of birds, ghost crabs, horse shoe crabs, sand dollars and just about anything else you could imagine.

It was the first time I had been around the water since the sailing trip. And of course it got me to thinking about where we might go sailing next year. There was one pretty little creek that reminded me of some of the places we saw on the last trip. I would like to head back north on the Bay maybe in late spring to visit the creeks around the Honga, Little Choptank and Choptank Rivers. We would probably cover less territory, but spend more time checking out the creeks, marshes and fishing villages.

And I would like to head south in late summer or early fall to Pamlico Sound. I've done four cruises down there, two solo and two with Bruce, but there is lots more to see. Bruce is checking on his schedule - I didn't realize retired life could be so busy - so we can compare notes and work things out. The planning will be a fun project for winter.

We've had bad weather the two weekends since we got back from the trip. But the forecast is looking better this Saturday and Sunday so maybe I'll get out for a day sail on the Elizabeth River. Now is a great time to sail - if the weather is good - as the snowbird fleet of sailboats are passing through our area on their way to Florida and the Bahamas for the winter. A lot of spectacular boats and very nice people are out there on the ICW right now.

Today on Fisherman Island we could feel the weather shifting back and forth. Early in the morning it was hot and humid, then it cleared and cooled down. A very nice, interesting day on a beautiful little island.

steve