2011 Two Week Summer Cruise

Transcription

1 2011 Two Week Summer Cruise The plans for this year s summer cruise were hatched on a cold and rainy day in February, with a number of BBSA members bundled in various layers throwing out destinations to visit with visions of much warmer days. Our plan, ambitious in nature, maybe a little too ambitious, was strung together and eleven boats made plans to cruise the bay, venturing as far north as Chestertown. The cruise this year included the Dreamtime, Sea Doc, Rhumba, Beach Magic, L Attitude, Coriolis, Chateau Sur La Mer, Virginia Breeze, Aphrodite and a new and improved Modus Vivendi. Jackson Creek: Day one had us all anchoring in Jackson Creek, along with many of the one week cruisers. It would seem that this creek has become the traditional starting or jumping off point for the two week cruise. A beautiful day on the water and once everyone was anchored we started our cruising tradition of sun downers and cocktails at 1700 prior to whatever dinner arrangements were planned. As with most cocktail hours along the cruise, dinner usually is not necessary with all of the great appetizers and munchies that are prepared by everyone. Reedville: Day two, and not the intended destination. The day started well with all of the boats getting underway very early, for our long haul up the bay to the Solomon s. One of the negative attributes of this cruise is that we planned too many long day, requiring us to get underway at the crack of dawn. The norm soon became an early morning wake up and letting go of all lines with our first cup of coffee still warm in our hands. Today was to be one of the few days of our trip which were overcast, but we had a great westerly wind, so although we lacked sunshine we were all looking forward to a great sail. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse, and soon we found 20 kt. winds on the nose with the associated uncomfortable bay chop. In no time at all we all decided to duck into the Great Wicomico and anchor in Reedville in the vicinity of the Crazy Crab. The anchorage was wonderful, and very well protected, so while the winds were stirring up the waves in the bay, we settled down to a wonderful evening of cocktails onboard Beach Magic followed by dinner at the Crazy Crab. Day three had us waking very early, or at least I did on Modus Vivendi, as the rain came pouring in the hatch right over my bunk. Once everything was buttoned up, it was back to bed and with hopes of when we awoke in the morning the rain would have quit. Of course that was not to be and the rain was giving us no signs of letting up anytime soon. Back to the drawing board,

2 and delayed our departure for the Solomon s for another day, but then why not, who wants to be out on the bay with Kts. winds on the nose while it is pouring buckets. The rain finally came to an end shortly after lunch, and in no time at all the sun had managed to dry all of the decks and we all were out an about on the decks, while some ventured into downtown Reedville to explore. No sailing but still a great day and that evening we all enjoyed the music of our favorite Scottish Bagpiper. The Solomon s: Day four has us finally underway to catch up with our schedule. A beautiful day, with light winds, too light, from the south. With a long way to go, so the day consisted mainly of motor sailing, with the exception of our resident bagpiper who put the rest of us motor sailors to shame. It was a great day on the water, and we enjoyed cocktails by the pool before heading to DiGiovanni s for dinner. If you have not been there before, I can highly recommend the food. Annapolis: Our only scheduled two day liberty port for the whole trip. We got underway from the Solomon s early and even though the sun was just peaking over the horizon the day was already too hot. The first underway prize today went to Rhumba, who slipped her lines before the sun was even up. Once out on the bay the wind was still, with hints or puffs out of the south. Not only was it hot, but the haze was such that I don t think than any of us had more than ½ a nautical mile of visibility. I had recently purchased an AIS App for my IPad, and now will sing the praises of that system. The AIS system alerted us long before we were able to visually see a container ship heading north at more than 20 kts, and we all were directly in her path. I am fairly certain that neither the container ship nor our flotilla would have been able to see each other in any reasonable amount of time to maneuver. Chalk one up to technology. The remainder of the transit was fairly uneventful, but of course it is always an experience negotiating a path through the entrance to Annapolis harbor, with so many boats underway and another equal number on moorings. We all moored at the Annapolis Yacht Basin right in the center of town, and at the foot of the Annapolis Yacht Club, providing us with great access to town for sightseeing, ice cream and the many restaurants and shops which we all planned on visiting. No matter how often we visit, we always want to come back as this is a great town with much to offer, including a great museum on the grounds of the Naval Academy. Once we

3 were all settled, cocktails were onboard Modus Vivendi, followed by a great dinner at Lewnes in Eastport. This is one of the better steak houses I have been too, and I can highly recommend their Signature Prime Rib Dinner with lots of Horseradish. The following evening, cocktails and dinner were at the Annapolis Yacht Club, where dinner was just as great, and a great place to relax following all of the days walking. Chestertown: Our northern most stop, and a town which is described as a smaller version of St. Michaels. The transit was wonderful, allowing us to sail a good portion of the trip north around Kent Island and then following a winding path up the Chester River. The river is easy to navigate, although you do need to take into account the current as it runs at a good clip. I can attest to its strength as we arrived in Chestertown shortly after max flood and I had the pleasure of docking perpendicular to the current in a narrow fairway. It only took three attempts before I managed to keep the bow tucked into the dock for the dock hands to pick up my lines and get me secure. Chestertown is one of the few towns on the Bay that I have visited that actually lives up to the description in the Chesapeake Bay Guide, with beautiful tree lined streets and various shops around the center section of town. We had a multitude of choices for dinner, which included an old hotel, and a few others from casual to very fine. We settled on the Blue Heron which appeared to be in the middle, not to fancy or casual. This is another restaurant I will highly recommend and if I ever find myself this far north again will be sure to visit. Rhode River: We had planned on a late morning departure from Chestertown, so that we could all enjoy the farmers and artisan markets which occur early every Saturday morning. All of course changed as we once again reviewed the route we had planned through Kent Narrows, and came to the conclusion that the bridge was too low for some and the depth to shallow for most. Local knowledge might have helped, but none had done this transit previously, so we opted for the more prudent passage and an anchorage on the Rhode River providing us a shorter transit into St. Michaels on Sunday. The wind and current were in our favor, and we all enjoyed a great sail down the 26 NM of the Chester before coming out into the bay where the wind finally gave up for the day. Our Southbound transit had started, and the winds had clocked 180 degrees and were out of the North, with barely a puff to move us along. This was the most tiring of our underway days, as I furled and unfurled the sails on three separate occasion s believing that the wind was finally starting to build. Mother Nature fooled me. We anchored just inside the Rhode River in a very popular spot, enjoying a wonderful afternoon swimming and just relaxing in our cockpits. St. Michaels: Sunday morning, not the best day to choose a transit to St, Michaels. The problem of course is that all of the weekend traffic from the Northern Bay which had spent the weekend in St. Michaels were now heading home. The wind, like on the previous few days was

4 barely a puff, but enough to sail. Unfortunately with the mass exodus from St. Michaels, this seemed to be mostly Power Boats, all with sizeable wakes, making the transit uncomfortable and causing us to spill what little wind there was. It did not take us long once in the Eastern Bay to furl all of our canvas and finish our transit under power. Once in St. Michaels we tied up to the St. Michaels City Docks, located in town and only a short dinghy ride or walk to the Crab Claw restaurant and of course the Chesapeake Maritime Museum. All but one of us was moored at the St. Michaels Marina, with one boat opting to anchor in San Domingo Creek, off the Choptank, on the South Side of town. Upon further inspection, this looks to be a beautiful anchorage and the walk into town is about the same as from the Marina. A must stop for me on my next trip into St. Michaels. St. Michaels is filled with shops of all genres with something for everyone to explore. Of course, the most important and frequented was the Ice Cream Parlor on the south side of the town and the Chesapeake Maritime Museum, with wonderful tours of the lighthouse, the boat shed and the Waterman s exhibits. Dunn Cove: Another early underway for our planned transit out of the East Bay, south through the Poplar Island Narrows, and into the Choptank, via Narrows, then north on Harris Creek. Once again a windless day, but all of us commented on how much more comfortable the transit through the East Bay was on a Monday, without all of the Power Boats and their wakes. The transit through Poplar Island Narrows is always interesting, especially in the areas of very shallow water depths and a lack of Day shapes or Buoys. We all kept a close eye on our Chart Plotters, zigging and zagging where required and in lieu of any navigation aids, we just followed the crab pots. Once through the Poplar Island Narrows a sharp port turn brings you into the channel for Knapp s Narrows. The first boat through that morning had reported shoal water in the vicinity of Red #4, shallower than most of our keels making for another interesting slow speed transit. The shoaling from the Point did not extend all the way across the channel, and all was fine as long as you hugged the Reds. Once passed the bridge we all turned north and anchored in a beautiful cove for a quiet afternoon, even spotting a Bald Eagle in trees surrounding the inlet. Cocktails were onboard Aphrodite a beautiful and well equipped 51 Sea Ray. Great food, Island Cocktails and conversation. Oxford: Finally a morning that we did not have to get underway at the crack of dawn. Enough time in the morning to swim and further explore the cove in a Kayak. Everyone was looking forward to our visit to Oxford, not only is a quaint town and home to the Scottish Ice Creamery (Great Ice Cream), but we were all looking forward to dinner at the recently reopened Robert Morris Inn. The Inn dates back to the early 1700 s and incorporates a part of Robert Morris home and both the restaurant and bar are a step back in time. We arrived early to enjoy cocktails and the air conditioning in the bar prior to our dinner and although this is a piece of our history the comportment of the hostess started the evening on a sour note, followed by a soda spigot that kept ruining our drinks. On a more positive note, dinner was absolutely delicious, but in my opinion did not overcome the inadequate service expected for this level of establishment. A real disappointment.

5 Slaughter Creek: We awoke to a good breeze out of the northwest this morning as we enjoyed another leisurely morning prior to our transit to Slaughter Creek. Once underway we all raised our sails, no need to motor today and we enjoyed a great transit out of the Choptank before turning east again and heading into the Little Choptank. We all had received a number of warnings, including those in the guides, regarding the shoaling that had been occurring well into the Slaughter Creek Channel and how important it was to stay to the Green side. Good advice and never during the transit into the creek did I see less than 7.5 feet of water. Slaughter Creek Marina is small but well maintained and well off the beaten path (not sure if there is anything which could be considered close) where all the staff is quite friendly and helpful and is the site of an old Coast Guard Station. Once moored we all settled down to relax and enjoy the pool, and then cocktails on the dock, highlighted of course by another bagpipe performance. Palm Beach Willy s located on the property is a casual restaurant partly located over the water on a floating barge with a fun atmosphere and good seafood. St Leonard s Creek: The winds today continued very light out of the North, and we were heading directly downwind out of the Little Choptank and into the Patuxent. With our sails out wing on wing, we all managed to sail all the way south before the becoming becalmed as we passed the cliffs at Drum Point on the way into the river. Our plan was to sail up the Patuxent and into St. Leonard s Creek and enjoy a visit to the famous Vera s (under new ownership and management). St. Leonard s Creek is spectacular and ranks at the top of my list of places to anchor in the Bay. I had never been to Vera s before, so I had nothing to compare it too but I heard from a number of sailors in our group who had been

6 here during Vera s reign, that it was nothing like the old place. Today it is a Tiki Bar with a great view, designed to serve food to a multitude of people, still all did have a good time, but I wish that I had had a chance to visit the place in its heyday. Pt. Lookout: A fairly early underway once again for our long transit to Pt. Lookout Marina on the Potomac River. We motored out of the creek and into the Patuxent with light winds with most of expecting to have to motor all the way into the Potomac. To our surprise, the winds started to build as we turned into the Bay and once again we were enjoying a downwind sail. Shortly after passing Cedar Point and the start of our sail, we were intercepted by the U.S. Navy Range boats requesting that we close the shore as the bombing range was to go active. From our vantage point we were able to watch a couple of F/A 18 s make a few bombing runs and if you were watching at just the right moment you were able to see the tall plume of water rise up a hundred or so feet. The sail was great and it was not until we were well into the Potomac that our wind quit and we had to motor the last mile into Calvert Bay. Pt. Lookout Marina appeared deserted to us, with more empty slips than I have seen in a while, but has a nice pool and great BBQ area in amongst a large grove of trees, which along with the Mosquitos we enjoyed very much. Kinsale Harbor Yacht Club: Today s plan was for a short sail across the Potomac and into the Yecomico River and then into the town of Kinsale. The Kinsale Harbor Yacht Club is only a Yacht Club in name but the owner has plans of turning this little marina that is well tucked away into a fun destination. The Marina is fairly old and in need of some tender love and care, but it is all made up for in the friendliness and helpfulness of the owner and in time, he may accomplish all of the required repairs and modernizations. The marina may not be in the best of repair, but it was quite full making it so that we had to jockey a few boats in order to get everyone into a slip, not to mention having to warp Sea Doc into her slip as the width of the fairway and current would preclude her from maneuvering into her slip solely under engine power. In addition to the Marina, they owner also has a small restaurant, well more of a hamburger and hot dog establishment, but with our large group and our own room upstairs we were all soon laughing and enjoying the time together. Following dinner, just as it was getting dark we all returned to our boats to watch the Kinsale 4 th of July fireworks show. A great show, which could not have been enjoyed from a better location than our own boats, and a display that puts most larger towns to shame. Happy Independence Day. Horn Harbor: We may have enjoyed the fireworks display the night before in Kinsale, but tonight was to be the real show, which included a fantastic light display, the rolling booms of many cannons, nail biting, stress and some agony. We all enjoyed the short sail under slightly overcast skies out of the Potomac and into the Great Wicomico, and once again it was not until we were approaching the river that the wind evaporated, but at least the day now was sunny

7 and bright. Horn Harbor normally provides a beautiful and idyllic anchorage, which is well protected where you can easily enjoy exploring, the water or just relaxing. Unfortunately today the Jelly Fish, those amazing alien stinging nettles had arrived in the Bay. How lucky had we been, almost completing the whole cruise before we were forced out of the water by those terrible creatures. I am not sure which is worse, the Jelly Fish or Mosquitos. We all enjoyed cocktails and dinner at Horn Harbor House, a great stop and always worth coming back too. Returning to our boats just after dusk, we settled down for the evening where all was peaceful and quiet. Of course that was not to last for long, for shortly after 2300 (11:00 P.M.) the heavens let loose, with all of Mother Nature s rage. As I said earlier, it was a fantastic display, but not so comfortable as the winds were somewhere north of 50 Kts with blinding rain and lightning all around. In all there were seven of us anchored and before the storm was done, all but one had drug their anchors, with one ending up aground and the raft of Modus Vivendi and L Attitude powering together in order to stay off a dock, Beach Magic or the nearby shore. Twenty to thirty minutes of sheer excitement, and then calm again and I am not sure how or why, not one of us suffered any real damage. Let s not do this again. Deltaville: The last stop and what now seems to have become a tradition of the two week cruise, a final BBQ at Dozier s. The Marina was even kind enough to open the room next door to the office for us to enjoy our cocktails and dinner. Air conditioning and shelter, both of which were required as the day was hot without a breeze causing most of us to motor from the Great Wicomico, and bringing the dreaded thunderstorms to finish the day. Home: A great trip and Mother Nature cooperated and provided a great sailing day for our last day on the water. Another great trip and its only real downside is that it was over much to quickly. In all the cruise logged a total of 445 Nautical Miles in 17 days, which is I suppose

8 means that we only averaged 26 nautical miles per day, not bad. Thoughts now have turned to next year, where do we want to go, some have even suggested that we not have a destination plan and decide each morning where the wind might take us.