What A Difference A Day Makes!

SHIP'S LOG:

Current Location: Bodkin Creek(Main Channel) 39'07.546N/ 076'27.451W (South of Baltimore)

Whereas yesterday was rainy and gray and pretty much a total bust, today was completely different. The day was warm but sunny and there was even some wind. You really couldn't ask for much more, could you?

It was "sail off the anchor", then sail out Harness Creek, they sail down the South River, then sail into the Chesapeake Bay (proper), and then sail into the wind and all the sailing stopped. Sigh! The wind in October had been pretty much on the nose on the way down the Bay, I would have thought that the opposite would be true this spring. It just isn't working out that way. Sigh!

I went passed Annapolis about 10:45. It was there, in Back Creek at the Port Annapolis Marina where I bought ABISHAG. There was a lot of low haze so it was difficult to make out the Naval Academy but I could just pick out a couple of buildings. I had no trouble, on the other hand, seeing all the tankers and cargo ships swinging at anchor south of the Annapolis bridge. It is amazing how many come from Panama! That country must have one of the biggest merchant marine fleets going, right up there with Liberia. Let's hear it for "flags of convenience!"

It was interesting( and heart-warming) to hear commercial captains "slamming " some of the crazy fishermen who were out today. In the low haze, the smaller fishing boats can be a bit hard to spot and, despite what you have heard, radar isn't close to being that good. Commercial captains, some of some rather large vessels, were calling to the "crazy fishermen" who were scooting around all over the place, crossing the shipping channel thither and yon, and not responding to any radio calls. It did get up the ire of the commercial captains and some gave vent to their feelings in some very colorful terms that rarely get heard on channel "16" as the Coast Guard disapproves.

To get into Bodkin Creek I had to cross Bodkin Shoal. When I did this back in the fall, I followed my carefully plotted course, not deviating the slightest bit from the Magenta Highway, which guaranteed that I would go aground. And that I did, a first soft kiss and then, after a lot of screaming, I got off. Today, it really was a piece of cake. I did lay in the course and followed it carefully, but I also kept my eyes out of the cockpit and on the water. This allowed me to notice that in some places on the way into Bodkin Creek, the locals have use "Reduce Speed " buoys as channel markers to enhance the official one and get you in through a rather shallow spot or two. I had no problems but I do hope that they get the channel dredged sometime soon.

I anchor in the same little cove I did when I was here in October. It is a nice little spot but you can tell that the boating season is already underway here in a big way. Lots and lots of traffic, even in this rather same creek. Then again, it will be commissioning day up at TYC this weekend, so summer can't be that far off.

Rainy Day Blues

SHIP'S LOG:

Today was a day of rain . . . at least through the morning and then the afternoon came hot and humid. It was like being back in Beaufort, SC, again. Then the clouds came back but this time they just put in an appearance.

I was able to plan out the next route on the jaunt, to Bodkin Creek outside of Baltimore. From there, it is a one day sprint to the Sassafras River, one day through the C & D Canal, and then one day to Cape May. All this is of course dependent on the weather which has been a lot less consistent than it was further south along the ICW.

Other than that, there is really not much to say or write. While sitting for a day is wonderful for my peace of mind, it doesn't help much with the creative process.

Here Today, Here Tomorrow

SHIP'S LOG:

Current location: 38'58.149N/ 076'30.656W South River out side of Annapolis, MD

Sunday(Solomons) I got an early start for Annapolis as I wanted to get docked and showered and be ready for dinner with Nick & Donna. Getting out of the Solomons, I passed by three interestingly named boats: Chicken of the Sea, Rode Warrior( rode as in anchorline) and SHORE-BILLY( I supposed as opposed to "Hillbilly).

For some reason, the departure this morning was similar to the Oklahoma Land Rush, people speeding out of the anchorages and marinas in one huge moving mass and seemingly no one watching out for anyone else. Heading down the Patuxent River, I was treated to the morning take off of the Navy's newest 'blimp," and I ain't kidding. I didn't know they still used them and I have no idea what particular role they play but as the Patuxent Naval Air Station is right there, there must be some kind of training going on. Hey, the Experimental craft off Ol' PointCOmfort and now a blimp. I am getting to see all that the Navy has going for it.

I have noticed that in the rivers and creeks, while there are crabpots scattered about, they also seem clustered around markers, another reason to give a wide berth to them. In some places they are laid out in geometrically precise lines, miles long and dead arrow straight. All I want to to do is to be able to see 'em and avoid 'em.

One of he real problems in the Chesapeake is there are crabpots everywhere and there are seabirds everywhere and a lot of the time it is difficult to tell one from the other. I have discovered a fool proof way of tell one from the the other though, if it flies away when you approach it is probably not a crab pot bout.

Lots of fishermen out today and like the crabpots, they cluster around markers. The problem with them is that they sometimes obscure the markers making it hard to read their identification. That can get you in a lot of trouble if you are not careful. I struggle to be very careful. There are three kinds of fishermen that I have encountered today. The first are the drifters who shut of the engine, drop a line and wait for a strick. Then there are the trollers who move along at steerage speed(slow) hoping to entice a strike. Then there are the "draggers," these are the guys with that device they two behind their boats off of which several lines are spread. They move slowly too and make big wide turns so as not to tangle their lines. One has to slalom one's way through them and no matter how careful you are you earn dirty looks.

Speaking of fishing, I was surprised at the numbers of dead fish floating and rotting on the Bay. And not tiny ones either, but good size fish. I know that they have really been working hard to clean the Bay and keep it clean and I am not sure if this fish kill is in spite of their efforts or despite their efforts.

Yesterday, I was listening on the radio to a conversation between a sailboat, MY GIRL, and anyone who would listen. As I mentioned, his electronic navigation packed up and it seemed as though he was unsure how to navigate with a compass. Today, he was near Point Lookout(appropriately) and had gone aground on a rock pile. Evidently, he didn't have a chart in addition to being unsure how to use a compass.I got out of range before I heard the complete story but the friendly boys and girls at Towboat/US were on their way to him.

Chesapeake Bay, as wide as it is, is buggy as hell when there is no wind, even in the middle. I have had to make ample use of the bug repellent I bought. It is just so strange how the Mosquitoes, Black Flies and other creepy-crawlies find me out in the middle of no where, miles from land.

On last thing about the Bay, wakes last forever. I am not sure why but when you get "waked" by a passing boat, the wake hits you, goes to the shore, "bounces off" and comes back to get you a second time. And I am talking miles here. Very strange indeed.

I got in contact with Nick and found that the D.O.D. had set up a "week from hell" for him so there will be no get together. So rather than Annapolis, I put into Harness Creek off South River. After dropping the hook, I rowed ashore, walked a mile and a half for some foods stuffs and walked back. A long day finally at an end.

Monday: Unmoved!

It was supposed to rain and storm today, so I decided not to move. I did make another trip to the store and humped to cases of water back to the boat. After lunch, a wind storm hit and the anchor dragged, though I am not sure why. The holding seemed pretty good but ABISHAG dragged anyway. I nearly visited some local guys dock uninvited and so I had to make an emergency sortie and re-anchor in another part of the creek. The spot was actually where I wanted to anchor last night but it had been filled with locals . It was empty today and so I moved. I am just happy that the windstorm came when I was on the boat and not when I was humping the water back to it. Unfortunately, I will probably be a little less sure about leaving the boat unattended on anchor for awhile. OH, the rain and thunder and lightning and hail did not put in an appearance.

Chesapeake Bay

SHIP'S LOG:

Friday: Little Bay off Antipoison Creek: 37'38.145N/ 076'19.156W

I am heading up for Fleet Bay and Antipoison Creek and a little bay off of the called, appropriately enough "Little Bay." On the way down(South), I anchored there and in the morning I left, or perhaps the night I was there and anchoring, i dropped my anchor weights overboard and they sank like the proverbial stone. I do not anticipate a similar occurrence on this visit and who knows, perhaps I will actually dredge up the old weights.

On the way I ran into, figuratively not literally, my first fishing weir or fish trap. It is made up of netting strung along and around a series of poles set into the bay bottom. It is something not really marked on charts except in a most genera;l way. It is not something that shows up on radar and your auto-pilot will not avoid it. If it is hazy or at morning or evening twilight, it can be impossible to see until you are right upon it. And who says coastal cruising isn't fun and exciting?

As I was motoring north, I kept looking at sailboats all around me who had their sails up and I didn't. I had no win d to speak of and what there was, little indeed, was right on the nosey. I could figure out where they were getting wind and why they were getting it and I was not. It turned out that none of the other boats had anymore wind than i had and were simply running with their sails up in the hope of enticing some wind to come along and fill them. No such luck I am afraid for what wind there was died out completely by late afternoon and we were all motoring, sails up or down, in a mill pond calm. It clouded over abit and that promised the possibility of some wind later but we would be at anchor then and have no real need of it except to keep the gnats away.

I was listening to the the VHF and caught a sailboat, "MY GIRL," who had evidently experienced some king of electronics failure as his GPS and Chart Plotter was out and he wanted to get to Annapolis and he wasn't sure which way to go as all he had was a compass and no charts(paper)! Way back in December at the New Symnar Municipal Marina, after I had docked for the night, I had my charts out and was laying the course into the GPS for the next day and writing it down on paper after checking each waypoint on the chart. The guy running the marina came over and commented on how good it was to see someone who still used paper charts and didn't depend solely on electronics. Evidently we are few and far between in his experience. The guy on "MY GIRL" evidently solved his problem by contacting passing ships, inquiring about there destination, and following those that were head toward the Baltimore - Annapolis area trusting that he would be able to make it safely. I hope he did as it is well over 90 miles and I doubt that he was going to be able to do it in daylight. Even then, how would he know where to go to anchor or dock. It was a sad commentary on the use of one source navigating.

I never did find the old anchor weights!

Saturday: Solomon Islands(Maryland) 39'19.943N/ 076'26.658W

I had plenty of wind today but it was out of the north and I was heading north.(Sigh!) For most of the day it was a long hypnotic droning diesel that did its best to put me to sleep but failed.

I ran into a new fishing technique, at least to me. From what I could see of it, I didn't want to get top close, a boat drags 2' x 3' piece of wood or metal or heavy plastic from the stern of the boat on a line. Attached to the "drag" are several lines with bobs and hooks and shiny things that I don't know what they were, and the boats troll around at a slow speed. It is not a commercial enterprise as I saw all types of powerboats big and small using it. It tends however to bring out the nasty in people if you get too close or cause them to change course as it messes up the lines. Don't know if it works well or not but everybody fishing to today seemed to be using it.

Of course the best and bravest fishermen of the day were that hardy bunch that anchored and fished amongst the targets in the target area off the Puatuxent Naval Air Station where the Navy trains its pilots. There must be some kind of warning system that alerts people in the target area when there is to be a live fire exercise, either that or these are some extremely brave fishermen. The fish must be pretty spectacular too of them to risk their lives to catch them.

Sailing, Sailing Over The Bounding Chesapeake!

SHIP'S LOG:

Current Location:37'24.898N/ 076'20.909W

According to the boys and girls at NOAA, it was to best than an ideal day. well, true enough, it wasn't "ideal," but it surely came close. It started off cold and blustery for the run out the Elizabeth River to the Chesapeake, but once past Old Fort Comfort and around Thimble Shoal Light, the sun broke out, the waters smoothed and the wind was on the the port beam and I was sailing!!!!!!!

I was able to do about 20 miles before the wind went light. It was the best days since the one when I headed north from Fort Pierce low these many weeks ago. What a joy. And on top of that I had deep water everywhere and little traffic and ABISHAG basically took the bone in her teeth and sailed herself. So much better than in"the Ditch!"It was so pleasant that the run from Thimble Shoals to Mobjack seemed to pass in an instant.

I got a look at some type of new Navy craft. She had a weird paint scheme that made it hard to really see her makeup and in that it was an experimental craft too much interest was discouraged. But if we ever have a need for a boat that can go round and round in circles and do tight figure 8's, we've got one in the cupboard. They asked me to get out of their way and identified the boat as "Stiletto."

I had my first encounters with the infamous Chesapeake Bay Crab Pots. They were not scattered around but seemed to be concentrated in large herds. Weaving through them under sail was a great deal on interesting fun. while there were crab pots in the ICW, they had not the numbers that I have already seen here. It is going to be one of those things I will have to keep an eye on.

Sailing in the Chesapeake is wildly different than the ICW. Just the distance between marks and the shores gives me a whole new perspective that makes even powerboats tolerable. It can be a little nerve racking. Charts of a large enough scale to show a whole days trip would be too short of detail to be really useful . I kept wondering if I was going the right way, fearing I might get lost. And unlike the ICW, there aren't a lot of "creeks" close at hand to pull into for the night. Ah, but the sailing makes it all worth while.

I'll be heading up to Little Bay tomorrow and then? Who knows and who cares?
I ended the day in the East River off Mobjack Bay. For the inquisitive, it is between the York and the Rappahannock Rivers. It is a nice little spot, unchanged since I was here last fall. Peaceful and quiet and bug free.

Reflections II

SHIP'S LOG:

Moved the boat 700 yards to the Tidewater Marina. Had wanted to meet with some friends who live in Glenn Allen, VA and everything was planned but circumstances arose which prevented us from make a meet. I am glad that I was able to see them on the way down and am saddened that we couldn't hook up this time. But I got a shower out of the deal and didn't have to ride out an rather nasty thunderstorm at anchor. All in all, a good deal.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I have meet some rather wonderful people on the trip up & down "the Ditch" and there is simply not enough time to write about them all.

It was great to see my dear friend Gerry again. It was also great to finally meet his wife Lucille. They are obviously very happy and that was a real joy for me. Gerry always had time for me as well as lots of words of encouragement and always seem to have an answer for any little "nautical" problem that raised its ugly head. The depth of the man's knowledge and experience and common sense is really remarkable. A true great guy and I hope he and Lucille can make it north some time in the future.

And there was Guy McSweeney, a man I had never met before who basically was as warm and open and giving as if he had been a friend of years rather than of days. I met the man only four(4) times and yet it is as if I have know him for years. The welcome he gave to me and the graciousness he showed were remarkable. And his buddy David Dixon was much like him. Dave couldn't do enough for me and like Guy I had never met him before either. If I had asked him to rewire the boat I have no doubt that he would have and would have done so with pleasure and without cost.

Bob & Chris at the Cocoa Village Marina at Christmas time made what could have been a lonely time into a real family time. They gifted me with friendship and companionship, as well as with a couple of bottles of wine and a free couple of nights.

And there was Mike Tolover who rowed up to my boat in Daytona as I dropped anchor and asked if he could take me to the market or any place I needed to go. And Brad Smith, the "boat-builder" at Fort Pierce, who never went by without asking if there was anything he could get for me and who really enjoyed discussing everything as we worked on his boat.

When I begin reflecting on all these people and all of the others the point that comes across so clearly is that they were the most open and generous and friendly people I have ever come across. I was constantly amazed at there generosity as they would so easily give of what they had to help me in my need and were so happy and appreciative of even the smallest bit of assistance that I could provide for them.

I loved all the stories that they told, of hearing of "their adventures" and their travels, and sitting around "gaming"- as sailors call it - was a wonderful way to spend an evening. You would show up at anchorage or a marina and you had an instant community of people, always family, and I hated when it broke up and people went their separate ways, but it always reformed in another spot with different people(sometimes some of the dsame) and it was every bit as much a community, a family. It has been a very unique experience, one that I have not experience in quite the same way anywhere before. And I will miss it greatly if it does not happen again.

Reflections - I

SHIP'S LOG:

Unmoved in Norfolk at Hospital Point.

MASTER'S PERSONAL LOG:

I had a whole day to sit and reflect on my trip up & down the Intracoastal Waterway from Hospital Point to Miami and back to Hospital Point. It is 1,089 statute miles one way for a total of 2,178 miles not counting all the mileage for the little side trips here and there, nor the stretch from New London to Hospital Point and back. It is actually a lot of miles and I can remember just about everyone of them, including several that I would like to forget. As I sit here, waiting for the rain NOAA "promised" would be falling all day to day (nary a drop!) it is a bit difficult to grasp that I have done it and though I have to complete the trip by getting back home "unsunk," I have amazed myself with what I have done so far. What I have left to do doesn't really bother me at all except for the fact that it is still about 300+ miles left with the outside stretch up the coast of New Jersey yet to come. That will probably be the most challenging part left to do but it surely doesn't worry me the way it did on the way down. The Delaware Bay too can be a nasty piece of water and it has been bad both times I have traveled on it. I don't expect this time to be any different but it won't be anymore trouble than what i have already experienced and i can always drop a hook and crack a good book. I talked with Fred last night and he said, "You sound like an ol' salt. Talking about the trip and what remains , it just comes out nice and easy. No more white-knuckle sailor." I suppose he is right, If anything untoward should happen, i would probably be more "pissed-off" than scared and so if it's weather-wait it out; if it's mechanical - fix it; if I go aground - call Towboat/US(they're probably feeling lonely); and if the boat sinks, - Call the Coast Guard. Other than that, lay out the course each day and sail it with the experience I have gain, and really let God take care of everything else.

The people I have met for the most part have been great. And I think I will save them for tomorrow's blogg. I need more reflecting.