Chesapeake Bay

Vita, the tiniest ship in the anchorage.

Chesapeake City was nice, but with no amenities what-so-ever, we couldn't stay long. It turns out there is no laundry, and never was, the guide book is a little out. Also, with the mini heat wave we were having, temps around 38 degC, there was no way we were going to try and walk down the highway to the convenience store, that might have bread and milk.

The last night we decided to hit the Chesapeake Inn for dinner. They have half price draft between 4 and 6 pm, and half price pizza on Tuesdays between 5 and 9 pm. So if you time it right, you get half price beer and pizza; we love this place. Two 12" pizzas, and two pitchers of draft come to $27, find that at home in Ontario. It was very nice, if hot. They had a three piece live band playing our kind of tunes, and it is officially the longest we have ever spent in a restaurant, ever. We made a deal with the dock hand, that if we were there for dinner, that he would let us use the shower for half the price of normal, since we were not staying at the marina. Then it was so relaxing, we decided to have a couple more pints before dinghying back to the boat and heading to bed. The next morning we were headed up the Sassafras river for some R&R and a swimming hole. But just as we were leaving, a fellow cruiser mentioned a little spot called Still Pond. So we figured what the hey, lets check it out.

Its funny we read all about other peoples adventures, some like to meet new people, some like restaurants and pubs, some are into museums, or places of note. But to be truthful, I don't think we have found what we are really looking for out here. To some extent, the idea of living simple and cheap appealed to us in the beginning, and it still does, but now that we are out here we find ourselves searching for a reason, for a goal, for a plan; and who knows, maybe its just around the next corner, or in the next bay. So when someone mentions a place we should check out, we listen, for no more reason than its nice try something different. It doesn't hurt that they told us it was a fresh water basin, and a good place to go for swim.

It was nice, out of the way, quiet, no waves, no wind, no bugs, and no people. We dingied up the creeks, went for a little swim, and tried our best to hide from the mean sun when we weren't having fun in it. Other than the fact that we running out of milk and bread, we could have spent days here. And we would have stayed another day, but the forecast was for NW winds to 25 knots, and this would not be a good place under those circumstances. So we reluctantly raised the anchor and headed to the next bay, Worton Creek, to hide from the pending weather. Its a nice place too, but no swimming. However, the Worton Creek Marina had milk, and an awful pile of marine supplies. I guess I get to go shopping later today.

Ok, for those who have never sailed on the Chesapeake, I have to tell you about the mine fields. I have never in my life been in a place where there was so many obstacles, in the way of crab pot floats. My lord, there must be millions. If each crab pot collected one crab per day, you would think that the bay would be empty of crabs within a week. Crabs must be like bunnies. They are primarily a problem when coming in or going out from shore to the main channel. The pots seem to be placed in 11 to 20 feet of water, but not always, so you need to prudent anytime, even in the main channel. We have figured out a method for navigating through them. Serena sits on the bow and points in the direction she wants me to go. Which works great most of the time! At first she would stand on the bow, but her arms would get higher and higher with the pointing directions, until I was almost laying on the cockpit floor trying to see what she was doing, that's why she sits now. Also, because she has no reference for where the boat is heading being stationed at the pointy end, sometimes she tries to get me to go in circles by passing too many pots to the same side. Then, because she has no reference for shoals, or rocks, or underwater hazards, every once in a while I have to make a rapid course change, and then we start the process again. It may seem unorthodox, but so far, (knock on wood), we have not hit a pot. And, as a bonus, we generally end up laughing about the silliness of the whole process when its over.

So last night the big storm blew through. We hardly got anything here, but heard on the radio that the place we are going to tomorrow got hammered pretty good. It is still raining here and there, but we can see the sunshine attempting to push the clouds out of the way. This morning was quiet and relaxed. We'll try to get some chores done, now that the temperature has dropped, and spend the day trying not to work too hard.

Some days cruising is hard work, others, not so much.