Chesapeake Bay Trip

Posted By: catsailor
Date: 7/10/08 7:36p.m.

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Okay, I’m not a Precision sailor. I own a Stiletto 27, but the Stiletto forum is stuffy. A racers-only forum. I got interested in the precision form when I heard of Don's plans to go around the Delmarva; I've done the trip a number of times and would encourage everybody to try it, but that is a much longer story that I am working into a full guide book. Whether you would like the trip depends a great deal on whether it's a speed sailing adventure, or something you'd like to take your time with. I fall in that second category, stopping as many places as possible. When I first got my boat I thought anything more than overnight was a hardship and an adventure. I then went years without any overnight trips at all. Suddenly, when my daughter turned 10 I realized I had a crew that would go to the ends of the earth with me; not a crew to do the heavy lifting - a child to keep me interested in discovery and to smile at me when I was tired. Day one; Deale Maryland to Solomons Island, 35 miles. We got off to a midmorning start; five days worth of stuff needed to be packed, and it always seems a lot to pack into a trailer boat. Although we have done longer trips, I did not intend to resupply on this trip, so it was as long as any. A few things always end up as deck cargo; principally my daughters inflatable dinghy and 2 Jerry cans of gas. The wind to start was very light, so I turned to the Nissan and set the autohelm south toward Calvert Cliffs. An auto helm as the greatest accessory you can add if hours of mindnumbing motoring are in your future – an extra crewman that doesn’t bore. He doesn’t keep a lookout either, so keep that in mind. My daughter disappeared downstairs to knit; I finished reading “Chesapeake” by Robert Michener. A good long read if you're interested in history of the area. The beach at Calvert Cliffs is not much, but there are 150 million year-old fossils on the beach and nearby cliffs, and thus much to entertain the curious child. Me too. I will warn the visitor, you should raise your centerboard several hundred yards offshore because although it carries 3 feet very close to the beach, the sandbars are variable and contain rocks – unusual in the Chesapeake. Additionally, the anchoring ground can be impenatrable marine clay; I find it best to wade around, feel for soft patches of sand, and place my anchors by hand; always 2 anchors. Within a few hours the wind had risen to 10 kn and we sailed on to Solomons Island. There is a town to visit there, but we seen it many times and seldom choose to go ashore. In any event, violent thunderstorms arrived just after dinner and before dark. We closed the hatches and watched movie on a portable DVD player. Day two: Solomons Island to Tangier, 45 miles. A perfect sailing day; a 15 kn breeze from the North allowed me to sail right out of her anchorage, never starting the motor until the entrance channel for Tangier. We would have a broad reach all the way in 2 to 3-foot waves. It would have been a perfect sailing day if a shackle hadn't blown open on my reacher in mid-jibe. When I flipped back to the other tack, the shock of the sailing coming back open open and eight-foot rip. I have plenty of other head sails (storm jib, working jib, genoa, chute) so I changed to the Genoa and lost only a little speed - from 14 kn down to 12 kn. Yeah, we were kind moving. Any Chesapeake Bay sailor who hasn't visited Tangier should. Because of its isolation it is a very different sort of fishing village. I won't say that it hasn't been touched by tourism - tour boats come twice a day - but the adaptations are much less than you think. 90% of the residents have family trees going back hundreds of years. All the residents have something to do with the water. If you listen to a pair of locals talking in the grocery store you may well understand none of the conversation, the local dialect being so particular as a result of ling isolation – you will understand them easily when they speak to you. Most of the transportation is by bicycles and golf carts. There are about 12 cars on the island. My daughter loves the place. Some of the appeal, no doubt, is that it is a child sized place. A place where she can wonder, not get lost, and not find trouble. If you walk a mile to the far south of town, a small path takes you to a wonderful white sand beach along a spit a mile and a half long. It was behind this spit that the British fleet waited, with Francis Scott Key on board, for a southerly wind to take them to Baltimore for the infamous Bombardment. There is one marina – Parks - and the tiny grocery store not far away. Just after dark we heard the pitter pat of the neighborhood cats walking all over our boat. Day three; Tangier to Smith Island, 20 miles. We got a leisurely start this morning. We didn't have far to go, the sailing looked like a close reach in a nice breeze, and I promised my daughter pancake breakfasts. Okay, promised myself pancakes too. We played with the cats (mr. Parks has 42 of them), grabed some ice, and headed out about noon. We sailed up the Tangier sound of a nice tight reach and perfectly flat water. Although the two islands are not connected, there is a string of small islands in sandbars that prevent any waves from coming from the west. Motored up the winding approach through the Big Thougrofare and slid into the Smith Island Marina in Ewell. We grabbed lunch, rented a golf cart (not really necessary, but Jessica thought it would be fun, and it was very useful for outrunning biting flies and friendly cats) and explore the few miles of roads. Smith Island isn't nearly as interesting as Tangier, in my mind. It's not as isolated, and thus it's more like the other small towns of Eastern shore. Nice. Though a few restaurants and stores are open later in Tangier (7 pm), everything closes up on Smith Island at 4 p.m., when the last tour boat pulls out. This is old Pirate country; the town of Rhodes Point is named for rouges; the English gave many locals letters of Marque during the Revolution, and many went renegade soon after. Day four; Smith Island to Knapps Narrows, via James Island. We got another leisurely start, but this time because it was blowing like stink in the morning; 20 kn and 4 foot waves. Even though we were headed down wind, that sounded like a bit much. We had made good friends with an older cruising couple with which we shared common experiences all around the Delmarva, and a youger couple from the Eastern Shore. The more sailors there are around, the easier it is to talk yourself into staying in port! Buy 10 a.m. it had moderated a little bit, and we headed out, a virtual drag race to the north. For the first hour we averaged well over 12 kn, with bursts to 16 kn. For the next few hours we continue to average over 10 kn. Was I ever glad we were headed down wind. James Island (middle island) is the nicest little desert island in the Chesapeake Bay. I've visited most of them, and why I overlooked this little island not far from my home port for 14 years I have no idea. One reason of course, is that no guidebook and would ever describe an island requiring long approach through 3-6 foot waters. For a trailer sailor, we found it to be a little paradise. A nice white sand beach facing east, nicely shaded by pine trees over a third of its length. A little surf breaking over spit on the southern end - just enough to entertain my daughter. A few other visitors - small motor boats and a Hobie cat. The island is privately held, but the owner has publicly stated that he doesn't mind if we use it, so long as they leave it the way they find it. From there we motored on a Knapps Narrows. The wind died and my daughter wanted to be towed in her inflatable, so we did the crab pot slalom for nearly an hour! A cool place for a kid to ride. I got lazy this evening. We checked into a hotel. Air-conditioning. A pool. Day five; Knapps Narrows to Deale, 20 miles. It was spitting rain in the morning, so we got started fairly early. It was the Fourth of July and thunderstorms had been virtually promised by the weatherman. Of course all of this was wrong. As soon as we cleared the jetty the skies cleared and we had an easy reach across the Bay and light winds. My daughter refused to let me put on more sail - she wanted to trip the last. I didn’t fight her. A few miles from home the wind died completely, the Bay went flat calm, and we resorted to the motor again, but only at idle. We started packing, and sorting trash, and sorting laundry; these tasks are more pleasant idling on the flat Bay than in a humid and bug infested harbor. Even at idle we got there too soon. I think both of us were ready and hoping for a few more days. Though I have to admit sleeping in my own bed was nice. And I missed my wife. Did you notice that the entire trip was reaching or down wind? Never happened before, won’t ever happen again.