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| Crossing the Bay, we see these boats using nets to catch menhaden (or "pogey" fish to you New Orleans folks) |
So, we spent 1-1/2 days with the MARINE service tech
aboard (the price doubles any time you hire a MARINE serviceman) and spent
another “Boat Unit” of money (a.k.a. $1000), on top of the many many boat units
which we spent just 2 weeks ago in the boatyard, but our aft head works even
better than when we bought the boat.
That keeps Momma happy, and when Momma is happy, everyone is happy.
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| This is why we come to Crisfield!! |
We waited one extra day to let the winds & 4’ seas
die down on the Chesapeake Bay, & then departed Deltaville VA on Thursday
May 14, heading east across the Bay. The
seas were still 2-3’ with 15-20 mph winds, so there were whitecaps everywhere. We gave the decks a good wash of sea
spray. Our destination was Crisfield MD,
where we had spent 2 weeks last year & really enjoyed ourselves, stuffing
ourselves with crab after crab.
Upon arrival, we gave the boat a fresh water washdown
& then proceeded to feast on crab cakes & Smith Island cake for dessert
(you’ll have to see our blog from last year to learn about Smith Island cakes). And then the next morning, we had a crab omelet
for breakfast. Ahhh…life just don’t get
no betta!
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| Crisfield obviously has a major parking problem!! |
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| Crisfield's past glory |
We also wanted to buy some fresh crab meat from the hard
crab picking house, but we were too early in the season for local crabs. The watermen were going south to Cape Charles
to catch the hard crabs, but they were catching peelers locally to put in the
pens for soft shell crabs. (You need to
have read the book “Beautiful Swimmers” to know all about the life & movements
of the crabs).
The second night we went to the new brew house in town,
which we had read about on a boater’s website.
The Admiral has made a point of finding all the craft breweries along
our route, starting in St Augustine FL.
Had some good food & drink as we “chatted up” the owners. At the end of the night, we bought some lump
crab meat from their kitchen for $18/lb!!
Try getting that price at any of your local markets!
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| Near our anchorage, this little tug boat at right must be saying "I think I can, I think I can" |
After 2 days of constant 15-20 mph winds, we finally
departed Crisfield on Sunday May 17, and ran a long day to make almost 80 miles
to a beautiful anchorage off the Choptank River. Again, we had been in this area last year
& loved it. Even though the weather
forecast was 40% chance of rain & thunderstorms, we decided to go
anyway. It was a good decision since the
weather turned out beautiful, so calm that we let “Otto the Pilot” guide the
boat most of the day.
While at anchor that night, we tried to figure out the
tides & currents for later in the week, when we will head through the
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, and then down the Delaware Bay to New
Jersey. The currents can run up to 3
knots, so we want them behind us as we crawl along at 9 knots. And since the times change every day, we need
to pick a day of good weather in conjunction with favorable tidal currents to
make the transit. As we’ve traveled up
& down the coast, I’m surprised at how much planning it takes, with the
navigation charts, weather forecasts, tides & currents forecast, etc, etc.
As we left our anchorage Monday morning and re-entered
the Bay, the winds were dead calm & the seas totally flat. We used that opportunity to “swing” our new
magnetic compass to calibrate it to the boat.
For 45 minutes, we kept going in circles, and I’m sure the boats nearby
were wondering who the crazy folks were on the yacht.
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| In the Chesapeake Bay ship channel, these guys run 25 mph |
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| The Navy came to save us! The twin radio towers in the background are landmarks just outside Annapolis MD |
Monday afternoon we made our marina in Rock Hall MD (due
east of Baltimore) for a couple days & to pick up our repair part for our
shore power cord. Since we started
cruising just 2 weeks ago (it seems much longer than that), we’ve traveled over
550 miles. Guess what? We again had been here last year & really
liked it. And guess what we’re going to
do here? Wait for it………. Eat crabs, of course!!!
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| Hey Carol! I know you needed just ONE more picture of an osprey nest !! |
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