Crab feast

We bought some chicken necks the other day at the store with the intent of catching some crabs.  The Chesapeake, after all, is known for it's crab cakes, steamed crabs, crab chowder, soft shell crabs, etc., etc.  We have been dodging the floats of crab pots since we started on this cruise.  They are everywhere in the water, especially in the shallows, but even in water 25 feet deep.

Since we don't have any crab pots of our own, the other way to catch them is to tie the bait tightly on a cord, lower it to the bottom to sit for a while, and then slowly pull it up, holding a long handled net handy to scoop up the crab that is often hanging on to his prized possession on the end of the cord.  If he's big enough, he's dropped in a bucket of water to await enough of his friends to make a meal.  If too little, he's released to grow a bit more.

We tried this technique a few days ago but only caught 3 which weren't enough, so they got a second lease on life.  In the Little Wicomico River Monday night things were different.  We had a difficult time even finding a space to anchor in there that was free enough of pots to accommodate our boat.  So we decided if the watermen thought they needed that many pots out, crabs must be plentiful in the river.  We set out several lines with the chicken parts on them and within minutes we had caught enough crabs for a delicious dinner that night.

Wish we had enough time to hang out there a while longer and eat some more of this tasty underwater crustacean, but it was time to move on.  Maybe there will be another opportunity soon.  Or maybe we'll have to wait until we get back to Jordan Creek and put out some pots.  Much less work involved that way.

When fortune smiles on you

Sometimes you just have to sit back and thank the powers that be for the fortune in your life.

We have this sturdy, spacious boat that shelters us and allows us to move from one beautiful anchorage to the next beautiful anchorage. And to meet interesting people from diverse walks of lives, doing their thing in the best way they know how in places far different from where we call home. And it allows us to face new challenges with confidence (most of the time!).

And we have each other – a good thing for pretty much the same reasons the boat is good for us. We encourage and support each other in this crazy life we've chosen.

And then there is the occasional turn of events that kind of makes you think “why am I so lucky?”

Today we moved across to the west side of the bay and up the Potomac River a ways to an incredible place called Jutland Creek. Deep water, high, tree lined banks, protection from most weather. Several tidy marinas tucked back in the coves. Excellent holding. It's idyllic. But we were out of drinking water and (gasp!) beer.

Blue Haven Marina - Smith Creek (MD)

So we dropped the dinghy in the water and drove to the closest marina, just across the creek. There we met Chris, a young fellow in charge for the day, by himself. It was a small marina and he mainly had to rent kayaks to a few people who came and went. While we were purchasing a fuel filter and a bottled water from him, and asking about a grocery store, he got a somewhat frantic call from a kayak renter who was stuck on some rocks with a broken paddle. Chris seemed a bit hassled by this turn of events but said we could fill our water container in the restroom, pointed the way to the closest grocery store which he said was about 2 miles away, locked the door and left. So we took off hiking in the direction he said and waved at him when he returned shortly thereafter. We were thinking the disaster must have been quickly averted.

A few minutes later, we were passed by a pickup truck going in our direction. Amazingly enough, he stopped and offered to take us most of the way to the store on his way to deal with the kayak problem. Apparently, Chris had been able to contact him somewhere and delegate that job to him. Lucky us – because the store was a lot further than 2 miles and we would never have figured out all the turns it took to get there. So we walked about ½ mile further after Dan dropped us off, bought our beer and a few other necessities, and headed back down the road.

But the story gets better. As we were headed home, thinking to stick out a thumb for a ride, who should we meet at the turn where he dropped us off, but Dan himself, coming back with the rescued kayakers. Imagine how events had to come together with just the right timing for him to be there just when we were a few yards behind, and then for him to see us in his rear view mirror as he was turning into the road we were on, and then to feel compassionate enough to stop and wait for us to run up and jump in the bed of the truck.

Yes, we are feeling extremely fortunate today. Life is good.

Smith Island, MD

This was the first time we saw the Chesapeake almost totally flat. It was a strange feeling to look out to the horizon and not really be sure where the sky ended and the water began.

The day started out chilly (low 60's) and foggy. We dinghied into Onancock again to run a few errands and stop at the local bakery for a cinnamon bun breakfast. Then we dug the anchor out of the thick, black, smelly mud and motored the 4 miles out the river.

 We turned north toward Smith Island and found the wind on our nose, although it was predicted to be from the southwest. Since the wind was not much of a factor at 3-6 knots, we happily motored on through the calm water. Polished the rest of the lifelines that we started several days ago and waxed part of the cabin top. Read a little and watched for crab pots and large barges being pushed down the bay.

The channel into Ewell was long and circuitous with several areas beginning to shoal in spite of being dredged recently. But we got into town safely, waited while the passenger ferry moved, and backed into the slip at Smith Island Marina, a tiny place run by a friendly couple. There is a great blue heron rookery in front of us across the channel and the birds are keeping Callie interested with their continuous chattering. She now has become so adventurous as to actually jump on the dock here. That is not a good thing so we will have to watch her when she is outside. She has been known to wander off on her own agenda for long periods of time at home. Can't have that while traveling.

We bought some crab cakes “to go” from the restaurant next door because they close at 4:00 after the last ferry leaves and we weren't ready to eat that early. Walked around the little town and purchased fresh corn and a huge cantaloupe from the correspondingly tiny grocery. Dinner, later, was excellent. The best crab cakes we've had so far. Guess it's because we are finally in Maryland, famous for their crabs.

Trip back across the bay is on the agenda tomorrow.

Onancock, Va

Crab operation - Tangier Island

Tangier  Island

We had a near perfect sail across the Bay to Tangier Island on Tuesday.  There we docked at Parks Marina where we were joined by three boats of eagle scouts and their adult chaperones.  They had considerable trouble docking since the current through there during tide changes is 2-3 knots.  We were barely tied up ourselves when Milton Parks, the owner, whisked us away for an island tour on his golf cart.  He is quite the island historian.  Except for the biting black flies and the heat, it was a great tour.  The ice cream run later was delicious but the mosquitoes at dusk were threatening to carry us away, so we changed our mind about a stroll to the beach.

After washing down the boat the next morning and taking on some water, we left to move to Onancock on Virginia's eastern shore.  There was very little wind so we motored the 16 miles in relatively calm seas.  We anchored just inside the Onancock channel for a swim and walk on the beach where we found the shell of an humongous horseshoe crab and had a very refreshing swim.  There were thousands of small dragonflies, or maybe damselflies.  Not sure of the difference.

Onancock Creek

Anyway, we moved on down to the town which was about 4-5 miles further up the channel.  We were directed by the harbormaster to anchor in the cove however we couldn't get the anchor to set and the water was pretty shallow so we moved down river about 1/2 mile and tried again.  Apparently the Delta does not like whatever this bottom is because we couldn't get a solid set here either and we wound up putting on the "hurricane anchor".  Since there were severe thunderstorms predicted we wanted to be sure of the anchor.  We got it set finally about 4:00 and then chilled for a while trying to stay cool.  It was really hot and humid.

Around 7:30 pm some rain started and we saw a little lightening and thunder off to port.  Nothing more than a nice shower though on us and none of the gale force winds supposedly experienced further north.  The NOAA report sounded dreadful so we were really happy to avoid that storm line.  Still, during the night we got up a few times for anchor watch just to be sure.  Everything was fine and today (Thursday) is much cooler and crystal clear.  We've had a little trouble finding open wi-fi so have posted several entries today.  Everything is good and Tom is enjoying his retirement.

Of menhaden, crab cakes, and flies

We left Stutts Creek at 8:15 with a beautiful blue sky and the promise of a 10-15 k breeze. Almost immediately we noticed a slight burnt rubber smell which turned out to be an engine belt that needed adjusting. That taken care of, we headed north with our main sail up and a 5 k southwest whisper of wind. Unfortunately, the most we saw that day was 8 knots until we started in the channel to Reedville, when it picked up to 13. At least it wasn't on our nose. And we saw lots of dolphins along the way.

Reedville at one time was the menhaden processing capital of America. The fish were caught in huge quantities in the Chesapeake and turned into oil, livestock feed, fertilizer, and cosmetics. They now also press the oil for the health food industry as omega-3 fish oil. There is still one operating plant in Reedville and you smell it before you even get close to town. I don't think I could live in this town if I had to smell that all the time.

We motored around a bit looking for a nice little cove to give us some protection from the 20-25 k and possible thunderstorms forecast for the night (and the smell of dead fish). Found a very serene parking place surrounded by homes and good sized trees, odor free. The anchor dug in immediately in 9 feet of water, so after tidying up a bit we headed into “town” for the crab cake lunch we had been dreaming of. Pulled up to the Crazy Crab's dinghy dock and walked in only to find it was closed on Mondays. Drat!

Instead of crab cakes, we walked down the main street of town. Lots of very interesting Victorian homes built with menhaden money. According to our guidebook, it was referred to as “millionaire's row” in the early 1900's. Although it was a pleasant, if very hot historic walk, we found nothing else of interest. One marina that didn't look open. One ice cream store that also wasn't open on Mondays. One other marina that looked like it was mostly working boats. And one seafood market/deli that was across the creek but which we didn't investigate. Many nice homes on the water. Wonder where the present residents work.

So we came back to our boat, checked the weather, swatted some flies, plotted our course for the next day, read, played dominoes, swatted some more flies and still the wind was lighter than expected. Saw some distant lightening and hoped it was going to stay way to the north. As it turned out, the weather remained mild and we slept fairly well with only a few anchor checks during the night. But the flies were thick as we weighed anchor and left in the morning. Will be swatting them for some time to come.

A day at the beach

We made the long trip of 5 miles from Deltaville to Milford Haven Sunday. This is a really pretty bay accessed through a swing bridge at the north end. At the southern end of the bay is a spit of land marking the “Hole in the Wall” entrance from the Chesapeake. There we found a long sandy beach. On this sunny weekend day, the beach was the destination for numerous small boats. The Hole in the Wall seems to be a good channel out but everything we've read warns you need local knowledge to execute it without mishap, so we chose the longer but safer passage in. And while we were here, we saw only small boats using that channel.

We parked Kentris about 300 yds out and took the dinghy in for the afternoon. Hiked the length of the spit looking for treasures from the sea, but found few. There were armies of sand crabs around the grassy areas, a few small blue crabs in some tidal pools, and one very concerned osprey who was deterred from bringing a fish to her babies until we were well away from the nest. We cooled off in the water for a time before heading back.

From there we headed to Stutts Creek off to the south of this beach. Another pretty area with nice homes and well-kept yards. Felt a bit like a lake community. After anchoring, we watched the wake boarders, fishermen coming home, and several different birds in addition to the ubiquitous osprey. Tried to catch a crab with a jury-rigged line but were unsuccessful. Callie explored the deck a great deal more than she ever has on her own in the past. She was quite adventurous. Steak on the grill. Gin rummy after dinner. Quiet evening. No storms!

Calm before the storm

July 9, 2011

Because Tom was working on our refrigerator, we didn't leave Hampton until 11:00. We were then delayed even more by the exit out of Norfolk by a naval warship/aircraft carrier. Announcements over the radio warned everyone to stay 500 yds clear of it or risk the use of deadly force. Coast Guard and gunboats were all over Hampton Roads. Kentris idled off to the side a while and then crept up the north side of the channel praying we would not be shot on sight. (We were pretty sure we were more than 500 yds away and even called the Coasties to ask permission. They were unhelpful. “All we can tell you is that you must remain 500 yds away.” So what if you aren't a very good judge of distance?)

Well, we managed to get out of there with our lives and boat intact and turned north. We were actually able to sail for a while, but slower than would allow us to reach our planned destination in a reasonable time. So we decided to check out Horn Harbor on the eastern shore of Virginia. The channel in was a bit of a zigzag, but the creek was very pretty and seemed well protected from weather.  Reminded us of Broad Creek on the Neuse.

Proof that we do actually sail occasionally

After surveying several areas, we chose to anchor just outside the channel in 7' of water in line with another catamaran that was riding on a mooring ball (first clue). The evening was mild, we had a little sprinkling of rain while we prepared dinner and ate in the cockpit. I wasn't entirely happy with the way the anchor set (second clue), but we weren't dragging so decided to go with what we had. Both of us went for a short kayak ride and watched the ospreys perched on the other catamaran. Bet the owner is really happy about them taking up residence on his boat. Off in the distance lightening could be seen as night approached (final clue). It was kind of pretty and seemed to be moving away from us.

And then all hell broke loose. The wind came up out of nowhere and almost immediately we were in peril of docking unintentionally at the boathouse behind us. Fortunately we have a shallow draft boat or we would most certainly have been aground. (At one point we actually considered that being aground might be a reasonable option!) As I went forward to up anchor, the rain started down in torrents. The anchor came up accompanied by thick globs of black mud. We tried several more times to get the anchor to set but all were unsuccessful and we decided our only option was to keep the boat idling in the channel and beside the moored boat both of which were easy to identify as the lightening flashed. This storm can't last much longer, right? An hour and a half later the wind finally died and the lightening moved out to the bay. The rain, however, continued forever it seemed. It did wash a lot of the mud off the boat though. We put out the anchor and about 60' of chain with it, figuring if the wind stayed calm, the weight of all that would hold us even if the anchor didn't set. Napped in the salon so we could respond quickly if another storm blew in. Fortunately the wind did stay calm and all is well. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged. And, by the way, the refrigerator is fixed.