Sept 16th – Happy Birthday Dad!! At 79, he still
plays golf, plays on a softball league and can (damn it) still beat me on the
tennis court. Love you Pops!
The weather report is calling for 10-15knts winds from the
North, and 2-3’ waves; for best currents we should leave between 09:00-10:00.
We walk Peter to his vehicle, say our good-byes and walk to the marina office
to settle our bill, they open 09:00. At 09:30, standing outside the office, I
call…”Just at the boat yard, be right there”. No credit or debit, just cash. We
asked for his help and he was happy to help us leave the dock. We don’t usually
need help, but the strong winds were blowing us onto the dock. Their docks are
not smooth boards that line the dock, with tides going up and down, most docks
use piles (a telephone pole that stands 10’ up above the water level). We will
push the boat away and along the dock to the end since we can’t turn away.
Chris, the office guy, pushes at the top of our stanchions…my teeth cringe.
These two foot metal posts (stanchions) that suspend the life lines (white
plastic coated cables that surround the deck) are to be used for pushing a
33,000lb boat. He pushes, they flex; Julie pushes against the posts from the
boat as we move along the dock. The boat moves away from the dock, the wind
blows it back against dock, we repeat this a few times but when it counts, when
we’re right at the end of the dock the effort is not enough to keep us off and
we grind into the end pile, the boat starts to twist around the pile and I
throw it in reverse and back away from the dock…not pretty, but we’re on our
way by 09:45.
Out on the Chesapeake, the wind is on our stern quarter
(basically from behind), we pull out our forward sail heading south towards
Chester River, we can see the Bay Bridge in the distance. The waves are 3-4
feet. I'm at the wheel as we rock and roll for 2 hours until we are in the
Chester River, protected from the waves. When waves come from behind the boat
lifts up as the wave passes below and lowers the boat off course so its
constant movement of the helm (steering wheel) to keep her going straight…I
guess it’s better than crashing into the waves with the bow? Near the end of
this ride, I notice that I hadn’t secured the dinghy well on the davits…its
swinging side to side. I put on my life jacket, Julie takes the helm. I exit
the cockpit, staying low and move with my hands as I grab pieces of the boat
heading to the stern to secure the dinghy…I should have used my tether line
(secures me to the boat) as well.
The waves subside as we make the bend up the Chester River
and the phone rings – unidentified number, “Hi, this is Denise, Anand’s friend…”
This is a friend Anand had talked about and visited with after stopping by us
in NYC at the 79th Street Boat Basin. Denise and Hank are travelling
home near our location returning from Philadelphia. Location and timing works.
They meet us after we
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| Quiet Herringtown Creek |
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| Julie, Denise & Hank at Waterman's |
Back at the boat by 16:30, dinner is not in the cards. We
are the only boat in this quiet out of the way anchorage…it is the most
peaceful anchorage so far; well protected, 8 feet depth and no boat traffic.
The Marinas here have few boats and the For Sale sign looks like they have all
since closed. We’ve heard and read about it but now learning first hand that
the Chesapeake is full of great gunkholes to anchor in and nobody cares where
you drop your anchor…and why should they…well, unless it’s on a power or
fibre-optic cable.
We’re in for some more good weather as a high pressure
system moves in…no rain forecasted for the next 5 days. The sunset here shows
us exactly that!
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| Sunset in Herringtown Creek |
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