May 22
Winds finally settled down overnight so we raised the anchor
at 6:30 from our idealic location on Dividing Creek and started on our way to
Rock Hall. We discussed taking the much
longer outside route to the main portion of the bay just to see Thomas Point Lighthouse (the last
remaining operable screw pile lighthouse) and
go under the Bay Bridge but
decided the extra time really wasn’t
worth it for things we’ve seen
numerous times in the past.
Thomas Point lighthouse taken during our run south last year
Blue Angels - also a picture from last year
Plus, the
Blue Angels were doing their Navy graduation fly by show today over Annapolis
and we know from last year it generates a ton of crazy boaters and boating
traffic. So today we took the shortcut
through Kent Narrows. Kent Island is the
Eastern Shore terminus of the Bay Bridge with Annapolis being the western. After the bridge was built the island became
a very popular marina location for those trying to avoid the Annapolis
congestion. There has always been a
waterway cut through with a draw bridge.
It still remains despite having the high-rise bridge right next to
it. The channel approaching from the
south holds decent water depths, but there were reports of shoaling occurring
on the north side with depths of 5’ at low tide. Not much room for error with
our 4’10” draft. We timed our trip to
catch the 9AM bridge opening which was at full high tide giving us an extra 2’
of depth. We needed it as we were seeing
depths under the keel of less than 2 feet. It was a bit nerve racking but once
free of the channel it was smooth water all the way to Rock Hall and an
anchorage up Swan Creek.
Kent Narrows bridge
This anchorage holds a special memory for us from when
we used to boat in this area of the Chesapeake decades ago. We had anchored in the creek for the weekend
with another boat from our marina. We
had visited with them until after dark and as we were dingying back to our boat
the water lit up behind us in a phosphorescent show. There were small
nonstinging jellyfish all around and with each stroke on the oars it would
disrupt them and they would light up the water. Truly an amazing sight still
vivid in my memory all these years later.
No such wonderment today as we dingyed back and forth to
town. We met up with our friends Russ
and Jax from "Cat and Dogs" for a late lunch and showed them how to eat a steamed
crab. Then headed to the grocery
store. We heard they had someone who
would drive us back to the marina so we loaded up on heavy items – water, beer,
wine, soda and a few other items. Cloud
cover moving in with possible rain tomorrow so a disappointing sunset.
Teaching Russ how to eat a steamed crab. Just a tutorial, then we had crabcakes and fish taco's
Woke up early today (Thursday) with intentions of moving to Worton Creek which offers more wind protection, but with winds already blowing strong from the south and small craft advisories in place for the next 2 days we stayed put. So Thursday was simply a day for doing nothing. Mostly just reading and napping. I find it hard to get a full nights sleep when at anchor if the wind is blowing and forecast to change direction. I just feel a need to get up several times, check our position on the chartplotter, take a visual from topside and satisfy myself we're still holding position. We had 15-20 knot winds from every direction over the next 2 days and the anchor just kept holding. As a reward for staying put we were rewarded with another outstanding sunset. I thought the sunset was great but then the light show really started as clouds took on more colors than you can find in the big box of Crayola Crayons!!
Friday we were getting a bit stir crazy so despite the choppy conditions at the anchorage we decided to launch the dingy, head to town and hope we wouldn't get too wet in the process. We found the local Java shop for a coffee and some Wi-Fi time. Then walked around town a bit. Interestingly, while Rock Hall is much older than places like Cape Charles or Crisfield it was never a railroad developed seafood town . Those towns were developed around the oyster business but Rock Hall has always been more of crabbing and seafood town. There goods were shipped by ferry across the bay to Baltimore and Annapolis. It therefore never had a boom period and has always been a small town. Lots of modest 30's and 40's era houses on reasonably large lots.
Interesting mural on the local grocery store celebrating the watermen
Friday afternoon the winds started settling down and boats started arriving to fill in our anchorage. Clusters of sailboats and powerboats rafting up to start the long weekend.
Journey for May 22
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