Esaping The Madhouse

At Sea
39 18.39 N 074 18.76 W

As much as we expected Cape May to be a madhouse on Memorial Day weekend, it exceeded our expectations. Going through the canal on the way in it was like driving in heavy traffic on the Long Island expressway. Worse. Unlike the expressway, the boats coming the other way threw up big wake waves. Tarwathie pitched and heaved. It was all I could do to control here. It was much harder on the occupants of the small boats all around us. I heard a constant stream of screams and giggles as bikini clad women in these small boats were tossed around and splashed with water.

At one point Libby panicked. We were about to pass under a 55 foot bridge near low tide when the actual clearance was 57 feet. We need 47 feet. Still we pitched and rolled so much that Libby glanced up, then in a very scared voice she said, "Dick! We're not going to make it under the bridge. Reverse!" It was too late to stop us anyhow and a second later we passed under the bridge OK. Poor Libby though. The scare was real. The best remedy for sailboats traveling under low bridges is don't look. Depth perception doesn't work looking straight up and you scare yourself needlessly.

We ran aground 4 times in less than an hour! That's by far a new record for us. First, in the canal. I moved over to the side trying to put some space between us and the other boats. That was a mistake. Bang we were aground. We were able to back out. Then, we pulled into a side creek to buy diesel fuel. I was worried about depth because the tide was low and still dropping lower. We ran aground again trying to back out of the fuel dock. Then, trying to exit that side creek we hit bottom and had to plow our way out scraping the bottom. 20 minutes after that, we grounded again when trying to anchor.

After all that, we just sat in the cockpit and watched the constant traffic of small boats returning at the end of the day. There were so many of them. The stream of boats didn't end until an hour after dark. We even spotted three boats with red running lights mounted on their starboard side! That is a boating error I never expected to see in a lifetime, yet here were three locals who did it.

Around sunset though, it became very peaceful in the harbor. We were anchored in front of the Coast Guard station. We could clearly hear the military band playing patriotic songs for their memorial day celebration. Mercifully, we couldn't hear the commandant's Memorial Day address. Who needs to hear such speeches anyhow, they're all the same. At sunset we watched the four Coast Guard cutters at their berths beside us. All four had a man at the stern witn and honor guard at full attention to strike the colors at the moment of sunset. The well executed military discipline was impressive. However, the playing of Taps over the base loudspeaker was preempted by the band inside the auditorium that played the Star Spangled Banner at that exact moment.

Today our plan was to leave around noon to pick up an afternoon wind. Instead at 0700 the harbor was calm, peaceful and there was almost zero traffic. We took advantage of that calm to leave early. We were able to sail out the Cape May Inlet seeing only one other boat. (I wrote before how that infamous inlet is where the country's least polite sport fishermen zoom by at full speed.)

Our reward is a lovely day out here at sea. The wind is gentle, yet enough to make us go 5 knots. The waves are very small. There is almost no commercial traffic, and the holiday revelers don't seem to be out fishing. Perhaps on this last day of the long weekend, they're home nursing hangovers.

As Good As It Gets

Delaware Bay
39 01.15 N 075 03.13

I'm reminded of how differently people see things.

Yesterday we chatted with another sailboat on VHF as we left the C&D Canal. We were both heading for Cape May. The other captain said he wanted to make Capy May before sunset. I said that we were in no hurry and that we might anchor along the bay before reaching Cape May. Then the other captain said that he wanted to push ahead so that they could depart Sunday for New York. He didn't want to risk having the window close. Huh? How could that be? According to my weather sources, the window doesn't open until Monday afternoon. After some thought I realized that his definition of window was no wind, no waves, and that he planned to motor to New York. Our definition (see the recent blog post) requires wind.

I also mentioned the other day that we need to find places to get away from other people on holiday weekends. Well just now (Sunday morning) we passed through a fleet of 150 or so small boats all in a big clump, all anchored and fishing. Trying to see things from their point of view, I realized that today is about as good as it gets. It is a long weekend, the beginning of summer, sunny, warm, no rain, no wind, no bumpy waves. For those people tired of the drudgery of being indoors all winter, it was a prime day to get out here on the bay. There must be some reputation that fish bite in that particular spot in Delaware Bay, 8 miles from Cape May. Looking at my charts I can't see any underwater feature. If it's not the fish, I can't understand why they all anchored in a clump close together given hundreds of square miles of bay with similar bottom all around. Oh well, different strokes for different folks.

Our plan today is to buy fuel. Then, if the anchorage looks uncrowded, we'll spend the night at anchor there. If it is crowded, we'll find someplace else to anchor, even near the beach on the open ocean (which we almost never do). Monday, we'll head for New York. Monday afternoon, the wind is supposed to blow 10-15 from the southwest. Cool. It takes us roughly 24 hours to sail from Cape May to the Verazano Narrows.

Soft Shell Crab

Chesapeake Bay, MD
39 24.11 N 076 03.80 W

Yesterday was one of those days when the weather radio is full of warnings of severe thunderstorms all around us. They announce the warnings by county and since we don't know the names of local counties, every warning sounds like it is for us. Rather than trust the soft bottom mud to hold firmly, we elected to go to the Crab House Restaurant in Kent Narrows. YOu buy dinner there and you can stay overnight free at the dock.

Believe it or not, this was the first time ever that Libby and I tasted soft shell crab. It was very good. I had a soft crab sandwich. However, while eating I learned the real way to do it. The locals just order a dozen crabs. They come with wooden mallets, melted butter, vinegar and cajun seasoning. It looked like great fun and it was terribly messy. Next time we'll try that.

Today we won't make great progress. The tide is against us almost all day. We're heading for Chesapeake City. If we get in there, we'll stay there all day Saturday. It's not too far from Havre de Grace MD. We heard that our daughter in law Cathy will be in Havre de Grace this weekend, so we might get a chance to see her.

UPDATE Saturday:
Well our plans went completely awry. When we arrived at Chesapeake City it appeared to be completely full of boats. No place at the dock, no place to anchor (it is Memorial Day weekend after all.) Worse, we ran aground at the entrance. We were able to back off the soft grounding (thank goodness.) What next? It was almost sunset so continuing on to Delaware Bay was a very unattractive option. We had to back track and go back to the Bohemia River on the Chesapeake. Still worse, we motored against current all day long and arrived at Chesapeake City at exactly low tide and when the current reversed direction. That meant we had the current against us when we backtracked. How unkind.

We never stopped in Chesapeake City before. Several of our cruising friends have stopped there and they speak highly of it. However, the basin is very small with limited capacity and shoaling seems to be a constant problem. If we did plan to stop at Chesapeake and upon arrival we couldn't stop, what then? Currents in the C&D canal can be very swift and motoring against the swift current is not practical. So, what happened yesterday fulfilled our worst fears about Chesapeake City as a destination. Too bad for us.

Today, we're trying again. We'll be on the Delaware all day heading for Cape May. What happens when we get there? The anchorage and the marina may also be full. It's still Memorial Day weekend. I think perhaps Libby's policy is best. All cruisers should find quiet out-of-the-way places to hide out during the big holiday weekends.

Things Change

Chesapeake Bay, MD
38 44.83 N 076 25.17 W

We cut our visit to Solomons short. We're heading for Kent Narrows to anchor for the night. There is a front with thunderstorms supposed to pass about 1 hour before we get to anchor. Hope we don't have too much trouble.

One of the reasons why we cut short our Solomons visit was that the laundromat Libby was used to using went out of business. In Libby's words, "That makes Solomons a much less attractive stop for cruisers like us." True.

Recently in Elizabeth City we also had a conversation about changes. The Carolina Theater, the hardware store, and the health club all closed in the past few years, and our favorite host, Fred Fearing passed away. Elizabeth City isn't what it used to be.

Now it occurs to me how much I've changed in past few years. Libby is fond of saying that it took me years to unlearn being a project manager, always looking at the time and the date. True, but there's also a more profound change. My entire career was largely based on embracing and promoting change; mostly technological change. While others shunned change or feared it, I welcomed it and thrived on it. Now, I'm in a mode where I expect everything to be the same year after year. I also used to thrive on stress, but not any more.

Resisting change could simply be one of the many symptoms of getting old, but I think there's more to it. I think that living the cruising life is changing me in ways I haven't fully appreciated. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I can't regret the changes; the past 5 years have been among the happiest in our lives.

Speaking of change. I'm considering a technological change that's very close to the core of my identity. We have Sprint cell phones. Sprint's coverage in the areas we frequent is poor. "Do you hear me now?" "No."
Our contract is done and I want to switch to Verizon. One option is to keep our old phones and have no contract with Verizon, but they make that hard to do. Therefore, I've been studying phones and phone plans. I'm 80% convinced that I ought to get a modern smartphone such as the Droid. (I don't want anything to do with Iphone because I seriously dislike Apple's ways of doing business.) If I do that, daily use of my PC is likely to fade away. I could do all my blogs, and emails and surfing on the phone. The laptop could be needed only to watch the occasional movie on hulu.

Wow: weaning me off my PC could be almost as profound a change as getting used to my PC. I started with a Commodore Pet in 1979. In 1981 I used to carry an Apple II with me on business trips to Europe. It was barely lugable. I've never been without a PC ever since. I started with the Internet in 1989. using email, gopher and Usenet. I had a personal web page in 1994; a time when there were only tens of thousands of web pages in existence.

Six years ago I had a Blackberry and I loved it. Two years ago I tried a smart phone for 24 hours. It was terrible. My fingers were too fat for the small buttons and my eyes were too poor for the tiny fonts. Now, with the Droid, I think that the text and the on-screen keyboard keys are bigger. Here's hoping.

By the way, even with a smart phone I don't plan to tweet or to Facebook. I think that this blog is plenty and that it is better suited to my style of writing than Twitter or Facebook. Do you think I should reconsider?

Dog Days of May

Solomons Island, MD

38 20.24 N 076 27.64 W

Dog days are supposed to be part of summer, not May.   That's what it was like today however.  Hot, humid and still.   We motored all day long to get here out on the Bay waters that were almost smooth as glass.

We skirted the bombing target area.  We avoided the anchored target warship.  I searched the sky every time I heard the roar of a nearby fighter plane.  (I saw it only two times out of four.)  Does it sound like a military area?  It is.   We are just across the river from the Pawtuxet Naval Air Station.  That's where they do test flights.   

Anyhow, we were cool enough out on the bay.  It made for a nice day.  In an hour or so we may get to see a spectacular full moon rising.

Coming into the Pawtuxet river we were boarded by the US Coast Guard for a safety inspection.   First time since 2005 if I remember right.   We had all the required equpiment; no violations.  I'm a big envious of those Coast Guard guys who get to drive those very fast, very rugged boats that look like inflatables.   They aren't really inflatable, they are aluminum boats surrounded by rings of rigid foam flotation.   They sport two enormous outboards on the back.  I bet they can do 60 knots.

I was shooting for an offshore window Cape May-New York next Monday.  When I checked this morning it change to a window on Sunday and another on Tuesday.   (Any weather forecast 7 day in the future is highly speculative.)   If we shoot for Sunday offshore, then time is short.  We'll have to leave Solomons Thursday morning, and motor Thu, Fri, Sat to reach Cape May.   Libby planned on doing groceries and laundry here tomorrow.  Maybe we'll do a half day and motor past dark.   Tomorrow night will be only one day past full moon.  If the sky is clear it could be very pretty to be out there at night.