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6½ lighthouse trip on the Chesapeake Bay

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JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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Initially Posted - 12/12/2008 : 11:40:26

In November, 4 weeks ago, I planned a long weekend trip with 2 old friends who were in town for business the next week. We had 4 days to spend cruising out on the bay.

We went from my marina in Mill Creek off the Magothy River down the Chesapeake past Annapolis, then into Eastern Bay and into the Miles River to our destination in St. Michaels, MD. Here's a map showing the overall itinerary:

The trip down the Bay on Friday afternoon and night was done navigating first by sight until south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and then by GPS together with a series of lit navigation markers.

We chose this option so that we could spend a leisurely day in the pleasant town of St. Michaels eating crabs and mussels, visiting the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and relaxing on the boat which had been fitted with a pop-top cover and electric heater for the cool weather.

Statistics on the trip

You can see that we went 41 miles there, and it took about 9 hours of motoring. One tank of gas with the Honda 9.9hp. It was a longer distance than I thought!

Here is the GPS track of our trip from Ferry Point Marina to St. Michaels Marina, motoring in the afternoon mist and then in the fog at night:

This detail of our course shows how I steered like a maniac when passing the south end of Kent Island and after the Bloody Point Bar Lighthouse came into view in the fog and in the dark. There was no way to maintain a straight course visually in the fog. I was watching the fuzzy gray hulk of the lighthouse 100 or 200 feet away and we then apparently spun around in a circle! After looking at the compass and the GPS again we got back on course.

We arrived at the St. Michaels Marina a little before 11 pm and after tying up and setting up the pop-top cover, heater, and sleeping quarters, we celebrated with a toast to our friendship and a difficult trip with a successful conclusion, thanks to the GPS and all the navigational aids in the bay that marked our way.

We had a great time in St. Michaels. The weather was clear and sunny, and the November temperature went up to 70 or so. The town is very quaint, with nice restaurants and a large museum devoted to the lore of the Chesapeake Bay, with its watermen, boatbuilders, and other historical aspects. Here is the website for the museum [url="http://www.cbmm.org/"]Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum[/url]. The St. Michaels Marina provided shore power, nice bathroom facilities, and a short walk to anywhere in town.

St. Michaels is known as "the town that fooled the British" due to the clever action of early settlers. During the early morning hours of August 10th, 1813, British barges off the coast of St. Michaels planned an attack on the town and a harbor fort. The people of St. Michaels got word of the impending attack and hoisted lanterns high up onto the masts of their sailboats and into the tops of trees. The high lights caused the attacking British to overshoot the town. The rouse worked and only one house in St. Michaels was hit by cannon fire. That house still stands as a private residence and is known as the "Cannonball House." The cannon ball fell through the top of the roof and rolled down the stairs. The Cannonball House is located on Mulberry Street, adjacent to St. Mary's Square.

There are many houses from the colonial period of American history.

The return trip was planned to see a bunch of sights, including these 6 1/2 lighthouses along the way, but it didn't work out that way. The wind was blowing at about 15-20 knots, and before I was able to reef the mainsail, my old personally repaired and re-strengthened rudder split at the lower pintle. I have ordered a new balanced rudder from CD.

[Comment to self: Reef early, like I have in the past, in spite of visiting sailors]

So the sailing trip was over, and we got a ride home by car, thanks to the Admiral. The last day planned for sailing and seeing the sights along the Bay to my marina would now have to wait for another time my friends visit. Here we are in St. Michaels.

After getting home with the top half of my rudder, I fabricated a temporary balanced rudder out of 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood which were painted, bolted together with 12 carriage bolts, painted again, wrapped along the edge with 2 layers of duct tape, and painted again. The pintle attachment holes were aligned from my paper model of the rudder I had from my repairs 18 months earlier as well as from the piece of the rudder remaining. This temporary rudder fit onto the boat just fine, and it worked perfectly as I motored the 41 miles back home on Thanksgiving morning at 6am.

My solo return trip was taken on a beautiful, cold, November day with 10 knot winds from the SW. I probably could have sailed with the temporary rudder, which is not encased in fiberglass, but I was not in the mood for any excitement. Also the turkey, oysters, crabcakes, shrimp, and apple pie were waiting at home.

And here are the 6½ lighthouses I saw along the way:

1. Hooper Strait Light is the one at the maritime museum in St. Michaels. There were a few lighthouse keepers around the year 1900 who lived in this place for over 10 years when it was out in the Bay! This lighthouse was knocked off its screw-piles by ice floes one time, and it sank up to the roof a few miles down the bay. The museum recovered it, and it is maintained on the land now with displays of the living quarters, the big fog bell and its striking mechanism, and photos of keepers. My friends and I climbed to the lamp room with the big fresnel lens. It's number 1 on my return trip.

More info on [url="http://www.rickslighthouses.com/hooper_strait.htm"]Hooper Strait Lighthouse[/url]

2. Wye River Light on the eastern shore of the Miles River at the mouth of the long Wye River. If it weren't for a road bridge with only a 10 ft. clearance, sailors could circumnavigate Wye Island.

3. Bloody Point Bar Light off the tip of Kent Island, which we saw as a dark gray mass with a white light in the fog. It leans over at about a 5 degree angle, since the sand and mud at the base eroded and was later filled in with stone supports, without the structure having been righted. It was later gutted by a fire and has been sold recently to an adventurous person who wants to refurbish the wooden interior.

More info on [url="http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=427"]Bloody Point Bar Light[/url]

4. Thomas Point Shoal Light across the Bay from Kent Island off the western shore of the Bay. This last spring I read in the paper that several public boat tours were conducted with visitors allowed to climb up into the lighthouse.

More info on [url="http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/keepers.asp"]Thomas Point Shoal Light[/url]

5. Sandy Point Light near the Bay Bridge, with Baltimore Light and Gibson Island at the mouth of the Magothy River in the background.

6. Baltimore Light (.Org) was purchased by a group of lighthouse enthusiasts in the Annapolis area who have now renovated the interior. It is not yet open to the public.

More info on
[url="http://www.baltimorelight.org/history.htm"]Baltimore Light[/url]

6½. The fake lighthouse on Little Island in Sillery Bay off the Magothy River near my marina. This was added in a renovation to the original house. There has been considerable controversy about several actions of the owner of Little Island, who has according to newpaper reports, disregarded zoning laws and added a rock breakwater in a tidal wetland area without permission. The neighbors have also been up in arms about the 15 ft tall plastic palm trees next to the lighthouse. I think they're just funny.

Sillery Bay, especially between Little Island and Dobbins Island (Dutch Ship Island), is a favorite anchorage of boaters in the area since it is protected on 3 sides and gives you good holding in 10-12 ft of water with a sandy and muddy bottom.

Now the Gypsy is safely back in her home marina, but I'm still waiting for the arrival of my new rudder.

I had been prepared to use my new preventer rig (demonstrated to me by Paul Zell in SF Bay in October) on a downwind reach with southerly winds on the sail back home, but that will also have to wait for the next time I go out. All in all, it was an interesting trip, we had a great visit, but there was a disappointing sailing outcome.

Happy sailing to all.

JohnP
1978 C25 SR/FK "Gypsy"
Mill Creek off the Magothy River, Chesapeake Bay
Port Captain, northern Chesapeake Bay

Edited by - JohnP on 12/12/2008 13:01:35

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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3477 Posts

Response Posted - 12/12/2008 : 18:12:51

John,

I am envious of your "successful" trip despite the rudder issue. Quite an adventure ! The photos and narrative you provided, it would seem that you had a week long vacation ! You were smart to motor the first leg of the journey. If I had done that the time I took my journey in the Fall, I would have made it to my destination (Quantico Marine Base Marina). But I tried sailing it and wasted too much time tacking and fighting the tide. I wound up turning around and settling for a much closer destination - National Harbor.

You guys sure know how to have fun !

Edited by - OLarryR on 12/12/2008 23:45:51

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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Response Posted - 12/12/2008 : 22:04:45

Thanks for posting your story. The lighthouses are beautiful!

Edited by - on

Even Chance
Captain

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393 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2008 : 12:07:40

John, next time you make that trip, go around the north end of Kent Island and through Kent Narrows. Dock at Harris' Crab House and have a meal there, leaving room for their homemade Nutty Buddies.

St. Mike's is a good place to visit, but a far cry from the genuinely quaint town there before Washington and Baltimore doctors and lawyers with money to burn took it over. Now the locals can't afford to live there or anywhere in Talbot County.

You might also try going through Tilghman Narrows -- more good food -- and on to Oxford, which is more like what St. Mikes used to look like. Just don't be fooled by the overrated Robert Morris Inn and its crabcakes, pronounced by James Michener as the best in the cosmos. (it's been years since I've been to the RMI, and I don't plan to go back. As for Michener . . . I don't know what "Chesapeake" was about, but it's not the Eastern Shore, which is my ancestral turf)

If you want great seafood, find the nautical equivalent of a truck stop. Ask locals.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 12/27/2008 : 15:30:14

Brooke, I haven't been to the Robert Morris for about eight years now, but the couple of times I've been (and once stayed) there, the crabcakes were the best I've ever had. I preferred the broiled to the fried, but they were both wonderful, with lots of lump meat and great seasoning. (I don't even care that much for most other crabcakes.) I didn't know about Michener's proclamation until later, but couldn't dispute it. I hope to return some day... BTW, as quaint as Oxford is, that's about all that's there--that and marinas on all sides.

Edited by - on

Even Chance
Captain

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Response Posted - 12/28/2008 : 16:43:11

Dave, I haven't been there in a long time, but I'd be willing to bet the cakes at Stingray's -- just north of the Eastern Shore end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel -- would make you forget the RMI. They're pretty good at Harris' Crab House, too . . . as they were at the late, great, Angelina's in Baltimore. And, of course, always broiled.

On the other hand -- I make mine using the recipe from the side of the Old Bay can. I'll put those up against anyone's.

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JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 12/29/2008 : 08:40:33

Brooke,

Thanks for the recommendations for crab shacks. The Harris Crab House will be in the plans for the spring or summer.

I have read about the 2 knot current through the Kent Narrows. This is an aerial view looking north over the Kent Narrows to the Chester River off the Chesapeake Bay.

Tying up at Harris' to scarf some crabcakes and wait for slack tide and for the drawbridge to open will certainly take the stress out of the run south through the Narrows. This is someone's photo from their boat that is under the Rt. 50 bridge looking south to the drawbridge and marina.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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Response Posted - 12/29/2008 : 19:35:55

John,
Nice write up, we're hoping to make some similar trips this coming summer. Thanks for putting the story & photos together for us.

Edited by - on

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