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June Vacation on Chesapeake (lots of photos)

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cathluk
Admiral

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USA
513 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/11/2005 : 16:04:02

Dan & I spent a week sailing around the Chesapeake in June. I thought I’d share some of our trip with you. We decided to explore Tangier Sound this year starting with one of our favorite towns – Onnancock. We also wanted to visit Tangier Island in our own boat. There was a heat wave that week so we spent one day sailing to/from & one day visiting at each town. Too hot to anchor out so for the first time we spent our entire vacation marina hopping.

Sunday morning we had light winds so we motorsailed across the Bay to the Eastern Shore. Here’s Dan at the helm leaving the Piankatank River.

After an uneventful motorsail across the Bay we started up the long channel to Onnancock, VA.

It’s a long channel with lots of osprey, new houses, & boats having fun on a Sunday afternoon. We briefly ran aground for a moment half way up when we got looking around too much, but backed off easily.

It was HOT that week so we set up our air conditioning (love the portable Cruiseair!) & had walk into town for dinner once it cooled off.

I'm cooling down.

The Hopkins Brothers store original to the restored waterfront & is now a restaurant.

After a day in Onnancock we sailed up the Tangier Sound to Crisfield, MD which is the self-proclaimed crab capital of the Bay. We did indeed eat our share of crab. We tied up at Somers Cove marina in the large natural harbor at Crisfield & enjoyed their pool while the heat wave continued. We met a couple from Florida who was doing the “Great Loop” in a trawler. They had seen us tied up in Onnancock & stopped by to say hello. Crisfield is undergoing a transformation with new condominiums on the waterfront. I’m sure the skyline looked different a few years ago & will look even more different in another few years. I didn’t take any photos coming into Crisfield, but here we are leaving.

Here’s an stack from an old brick kiln.

We had a lovely sail back down the Tangier Sound to Tangier Island. We were a little worried about he eastern entrance channel as most cruising guides say the western channel is easier & the currents can be strong on Tangier. We had lots of problems with the channel into Smith Island a few years ago since it wasn’t well maintained. No such problems with Tangier Island– the channel is well marked & well maintained. In fact, a coast guard boat was adding a nun buoy to mark some shoaling as we passed. We passed through the working boat basin on the eastern channel until we got to Park’s marina where Dan handled the current easily & we tied up in good fashion. We had a lot more company than I expected for mid week & met some other cruisers who were on a 2 week club cruise & had just left Onnancock & were headed for Crisfield. Seems to be a popular route! We had an extremely high tide which left parts of the island flooded that night & the winds were howling right up the channel so it was a little bumpy, but things settled down around midnight & the heat wave finally broke as the front came through.

Here's a series of photos that show the crab shacks across from the marina from right to left. You can see the buy boat tied up at the pier on the far right.

Some guys from the Naval Air Station flew in for dinner. We saw them come in to the restaurant while we were eating. A short time later they walked back to the airport & took off in the helicopter. They did 2 passes just to show off!

Tangier Island is a fascinating place. I had visited on the tour boat several years earlier with my parents, but to really experience the culture you have to wait until after the tour boat leaves. The people on Tangier are watermen & make their living by crabbing, fishing & tourism. They really do still speak with an accent & phrasing that harkens back to Elizabethan English. It’s a hard life & probably a dying culture as the oysters are gone & the crabs are declining, but I almost envy the sense of community & connection of their life, work, & environment that is so different than my modern suburban life.

Sunrise. Early. The watermen are already up & working. I went back to bed after taking these.

Here’s the link to the Tangier Island website’s history page:
http://tangierisland-va.com/history/

Alas, all good things come to an end & it was time to return to home & reality. We motorsailed (well, mostly motored) back across the Bay, cleaned up & headed home.

Saw some pelicans on the way back.

There's no place like home.

http://www.fishingbay.com

A very relaxing & enjoyable cruise.

Cathy
"Far Away"'88 Pearson 31
(DPO C250wk "Blown Away")

Edited by - cathluk on 07/12/2005 09:55:35

cathluk
Admiral

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USA
513 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2005 : 16:05:37

Okay, why are the photos so small? My test photo was bigger. Sigh. Hope you can see them well enough.

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2005 : 16:37:13

I think you posted the link to your thumbnails in Shutterfly, you need to post the link to the full size image. You should be able to edit this and fix it, I'd love to see the full-size photos.

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Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2984 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2005 : 21:30:07

Cathy...great account of a good cruise... yes...upsize the pics if possible... thanks

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2005 : 08:51:26

Cathy -
Expanding on the above advice (although the digit-changing idea seems like the easiest route):

when you go to your album in shutterfly, double-click on the small thumbnail images and they will open enlarged. Then right-click on the larger image, click "properties" and copy/paste the URL for the larger image into your post in the Sailor's Forum.

It'll take a little effort but I hope you can get around to doing it, I think most of us would like to see the larger pics.

Steve

Edited by - Lightnup on 07/12/2005 08:53:09

cathluk
Admiral

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USA
513 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2005 : 10:01:25

I stiched together the series of waterfront photos to give you a better idea of the Tangier crab shacks.

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Don B
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2005 : 11:13:28

Cathy, great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

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Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1774 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2005 : 15:51:43

COOL!

'Looks like y'all had a great time!

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At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2005 : 16:56:17

To me it always interesting to see the differences in docking facilities around the country. The Chesapeake uses pilings...my boat is in a wet slip on a floating dock, and it is in 65' of water, which is not as deep as it usually is, the lake is down about a foot.

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2005 : 17:45:30

Congratulations, Cathy. A good friend of mine just moved to Tangier to be the new pastor there (in fact, I engineered his appointment there). Onancock's a gorgeous town -- we have many friends there. Vicki and I hope to do a week's cruise in late July, weather and schedule permitting. We're going to a wedding on the Shore July 30, and hope to go by boat, docking either in Onancock or at a camp on Occohannock Creek. See you on the Rivah!

Brooke

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cathluk
Admiral

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USA
513 Posts

Response Posted - 07/13/2005 : 17:34:59

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by At Ease
 To me it always interesting to see the differences in docking facilities around the country. The Chesapeake uses pilings...my boat is in a wet slip on a floating dock, and it is in 65' of water, which is not as deep as it usually is, the lake is down about a foot.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

65 feet at the dock! Wow - we see 65' in only the deepest part of the Bay! We usually anchor in 10' or so & sail with 25' below the keel. Never get worried until it gets under 5'.

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cathluk
Admiral

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USA
513 Posts

Response Posted - 07/13/2005 : 17:36:56

Brooke-

You're friend is lucky to be able to experience real life on Tangier. I imagine he'll remember that appointment for the rest of his life. I don't figure there are many ways to be a "come here" on Tangier unless you marry into a family.

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coach
Navigator

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USA
231 Posts

Response Posted - 07/14/2005 : 00:05:33

That looks like you had a great cruise! Great pics!

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JoergK
Navigator

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USA
140 Posts

Response Posted - 07/15/2005 : 11:07:06

... for all the friends of the Cheasapeake - Chrisfield is still a "real" place. Thanks God not too many tourists - yet. Cathy, next time you go there visit the crab peeling houses and the soft shell holding pens (they need to be closely observed, to be taken out soon after casting off the old shell, before the new one hardens). Also: you must read the book "Beautiful Swimmer". It is THE book and makes you understand the soul of the Bay.
We spent a lot of summers at Pocomoke Sound (didn't have my boat yet) and had fun sailing a sunfish across the sound. I wished I'd have my boat in the Cheasapeake, although NJ isn't so bad, either.

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tmhansen
Captain

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USA
397 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2005 : 00:43:44

Cathy thanks for taking the time to share your vacation.

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