Chesapeake Cruise

[thistlecap]

We grew up in Chesapeake Bay Country, but as I look back, we really saw a small percentage of the bay's gunkholes.  Other than a few cruises to the usual harbors, we spent a lot of time on wonderful daysails or weekends crossing the same tracks countless times.  Family demands forced our move first to Florida and then NW Oklahoma, where we're 750 miles away from the nearest serious water.  Having finished most house construction projects here, and having retired from the sea commercially, I long to get back to the water as a cruiser.  Depending on when spring makes itself felt, I'll finish the boat projects and trailer Thistle about 1200 miles to the bay where I'll sail a month on, a month off.  The plan is to make a systematic and thorough exploration of the bay and its tributaries.  Hopefully this will begin sometime in April.
When I pulled the Cruising Guide to the Chesapeake(by Blanchard and Stone) off the shelf and realized it was almost 50 years old, I went searching for a replacement.  Cruising the Chesapeake: A Gunkholer's Guide by William Shellenberger is what I got.  It looks great, with a few nice features I like.  Besides listing available facilities for each anchorage, the anchorages are rated by degree of protection and points of beauty and interest from 1 to 5 stars.
Jean, my wife, got me a bay chartkit for Christmas, so other than getting the work done on Thistle, I'm about set.
One thing I need to find is a good, reasonable facility on the Western Shore with a travellift and room to leave a truck and trailer for a month at a time.  Any suggestions out there?
My first project is putting a new gunwhale in the hard dinghy.  While in Florida, it was tied upside down on some cinderblocks for an approaching hurricane. I shipped out a month at a time, and when I got back to the dinghy, termites had gotten into the gunwhale, and what they didn't do in a couple spots, water got into and finished  to the point the whole thing needs to come out and be replaced.

[Bill NH]

One thing I need to find is a good, reasonable facility on the Western Shore with a travellift and room to leave a truck and trailer for a month at a time.  Any suggestions out there?

Try White Rock Marina in Pasadena, MS (just south of Baltimore).  I worked on WanderBird in their yard when I bought her and they were very low-key and friendly.  No problem at all with working on your own boat, and they have a huge yard where I'm sure you could arrange to leave a trailer (either alone, or with the boat on it when you're away).  They have showers and laundry but are not a fancy-type marina, and their rates were very reasonable.  Phone is (410) 225-3800, ask for Kristy (the Office Manager).

[Godot]

If you are going to be in the area, it would be cool to sail in company a bit.  Let me know if you are interested.  Maybe we can get a sailfar rendezvous going.

[thistlecap]

That sounds great, Adam.  If you wish to send me a private message with your e.mail and phone number, I'll hang onto that and keep you posted as plans progress.  Jim

[Auspicious]

Shellenberger's book is the very best there is today for cruising the Chesapeake.

What part of the Bay is most convenient for you? Someone can surely help you find a place to get in and out based on that.

I'd be happy to sail along with you as well. Adam can get 'hold of me.

I do my share of gunkholing (I call it "sailing by braille") and am happy to share the places I like the most.

[thistlecap]

The reason I mentioned the Western Shore was being able to avoid having to go up through DC and Baltimore with the boat in tow, but that's not a priority, just a convenience.  I like family-owned marinas with a casual atmosphere, quiet, and which allow work by the owner.    BillNH mentioned Pasadena.   Anyhow, I'm not going to stay in the marina.  It's just a place I can splash and feel safe leaving my truck and trailer behind.  Also, I may move my base of operations month to month, so the one I don't use one month, I may well look forward to using the next.     

[Auspicious]

Deltaville VA is probably a good spot to look for a launch site. You might also try Solomons MD. As you get closer to bigger population centers the costs will go up and land is sufficiently constrained that you are more likely to have trouble getting an okay to leave the truck and trailer on-site.

Personally I would worry more about the Blue Ridge Mountains than about traffic in DC and Baltimore. That said, if you come up 95 from 64 you can head up 301 across the Potomac to the Western Shore/mid-Bay.

[hearsejr]

 lets not forget Reedville Va.  there is a very cheap do it yourself  yard there.  showers and rest room, no laundry machine there that I know of though.
forgot to say the name of the yard is Jennings. it's on boatyard rd.


Bill

[Joe Pyrat]

Reedville also has a great place for steamed crab.  It's accessable from the water and the prices for large blue crab were $10 less than the price for medium blue crab most places in Maryland I visited last summer and fall.

And there is a very nice anchorage at Fishing Bay.

[thistlecap]

Thanks for the input.  I'm making a list and checking it twice (or more). :)

[Soundbounder]

If you just need a quick reference, there is this site also:

http://www.baydreaming.com/index.htm

[ThistleCap]

I finished the dinghy project with gunwhales laminated in cherry.  

But I couldn't stop.  Each project led to something else, and the hoped for departure for early May....well, that didn't happen.  The dinghy led to revarnishing the interior, painting the saloon, compounding the hull, painting the deck, removing and rebedding the deck hardware, making new companionway slides, adding brass companionway slide tracks, new teak companionway hatch rails, 5 coats of epoxy gel coat, 5 coats of poxytar, new paint and tires on the trailer, new zippers on the bimini cover, and bottom paint.  I'm not done, but the list has stopped growing.  I won't be brash enough to publicize a new departure date, but it's getting closer, and the Chesapeake beckons still.

[ThistleCap]

Well, I should have known it was too much to hope for.  I tried following the directions for posting pictures, and this was my first attempt.  Any ideas on how to replace the "X" with the pictures? I used:

Edit: CapnK





Jim - I went to your Picasa pages, right clicked on the image and chose "Copy Image Location", then Paste that location in between the {img} and {/img} tags you get if you click on the little picture-looking icon above. Hope that helps! - Kurt

[maxiSwede]

wonderful woodwork!

Truly impressive

[Shipscarver]

Beauty!  You have accomplished more work in less time than I could imagine. It take me longer to think about a project than for you to do it.   ::)

[ThistleCap]

Thistle is ready, and we start the road trip at first light.  I don't carry a computer, but when I return, if there's a story to tell, I'll tackle it then.  This is a test to see if I've solved the picture posting problem.
The companionway rails by Dufour were rather involved for a home shop, but I wanted to try, as the original teak rails had rotted.  Then, the companionway hatch slid on four hard plastic pieces that wore a groove in the fiberglass deck over time, and when I started painting, made short work of the paint.  I got two 1 X 1/8 inch pieces of brass flatstock from Jamestown Distributors, sanded the deck and back of the brass for some tooth, and epoxied in place.  It not only solved the problem, but looks better IMHO, and the hatch slides like a dream.


 

[Amgine]

Ouch! But yes, much better to have issues early than well into the trip.

Never had those kinds of issues personally, though I've seen them (grew up in my Dad's repair shop.) I *can* say that the worst-case solution is a lot less expensive than a new trailer. On the third hand, the cruising budget is likely to take a hit early.

Wishing you better luck come Monday.

[Auspicious]

Sorry to hear about the trailer woes. Good luck getting back on the road quickly.

Where did you decide to aim for on the Bay?

[ThistleCap]

There were a lot of fits and starts, and you and I both were probably having doubts as to whether this cruise was going to happen.  Well, friend, take heart.  It did.



I started off 17 September.  By the time I made Oklahoma City it started pouring and didn't stop until I made Greensboro, NC.  At times it poured so hard I feared someone running into Thistle in the poor visibility, forcing me to pull off the interstate to await better visibility.  Finally, the fourth day brought clear skies and my return to Chesapeake Country.  After Oklahoma, and after being away so long, the countryside was breathtakingly beautiful. 



I arrived at Kennersley Point Marina on the Chester River near Chestertown.


Sunset from Kennersley Point Marina

Thistle was launched and I got to see her by the boathouse and in her element for the first time in five years.  The trip was 1,687 miles.  Kennersley Marina is at the back end of a land grant farm dating from 1703.  It's on Island Creek off Southeast Creek, and is a quiet hurricane hole that the regulars guard from the world.  As you meet each new person, one of the first five questions seems to always be, "So, how did you find this place?"



Adam (Sail Far "Godot") joined me for a daysail.  We went up to Chestertown, anchored for lunch, and got a good picture of Sultana under sail.  Sultana is a replica of the 97-ft. schooner built in 1767 in the Boston shipyard but soon after sold to the British and used to enforce the hated Tea Taxes.  By 1772, Colonial resistance had grown so heated that the British, fearing for the safety of vessel and crew, called her back to England and sold her at auction.



Chestertown is living history at its best.  The route through town was a main traveling artery during the Revolutionary and Colonial periods.  George Washington often frequented the town as one of his favorites, became involved in the establishment of Washington College in 1782, the nation's tenth oldest college, provided financial support, and served on the Board of Governors.  The first few blocks along the river where merchants and sea captains built their homes are a joy to stroll to appreciate the perfectly preserved architecture.







Sailing was boisterous.  On only two days did we set full sail.  For the rest of the month we had at least a reef in the main, spent one day with double-reefed main and a reefed working jib, and three days were spent in port in 30-40 kts of wind.  One Saturday was forecast to be pouring rain, so we opted to return to Kennersley and drive to the Naval Academy in Annapolis for the day.  Other than a spritz as we crossed the Bay Bridge, the day turn beautiful.


A view on the Chester River.



Two farm siloes converted to a 5-story home with wrap-around porches on the second and third floors and floor-to-ceiling windows giving a panaramic view of the Chester River.

More to follow--

[CaptMac]

Looks great... gives me more reason to finish my projects and get on the water too.