Heading north on the Chesapeake

Deltaville Boatyard Marina

May 4-6

We decided to cruise 56 miles to Deltaville where we met a few loopers from the rendezvous. Curtis Stokes was there and had planned a few guest lectures for the day and a super cinco de mayo party Saturday night.

The Attack of the Flies

Right outside of Hampton, on our way to Deltaville, Sea Jamm was invaded by about a hundred flies. Visions of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds flashed in my mind. The same thing happened to the other boaters as well. Someone told us later that we had passed a fish processing plant. It kept us busy for awhile. Alan was up on the flybridge swatting and I was down below swatting. All the while, watching for crab pots that we were trying to avoid. You don't want a crab pot to get tangled in your propeller. Busy cruise that morning!

Deltaville boatyard.

Our yacht broker Curtis Stokes and his wife Gill.
Cinco de mayo.

WELCOME TO MARYLAND

Somers Cove Marina

Crisfield, MD

May 6 & 7

Crisfield was a sleepy little crabbing village that had a few little local restaurants. Their claim to fame is being the crab capital of the world. Somers Cove Marina was the largest marina we had been in having about 400 slips. We were a week from the tourist season, so most were empty.

We were lucky that there was a cruise boat in on Monday so we could tag along to Tangier Island 14 miles away. What a treat that was. Tangier is different from any other. Usually only one restaurant is open, but they had two open because of the tour boat.

Tangier is 4 miles long and 1½ miles wide and most of it consists of marsh and wetlands. It is known as the “sinking island,” because that is exactly what it is doing.  Golf carts, bicycles, and small scooters are their only forms of transportation. There is one school grades K-12 and 2 churches, predominately Methodist. The Methodist parsonage was the most well kept house on the island.  With a populations of 450, fishing/crabbing remain their livelihood. These people remain to themselves for the most part and are so isolated, they have a distinct dialect: Elizabethan.  

Crab shacks in Tangier.

Crab shacks with pots.

Everything was about "crabs".

Main Street
Tangier

“Step not lightly upon these shores or cast lighthearted gazes upon our isle. . . take not a dim view of our dwellings nor laugh at our narrow roads. . . do not misunderstand our language not make joke of our native tongue. . . do not mock our walk or look down upon our quaint ways. . . for upon these shores have walked men of God, made of fibre woven lose for age. . . and inside these dwelling laughter and love have flowed to make mansions of our homes. . . our language is that of times past and ages still unknown and our native tongue speaks with truth, understanding and compassion. . . our walk is that of pride and labor – bent somewhat from our toil but never from shame. . . our quaint ways may be misunderstood as slow but time is abundant here and we wish it not away. . . and fear not our streets, as narrow they are, for they are roads of welcome to strangers, highways to let all visitors come into our lives, and exit for those who misunderstand us, or mistrust us or wish not our love.”      A resident of Tangier. Sony Forbes

Solomons Islands

Patuxant River

Tuesday, May 8^th

This place is a smorgasbord of marinas. It was difficult to pick one. So, we decided to catch a mooring ball for the evening and dinghied over to the dinghy dock. From there we walked around the town, ate crab and dinghied back to Sea Jamm for a quiet night of sleep. In bed and asleep by 9, Looper's midnight.

There was a sign on the deck of Stoney's Kingfisher, where we ate, that said “Don't feed the birds.” When we were almost done eating, a couple of birds appeared and one flew into my arm. Once again for the 2^nd time in a week, Alfred Hitchcocks's “Birds” flashed in my mind .

Departing Solomons Island.

May 8^th & 9^th

Wednesday & Thursday

Cruise to St Michaels, MD

The seas were predicted to be calm with “0” waves. However, they were choppy from boat wakes. So many fishing boats. Must have been a good fishing day. As well, there were a lot of freighters cruising the Chesapeake.

How would you like to run into these fish traps in the middle of Chesapeake??  Wouldn't want to run into that cargo ship either!!

Crab boat retrieving a trap.

Crab boat throwing the empty trap back in the water.

Cove Point Lighthouse.   2nd oldest light house on Chesapeake.  Outside Solomons.

Loading facility for LNG gas.

Keep away!!!

Something to ponder:   “One never knows just how big a wake he makes.”