Returning to the Cambridge
City ramp, we hauled out and drove
south to Crisfield, Maryland
where we re-launched Cloud Nine in
preparation for cruising the southern end of the DelMarVa
peninsula. During the Rosborough Rendezvous folks had given us
ideas for cruising this area. Tangier
Island was one spot we definitely planned to visit and we had also heard
good things from Christina about Smith
Island.
Someone had told us of a boat ramp - perhaps the one at
Janes Island St. Park - which is free. We were all backed up and ready to
launch there when a pedestrian stopped us and told us that the ramp was
extremely short and ended at the line painted on the wall. We sure would have
been in trouble if we had continued launching there! Thankful for the timely
information we proceeded to Somers Cove,
in the heart of Crisfield, where the
ramp was A-OK.
While we launched we were bodily attacked by the greenhead
flies!
Blood was dripping down Craig’s legs as we drove away from the ramp and
I went on a rampage to clear the flys out of boat.
Once we were settled,
however, Crisfield turned out to be
a great place. The docks were packed with sail boaters, driven in by the high
winds out on the Chesapeake,
and they sure were a friendly bunch. Several stopped by to admire our boat and
in no time we found ourselves invited to join a group for dinner out. We all
swapped cruising stories. Their group had been circumnavigating the DelMarVa Peninsula prior to the wind event. They agreed
with our plan to visit Tangier
Island and suggested we
also consider going to Onancock.
The wind was still kicking around the next morning so Craig
and I decided to skip visiting Smith
Island and instead headed
into town to check out the shops. Crisfield isn’t a fancy place but being an
old fishing town it has many, many small marine hardware shops - our kind of
shopping! We poked around for hours and come back with treasures including a mini
scupper for Tinker Belle, salve for jellyfish stings, bug repellant for
greenheads and polarized sunglasses.
In the thick of all this we got a phone call
from Christina saying that Reed and Judy had decided to follow us down to
Crisfield and cruise with us to Tangier
Island. When we got back
from downtown we found their rig in the parking lot, where they planned to camp
for the night.
 |
| Filamingo |
Next morning Cloud Nine and Filamingo headed out for Tangier Island.
 |
| Departing Somer's Cove, Crisfield, MD |
 |
| Looking back to Crisfield |
 |
| Low country horizon |
The water was calm and the trip went well.
Arriving at Tangier Island
is arriving in another world. It isn’t just that it is an island, because we’ve
been to plenty of islands. This one was isolated for so long that the speech
and customs are distinctly different.
 |
| This little bow finger dock is what you have to climb onto |
The docking is a bit awkward and it took
awhile to get ourselves secured and settled. Getting off the bow onto the dock
is difficult and limits the number of times you want to climb on and off the
boat.
My favorite part of the island is the harbor and all the boats.
Craig and
I set out in the dinghy to take in the sights and that was fun! Our 2HP Honda,
however, wasn’t going to take us to all the out-lying beaches that Christina
had told us about and we regret that.
In the morning we ventured into town, keeping a wary eye out
for speeding golf carts. The houses are quaint. Some have grave stones in the
front yard. Folks are friendly, but busy. It is best to stock up on fruits and
vegetables before coming here because those are in short supply in the local shops.
And then we set out for Onancock.
Onancock is located seven miles up Onancock Creek. It is a great town! Judy and
I had a good time visiting the shops and choosing a restaurant for the evening.
 |
| Can you see the cat on this boat? |
 |
| Ballew keeps an eye on the cat |
 |
| Lovely restaurant in Onancock |
After spending a very pleasant time at Onancock we made
plans to leave in the morning. The problem with being seven miles from the Chesapeake is that you
have no idea what the conditions are until you get there. When we emerged from
the creek we found a sharp chop going on that we had to take on the beam side
in order to thread our way through the many buoys. It didn’t take long for me
to want to turn back, and back we turned. Craig voted to drop anchor a-ways up
the creek and try the Chesapeake
again in an hour or so. That sounded like a swimming opportunity to Judy and me
but by the time we were anchored and rafted up strange things seemed to be
happening with the weather.
Dark clouds enveloped us and the winds sliced across the low
lying land. Swimming was out of the question. And to the wind, torrential rain
along with thunder and lightening was added. Craig started our engines, trying
to keep some slack in the anchor line so we didn’t drag.
White knuckles….while
at anchor. This seemed to go on for hours.
 |
| Hail on cockpit rug |
The temperature dropped…probably 20
degrees…resulting in hail. I eyed
the boat windows wondering how they might stand up to this onslaught. And then,
finally, it was over. The vote was to return to town for the night. I was
pooped!
The calendar was clear in showing that our vacation time was
about over. We needed to get back on the road to Vermont. So next morning we were up a dawn -
or the hour at which we expected it to be dawn. Seems Virginia
and Vermont
don’t schedule dawn at similar times. We were thinking 4 a.m. It was pitch black in Onancock at that hour.
We had breakfast, stowed stuff, twiddled our thumbs…and finally headed out at
about 5 - at the 1st streak of light.
Seven miles out from Onancock we found that the Chesapeake was still pretty rough. We gritted our teeth and continued on. Once out of the buoys we were able to head north and take the wind from the rear. That was better and we arrived in Crisfield in good shape and at quite an early hour.
Hauled out, hit the road and all our problems just dropped away.
No comments:
Post a Comment