Southbound

 

Checking things out before leaving Middle River

Although we hated to leave friends and family in Middle River, we had to keep moving. We did manage to take on a stowaway for a day though. Our daughter Elizabeth joined us for a spectacular sail to Kent Island. Not only was it a great sail, we finally caught some fish - 2 nice stripers! Since we left our net on the dock in Middle River, we were pondering how to bring the second and bigger fish on board...then it hit me! Our friend Kyle had given us a couple of spears for fishing in the Bahamas (if we make it there), so I went below and grabbed one. There was no line attached to the spear, so of course I had visions of throwing it, losing it, losing the fish and having to face the Capt'n, but luckily we kicked into survivor mode. Bud reeled it in close and I speared that sucker and brought it in. Of course all of the proof of this is on my camera with a dead battery and I can't unload the pics! But when we settled into Goodhands Creek, the 3 of us enjoyed a delicious fish dinner! Tim and Stephanie came to pick up Liz shortly after and we had our final round of goodbyes. Now we were on our own with many miles to go before seeing some familiar faces.

The next day we headed for Brooks Creek, Little Choptank River, on the eastern shore. A quiet little creek with nothing but a few houses and Danny Windsor's Crab Shack. Danny was another nice, regular guy. We picked up some ice, and he (Mom, you might want to skip this next sentence) even drove us down the road to fill our jugs with fresh water. That night we realized how amazing the stars are down here!

The following day we headed back to the western shore and checked our notes from our conversation with Roy. We met Roy in Middle River and he gave us some suggestions for places we might want to stop on the Chesapeake. We picked a spot...Point No Point, St Jerome's Creek. Perhaps we should have paid more attention to our notes from Roy, WATCH THE CHANNEL! Well, I know I heard somewhere that if you travel the Intercoastal and don't run aground, you're lying. In our defense, the markers were really confusing and the chart wasn't marked correctly either. Luckily there was a local guy fishing about 20 yards away. Ray Cyrus quickly became our new friend! Before I knew it, Bud was in waist deep water pulling SeaQuest off of the shoal (that's why we love this boat!) and Ray was leading us through the correct channel. We found a nice protected spot to anchor and knew we would be there for a few days because of the weather blowing in.


anchorage

The town on St. Jerome's Creek was Ridge, MD. Not so much going on here. We brought our bikes on shore at Buzz's Marina, run by Mike and Chrissy. What a great spot! We explored by bike for the next few days. We rode about 5 miles just to get to a place for lunch. Our other travels consisted of the gas station/market, hardware store and interestingly enough our new friend Ray's house! He was kind enough to share with us his secret for catching rock fish (stripers to us). The DC minnow. Unfortunately we haven't had any luck with it so far, but we're still trying! I can still hear him "Fish on!" 

Buzz's Marina


Kaya, not thrilled about her life vest. We tried to take her for a dinghy ride, but she wasn't up for it.

Sept. 30th. Happy Birthday to me! My first birthday at sea! It was another beautiful day and our original plan was to head to Tangier Island. Well, our plans changed, not once but twice. Onto plan C.  The weather was so nice we decided to keep going and ended up in Wicomico Church. Which was fine with me, because there was a winery there! What a nice birthday dinner that would be! Unfortunately I didn't call ahead. Their Fall hours were in effect. Oh well, our pina coladas and nachos were just as good as any old winery could have served, right? In such a beautiful setting, how could I really complain. And again, the stars were breathtaking.

This may have been where we ran aground...the channel is to the left of that marker, who would have thought?

On the move again, early. Still very strange to be up with the sun and in bed by 9:00, but I like it. Our plan today was Horn Harbor, about 30 miles south. The weather was beautiful and the winds were light, but we were anchored again by 2:30. After exploring by dinghy and filling up our gas/diesel tanks at the one and only marina here in Horn Harbor, we set out to go clamming! Wet suits on, we were ready! The only problem was, there weren't any clams! The water was so clear it was like dinghy-ing through an aquarium. We were lucky enough to get some fresh oysters though. It turned out to be more work than it was worth, but we enjoyed them just the same!

Just one more stop on the Chesapeake before Norfolk and heading into the Dismal Swamp!YAY!

~ Jen & Bud