Peake04 3 of 7
Reply to carl@adler-software.com
More trips at:http://CarlAdler.org/waterlogged.html

Fri, Jun 18, 2004
11:43:06 AM
Spring Cove Marina
The Solomons, MD
Lat 38 20.117
Lon 76 27.739

We are enjoying Spring Cove, it is a park like marina with a great location. Within easy walking distance there is a gourmet grocery store, a liquor store and a West Marine store. Not to even mention a Hair place where I got a shave and a haircut for $10.

I tried this URL with and without the "aboard" on June 18 and it did not exist. It was pointed out to me yesterday (7/21/04) that it now exists (without the "aboard")

In my last letter I mentioned a boat named
www.el.com/aboard

Some of you checked and discovered that it was not a valid URL. I did the same. When I mentioned this to my wife she looked at me as if she had just realized she had married an idiot 40 years ago,

and said

The name of the boat is "Welcome Aboard". DUH!
OK, pretty clever, if the URL is still available when I get back to Greenville I will buy it.

We like the rest of you have been subject to intense heat. The other day it was 92 outside and with the Air Conditioner running full blast it was 97 in the boat. A light bulb clicked on in my head: "Maybe the air conditioner isn't working correctly?" Much to my surprise the mechanics associated with the Spring Cove Boat yard agreed to work on it that day (yesterday) and today it is doing just fine. It turns out that it helps if you have Freon in the air conditioner.

Sat, Jun 19, 2004
6:05:02 PM
Dun Cove
Harris Creek
Choptank River
Eastern Shore MD
Lat 38 44.367
Lon 76 19.194

We left at 8:45 to head North with promised NW winds which, of course, turned out to be from due North. Fifteen knots on our nose the whole day. Not a lot of fun. We are rafted up with the Honeycutts with their boat playing host.

We have been on the Bay for 14 days and only 3 of those days featured North winds. We have been actually travelling on the water on only 4 days. On 3 of those days the wind was from the North.

Overheard on the VHF:

Coast Guard Eastern Shore: "The Coast Guard has received reports of a distressed sunken vessel. Would the vessel in distress please contact the Coast Guard."

Sun, Jun 20, 2004
7:56:01 AM
Dun Cove
Harris Creek
Choptank River
Eastern Shore MD
Lat 38 44.367
Lon 76 19.194


This is a beautiful anchorage and probably a dozen boats discovered it last night. As happened last time we were here, there are swans here. Since we have been here this time, they have not gotten close enough to be sure, but by the way they carry their heads they appear to be Whistling Swans. They are migratory birds spending summers in the northern tundra. So I am a little surprised that they are still here. I guess that not all migrate. During the winter they occupy the coast from southern New England to Georgia. The other type of Swan seen here is the Eurasian immigrant Mute Swan which, in addition, to the Great Lakes area, occupy the coast from New England to southern Virginia year around. I understand that its presence here is quite controversial as it is an introduced species and very destructive to Bay vegetation. It is a very graceful swan which carries its neck in an "S" shape.

Last night featured a beautiful sunset coupled with a moon rise, which inspired me to say "I wish I could do more than paint by the numbers." To which my wife replied, "Not to worry honey you can't even paint by the numbers."

The weather radio called for small craft warnings to be needed during the night. We have a rule on board that we can't go to bed before 9:30 which frequently means that we go to bed at 9:30, and after a long and uncomfortable day that is what we did. About 11:00 the winds started and by 1:00 they had built sufficiently that I got up and stayed up to 3:00. When we anchored I mark the range and bearing to the boat which, of course, are initially both zero. Watching them during the night allows me to know if we are draging or simply swinging at anchor. During the early morning hours we pretty much stayed in place. When I arose at 5:30 the winds had shifted to the NE and we had moved and/or swung to about 120 feet from our initial location, but seemed to be holding. The early morning clouds were mainly Cirrus of the type usually described as "Mares Tails." With a steady NE wind that usually means rain within 20 to 30 hours. Fortunately the sky soon cleared and the wind moved more to the North so we probably can expect good weather for the next couple of days.


Mon, Jun 21, 2004
8:42:19 AM


We leave this morning for Oxford one of the top ten sailing sites in the US (according to Sail Magazine). Yesterday we took a dinghy ride and I finally was able to get a close look at the swans. They are Mute Swans (orange beaks) and not Whistling Swans (black beaks). Between our present location and Oxford we must pass through Green 5 and Red 4 on Harris Creek. The last time we tried this we were treated to one of our worse groundings. I think it was a 1997 trip but am not sure because I do not have any sort of an internet connection now to check (carladler.org/waterlogged/). Whatever year it was, the event was memorable. To help float the boat I left Spindrift and got into our dinghy which trails behind Spindrift. That allowed Spindrift to float higher and Kay motored off at speed trapping me in the dinghy. Kay later claimed that she forgot that I was in the Dinghy.


Mon, Jun 21, 2004
1:39:52 PM
The Hinkely Company
Oxford
Tred Avon River
Eastern Shore MD
Lat 38 41.422
Lon 76 10.294


Well we got by the dreaded 4 and 5 Harris Creek markers without misadventure. After that it was a couple of miles out to main river channel then about 5 nautical miles up the Choptank to the Tred Avon and then a couple of more miles to Town Creek at Oxford.

I have seen many ways of going up a mast, but this was certainly new to me.

We thought we were making slip reservantions at Crockett Bros. and were some what alarmed when we learned that it was now owned by Hinkely Yachts makers of fabulous and extremely expensive boats. I was really alarmed at check-in when the dock master appeared to record the daily slip rental as $379.99. Not to fear it turned out to be only $50 after a 25% discount for Boat US members and no charge for electricity. The best we have seen so far.

Cell phone coverage is much better than at Dun Cove but still pretty bad. I have not been able to use pocketmail and the cell phone to check my email for days. Of course I could use a pay phone to do it , but, alas, no pay phones. Most marinas that we have been to, have a phone line you can use to make an internet connection, but, sadly, not here.
Oxford is a pretty little city in an exquisite setting. It has many beautifully landscaped homes. The only city I have seen to compare to it is Niagara on the Lake in Ontario Canada. Probably the best known restaurant here is the Robert Morris Inn, originally constructed in 1710, and supposedly where James Michner wrote his outline for the novel "Chesapeake." The only novel I have read twice and will read three times.

Unlike previous trips which were always working vacations for me, this is more a "Jimmy Buffet" trip for me. I have not done a single bit of work since we started. That is the longest I have gone without working since my honeymoon over 40 years ago. (Just to show that our life style has not changed much in 40 years, our honeymoon was on Isle Royale National Park, a small Island in Lake Superior inhabited by wolves, moose, and semi-strange people like us.)


Wed, Jun 23, 2004
1:22:26 PM
Whitehall Bay
Annapolis MD
Lat 38 59.502
Lon 76 25.852


We are traveling North so what is the direction of the wind. North!
Whoever said "You can't change the direction of the wind, but you can change the set of your sails", had it wrong. We can change the direction of the wind by simply leaving the slip.
We slipped lines at 6:15 this morning and headed for the Rhode River South of Annapolis. This time there would be something different, rather then spending the extra hour and half to round Blackwalnut Point to enter the Chesapeake from the Choptank we would use the Knapp Narrows shortcut. Since the word "narrows" when seen on a chart by me always reads "KEEP OUT" we have passed on using the narrows on earlier trips. This time I thought 'If other sailors can do it, Kay can do it." Besides, what could go wrong?

Getting into the Narrows from the Choptank was not a challenge and the Bascuile bridge was a pleasant surprise. In the past when requesting a bridge opening the response from the bridge tender is usually like "bring her up captain, and I will open it when I get a chance". The last few words frequently sounding suspiciously like "when I damn well please." This time:

Spindrift: "Knapp Narrows bridge this is the sailing vessel Spindrift approaching you from the Choptank requesting an opening."


Bridge tender: "OK."

And he did. Never has that happened before.

We were warned that the exit into the Chesapeake could be tricky. We would need to be careful and lucky. We were neither, and aground we went. This time I refused to get in the dinghy. None-the-less Kay got us off. The only problem was we were now headed back to the bridge. The channel here is 40 feet wide and we are 33 feet long so turning around is no mean feat. Kay looked at me and asked if this was a good place to try it. I looked briefly at the sky, said a quick prayer to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost causes, and answered "not a problem." Thanks again Tony.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Although we had a head wind it never was very strong and we got to the Rhode River at 10:30, which was much too early to stop. So we went on to Whitehall Bay just above and forming part of the entrance to Annapolis. We reached it early enough to have lunch at anchor, a rare treat. The treat for me turned out to be hard boiled eggs, chicken wings, and pickled herring.


Wed, Jun 23, 2004
3:10:07 PM

We heard from the Honeycutts. They left Oxford three hours after we did, heading South and arrived at the Solomons around 2:00. BTW Kay tells me I picked the wrong dude. Saint Anthony is the patron saint of "Lost Things" whereas Saint Jude is the patron saint of "Hopeless Causes". Somebody better tell (choose one)

a) George Bush

b) John Kerry


c) Ralph Nader

about St Jude.


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