10-08-2010
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pasadena MD
Posts: 118
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Well this is late but this was our first vacation/cruise aboard our 26 foot Macgregor “Nauti Time”. We started the Sunday before Labor Day and came home the following Friday. Next time we’re going longer!
We're back! Had a GREAT time!
Sunday we sailed out of Rock Creek and went to the Magothy to have dinner with friends at the Deep Creek restaurant where we stayed slipped for the night.
Monday we left the Magothy late in the morning, were hoping to reach Tilghman Island but the currents, high south winds and incoming tide decided to slow us down a bit. Just around 5:00PM we rounded Thomas Point light and surfed our way into the South River, we anchored off Quiet Waters Park on the north shore of the South River. For dinner we had canned corned beef sandwiches, chikin’ in biscuit crackers, and Yuengling beers. At the time that REALLY tasted GREAT!
Tuesday with winds and white caps we left the South River to sail across the bay and round the southern end of Kent Island. The South wind was blowing pretty strong and the bay was a little rough, at least for our little 26 footer. The boat did handle it surprisingly well though. Once we rounded up into the Eastern Bay the wind pushed us north at a really nice pace with following seas, it was very relaxing. EXCEPT when some idiot ahead to our port tacked and crossed very close across our bow (Even sail boaters can be major A-holes), I just shook my head at the captains wife, he wouldn’t even look our way. I was going to moon them and still regret not doing so. We ended up at St. Michaels Marina in a slip right by the bar. The docking fee was pricey but they had nice facilities and were right in the middle of everything.
Wednesday, we played tourist all over St. Michaels. The Chesapeake Marine Museum is a must! Plan most of the day on just that alone! Next to the museum is this huge waterfront red building advertising their great crabs. It was a real disappointment. I can’t judge their whole menu but the soft crab platter was terrible! The 3 very tiny and over deep fried soft crabs (Had to be illegal) resembled small potato chips with legs; they provided lettuce and tomato but NO BREAD! I had to request this to make a soft crab sandwich! A bottle of beer is $4.25. They don’t take credit cards but have an ATM outside that charges for transactions. They also have a note on the menu that crabs are actually higher than normal due to harvest conditions…That is MAJOR B.S., WE ARE HAVING THE BIGGEST BUMPER CRAB SEASON IN YEARS! Actually I never did find a GREAT soft crab sandwich in the whole town and I expected HUGE soft crabs down there in the middle of crab country! Foxy’s Bar was only feet from our boat and their terrific and friendly bar tenders offered great consolation in the form of libations and cheeriness.
Thursday, we tried to leave early to go north up the Miles River and through the Kent Narrows on the outgoing tide. We had a high NORTH wind that day. The waves were making our outboard spray water more than actually propel the boat, instead of ruining the engine we turned around and headed back to the marina we had just left. They were happy to see us and gave us free shirts because all the dock hands were busy and we had to dock ourselves (Which is what we always do anyway). We then visited more shops and then on to the winery and microbrewery of which we sampled and purchased a few of our favorites for further study. All in all St. Michaels is pretty touristy but it is a destination worth visiting.
Friday, we left St. Michaels and went up through the Kent Narrows. My wife was impressed with the strength of the current ripping through there, but our monster fire breathing 8HP Nissan tamed that beast! As we cleared the North Channel the wind started going pretty good and the prop started jumping out of the water again, but we had room to sail so up with the sails and off with the engine, we started home. By the late afternoon the wind was almost calm! We pulled into Rock Creek and tied up at our marina about 9 hours after we left St. Michaels. We really had a lot of fun on our first extended cruise! As soon as I find the camera I’ll post some pictures. Even after spending all that time on our boat I still walked up the pier looking back at it.
Total gas burned 4 to 5 gallons. Sailing is SWEET!
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1993 Macgregor 26S
1981 Hobie H16
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! So today we're loading the boat, tying up loose ends around the house and will probably head out tomorrow morning to cruise the bay for the week or until we decide to come home. This will be our first cruise longer than just a weekend thing around Heart-Miller or Dobbins so we are open to suggestions. 
