First extended cruise on our boat!

[swampcreek]

I posted this as a follow up on my question of cruise suggestions on the "Chesapeake" thread under "Destinations" but I also figured others might like to see that 2 people can do quite nicely on a little 26 footer for more than an overnighter.

So here is our great vacation cruise that took place on the Chesapeake starting the Sunday before Labor Day and ending that Friday.


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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[St Anna]

Hey Swampy,
Great trip. It sounds like it was a nice week. What's next on the cruising calendar?

[flyingwelshman]

Sounds like a great trip.
My wife and I have done a couple of 2-week trips in our 26' boat.
We have never felt lacking for space, although a heavier boat and another .25 knots would have come in handy a couple of times.

[T37Chef]

You know it didn't rally happen unless you post pictures

Ashame you didn't care for The Crab Claw, we have always enjoyed it, but then I only have ever had steamed crabs and some oysters on the half shell

[swampcreek]

St. Anna, We were going out for the weekend after going to the boat show Thursday but family came in from out of town so we're just doing short local cruises for this weekend...and we had 5 days off!...Seems to always go that way.
Maybe we'll hit Rock Hall on Monday. Sure would like to do another multi day trip! With the hunting seasons and holidays I fear we have very few trips left for this year. We'll probably pull up the weekend before Thanksgiving...But I would like to get into the parade of lights for Christmas so who knows.

flyingwelshman, after our trip we agreed that we COULD go longer and plan to do just that next year! I'm very happy with our boat but now knowing for sure that we're fully into sailing we will be moving up within a few years. That was our original plan and why we bought a newer trailerable boat, right or wrong I believe it will have a bigger buying pool, also as we gain experience in the world of sailing larger boats our idea of what the ideal boat is has changed many times. So while on this learning curve we get to enjoy a boat that I have a hard time walking away from at the end of the day...not bad.

T37Chef, I didn't mention the Crab Claw by name since we weren't handing out a blue ribbon. I stated I can only judge the disapointing soft crab platter, I realize that steamed crabs are probably the specialty and they probably do well with that but hey, we're talking the heart of crab country, its not unreasonable to expect a decent size and properly prepared soft crab down there. Almost any place here in Pasadena would put them to shame in the soft crab department. Also, eluding to a bad crabbing season during a MAJOR bumper crop to justify inflated prices...no excuse! The no credit card/charging ATM thing and so on just turned me off. We have many seafood restaurants around us so I'm probably a little spoiled. At night we could hear them at the Crab Claw from our boat partying and sounding like they were having a good time but didn't go over.

Our boat is slipped at "White Rocks Marina" on Rock Creek. Next year they will be opening a crab house there. I look forward to seeing how that turns out.

[T37Chef]

Hard to beat the soft shell crab at Anne Arundel Seafood isn't it Yea, if CC is posting info about a bad crab season they could be on the hook for fraud The no credit card thing is a PITA, and they don't do a very good job of posting that do they. BTW, I have no problem calling out a restaurant by name.

Didn't know you were so close to us, we're up the creek at Oak Harbor, and chef2sail is right next door to you at MYC, I think Jashrump (sp?) is at WR?

Anyway, sounds like y'all had a great time, cheers!!!

[cmendoza]

Originally Posted by swampcreek

... Sailing is SWEET!
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Great read swampcreek; Sounds like a great time was had...thanks for sharing!

Carlos & Maria
S/V Rocinante

[CaptainForce]

Thanks for some reminders of one of our favorite cruising grounds. We'll be back nest spring. I think I'd rather anchor in Rock Creek and get a sandwich at the Anchor Inn than eat at the place in St. Michaels. Take care and joy, Aythya crew

[chef2sail]

Good post Swamp. We are almost neighbors,,hahah. I agree with the take on the credit cards at the Crab Claw. In Pasadena we usuallly go to Pfifers also as well as AA Seafood. Pfifers is in the strip mall shopping center on the left on Fort Smallwood Road going west Just after the Magothy Bridge Road light.

I have seen 2 restaurants fail at White Rocks now. ur old club manager and his girlfriend ran the last one. BTW one of our memebers has a 26 McGregor also (Zepher)

Dave

[swampcreek]

T37Chef, That Arundel Seafood IS great, as a matter of fact we were there last night for softcrab sandwitches we also tried a pound of steamed and already cleaned crayfish, they were good! My sister was down from NH and we ALWAYS go the Arundel for softcrabs during her visit. I've been to Oak Harbor a few times, it's a really nice place.

CaptainForce, The Anchor Inn is closed as far as being a restaurant. I think they do weddings there now. I liked that place, they used to see me entering the creek in my jet boat throwing that huge rooster tail and would have my beer sitting on the bar waiting for me when I came in. I also met my wife there, she came to a friend's birthday party there with the friend's mother (They're cousins) and we started dating a few months after that...That was 14 years ago! I guess it's working out . I have many many stories of that place (As well as all the other marina bars around here).

Chef2sail, we'll have to check out Pfifers. That shopping center is the same one that houses "Wings 2 Go" right? I've often considered checking into the MYC. I had a childhood friend whose parents had a boat there. It was called the "Saraho" (Their last name in plural and backwards), but that was way back in the 1970's. We do like our marina, it's convenient, resonably priced although a little exposed when the wind is high coming down the creek. I however do find myself looking at the MYC when we go by. Although I have no idea what entails being a YC member I do know we are VERY busy, as a matter of fact I'm an inactive member of quite a few organizations!