Thank You Captain

     Despite the rain all day, today was a pleasure to be on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  We managed to get an early start at 0715 this morning at Hospital Point, Mile 0 on the ICW charts.  As with last year, we took the Virginia Cut, route 1 of the 2 available routes to the Albemarle Sound, which by the way is how we judge all waters when it comes to wind generated waves.  We didn't make it to Albemarle Sound today, but we did make it to Buck Island, our anchorage south of Coinjock, NC.  In the 58 miles we traveled today we only encountered 5 other boats heading south.  Last year we started our adventure 3 weeks later in mid October and were surrounded by many boats, 20 or more, on this the first leg.  This year we traveled for miles at times and never was passed by another boat.  We did have one "Chucklehead" who thought because we didn't slow down for him to pass us, he didn't have to slow down either.  Obviously he does not know the rules of the road or how to execute an easy pass, aka slow pass.  An easy pass first starts with the boat wanting to pass you contacting you by VHF radio.  After the details have been worked out, port or starboard side pass, the passing boat will approach your stern, at which time you the lead boat will slow down to idle speed.  The boat passing the lead boat slows down and passes on the predetermined side at a slow speed just faster than the lead's boat idle speed so as not to create a wake that would rearrange your galley from a wake that rolls you from side to side.  Having any part of your boat's interior rearranged by another boat's wake is not a good thing.  It's bad enough that Mother nature does it from time to time.  After he has passed you, you fall in behind his stern and the other boat resumes it's speed.  One boat that passed us today executed a perfect text book easy pass.  Thank you Captain.

Let Us In

     Some of the best news we had in a long time came yesterday in a phone call.  We had received a letter from our insurance agent for the boat about a month ago, and Sharon did a follow up email last week.  When Sharon didn't hear from the agent on Tuesday this week, she called and spoke with an agent we had worked with before.  Yesterday, the agent called back to inform us that we could not get the November 1/Cape Hatteras restriction changed to October 1st.  This restriction prohibits us from being south of Cape Hatteras before before November 1st due to hurricane season which expires on November 1st.  The good news is that we have changed the location from Cape Hatteras, NC to St. Marys in southern GA. Any further south and we would be in Florida. So on November 1st we plan to be knocking on Florida's front door.  Let Us In!

The Herding Effect

     This October will be our first anniversary as full time cruisers.  We have learned very much in that time.  However, we do realize that there is more to learn.  You can never be a consummate master of anything.  Part of the learning curve is recognizing tendencies of other boaters.  This is especially true when it comes to anchoring, one of my favorite subjects.  While in the Bahamas, I paid special attention to our anchor and gear, learning how it reacted to different influences such as tides or winds.  It's surprising, when the water is very clear, to see how the boat is oriented into the wind because of your rode, in our case chain, and the relationship of the boat to the actual location of the anchor.  On numerous occasions I noted that although we were in a light breeze, enough to put tension on the rode, the anchor was actually resting to either side of the boat or under the boat.  On most occasions, the rode served more as an anchor than the anchor itself.

    When selecting an anchorage to drop the hook, the exact location can be dictated by tides (currents) and/or the winds for most boaters.  Some boaters select a very close, tight anchorage for absolute wind protection, as if they have an auto-defense mechanism to ward off the bugs laying in wait to suck out their blood.  We prefer, and it has been well documented in this blog, wide open anchorages, to allow for the slightest breeze to flush out any heat within the boat that has been generated by the sun.  Remember when I mentioned tendencies of other boaters?  We have discovered a tendency of boaters when they approach an anchorage with another boat already at anchor i.e., Big Run.  The new arrival, despite it being a very large anchorage, capable of holding many, many boats, will anchor right next to you, let's say 200 feet away or less.  Then as more boats arrive, they too will anchor next to you and any other boats that are already anchored.  It's like you know something special about the anchorage, and they want to be part of it too and anchor next to you despite the fact that you do not know them.  Never mind the other 20 acres that they could anchor in, they need to be next to someone.  We have dubbed this phenomenon the "Herding Effect".

Upgrade

 Morse Code III weighing anchor at Dun Cove

       On Wednesday, Sharon and I unofficially started our trek south.  We left Reed Creek on the Chester River by 8 a.m.  By 10:30 we were transisting Kent Narrows and shortly after that we were on Eastern Bay with an ultimate destination of the Choptank River. As we were approaching Tilghman Point on Eastern Bay we noticed a Kadey Krogen 48 approaching us from Miles River on our port side.  After they rounded the point, that put the other Krogen (Morse Code III) on our stern.  Once they were on our stern and could read our boat name, they hailed us.  Long story short, they were head to the Choptank also and asked if they could tag along as they were "new" to the area.  After being pounded by 3-4 foot waves on the bow that were supposed to be 1 footers and a severe downpour, Big Run and Morse Code III dropped anchor together at Dun Cove on Harris Creek.  After we were all settled in, Morse Code invited Sharon and I over to their boat.  Much to our surprise, we discovered the boat was brand new and had just been commissioned less than a month ago at Annapolis, MD.  Congratulations and fair winds to Perry and Karen, the proud owners of Morse Code III.  Oh, that new boat smell, just like a new car smell, the aroma is intoxicating and beckons for you to upgrade.

M/V Nellie Crockett

     This is M/V Nellie Crockett of Georgetown, MD.  In the above photo she is shown underway during an evening cruise on the East Langford Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the eastern shore.  Built in 1926 (some reports list 1925), the Nellie Crockett is a classic frame-and-plank Chesapeake deadrise buy boat with a length of 61.6 feet, a beam of 22.33 feet, and a draft of 6.42 feet.  Her gross tonnage is 52 tons with a net of 35 tons.  Operating as a buy boat in oyster season, the Nellie Crockett would navigate the waters of the Chesapeake Bay buying oysters directly from the oystermen as they worked the oyster beds.  In the off-season she would transport produce and lumber.  During World War II she served as a fire boat for the US Coast Guard in the ports of the Chesapeake Bay.  Today, the Nellie Crockett is listed as a National Historic Landmark.