S/V & M/V Smidge
Sailing History
Who: Bonnie & Maury
Port: Havre de Grace, MD, USA
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24 March 2017 | Annapolis, MD
09 October 2016
07 October 2016 | Annapolis Sailboat Show
06 October 2016 | Annappolis, MD
05 October 2016
04 October 2016 | Chesapeake Bay
03 October 2016 | Chesapeake Bay
25 September 2016 | Potomac River by Mount Vernon
25 September 2016 | Mount Vernon, Potomac River, Virginia
24 September 2016 | Arlington, VA
22 September 2016 | Washington Channel, Washington, DC
14 September 2016 | Hudson River to Chesapeake Bay
03 September 2016 | Newport, Rhode Island
29 August 2016 | Sandwich, Massachusetts off the Cape Cod Canal
28 August 2016 | Sandwich, Massachusetts off the Cape Cod Canal
27 August 2016 | The Coast of Maine
26 August 2016 | Rockland, Maine
22 August 2016 | Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Maine
18 August 2016 | Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada
27 July 2016 | Baddeck, Bras d’Or Lake, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
No Place Like Home
03 October 2016 | Chesapeake Bay
Thomas Point Light on the north shore of South River is the only screwpile lighthouse still in its original location. It went into service in 1875 and is now owned by a consortium as a public trust.
We've been to beautiful places, exotic places, challenging places, remote places...., but now we're back in the Chesapeake. Now we are home, and we are seeing home with new eyes.
The Chesapeake Bay, with its feeder rivers (Susquehanna, Patapsco, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, James, Choptank, Chester, etc.), is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay itself is 200 miles long and 3 to 35 miles wide with a squiggly shoreline that is home to a myriad of small coves and harbors begging to be explored. Navigable rivers and streams lead to cities, towns and villages (Baltimore MD, Annapolis MD, Washington, DC, Jamestown VA, Norfolk, VA, etc.), each with its own personality.
The prettiest marina that I've seen in all our travels is right here in Rock Hall at Sailing Emporium. It is filled with flowers that rival any tropical paradise, but unlike the tropical paradises that we have been to, the water in the Chesapeake is not gin clear like the Exumas or azure blue like the Caribbean, but brown and opaque and can be filled with sea nettles certain times of year. The crab pots can also be a problem, but they are nothing compared to the high density of lobster pots in Maine.
Sailboat racing has been a big part of our lives and the Chesapeake has been a perfect venue. We've done local, around the marks racing and point to point racing and are most proud of our 2006 finish in the Governor's Cup. Smidge may be a heavy cruising boat, but she is fast on a reach with a strong breeze.
Of major importance are the friends we've made over the years. We visited Rob and Kerry in the Solomons on our way to and from the Potomac and got to see Mike and Cathy before they made their annual trek to Florida. We met Karen and Mike at Harrington Harbor North and went to the Annapolis Sailboat Show with them.
Yes, every place has its positives and negatives, but there is a great deal to appreciate right here in the Chesapeake.
We've been to beautiful places, exotic places, challenging places, remote places...., but now we're back in the Chesapeake. Now we are home, and we are seeing home with new eyes.
The Chesapeake Bay, with its feeder rivers (Susquehanna, Patapsco, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, James, Choptank, Chester, etc.), is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay itself is 200 miles long and 3 to 35 miles wide with a squiggly shoreline that is home to a myriad of small coves and harbors begging to be explored. Navigable rivers and streams lead to cities, towns and villages (Baltimore MD, Annapolis MD, Washington, DC, Jamestown VA, Norfolk, VA, etc.), each with its own personality.
The prettiest marina that I've seen in all our travels is right here in Rock Hall at Sailing Emporium. It is filled with flowers that rival any tropical paradise, but unlike the tropical paradises that we have been to, the water in the Chesapeake is not gin clear like the Exumas or azure blue like the Caribbean, but brown and opaque and can be filled with sea nettles certain times of year. The crab pots can also be a problem, but they are nothing compared to the high density of lobster pots in Maine.
Sailboat racing has been a big part of our lives and the Chesapeake has been a perfect venue. We've done local, around the marks racing and point to point racing and are most proud of our 2006 finish in the Governor's Cup. Smidge may be a heavy cruising boat, but she is fast on a reach with a strong breeze.
Of major importance are the friends we've made over the years. We visited Rob and Kerry in the Solomons on our way to and from the Potomac and got to see Mike and Cathy before they made their annual trek to Florida. We met Karen and Mike at Harrington Harbor North and went to the Annapolis Sailboat Show with them.
Yes, every place has its positives and negatives, but there is a great deal to appreciate right here in the Chesapeake.
Comments
| Vessel Name: | Smidge S/V & M/V |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Hallberg-Rassy 43 & Campbell Duffy Downeast 35 |
| Hailing Port: | Havre de Grace, MD, USA |
| Crew: | Bonnie & Maury |
| About: |
Smidge S/V & M/V's Photos - Main
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The Rio Dulce in Guatemala is famous among cruisers as a safe hurricane hole and as a great jumping off place for inland travel, but first you have to wait for a high tide in order to cross the bar at Livingston to get into the river. After anchoring at Livingston and checking into Guatemala we motored up the river through the breath-takingly beautiful gorge and into El Golfete, a wide part of the river that is like an inland lake. We spent a few weeks in the Cayo Quemado area and then moved on to Fronteras where we left the boat to do some inland travel.
30 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 10 June 2015
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On February 16-18, 2015 we sailed NNE for 45 hours from Shelter Bay in Panama to Providencia, a small island belonging to Columbia. It took us 31 hours (2/24-25) to sail from there to the Hobbies, but we were delayed a few hours by a jib shackle that decided to give way. It was an easy repair job in the Hobbies and we went east to Guanaja on 2/27-28. That was a 26 hour sail. On 3/4/2015 we did a 7 hour hop to Roatan, but we started having engine and generator problems due to bad diesel and had to sail into unfamiliar anchorages without an engine to back us up before we finally got to French Cay Harbor where the problem was diagnosed and remedied. From French Cay Harbor, we made two trips south to Cayos Cochinos and back.
31 Photos
Created 8 March 2015
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After being away from the boat for 1 1/2 years, we returned to Panama to revisit the Kuna friends we had made and then to continue our journey.
37 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 15 February 2015
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The San Blas Islands and a strip of land along the northeast coast of Panama's mainland is known as the Kuna Yala. It is home to the Kuna Indians. It is here that we felt we were honored to experience a culture and lifestyle that is accessible to a limited number of people. They are a society in transition as they pick and choose what to take from the modern world and what to maintain from their traditional society. It is a daunting task and each Congreso is making choices for its people, but it is hard to keep the rest of the world away and life may be quickly changing for this indigenous population.
64 Photos
Created 31 October 2013
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While in Columbia, we spent most of our time at the marina in Santa Marta. From there we took a van to Minca for a day of hiking and bird watching. We traveled to Cartegena by bus and spent a few days in the old walled city. Pictures from these trips are in the sub albums. We then sailed from Santa Marta to a few Columbian islands. Our final Columbian stop was Sapzurro.
24 Photos | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 21 May 2013
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S/V Charlotte is a 50' wooden schooner designed and built by Nat Benjamin at the Gannon & Benjamin Boatyard in Martha's Vineyard. Nat is a premier wooden boat builder and we felt honored to be invited for a sail aboard S/V Charlotte. The invitation came through our friends Jim & Heather on Starbound. Jim, a lover of wooden boats, had taken classes from Nat and knew him as a guest teacher at the Wooden Boat School in Maine. Also aboard were Zoli, Nat's visiting crew member; Jim & Heather's children, Scarlett & River; and the crew of Indulgence, another 1500 boat, Lorri, John, Jasper & Georgia.
7 Photos
Created 21 March 2011
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On March 17 as we were motoring from North Sound to Spanishtown on Virgin Gorda we found ourselves adjacent to the superyacht race course. Here are some pictures that we took of the event.
6 Photos
Created 20 March 2011
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"Spreader Envy" is a term coined by Mike B. who crewed for us in the 1500. He and his wife Karen have an HR43 just like ours, but for some strange reason, their HR has 2 spreaders, while ours has 3.
To qualify for this album, a sailboat must have 4 or more spreaders and a powerboat must be over 100'. Dimensions given in a picture's caption are approximate since they will mostly be gleaned from AIS data.
5 Photos
Created 15 March 2011
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Sailing History
Who: Bonnie & Maury
Port: Havre de Grace, MD, USA
Gallery