WINDY DAY
May 17, 2012
The wind is our friend (mostly) and yet it can give us pause when considering our next move. We have a slip that allows us to see into the Rappahannock River. For the past few days, the river has been calm or at least tame. We decided to stay here for a few more days since a wind shift was predicted last night that would bring a fresh breeze. This morning, tucked behind a breakwater, we see white caps on the two feet waves just outside the harbor. NOAA along with some conservation groups installed the CBIBS (Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System) which is a series of very high tech buoys that give details about the ecosystem of the Bay. They give wind, waves and the like but they also give detailed info about the habitat for the critters that live here such as salinity. For us they provide real time conditions and today one near us is showing 25 kts and 4.5 feet waves. If it posed no risk to Bear, we might be in the middle of those now. Few boats are venturing out since the wind speed is toping 25 mph today. The wind direction makes the fetch about 20 miles and that is enough to kick up serious seas in the Bay. We used to sail those conditions when we were younger and back in our home waters. It was easy to confine our day sail to Lydia Ann Channel or the Corpus Christi Ship Channel during times of higher winds. When one leaves harbors in the Chesapeake, one is “at sea” almost instantly.
One couple here in this marina has sailed our home waters. They especially like Lydia Ann Channel and Army Hole on Matagorda Island. Their memories are of great sunsets, dolphin playing around the boat and of the wild life that is everywhere along the Coastal Bend. We have seen darn few dolphins until we got to the Chesapeake and even then, there are few as compared to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. It might be that this area is so big and there are so many boaters to entertain them that they do not congregate here. We look forward to seeing a whale but that won’t happen in the Bay.
Ok, so we have now spent some time in two ports in the Bay. We must have passed fifty more that are mentioned in the guides. It is hard for me to wrap my feeble mind around so many destinations in such a concentrated area but I am guessing that the early history of this country made it necessary to settle about every natural port in all the rivers off the Bay. So, we will listen to the many suggestions and perhaps even take some seriously and visit harbors that saw Native Americans watch Europeans show up along their shores four hundred years ago. One can only guess what went through the mind of Two Dogs when he looked up one morning and saw a dumpy ship with laundry hanging everywhere sitting at anchor atop his crab trap. Hopefully, the entrepreneurial kicked in and he told them that since their anchor was on his crab trap, they just “bought it”. Cough up the beads white man or else. So, being anxious to go ashore, they (the Europeans) having no holding tanks aboard, were looking for “convenience” spot and bought the crab pot. Two Dogs disappeared with the loot, most likely some adult beverage and managed to live through the day after with the use of some of the Antipoison mud from the nearby creek. Things went downhill after that and that is why they invented Oklahoma some time later.
Meanwhile back aboard Why Knot, Scurv, now really the Able Bodied Sea Dawg has learned that pine cones are his best prey. While he does not need dirt to take care of business, thank goodness, he does need pine cones to hone his hunting skills. There is nothing like an early morning stroll with Scurv and listening to all the hacking associated with pine cone fiber.