Tangier Island, VA, Solomons Island and St. Michaels, MD. Sept 6-12

We are taking a few hours this Sunday afternoon to document some of our travels again....
We forgot to document our visit to Tangier Island by ferry from Crisfield in the last post.  It was a short trip as the ferry left Crisfield at 12:30 and arrived at 1:45, only to leave again at 4PM.  But that was long enough to take a golf cart tour of the island and have a late lunch.  Not much out there and a struggling waterman community with all the regulation imposed on crabbing, clamming, fishing and oystering. 

They do have an interesting little museum. 

The island is disappearing quickly with the rising water levels.  It's highest point is something like 4 feet above sea level.  A dry island and a couple churches serve the 570 residents.  And it gets cold and iced in during the winter.  We are glad we went by ferry, not much to do on your own boat there!  Quaint and interesting.
Out trip from Crisfield to Solomons was another nice crossing with maybe one foot waves.  As we rounded Cedar Point we were contacted by the Navy.  They indicated the area was about to be used for maneuvers and to stay a mile off shore.  Not long after there were a lot of planes taking off and it was noisy for sure!
As mentioned earlier, we used our reciprocity from the Royal March Harbour Yacht Club to slip at the Solomons Island Yacht Club.  What a welcoming community of boaters there! 
Entering the harbor.  Again, note the calm water.

 

Al was there to catch our lines on the way in, gave us an overview of the area and invited us to the clubhouse for their Wednesday night dinner. Oh, and don't forget your stay includes two free drinks he said.  Nice docks, restrooms, free laundry, reasonable price...what was not to like!  We took a long dinghy ride up Mill Creek to check out the area...very nice. 

We took a nice long walk and toured the area.  Lots of biological research labs here.

We toured the Calvert Maritime Marine Museum.  This included a tour of the Drum Point Lighthouse, built in 1883.  It was relocated to the museum in the 1970's.  Here we are arriving by dinghy to visit the museum.  Given the 105 degree heat index, it was the way to get there versus walking.  We are looking forward to some cooler temperatures!

Lighthouse keepers quarters.



 

The museum was really well done and worth a visit if you are ever in the area. A great stop in Solomons!

Many ask about how we discover what to do.  We buy a Waterway Guide for each region we visit.  We find them very helpful and well worth the $35-40 each.

On 9-9 we left for St Michaels.  Expensive but ever so cute.

They have a higher slip rate on Friday and Saturdays and we could see why.  It is so popular on the weekend and on Sunday night we were one of maybe 8-10 boats left. 

And here is the view from the Crab Claw restaurant looking over at our marina.  Yes our boat is there, just behind the larger ones....

And on Sunday night after everyone left!! Our boat is now visible....

 





A view from our boat.

And a view of the packed marina from the dinghy.

Had a nice meal Friday night at Foxy's...actually the rum drinks were much better than the bar food dinner....and they reminded us of the family trip to the BVI's Jost Van Dyke a couple years ago!

But what a great little town.  OLD homes dating back to the 1700's.



The Wickersham,  circa 1750

A couple dinners at the Crab Claw.   Very good food here!

We took a tour of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  Here it is on the right as we enter the harbor.



Here we are ready to go oystering...

 

On the oyster boat display

Met a gentleman in the boat next to us on Saturday morning who asked us if we were going to Shaw Bay to attend the free concert dinghy raft off featuring the Eastport Oyster Boys.  It was about 6 miles away and we decided to launch the dinghy and go there.  The wind was on our stern as we proceeded to the bay and it was a pretty good ride....although we knew the return trip would be a little rough if the wind did not subside some. Here is his boat Ta Ta as we are entering Shaw bay.

And here we are entering the bay on our dinghy:

Free will donations were used to support a local pump out boat doing its part to "save the bay".  The donation boat with the net to collect...the kids are looking to see how much they have collected....cute!



 

 Here is the flotilla moving closer to the band.

We met a bunch of friendly folks from a sailing club.  Appetizers were shared from dinghy to dinghy!

 

 

We answered a lot of questions about our "Michigan" dinghy...Looper, live aboard and other miscellaneous questions. 
And look at what we found in a Maryland grocery store...note they are from West Olive Michigan...can't beat Michigan blueberries (unless maybe wild Canadian ones)

We enjoyed the music for 90 minutes or so before we decided the wind was not letting up and we should get moving.  And it was rough on the way back...went about 12MPH with us both sitting in the back of the dinghy to keep the bow high on the waves.  It was a lot rougher than the video really shows....

We got to within about a mile of the marina and the engine decided to stall.  It restarted a few times and would run slow or full throttle but not much in between.  Eventually it would not restart so we flagged down a couple fisherman.  As they approached it restarted and we limped home.  I added carburetor cleaner and went out for a ride on Sunday. Got it to run a little better so filled it up with fresh gas and carburetor cleaner and ran it some more.  Called the service folks on Monday and they confirmed this particular engine has "touchy" carburetors which we already had rebuilt in summer of 2014.  He said given that, just keep using the cleaner and run it and it may clear itself up, so that is the plan.

On one of our walks we spotted a Maryland crab in a small tidal pool.  And yes they are delicious!

We are having such a great time exploring we are a bit behind on our postings....so more later....

On to Crisfield, MD, the Crab Capital of the World. Year 1 of Loop is complete! Wow! August 30 - Sept. 5

Deltaville was a nice stop for two days.  We stayed at Dozier's Regatta Point Marina.  Pool, courtesy car, laundry right net to pool (Julie's favorite laundry location) and a very friendly place.  We met some fellow GB owners first thing as we came into the marina.  Jim and AC aboard Hour Plan (one of the last GB 42' Heritage built) had even been following our blog.  A beautiful GB Eastbay (Music) also pulled in and we met Frank and Cathy as well.  We enjoyed a nice cocktail hour with all these folks in the boaters lounge where we also met Garry and Jacque originally from Michigan aboard their Krogen (Waterford) who were also staying at the marina.  They bought their boat in Holland MI....what a small world.
We spent some time both afternoons in the pool which was quite nicely nestled under a magnolia tree as well.  Nice. We used the courtesy card to go to the produce stand, West Marine, grocery store and fresh seafood store.  The halibut and shrimp we purchased were great!  Deltaville doesn't really have a downtown, just sort of a strip along the highway with businesses both sides.  So the courtesy car was a good thing to have access to.  Jimmy the harbormaster very friendly and helpful.  We recommend this marina!  Sorry, no photos...
Having cleaned the boat, topped off water tanks, etc we were ready to depart for the festivities at Crisfield on Wednesday morning.  We left shortly after first light and had a calm crossing, arriving about noon and checked in for a week.  It was really calm... a nice trip across the Chesapeake.
On to the Crab Capital!!

 

A short video of the crossing....very calm!
https://youtu.be/4xtsLQN06M0
Along the way, this came up on the chart....you don't see this warning everyday!

Somers Cove Marina is in a well protected basin and the Coast Guard station is across the harbor too. 

This is the town's big celebration weekend with a Hard Shell Crab Festival and Cowboy Boat Docking Competition. 

We were invited here by Sonny and Phyllis (Corkscrew), who had seen our AIS location a few weeks ago. We also joined Jeff and Susan (Act III), Sandy and Rob (Sandrobber), and Al and Jane (Inspeyered 2) for the festivities.  What a great group!  Haven't seen them since January in Marathon!
Here we all are....



Looper boats all in a row.

We also met Larry and Barbara (Barbara Ann) who are planning to do the Loop in a few years.  We all went to the Waterman's Inn on Friday night based on their recommendation that this was the best meal in town.  What a pleasant surprise for a small little place.  Very good food....oh, and the dessert was Smith's Island Cake, a multi-layer cake (I think 10 layers) with bananas and cream frosting between the layers.  Wow!
We walked to Food Lion several times (only a little less than 1.5 miles away) during our stay.  It was a nice walk and a great way to see the community.
still recovering from hurricane Sandy...

 

The local beach and park.

On Thursday, Tom, one of the marina employees (I think he should be named Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year as he REALLY promotes the town) offered to take four of us crabbing.  What a cool process.  He has a 1200 foot line with large weights and floats at either end.  The line has 18" bungee cords every 3-4 feet and chicken necks are the bait on the cords.  Drop one end of line overboard in 4-6 foot depths, idle away from it letting out remainder of line and other end float.   Wait 15 minutes, come back and net the crabs hanging on to the bait as it rolls past the boat on a roller mechanism.  Run back to other end of line and net the crabs again.  We made about 7 runs down the line.  Here is a short video.

https://youtu.be/65sUWeb9YHs

 

The commercial guys get $25-50 a bushel for them depending on size.  Right now they have to be 5-1/4" across to keep them.  Tough way to make a living as it took us about three hours to get almost a bushel...of course we were using recreational set ups which are shorter lines, only one line etc.

Anyway, Tom (from the marina) steamed them when we got back.  Wow!  They were great! Thanks so much Tom!

Getting ready to steam.  A little Old Bay seasoning, rock salt and a pot....

A lesson in picking first...

And we are off....notice it is light outside.

And by the time we are actually eating it is dark....

The "remains" after picking the crab from the shells.



Everyone was able to put a bag of crab in the refrigerator for lunch another day!
We also attended the "Crisfield Idol" competition...pretty fun!
The calm before the storm on Friday night...

So Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hermine decided to wet the activities on Saturday and virtually all the festivities were cancelled. We spent the day planning more of our trip and generally catching up on a few things aboard. Had lots of rain and wind as well as a pretty high tide, but all was well here.
Tying an extra line....

A bit of a high tide.

Sunday, they rescheduled things a bit and the cowboy boat docking competition was held! 

What a crazy event.  These guys "run a circuit" of these competitions around the bay.  We are told that this is the best event though because of the cash purse to win. Here was my personal favorite to win...

 



Here is a shot of some of the competitor boats before the competition.

 

 

The view from our boat of the boat docking competition area.  The waves weren't all that bad.

Here are links to videos of the "individual" competition.
https://youtu.be/6aeWtA9W_J4
https://youtu.be/299VnnH82JA
All I can say is unbelievable.  These guys can sure handle a single screw boat!

And the festivities ended with fireworks as planned.  Hermine gave us a break!  Taken from the bow of our boat.

We have called ahead to the Solomons Island Yacht Club for our next stop.  We were able to use the reciprocity of our Royal Marsh Harbour YC (Abacos, Bahamas) membership to get in to this private club.  This RMHYC membership has proven to be of great value as there were many discounts in the Bahamas to members and the reciprocity at US YCs is proving valuable too.
Reflections on year one.....So this completes the first year of our adventure as we left Muskegon, MI on August 27, 2015.  We moved aboard and turned the keys to the condo back to the landlord on Aug 3. It is hard to believe we have been living aboard for 13 months already!!
People have asked what has been the biggest surprise.  The social aspects are probably the biggest surprise.  People are so welcoming, helpful and friendly.  This cruiser boating community is a great one to belong to!  No one is out to prove anything, we all just want to be safe and have fun exploring in a somewhat unique way.  It is so interesting and relaxing to see things from the water at 9 knots.  Another cruiser made an interesting observation..."we have never wished we were driving over a bridge as we passed under it".  So well said...
Another observation is how few clothes and "things" one really needs.  We have dropped off numerous bags of clothes and "things" to charities along the way during the last year. And we still have way too many "colder weather" clothes aboard as we seemed to have found endless summer in our travels!
A question we always get is what is your favorite place.  That is one tough question and we'd have to start with a "it depends".  If one is looking for beaches and nature, the Bahamas are unbeatable.  The water is so clean and unspoiled, the people are so friendly and the navigation is really not difficult, one just needs to wait out the weather from time to time.  If you are considering a side trip while doing the Loop, our vote is to do it!
OK, what city?  That is a tough one.  We liked Chattanooga a lot.  And Clearwater beach.  And St Petersburg.  And Sarasota.  And Fernandina Beach (Amelia Island).  All are different and interesting for different reasons.  Bald Head Island was also interesting and unique.  These are all places we would go back to and spend some time, so they "make the list".
Another question is were you ever scared?  We have not been scared but there have been a few tense moments.  The top of that list is probably docking in Charleston SC (actually Mount Pleasant across the river).  We wrote in an earlier post about this. The current was pretty strong and I had all I could do to safely dock.  And we were apprehensive a few other times too.  But we were never scared or ever felt unsafe.
What about the budget you ask.  OK, we are "on budget" but not exactly as planned.  Repairs have been way over budget, offset by cheaper than anticipated fuel (better mileage than budgeted and much lower prices) and less spending on marinas than anticipated.  We have taken advantage of weekly and monthly rates at marinas when we could and this has helped.  We have actually stayed more nights in marinas and less on the hook than planned due to the hot weather. Anchoring out is nice when it cools down at night, but the air conditioning when moored to a dock is certainly welcome when it is hot!
The trip has been everything we expected and more, and we look forward to our next year(s) cruising.....

August statistics:
Miles travelled:  Month: 475 / Trip to Date: 4820
Travel days:   10 / 100
Engine hours: 60 / 554
Locks:   2/37
Bridges opened:   9 /26
Days on hook or free wall:   1 /35
Gallons of diesel:  365  / 3662