For hire to the scuba reefs

Lagooon near Muyil, Quintana Roo Mexico

Hard Work

This past week has been a tough one for Virginia. With the racial revelations and a sexual abuse allegation in top government, it has been a lot to take in.

My friend and fellow sailor Steve Earley has been there to record this history. As a senior photographer for the Virginia Pilot he was on the front line all this week. I commend him for his work.

Steve with his camera, left center. Photo: New York Times

Done and Up

Finished except the plaque...

Glued up and starting to shape

Winter opportunity to make half model of first boat Quelle

Two Years

I  just found this unpublished post I wrote in late November. Oh well...


Eleanor and I returned after a week on Jekyll Island, Georgia. It has been my home away from home. But this past weekend brought that to a close.

The Wanderer Memory Trail opening was a success. I guess I sweated it enough to make it so. Dignitaries from Washington, Atlanta and Charleston were in attendance. The Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters performed and introduced the story of 409 Africans that were subjected -against their will- an horrid, illegal, lethal voyage to become the penultimate group of survivors of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade to reach the shores of the American South and the last in Georgia. I had taken on this project with limited support and as the time drug on I made new friends, learned much about African American interpretation challenges, was overwhelmed at times by cultural appropriation and white supremacy. From a conceptual plan and formative evaluation to script writing, CADD drawings, long days fabricating each component, overseeing the setting of poles at dawn, getting help from old and new friends... it was a project to remember.

Opening Day

Dr. Deborah Mack with descendants of original survivor

Read more here

Maybe the Season's Last?

I ventured out again Wednesday morning headed for Deltaville. After contacting my friend John about the need for a bit of 'cheap' labor at the museum and finding that there was "grunt work" around, I saddled Annie and we headed north. Beautiful fall day. As the entrance to Jackson Creek drew close I fired up the outboard and within a couple minutes she conked. Clear prop... gas to the carburetor... no problems. Going through the mental list I opted to change the plug having a fresh one in the tool box. First pull and on the way. The old plug looked just fine. Got me. As Roland Anderson said later that afternoon... "the old guys just say: It's a bad plug. I guess that's enough said.

The new boat shop extension was looking mighty sporty with interior walls and electric. John was fitting pieces on another deadrise and I started by sprucing up the benches and fastening a couple large bench clamps (wood vises).

John and deadrise

Old shop on the right, new on the left

Floor tools in the old shop section

Cranking lags

Put in the better part of Wednesday and Thursday in the shop. Slept on the dock in Mill Creek. It reminded me of when I would commute to work at Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland in the early '90s. That was another Mill Creek and another boat... my Drascombe Lugger Maggie Mae. I would get up early and sail or motor several miles and tie up next to the bugeye Wm. B. Tennyson. 

*

Back to the engine. Annie's 6hp Nissan Marine is a fine friend. I've had all makes from British Seagull to Honda and this one gets high praise. Like small Mercs and I believe small Evinrudes, Nissan is basically a Tohatsu by another name. Some may not have that at the top of the list but it has been for 12 years a faithful friend. I maintain and winterize and she still fires up on the 1st or 2nd pull and runs smooth when needed. That works for me.

Cool Weather

My time on the water has dwindled. That has been my doing... staying busy in projects and traveling here and there. It is all good but there is nothing quite like losing myself on Annie. Actually I have gotten a bit grumpy lately and it doesn't take much to figure out why.

Monday night I checked the calendar and the weather and it was open and perfect. Clear, cool days and still cold (I know that is relative...). Heading down to Mathews County Tuesday morning I went by Morninstar Marina where Annie stays, hitched up and put in at Town Point below the town of Mathews on the East River. Tacked down river and spent the rest of the afternoon on the open waters of Mobjack Bay, lost in that open feeling.

As the sun fell low in the sky we started reaching back northwest toward the mouth of the North River. It was further than I thought and had not made it very far upriver when night fell. I picked a spot off the western shore and anchored about a hundred yards out. It was peaceful enough but as I later fell off to sleep a very short rhythmic chop picked up from the south. The tightly-hauled mizzen held her pointing to the west while the waves lapped at the beam. A shuttery rocking through the night took a while to get used to. Too much time on land.

Breakfast was light. Ellie had thrown in some of her 'vegan surprises' so I left the freeze dries in their locker for another day. I weighed anchor and headed south back to the bay. The sky cleared and we spent the morning reaching through the SSW breeze. It had dipped to the mid 40s overnight (sleeping bag over sleeping bag) but the day rose to mid 50s with 15 kt with manageable gusts. Perfect.

By lunch I had been into the Ware River and back across to Pepper Creek for a late lunch on the eastern end of the Mobjack. Continued back up the East River passing Williams Wharf where a movie was being shot. Schooner Alliance was prop with many actors on the dock that had been camo-ed with period sets. Up river we passed by the boat ramp and found a quiet anchorage upstream . Quieter sleep, upper 40s.

Hauled out in the morning and returned to Richmond refreshed. I really doesn't take much.

Breakfast on the North River

Friends

After a busy summer of working and traveling the thought of getting on the water... well you know all that. Steve Earley had tipped me off months back that Webb Chiles would be speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival. Launched at Backyard Boats in Shady Side, Maryland and crossed the Chesapeake on the way to St. Michaels.

Approaching the shipping channel

Bloody Point Light on the Eastern Shore

Down below

The winds were light and it was taking a good while to get anywhere an anchorage. As the sun set I put on running lights and with darkness we were slowly motoring toward flashing green and red lights strung out a horizontal line that stretched out in the gray, nearly indistinguishable, horizon sky and flat water. The real show was above where the stars were everywhere unfettered by clouds or shore lights.

I don't run lights into the night much anymore. It took me back many years to the Sea Islands of Georgia where identifying "the right one" was like picking out a single light on a Christmas tree.

By 12:30 Annie and I were hooked down in a quiet cove on the Miles River for the night.


Next morning, having tied up at the museum dock, started a four day immersion in one of the best small craft festivals in the country. Scores of beautifully built boats, fun on the water and time spent with old friends and new that I count as some of my best. Oh.. and the food was great. I heartily encourage anyone or family that is interested to try it out next year. Find many pictures here.

Sketching in the small craft exhibit

The return trip was long but uneventful. Annie sailed well and I happily sttered her clear of larger boats (ships)!

Boat Shop, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Bloody Point Light

Mobjack / Piankatank

April 21

With new sails bent on I headed south along the East River below Mathews. My friend Eddie and the folks from the Old Bay chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association had organized a rally at Eddie's house on Mobjack Bay. Passing by I noticed tents on the lawn and being early, not much movement ashore. Continuing on into the bay with sail shakedown first priority.

The jib and mizzen set beautifully. The mail needed a bit of adjustment at the lacings, parrels and position where the halyard is belt to the yard. Experimented with reefing the main and found it to set well.

 

Setting up double reef

Balanced and self-steering with bungees to tiller

Returning  that afternoon I discovered a concealed creek with a number of small craft that lay at anchor. A friend Harris ferried me to shore in his Whitehall and we spent the evening catching up by the fire with a large group of small boat sailors.

Harris's 'ferry'

Gaff-rigged Eel

Protected anchorage

Jim on his Herreshoff Coquina

That evening I anchored out away from the lights and came in early to pick up my friend Steve Peck who had come down for a sail. The group had planned to meet on the beach at New Point Comfort lighthouse. Leaving before the flotilla we reached the beach along with the Coquina. The rest of the boats turned back early and we snacked with Jim on the snow-white sand in the late cool, sunny morning.

Steve and I sailed the bay and made our way back in the afternoon as the sun dropped low. Just before we reached the East River mouth there was a weight shift and I caught myself with my right hand on the deck and cut the pad of my hand on a small shackle. Pretty deep cut. We taped it up tight and I opted to forego stitches. We agreed that it would be better to haul out with help for I was in no shape to pull lines. So back up the East River, out at the ramp, over to Gwynns Island to put Annie away and drive around to Eddie's to Steve's car. Not the original plan but a good alternative.

A sailor party was underway on our return with another shared meal highlighted with a large pot of Frogmore Stew... a low country boil of sausage, corn on the cob, potatoes, shrimp and Old Bay seasoning. Delicious to say the least.

April 28

Knowing that I would be returning to work in Georgia followed by an extended trip to New Mexico and Colorado, getting back out on the water seemed like the thing to do. Annie slid off the trailer at the Gwynns Island ramp early Saturday morning and we tacked in a SE wind toward Hole in the Wall. After an anchored snack break I decided to run back, request a bridge opening and continue into the Piankatank below the Middle Peninsula. The wind had freshened so a reefed main and jig were in order. Passing Fishing Bay I we continued west working up the Piankatank, looking for a anchorage that would be protected by both the south chop as well as a cold front that was forecasted to pass through around midnight.

I found a small island, Berkley, on the chart that appeared to be the inner remnant of an oxbow formation in the winding river. It gave us the protection we needed. I awoke in the early morning to a strong breeze from the NW that was mitigated by a few trees on shore. Back to sleep.

As dawn broke I went out into the cold morning and found the deck festooned with pollen and oak catkins that had been stripped from the trees. That cleanup was followed by a lengthy stripping of slimy grass off the entire length of Annie's rode. The extra scope made it that much more fun.

After granola and fruit breakfast I set off back down river well reefed in a brisk, cold northerly. Probably still in the 40s... surely with the wind chill.. it was 'no cleat ' reach. The gusts were ferocious and the main sheet was fully released often. Passing Fishing Bay and Stove Point it really picked up. I'm not clear on the nuances of the Beaufort Scale but there was white caps on every wave top. The destination, Jackson Creek and then Mill Creek to the Deltaville Maritime Museum was in view. The hard beat began with many quick tacks. Each time Annie crossed over she would plow in and white water would cover the bow and shoot over the dodger. I prefer to stand at the helm so there was a lot of ducking down. 

Once the creek was made I wound around to the museum and tied up to the floating dock. Onshore I found John England preparing for the pre-dedication of the new boatbuilding shop. Larry Chowning, a noted historian and author of books on deadrise and buyboats was due at 3. I stayed on, saw old friends and went out to eat. That night I opted to stay at the dock. It was quiet with a full moon shining through the port light.

Monday morning brought tempered winds and a great sail where the Piankatank meets the Chesapeake. I noted additional modifications to the sail rig and after putting Annie back on land, headed to Richmond to sort out them out. A two-weekend shakedown... success.