Foreign Affair Sailing

Tablet at Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Pumphouse

We toured Chesapeake City and visited the C&D Canal Museum.  Chesapeake City is primarily the result of the building and operation of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal which connects the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays reducing the water travel distance between the Philadelphia and Baltimore by 300 miles.  The museum is housed in a pump house which once was used for the lock at Chesapeake City.  The C&D Canal is allegedly the third busiest canal in the world.  The town is small and quaint with many buildings constructed between the 1820s and 1850s.

http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/ChesapeakeDelawareCanal/CanalHistory.aspx

No touring today.  Carla polished life-line stanchions, cleaned the bilge and did laundry.  Dwayne cleaned out some email and read.  The pool water was just right for the hot weather.

Assateague Island National Seashore is famous for its herds of wild horses.  Assateague is a 37 mile long barrier island which is divided into Assateague State Park, Assateague INS and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge which is at the southern end of the island and part of Virginia.  The horses roam free and are easily seen along the one road which travels down the narrow island.  The beaches and campgrounds are beautiful; however, they were very full of visitors.   You really wouldn’t want to be there on a weekend when traffic and parking are big problems.  Visit during mid-week.

http://www.nps.gov/asis/index.htm

We spent most of the day in St. Michaels which was once a shipbuilding center and today is a major tourism destination.  The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is the premier museum on maritime life on the Chesapeake.  The Bay’s history is showcased in nine buildings each dedicated to some aspect of life on the Bay such as boatbuilding, fishing, oystering, crabbing, hunting and transportation.  The restored Hooper Strait Lighthouse and numerous historic boats enhance one’s understanding of what life on the Bay was like in the past.  We spent half our day at the museum and still have much more to learn from the exhibits.  a replica of a shallop used by John Smith in his explorations of the Chesapeake Bay was in the water.  Smith explored the Bay beginning in 1607.

http://cbmm.org/

We took a walking tour of Cambridge which was settled in 1684.  Cambridge is on the Choptank River and like Chestertown, served as a major trading center sending tobacco, lumber, seafood and muskrat pelts to England in exchange for finished goods manufactured in England and slaves imported from Africa.  Tobacco and grain crops were the primary agricultural products.  Tobacco was exported and the abundance of grain crops led to the region being called the “Breadbasket of the Colonies”.

Brian and Janet joined us on a tour of Chestertown which was a Royal Port of Entry for the Colony of Maryland.  It has served as a seat of government since the 17^th Century and is the county seat for Kent County.  Chestertown, on the Chester River, was a major trading center and one of the largest cities in Maryland during the colonial period.  Dozens of 18^th Century homes can be found in Chestertown’s historic district along the waterfront.  It is also the home of Washington College which was chartered in 1782 and named after George Washington who was one of its primary benefactors.  Washington College was the first college chartered in the nation after the Declaration of Independence.

Brian and Janet brought our car to us and we spent the day exploring Rock Hall.  The Waterman’s Museum was closed and we were able to complete our driving tour of the town in a half hour.  We did learn that George Washington passed through Rock Hall at least 8 times.  It is uncertain as to whether or not he slept there; however, it is well documented that he passed through Rock Hall at least 8 times.

Carla cleaned the bilge and did the laundry.  Fortunately, the laundry is next to the pool.  So, she was able to relax reading poolside between loads of wash.

Took a dinghy ride up the East Branch of Langford Creek after dinner.  Again, beautiful scenery and some big waterfront estate property.  Fish in the creek proved to be plentiful and many were jumping.  In fact, a shad jumped smacking Carla in the chest and fell into the dinghy.  Needless to say, it created some excitement as if flopped around trying to get back into the water.  We discovered shad to be a sweet tasting but very boney fish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipjack_(boat)

Another good day on the Bay.  Motored out of the Sassafras under partly cloudy skies.  The scenery was the highlight of the morning.  The winds picked up to 10 – 15 knots once we were on the Bay.  Waves were less than 2 feet and the clouds changed from bright white to light grey.  Southerly winds caused us to repeatedly tack to reach our destination; however, we were usually sailing at 5 – 6 knots.  

We decided to anchor at the mouth of Worton Creek rather than move upstream since the channel is narrow and meandering with very shallow water on either bank.  Also, the anchorage upstream would require us to leave early in the morning to make certain we could get out at other than low tide.

By the time the sun went down we were one of five sailboats anchored at the mouth of Worton Creek.  Thunderstorms are possible tonight.  Our anchorage is well protected except from the west.  We let out additional anchor chain to help hold us in place should winds grow during a thunderstorm. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2923868,-76.1714038,15z?hl=en

We spent a quiet night at anchor off Georgetown’s marinas on the Sassafras River.

The Sassafras is the most picturesque river we have seen so far on the Chesapeake Bay.  It is mostly wooded along the banks which are often high bluffs.  The channel is deep but shoals quickly near the shores.  The few homes there are along its banks are large and spectacular multimillion dollar properties.  We made good time down the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal as the tide helped us reach speeds of 8 knots.  We made our way up the Sassafras at about 5 knots.  A perfect day for cruising as it was sunny and calm.  Not a great day for sailing due to the lack of wind.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bear,+DE/@39.3659554,-75.8706446,14z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c706e4ca99ab11:0xe457a8a554e3a023?hl=en