St Michaels MD

We had a slight delay this morning leaving our quiet anchorage. Walter had to fix one of the bilge pumps. Departing at 830a in gray weather with a little wind we were going against the tide so the ride was a little bumpy but not bad enough to take meds or wear wrist bands.

We came off the Tred Avon River and into the Choptank River not getting out in the Bay. And we took a couple of short cuts which I hoped wouldn't become LONG cuts! My heart got some exercise as I counted down the depth for Walter while he piloted Miss gg through the Knapps Narrows. To get to this short cut we had to carefully stay in a 5 ft deep channel. The depths on the sides of this channel were 1.0 ft on the port side and 0.7ft the starboard side!!! We had accidentally turned down the volume on the radio and thought the Knapps Narrows Bridge tender was not paying attention. But the bridge did begin to rise and another boat came through going the other way as we were passing under it. 

Knapps Narrows Draw Bridge

Then coming out on the other side of this narrow channel the depths were even shallower and at 0.7 we felt our keel slosh through the mud.... no damage but probably took off some paint on the prop. It is painted to keep barnacles from growing on it.

Then we headed for another short cut.. uh oh! The Poplar Island Narrows.  One could probably walk to St. Michaels from Oxford  on land in just short amount of time but it is a long way around to stay in the rivers to get there... thus these cuts were made through the islands. The second Narrows was a piece of cake compared to the first one.  

It was time to rig all the lines... you need them all in a slip to keep the boat centered.  I wore a life jacket to do this as the boat was moving at 8 knots and the wind across the deck was about 15 knots.  When I was done I just stood the on deck amazed..... could I be dreaming?  The sun had come out & St. Michaels harbor was coming into view.....I'm an old lady!....shouldn't I just be sitting & knitting somewhere?  This is such an awesome Adventure!

Arriving at St. Michaels I had to lasso two piles as the Captain skillfully back into our slip.  I did it!  Took only two tries.  When we radioed the marina that we were coming in and had a reservation they said they were sending two inexperience dock hands to help us. OH! GREAT!  The blind leading the blind!  But we did okay.... I was able to help Walter miss a pile on the port side that would have hit our dinghy engine.... Being the second mate is getting a little, well, just a tad easier for me.  

Coiling the Line after Cleating

We are not at the bigger marina across from us where a lot of the Loopers we met in Norfolk will be tomorrow because the cost there was $2.60/ft of your boat length on week days, more on weekends.  We pay $1.50/ft here at Higgins Yacht Yard.  In the Waterway Guide this marina listed all the same amenities including a laundry facility as the bigger marina.  Unfortunately they do not have a laundry!  Praise God we have our own washer/dryer on our boat so I will just do a few extra loads as they will need to be smaller.  The good part is our Looper clothes will be less loopy from being worn out from commercial washers! :-)

We had lunch on board, started the laundry and went to see the sights.  The sun light was not right for most of the pictures of this cute little town so hopefully tomorrow we will have more to share.  But here is one taken on the grounds of the Chesapeake Maritime Museum which we will see tomorrow.  It is right behind where we are docked.  

This sign says it all.....