It has taken us (Charlotte, Carrie Rose, and me) five years to get from Montrose Harbor in Chicago, IL to Kent Island, Maryland on Chesapeake Bay. In the meantime, we retired, a few family and friends passed away, others married or divorced, a baby (my nephews) appeared along with several dogs, and there have been a few health concerns, mostly resolved. The boat suffered numerous failures, none too calamitous, and has had various pricey upgrades.
At least six months were spent in Canada. It is a reasonable place considering how close it is to the USA. I cannot help but think that our northern neighbors should open a southern branch. I’d be first in line for permanent residency status.
Cruising on a small boat (32’ Nordic Tug) has a lot of pros and cons. The reason I say a small boat is not out of conceit but because in truth we are usually the smallest boat around, at least in the cruising community. In marinas, four or five story slabs of off-white fiberglass blanket Carrie Rose. They ruin the view but keep the hot sun off our deck. Like I said there are a lot of pros and cons.
Mid spring to summer’s end is spent motoring to wherever the body of water we are on takes us. The first several years we cruised with friends but these last three have been on our own. And since we’ve traveled in the direction opposite of the Great Loop (the counter-clockwise circumnavigation of the eastern USA), there have not been many boats to buddy up with. We have had the luxury of doing what we want.
This year we drove the car to the boat since our plan was to stay in the Chesapeake for the summer. In June, the weather turned unexpectedly hot and stayed that way. It did not stop us but the parking brake was stuck on a bit. Carrie Rose almost made it to Washington D.C. but not quite. We detoured out of the Potomac after making it to Colonial Beach, VA, a decidedly funky place.
Both coming and going we spent several days anchored in the St. Mary’s River, a tributary of the Potomac; home to a beautiful bay and an old college curiously named St. Mary’s. The college opens their campus to the cruisers anchored in the bay. We borrowed their AC and had a better than average college dorm meal (all we could eat) in the cafeteria for nine bucks each.
The Potomac is a grand river 13 miles wide as it enters the bay. On our way out Carrie Rose, with a little extra speed, rode atop the bays short choppy waves (something not possible in the Great Lakes). A destroyed battle ship was passed as we steamed east across the bay to Crisfield, one of those towns that bring meaning to the phrase the-end-of-the-road.
I could write about anchorages, small historic towns, fishermen and crab pots and trot lines and floating gill nets and fishing weirs placed far offshore; then there was the constant military presence with many areas listed as off limits on the charts; and the brown brackish water full of sea nettles, otherwise known as jellyfish…but I won’t. (See chicagotug.blogspot.com for more details)
It was stimulating to spend time on the eastern shore of Maryland. Kent Island was the first English settlement established in America in 1631. One transplant to the eastern shore described its genealogy as a wreath instead of a branching tree. Though we could find no direct evidence of the above, us Johnny-come-latelies from the Midwest were duly put in our place on occasion.
Our sojourn in the east—not done yet, Maine next year—has been noteworthy. For me it was the school trip I never took. We have been immersed in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War; seen slavery up close; and witnessed the decline and fall of the industrial revolution.
This year we have met the fine folk of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. All have shown us deference because of the great city we come from. Carrie Rose has been our time machine into the past and our way of anticipating the future, for cruising draws from experiences while forcing us to look into the future before departing each day. Is the weather to our favor; should we anchor or find a marina; will the tides and currents help or hinder the journey; have the hazards been identified and dealt with; are the boat’s systems and of course, we prepared to spend another day, week, or month on the water.
Cruising on a boat started as a pre-adolescent dream and became a possibility when it became Charlotte’s dream. We are blessed because of it. And we are blessed to have such a long list of friends to send holiday greetings too.
Let us have a safe, healthy, and prosperous—in the larger sense of the word—2017. Happy Holidays!
Charlotte & Dean
