Daily Archives: 1 2 June 14

Monday, 02 June

It was anticipated that this would be another mundane report on motoring from-here-to-there.  After all, with a fair tide, negotiating this leg of the trip is not much more than follow-the-dots, go from one channel buoy to another.  But there was the little matter of an unexpected guest who latched onto Steadfast overnight, a “sentinel” of sorts.

Still Pond, last night’s anchorage, is recommended not just for its beauty but also for a bottom with good holding properties, where an anchor can be set with confidence that it won’t drag.  And, by golly, Steadfast did not budge last night.  When it came time to weigh anchor, the reason became apparent.

Instead of leading away from the bow at the usual angle, the nylon portion of the rode was straight up and down.  Several long, hard pulls accomplished little.  Something was holding down the rode.  Steadfast motored forward just a bit, a few feet of rope were hauled in and the process repeated several times until the culprit emerged from the murk: a four-foot long section of a tree limb, maybe 8-or-10-inches in diameter.  It remained suspended a few seconds, then released its grip and slipped back to the bottom.

Impressive estates such as this keep watch along both banks of the Elk River.

It was then about 0815 as Steadfast headed back out into the northern Bay, turned to starboard and, with her 135 genoa set and pulling, began making 6+ knots over the bottom, even though Little Red was turning just 2000 rpm.  By the time she entered the Elk River, speed was close to 7 and still increasing.  She topped out at 8.5 knots just before turning into the basin at Chesapeake City: 22 nautical miles in just under three hours!

That current continued to carry her eastward as she turned into the anchorage basin, ’til Little Red revved-up a good bit more and Steadfast glided smoothly off the canal.

Unlike the 200′ Super yacht Majestic, Steadfast to date has been able to negotiate the canal without the help of a Maryland Pilot.

A handful of sailboats–all in the 40-something-foot-range–are anchored in the basin.  The marinas, including Schaeffer’s across the way, are nearly vacant.  Few of the snowbirds have yet to reach this far north.  The plan is for Steadfast to leave fairly early tomorrow, ride the current the 14 NM to Reedy Point, then turn to port to spend the night in Delaware City to await a favorable combination of current and weather to run the 50-miles of Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ.

Steadfast out.

Sunday evening, 1 June

Fred and the Mate have come to an understanding. It may be a tad early to say they are or will be “friends,” but it’s clear they are getting along. Getting along, in fact, far better than at any point in their decade-long acquaintanceship. A formal introduction later, but first…

This dispatch comes from Still Pond, a cove on the eastern shore, just north of Worton Point which seems, on this particular afternoon, to be aptly-named. Open to the north, its ten-foot-depths are embraced by a thin strand of sand, then woods, on the west and south, and a tall clay bluff to the east. In other words, this would seem a perfect anchorage, where Churn Creek spills into the Pond, for tonight’s predicted southerly wind.

As its name would have one believe, Still Pond is a quiet refuge from the busy traffic on the Bay.

After a quick nine-o’clock stop for ice, Steadfast slid down Swan Creek and turned west at Green-3 to cross the bar, the Baltimore skyline in the far distance. Once back into 18’ of water, she bent around Swan Point on a heading that generally followed the Tolchester Channel, catching a fair tide that pushed speed-over-ground into the low 6s. Sweet.

By 1300, she’d put another 22 NM under her keel and was riding to anchor in Still Pond. And Kate had decided she and “Fred the Fridge” can get along, after all.

This is no small step. Fred’s a tad old-fashioned and stuck in his ways. Many were the times when he would lose his cool. Resistant to change, he has been slow to accept attempts to modernize, as when the 12-volt cold plate was installed a couple of years ago. He can be tough to reach, back there in the corner, and items left in his care have been known on occasion to simply disappear, never to be seen again.

Normally clouded-mouth, this is as close to “hello” as Fred gets.

But Fred has begun to tow-the-line, as it were. He’s organized, holding cheeses in one plastic box, salad fixings in another, bread there, condiments over here and, of course, ice cubes. Fred, it seems, has met his match. At very least, he and Kate have reached an understanding.

And I, ah, I can reach the ice.

Steadfast out.