Chesapeake Chase Days 37-38: South to Crisfield
July 18, 2022: Madison Bay
Today’s destination was an anchorage in Madison Bay, on our way to Crisfield, MD. We had planned to get fuel before leaving and go back to a marketplace we had been to yesterday, but the afternoon forecast was for severe thunderstorms and wind. We needed to leave before places opened.
We were underway around 7:30 AM, before coffee, but better to beat the storms and wind! There wasn’t much besides water and sky to see along the way. I did get a picture of a sailboat with it’s sails up. I never tire of their beauty under sail.
By 1:40 PM we were anchored. We had the afternoon to relax in a protected anchorage. Dinner had been cooking in the crockpot, so the afternoon was a chance to do some catching up, cleaning, and relaxing until the storm came.
We were fortunate that it didn’t come until later in the day, so we also enjoyed the AC until the storm hit. It was intense but not frightening. When you are in an open area, you get to see the storm coming, and this one was picture worthy. If I was an artist, I would try to capture it on canvas.
This was another fine day on the water.
Captain’s Comments:
Cruising on a boat requires flexible decision making.
Last night, on our walk through St. Michaels, we stopped at an upscale (but tiny) grocery store. We got the black beans we needed for a crockpot recipe, but the deli was closed, and we wanted some lunch meat. No problem, we’d come back when they opened at 0800.
I hadn’t planned on buying fuel in St. Michaels, but their price was as good as we were likely to see for a while, and they could fill us in our slip. I’d fill in the morning when they opened at 0800.
When we checked the updated weather forecast, it indicated SW wind and thunderstorms (TS) tomorrow afternoon. Hmm. Check again in the morning.
When the alarm went off at 0630, I checked the weather again, and it still showed TS late in the afternoon, severe enough to come along with a small craft advisory from the National Weather Service. Since we only had 37 miles to our planned anchorage, we made the (new) decision to leave asap to ensure we beat the storms. Fuel and deli could wait. The (new) decision also saved us some fuel by taking advantage of the tide.
We anchored in Madison Harbor off the Little Choptank River. We decided to take the route behind Poplar Island, shorter and more protected, but with a stretch of shoal to cross. We timed it just before high tide. Our tentative anchorage was too exposed for an evening of thunderstorms, so we decided to spend the time and fuel to go further up the river. Our second-choice anchorage was also too exposed, so we went to Madison Harbor.
Madison is also a town—with a cell tower, so we had cell service. And since dinner in the crock pot wasn’t done yet, we turned the generator on. And since it was hot, we turned on the AC. And since we had some time till dinner, I published two more days on our web site. Sometimes things fall into place.
Hopefully, the TS will respect our flexible decision making skills.
The storm finally arrived around sunset (made for beautiful pictures). Good freshwater rinse, not too much wind, but more lightning than we care for. Turned everything off to minimize damage if we were to be hit. But we weren’t.
I stayed up for a while to monitor, and watch. I tried opening more windows and hatches to cool down, but the rain kept coming off and on, so eventually I went to bed, with minimal ventilation. Glad we had our fans. Around 0200 I was able to open back up and it cooled down.
Peace. Until the fishermen started heading out at sunrise…
fks
July 19, 2022: Crisfield, MD
Today’s destination was Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield, Maryland. Fred’s brother Jess and his wife Debbi would be joining us today. They were flying from Chicago to Norfolk and then taking Uber to the marina. I managed to be up in time for sunrise without help from the alarm. It felt good for a change.
It was a gorgeous day to be on the bay. We were underway by 7:00 AM. Crisfield was about fifty miles from our Madison Bay anchorage. Jess and Debbi guessed it would be 8:30 PM before they arrived. This would give me time to do some laundry and we could also get groceries.
I did more cleaning underway, but the heat eventually was too much to keep working. I could finish when we arrived at Somers Cove. Our route took us through the deepest water we have been in on this trip – 141.2 feet! Again, there was water and sky.
At one point a big cargo ship passed us, but at a safe distance, and the wake was minimal.
We arrived at Somers Cove Marina just before 4:30 PM. It’s a huge marina, but there weren’t many boats considering the size. We checked in at the office and got all the necessary information. There was a laundry facility (not free this time), a pool, showers, bikes to borrow, and Wi-Fi. The grocery store was not within walking distance, but easily reached on bikes.
We really wanted to have the boat clean inside and out before our guests arrived. I got busy doing laundry – lots of quarters needed. Fred got busy cleaning the outside. In between loads I continued cleaning inside. It’s amazing how much exercise you can get doing laundry at a marina. I think I walked about two miles going back and forth. After a while, I realized we would not have time to shop for groceries. The list of things to do before they arrived seemed endless, and it made more sense for the four of us to go in the morning to carry all the groceries back.
Alas, with all our scrambling, we still were not able to complete the list, and we didn’t eat anything until after 9:00 PM. Family is special and we knew they would understand. We were happy when they arrived and grateful to just sit down and visit. All was well.
Captain’s Comments:
Sue woke before me this morning (and then woke me up). We had a long day planned, so it was time to get going.
We needed to travel the 55 nautical miles to Crisfield, where Jess and Debbie will meet us to join the crew, do boat chores, do laundry, and get groceries.
With the front passing last night, we have a lovely WNW breeze behind us and less than 1’ waves (compared to 2-4’ yesterday). Score one point for flexible decision making.
Exiting the Little Choptank River, where we had anchored, I was puzzled by what appeared to be a fairly complex structure on the sand bar. After checking with my binoculars, I realized it was the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, lit up on the western shore of the bay by the morning sun.
Calvert Cliffs is sort of a sister plant to Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station (FCS), the plant in NE where I started my nuclear career. FCS is smaller and only one unit versus the two units at Calvert Cliffs, but both were Combustion Engineering two loop pressurized water reactors (PWR). FCS is now shut down and in decommissioning. The two units at Calvert Cliffs were completed a few years after FCS, continue to operate, and in 2000 received the first 20 year license extension issued by NRC for US nuclear reactors, giving it a 60 year operating life. A second 20 year extension is possible.
One of the downsides of capitalism is the short term focus–capital is generally allocated to produce near term profits at the expense of long term public health. FCS was shut down when it couldn’t compete with cheap natural gas produced by fracking, discounting the long term benefit to civilization of producing carbon free power. Its hard to find investors for assets with 100 year lifetimes.
The nuclear system supplier for both FCS and Calvert, Combustion Engineering, was purchased by Swedish firm ABB, then sold to Westinghouse Nuclear, which was acquired by Toshiba in 2006. After declaring bankruptcy, Westinghouse was sold to a Canadian company. By the way, GE nuclear is owned by Hitachi. Maybe small modular reactors will revive US nuclear power…
Meanwhile, our peaceful run south on the bay continues. The gentle waves and warm breeze invite a nap, but I have to pilot the ship.
Crisfield is pretty quiet. This picture seems to sum it up.
