Collision in Solomons - May 29–31, 2013

On to Hudson Creek and St. Michaels, MD

A loud crunch jolted me to stare out my cabin portlight looking straight into the face of an older gent struggling with his helm as his sailboat crashed along Kelly IV's starboard side, banging his way from our bow aft.  By the time his cockpit was even with Kelly's midsection, I had dashed the length of her interior, up the companionway and onto the side deck.  The solo skipper was already apologizing as Bob, Jack and I fended off the old, derelict-appearing craft as it scraped from our spare lines on the bow rail, past Kelly's fenders hanging from the starboard lifelines and just missed ripping the davits, radar post and solar panel from their mounts.

Once past the anchored Kelly, he got better control of his vessel and steered her in a circle to wait for me to take our dinghy over to collect his name and contact information, in case of any damage.  Thankfully the dinghy was still in the water from our morning excursion so I was quickly alongside his cockpit writing down his name and phone while he circled away from Kelly IV.  A quick inspection before jumping into the dinghy, and closer inspections since then, have not yet revealed any damage worse than several significant patches of greasy dirt rubbed into our spare lines and new white fender.

It seems that the Cap'n who banged into us is a longtime liveaboard cruiser who was making his way north to New England away from the threat of hurricanes further south.  His battered and bruised sailboat had seen its better self many years prior, as we noted the dirt, rust and grime prevalent throughout.  Our newest contact in the cruising world explained that while steering the channel to depart the creek he felt water on his feet and bent over to investigate.  While discovering that he only spilled his water bottle, he inadvertently steered his ancient yacht into Kelly IV.

This bit of excitement took place on May 29th as we were preparing to depart Solomons for Hudson Creek.  On our arrival the night before, we set the anchor, lowered the dinghy to walk through the small town, got our bearings and info about the Calvert Maritime Museum.  Given the museum hours we decided to go there in the morning as our next destination was a rather short trip.

After our typical breakfast of great food wonderfully prepared, we ventured in the dinghy to enjoy the museum and were pleasantly surprised at the terrific displays and genuinely friendly staff and volunteers.  An easy going yard worker greeted us as we debarked onto the “back yard” of the museum and guided us to their entrance where “Bud,” the ticket taker, regaled us with stories and features we should enjoy around the facility.

Choptank Sailing

Our first stop was an excellent display on rays and skates described by a very well informed and casual lady who led us to touch the skates in the tank properly as well as understand the “Mermaid's Purse” and it's role in reproduction.  From there we enjoyed the instruction and knowledge of the two ladies who ran the children's room.  Yes, the three guys proved they haven't grown up yet and learned about sea stars, turtles, hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs and other cool aquatic creatures.  The Calvert Museum is well known for having an excellent paleontology collection, much of it from the Calvert Cliffs which run for many miles on the western shore, beginning at Drum Point at Solomons.

We had our run-in (literally) with the elderly Cap'n soon after taking the dinghy back to Kelly to prepare for our day's sail.  The sail was gently uneventful to the point of having to motor sail most of the trip because the light wind was not enough to carry us forward.  Bob and Jack guided us through the maze of crab pots and nav aids until we found a protected spot on the rural Hudson Creek off the north side of the Little Choptank River.

It proved a beautiful sunset and evening dinner was another repeat.  Jack coined our trip in one succinct phrase:  “We sailed like pirates, ate like kings and drank like fish.”  Well, old fish.  It didn't take much with all the sun and food to get us to sleep like babies.

A lazy morning and we were on our way winding out of the Little Choptank, around Ragged, Hill and Cook Points into the Choptank River, then north through the shallows of Broad Creek and San Domingo Creek, finally setting our anchor at the “back door” to St. Michaels.

Murph, Bob, and Jack with Delorean Motor Car

It was low tide by the time we dinghied in and had to twice manually clear weeds off the dinghy's propeller before I gained the smarts to use the oars and forgo the otherwise effective electric motor.  A quiet walk across town to the main harbor and a relaxing dinner ashore has us deciding to make Friday, May 31 a lay day.  We spent Friday sleeping in, enjoying another great maritime museum, The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  Somehow we fit in time for a photo op with a Delorean motor car, complete with Flux Capacitor (ask a “Back To The Future” movie fan).

Overnight Passage, Anchoring Excitement - May 27 to June 2, 2013 (Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)

Annapolis almost to Smith Island, then Solomons Island, MD, May 27-28, 2013

After motoring all night to cover the distance from Annapolis and with only ten miles to go, Kelly IV reversed her course to leave Smith Island, the primary destination of the week's cruise, astern.

The breeze had been very light, even non-existent at times through the night and on the nose in any event, so Kelly IV was motor sailing with only the mainsail raised.  The crew, Bob, Jack and Murph, had set out from Annapolis the evening before about 8:30pm, expecting a midday arrival at Smith Island, a 66 nautical miles (nm) sail.  Jack stood the first watch in the dwindling twilight and piloted Kelly IV out the Severn River past Tolly Point into the Chesapeake Bay.  All three of us were in the cockpit as we peered into the darkness to make certain the lights we saw didn't become seaborne obstacles.  We noted that the traffic was significantly more than what we'd ever seen plying Lake Erie and the highly populated western shore made identifying a number of the lights rather difficult as the shoreside lights tended to wash out many of the lights on the water.  It proved fun and adventuresome as we identified the numerous ships, boats and barges making their way up and down the Chesapeake.

In the wee hours before dawn we noticed a tow boat pulling a barge suddenly was coming back towards us after passing us by a half hour earlier.  Just as we were deciding to steer a significant course change away from them, we got a hail on the VHF radio calling for the sailboat motoring near the gas dock.  As we were then passing the LNG docks just north of the Patuxent River, and the only vessel near the docks for miles around (excepting the tow and barge) we knew they were calling us.  We answered immediately, but got no reply.  Our theory is that once they saw that we had changed course to sail away from them, there was no need to spend additional time on the radio.

Dawn broke gradually taking time to decide if the sun would make a full showing or stay behind the clouds.  As we closed on the bombing practice grounds and the rusted target hulks settled on the bottom of the bay, the decision was confirmed and the sun was in her full glory, a beautiful day on the water.  All the crew were up and about discussing what the curious Smith Island accent might sound like and how good the Smith Island cakes really were.  With only 10 nm to go, the engine shut off without warning.  When the engine sighed to a stop, it wasn't clear why, as the fuel, water temperature, and oil pressure gauges reported no problems.

The crew immediately unfurled the jib as the breeze had been building through the morning, although directly ahead.  With the jib drawing, Kelly was comfortably moving under sail, but downwind away from Smith Island.

The fuel gauge indicated a nearly full starboard tank (the tank we'd been tapped into), but it soon dawned on me that I was guilty of not keeping proper track of our fuel.  Kelly IV has two eighteen gallon diesel tanks for a total of 36 gallons.  Although Kelly IV's trips to date were short, a certain amount of engine time had been required, but not well-documented.   I dashed below and switched fuel tanks.  After a few false starts, Kelly's engine fired up and kept running, albeit a bit rough at first.  Not knowing a lot about diesel engines, my confidence was low that fuel was the only issue and now resolved.  After a bit of discussion it was decided that it would be better to work our way to a port with good diesel facilities rather than risk the uncertain resources at Smith Island.  Also, if there proved to be a significant problem and we had to leave the boat, it would be much easier on everyone if we made the western shore.

Although a bit disappointed that we'd not make our destination, the gorgeous day and wonderful breeze made for a terrific sail to Solomons Island, Maryland.  Our new port of call has numerous and excellent facilities as well as being located immediately across the river from the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.  This made for a very positive and enjoyable day of sailing especially as we saw the various aircraft landing and taking off, including fighters, helicopters, cargo planes and even a dirigible.

Large prop plane landing at NAS, Patuxent River

Our sail for this leg of the trip covered 83 nm as we sailed 56nm from Annapolis then 27 nm back north to Solomons.  This leg of the sail is the gray course line on the chartlet.

After topping off both tanks with diesel fuel, we dropped anchor and dinghied ashore to enjoy a restaurant meal and get the Calvert Maritime Museum hours.  Our plans were to see the museum in the morning before departing to out next destination back up the bay.  Of course, all plans are subject to change as we proved with our Smith Island destination.  And who knows who we'll meet, even while quietly sitting at anchor.  Stay tuned for the next installment.