Down the Potomac, Tangier Island and Back to Deltaville

Down the Potomac, Over to Tangier Island and Back to Deltaville – October 2 to 9, 2010

We had been quite proud of the 100% success rate with our 35 pound Delta anchor system since we began our trip over a year ago. That changed when we dragged anchor in the Washington Channel in DC and had a close call from an unmanned boat that sped past us backwards dragging a Delta along the bottom and headed directly for a nearby mega yacht. We now have a 33 pound Bruce as our primary anchor and it has passed the tests so far. 

Our first anchorage after leaving Washington was amongst the crab pots on Potomac Creek, a branch of the Potomac River. If we had dragged there we would have had quite a tangled mess. The next night we were back at St Mary’s City where we had arranged to meet Mac and Ruth on Carmella.  We rafted together for the night and had a wonderful spontaneous (the best kind) pot luck dinner with the gang on Carmella. Carmella weighs 28,000 pounds, Polar Pacer weighs 12,000 pounds. Little Bruce held us both just fine.

Rafted

The tug and barge relay. One came from each direction. The barges met nose to nose and the big tug left the little tug to handle them both.

We wanted to fill our diesel tanks and sit out some rainy weather before we headed off to Tangier Island so we followed Carmella home to Kinsale Harbour. During a break in the rain we pulled the Dubarry boots out of storage and headed down the highway on foot to find a convenience store. When we were almost there, Kip and Linda, a couple of boaters that we had not yet met, recognized us from the marina and stopped to offer us a ride. Five hours later we had skipped the convenience store, went with them to Ace Hardware in the next town, bought supplies at the ABC liquor outlet, stopped at MacDonalds for lunch, picked up groceries from Walmart in another town, went with them to their home to see the boat they are rebuilding and some lovely hooked rugs and patchwork quilts that were in progress. Then they took us back to the marina where we spent another hour visiting each other’s boats. They were wonderful company and the rainy day was over before we knew it. They also own a boat transport business based in Virginia. If you need a boat moved anywhere in North America, give them a call at Boat Lovers Transport: 804-472-9223.

When you leave the mouth of the Potomac and head due east you will arrive at Tangier Island after four or five hours. You won’t see it until you are almost there. The island is very low and flat with the highest point of land being about 4 or 5 feet above sea level.

Approaching Tangier island from the west.

When you arrive by boat there is really only one place to stay – Mr. Parks Marina. Besides electricity and water, the very reasonable docking fees include Mr. Parks guided tour of the island on his golf cart built for two. And when you pay your fees at the end of your stay Mr. Parks will try to give you your money back because he does not think he did enough for you while you were there. 

 

Polar Pacer at Parks Marina

Tangier Island is a community whose economy still depends almost entirely on the water. Soft-shell crab is one of their specialties.  

Crab traps ready to be set.

These peeler shacks on stilts are where crabs are kept in tanks until they molt and shed their hard shells.

Tangier island also has a few seasonal restaurants and B&B’s to serve the small tourist industry. Hilda Crockett’s Chesapeake House with its family style meals has been in business for 71 years. The menu is the same every day for both lunch and dinner and yes, she does serve crab cakes.

This lady told us that she was preparing blue crab meat to sell to one of the local restaurants. When her husband brings home the days catch she cleans and steams them, refrigerates them overnight and removes the meat in the morning.

How many blue crab to make a crab cake?

How to steam Blue Crabs: According to the North Carolina department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

Make sure crabs are lively before placing in a pot. Discard any crabs that appear dead. The crab pot should have a raised rack a minimum 2 inches high. Add equal quantities of water and vinegar to just below the level of the rack. Layer crabs; sprinkle each layer with a mixture of seafood seasoning and salt. Cover and steam until the crabs are red (about 25 minutes).

There are few automobiles on the island. The quickest way to get around is by boat, golf cart or bicycle. We walked the length of both streets on the island and took the dinghy through the water courses that crisscross 

the land. 

 

We went aground with the dingy more than once and had to use the oars to pole ourselves through the mud. Polar Pacer is the shorter of the two masts.

 

Automobiles on the island that need repairs are precariously loaded crosswise on the supply boat using two by fours for ramps and taken to the mainland for service.

The parking lot at the ferry dock.

Usable vacant land is scarce. As a result, many homes have graves in their front yards to reduce the risk of the caskets floating away with high tides.

  

There seemed to be as many cats as there are people. Mr. Parks claimed to have 27 cats. 

We only counted 14.

 

For such a small island it still had a long deserted sandy beach.

Sunrise over the peeler shacks.

From Tangier Island we headed back to Deltaville to pick up a new solenoid for our electric windlass.  The one that had been ordered for us in Washington DC didn’t fit and arrangements were made to pick up a replacement from West Marine. We managed to sail about halfway back across the bay before the sails came down and the diesel took over. 

When kids get bored …….

Rova kept an eye on us as we crossed the bay.

In Deltaville, our new friends very generously offered the use of the dock next to Rova and invited us to share margaritas and guacamole with them at their cottage after they drove us around to run errands. Emma and Jack – It was so nice to meet you and your parents and spend some of our adventure with you. It is chance meetings with such wonderful people that make this lifestyle so enjoyable. 

Up the Potomac

Up The Potomac – September 17 to October 1, 2010

Head north from Deltaville and turn left when you reach Smith Point Light. After trying to do just that for a week, we finally made it to the mouth of the Potomac.

Smith Point Light

During our visit to Ontario in August, LSYC members Pat and Peter told us about their visit to St. Mary’s College at St. Mary’s City on the St. Mary’s River. The timing was right for an overnight stop. We decided to check it out and ended up staying for two days.We anchored in 15 feet of water at horseshoe Bend, just off of the docks used for the sailing program at the college.

 

Sailing school dinghies.

St. Mary’s College is a liberal arts school with a student population of about 2000. The 319 acre waterfront campus is idyllic with mature trees, walking trails, historic buildings and its own sailing center with a sandy beach. It feels more like a resort than a school. We walked around the campus and had lunch and dinner at the school cafeteria that is open to the public. The food was great and very reasonably priced.

 We did not get invited to the college beach party at the sailing center and didn’t think we would blend in very well if we crashed it. Oh, to be young again!

 If you take daylight savings time into consideration this campus sun dial was only 10 minutes off the correct time.

Adjoining the campus is Historic St. Mary’s City which was established in 1634 and was the original state capital of Maryland before the seat of government was moved to Annapolis. St. Mary’s City is known for several American firsts: freedom of religion was mandated, the first African-American participated in colonial legislature and the first woman requested the right to vote. The settlement was later abandoned and returned to farmland for many years. The site has been rebuilt using techniques and materials that are based on what has been learned from extensive archaeological activity.

The reconstructed ‘ordinary’ where early travellers would have stopped for sundowners.

The landscape is scattered with these frames on original footprints depicting the buildings that once existed.

Early morning departure from St. Mary’s

We expected the trip to Washington, DC to take three or four days. We left St. Mary’s very early in the morning and headed up the Potomac with a list of anchorages as potential overnight stops. We soon caught a strong up river current and by late afternoon we had reached Mattawoman Creek, just a few miles from downtown DC. After stopping on the river to chat with the Canadian catamaran Zero to Cruising and hearing that their upriver trip had taken six days we were quite pleased with our progress.

Communication dishes on the banks of the Potomac.

On our arrival at the entrance to Washington Channel we were escorted by dinghy to the Capital Yacht Club docks by a member whom we had met last year at the Seven Seas Cruising Association ‘gam’. This is not a service normally provided by the club. Bill just happened to be passing by in his dinghy and recognized Polar Pacer.

The Washington Channel is also the flight path for US government helicopters. 

They fly low and are loud.

The club members and staff at CYC are very friendly and helpful and for a nominal fee anchored cruising boats can access their clubhouse facilities which include showers, laundry, pump out, bar service and wi-fi. We were also welcomed to join them for Spaghetti Night and Rainy Day Soup. The volunteer cooks are very skilled. And many thanks to Mike and Jean for hosting us for dinner on board and making a special grocery store run.

There are how many different kinds of shrimp?

From the CYC parking lot it is an easy walk to the fish market and many of the museums and monuments that Washington, DC is so well known for. On our first day we had an early start and took the dead presidents walk past the Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln Memorials to the Reflecting Pool, World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument. Then we spent three hours walking through the Museum of American History!

The Reflecting Pool

  Forrest Gump was nowhere to be seen.

After almost wearing out the soles of our shoes we slowed the pace down a bit but still managed to cover a lot of ground and see most of the Smithsonian Institute. These are just a few of the highlights of our Washington tour:

The view of the anchorage from the top of the 555 foot high Washington Monument on a drizzly morning. Polar Pacer is third from the left.

The White House.

Every car that gets this close is searched by bomb sniffing dogs.

 

   The black statue sits in front of the Canadian Embassy. 

Its white twin is in the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

The Capitol Building.

The House was in session but we were able to tour much of the building without having to get a special pass.

Opened in 1897, the Library of Congress is an amazing example of Italian Renaissance architecture. 

We saw one of the few remaining 15th century Guttenberg bibles and rough drafts of the Declaration of Independence. If you have a valid library card you can download eBooks, audio books and much more from its extensive collection. Check it out at www.Find LIBRARYeBooks.com.

 Best selling fiction writer Isabelle Allende, niece of assassinated Chilean President Salvador Allende, was one of the authors interviewed at the annual Library of Congress Book Fair. 

She is a very animated speaker with a wonderful sense of humor. She is now on my ‘need to read’ list. 

Ken Follett, Martha Grimes and Scott Turow were other familiar names on the agenda.

The government of Russia provided the Air and Space Museum with this replica of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The Soviet Sputnik program was prominent in the news when I was a child.

Tomatoes on sale at the Eastern Market on Saturday.

The National Museum of the American Indian was designed by Douglas Cardinal, the same architect who designed Canada’s Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. 

Our favorite exhibit was Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture which comes with headsets so you can listen to the music of Redbone, Buffy Sainte Marie and others as you go through.

Jimmy Hendrix’s Coat of Many Colors

And there was much, much more. Entry to all of the Smithsonian Museums, gardens and Art Galleries is free. We could have spent several more weeks there and still not seen everything. It was definitely worth the trip up the Potomac.

Relevant Reading : Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

In this book, written well before he was elected president of the United States, Barack Obama talks candidly about his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia and what it was like for him to grow up black in his white family and having a father that he had never known. He speaks about abandoning a career in the world of high finance to become an “organizer” in the poor, mostly black, neighborhoods of Chicago where he struggled to provide leadership and show them how they could make a difference in their own lives. Over time his sense of family was challenged as he made contact with his extended family and travelled to Kenya prior to attending harvard Law School to meet his numerous step brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and his grandmother.

Always focusing on the human side of his experiences, Mr. Obama is an excellent writer and his memoir reads like a novel, ending on a note of romance with his marriage to Michelle.

The Portrait Gallery in Washington DC does not yet have an official portrait of Barack Obama but has this fine art version of the mass produced campaign poster by Los Angeles graphic artist Shepard Fairey.

        Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown is a recent addition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.