Log of Sea Wings

October 26, 2007

Southport Marina, ICW Mile 308

Southport , NC

Log Canoes, Famous Authors and More Bicycle Adventures………

I don’t think you can spend much time on the Chesapeake without grasping the significance of maritime history and heritage and its impact on the Bay to this day. Most Bay watermen still use workboats whose designs were laid out over one hundred years ago. The famous Skipjacks are to be seen every day on the water, now carrying tourists instead of oysters, but still sailing none the less. Motor yachts have been made from the old “buy boats” or new ones made in the same style. Saturdays will see the over rigged log canoes racing at St. Michaels, MD. The mire fact that in many areas of the Bay sailboats outnumber powerboats speaks to the local respect for their sailing heritage. The multi colored, metalflake bedazzled ‘cigarette’ boat looks as out of place here as a Maine lobster boat looks in downtown Miami.

One of the best pieces of advice I have gotten on this trip came from my friend Jeff Knoll who said that to really appreciate the history of the Bay, particularly the eastern shore, one must read Mitchner’s “Chesapeake”. Lyn and I both gobbled it up like candy as it was both a great read and did indeed give us a different perspective on the areas we were sailing and walking. For any of you planning a trip to the Bay, get the book and read it while you are there, it will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the Bay.

Our favorite spot on the eastern shore was St. Michaels located on the Miles River just north of the Choptank River which was the focal point of Mitchner’s novel. It is a small quiet town with historic homes and many shops and restaurants aimed at the tourist crowds that flock here during the summer. The small harbor area is packed full of boats every weekend during the season which can get a little over the top. But you can still find where the locals hang, and it has a fantastic maritime museum. Really going through the museum will take the better part of a day and is not to be missed.

Several of the restaurants and bars are on the water at the harbor area and not only have great local crab, but also afford a view of the boats anchored there. This is particularly useful as you can eat while you watch your boat dragging across the harbor. Yes, after a quiet day and night at anchor, we were dining and watching the wind build and suddenly noticed that we were dragging. Lew dashed to the dinghy dock while Lyn threw money at the waitress and grabbed our uneaten crab. A fast dash to the restaurant, Lyn jumps in the dinghy and we speed out to Sea Wings, reset the main anchor and throw out a second for good measure. There we stayed put for the next week. That night a storm came up and while we held firm, a Catalina 25 drug across the entire anchorage faster than I think he could have motored, and somehow managed to miss every boat until he ran aground on the lee shore.

St Michaels is also a fun place to ride your bike. We rode all over town, up and down the quiet residential streets enjoying the late summer weather and the immaculate historic homes. We stopped for a beer and snack and had a great time with some of the more colorful locals, then took off to cover the north end of town. It was about this time that a car came a little close to Lyn, she moved over but clipped the curb and launched herself over the curb, across the sidewalk and into a brick planter. She scrapped her knee, but managed a gaping cut on her chin and was sitting on the sidewalk, spewing blood all over the place. Not knowing where to go for medical attention, we called 911 and the paramedics arrived in less than 5 minutes. As no medical facility existed in town, it was an ambulance ride, with full lights and siren, 12 miles down the road to Easton. By this time her knee was as big as a cantaloupe and her chin still bleeding all over.

So we spent the next 5 hours in the ER while the knee was x-rayed and the doc and I put 9 stitches in her chin. I included myself as I assisted and he very graciously tutored me on how to stitch, both inside and outside, how to tie and how to place them for the least amount of scarring. Helpful advice if we ever have to do it on the boat. By the way, this was on a Saturday…………how long do you think it would have taken to get the same work done in a Jacksonville ER on a Saturday night???

So it was a cab ride back to St Michaels, a few extra days in the harbor waiting to get an MRI for the knee and multiple cab rides back and forth to Easton to get them done. Fortunately, no really serious damage but, now eight weeks later the knee is still swollen and she has not gotten full range of motion back. She wants me to sell her bike……………

One of the best things about being stuck in St Michaels is watching the sailing. Every day of the week there are one or two skipjacks sailing out with decks awash in tourists and they are joined by a large historic catboat with smaller numbers of tourists aboard. On weekends many local sailboats, as well as arriving cruisers join in, but best of all, the racing log canoes come out to play. Both days no less than eight canoes raced, carrying miles of canvas, their crews perched on movable planks (they look like diving boards) trying to keep it all under control. They are really cool to watch and even though many of them are original hulls, they race them hard and if there is any real wind, these 30 plus foot boats capsize just like dinghies.

Our unexpected length of stay in St Michaels cancelled our trip to Rock Hall, so we went directly on to Baltimore. More on that next time.

Best regards and fair winds,

Lew and Lyn

SV Sea Wings