Rock Hall Harbor was once an important ferry terminal and fishing port.  Its name comes from the slang use of the word "rocks" to mean oyster shells.  The building that was the center of the oyster industry, surrounded by piles of "rocks" that had been discarded, came to be known as Rock Hall.  Today, its marinas and restaurants attract cruisers in significant numbers, complementing the vessels of local baymen who have worked adjacent waters for generations.

		The September trip will feature sailing out of Rock Hall for an 18 nautical mile trek down to the Severn River for a Saturday night raft and get-together.  We'll mostly likely go up the river beyond the second fixed bridge and pick up a mooring in Luce Creek.  Sunday we'll break the raft and head up the Chesapeake for roughly 26 nautical miles to the Baltimore Marine Center located on Lighthouse Point West.  That evening one can take a half-hour walk to Fells Point, or stay in the immediate area that has several quaint pubs and restaurants.  The Baltimore Marine Center boasts a heated pool and spa, poolside and patio dining, the Bo Brook Crab House - the largest and oldest crab house in Maryland.  Monday we'll head back across the Bay to check back in at Rock Hall.
Built in 1854, The USS Constellation, now berthed in the Inner Harbor, was the last pure sail warship built by the United States.

We’ll muster Friday night, September 14^th, for a stay-aboard, check out Saturday morning and make all preparations to get underway.  

We have reserved 4 boats for this three-day sail.  Send your sign-up form to Dave Steward at the address on the form.  Use the signup form to register for the trip. No reservation form will be processed without a deposit.  Qualified skippers can reserve an entire boat with full payment of deposits, subject to boat availability.  A confirmation form will be sent following receipt of the reservation.

A pre-trip meeting will be held Monday, August 27, 2001 at 6:00 PM.  The location will be provided with your confirmation notice.  All crew members should plan to attend.

Directions to Rock Hall and the Great River Yacht Charters can be found at www.rockhallmd.com/gryc.

The Trip Report

Rock Hall
September, 2001

What glorious days the sun can bring.  And, what wonderful winds can be generated as a result.  For the 30 club members, almost evenly divided amongst 5 boats, the trip out of Rock Hall in September represented a time for heeling and a time for healing.  Like one song of our youth proclaimed, “The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind”, we ran close hauled or before the wind for 2 of the 3 days in the company of others who enjoy doing the same thing.

 Saturday the fleet moved out of Rock Hall and the Great River Yacht Charter piers headed for the Severn River and Clements Creek.  The breeze freshened into a steady wind by early afternoon and kept lifting or heading us (in our favor) as we tacked our way under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and around Greenbury Point.  In fact, the wind was most cooperative!  Several of the boats were able to sail right to the opening of Clements Creek before dropping sails.  Clements Creek is a secret, I’m sure.  It has to be, otherwise there would have been 10 times more boats there.  The Naval Academy provides mooring tackle that is open to the public, and easy to grab.  We created two rafts of 3 and 4 boats given that Don Gilmore and Ray Gray joined us as friends of the club.  At least for one of the rafts the evening afforded a wonderful view of the skies, a stillness to the water and a candle light vigil that brought some to tears given recent events.  It also brought story after story from Don Shelton and Andy Emerson who are both bottomless pits for Scottish and Irish humor.  It was a remarkable evening.

 Sunday morning greeted us with steam rising from the water as nighttime temperatures had dipped into the 40’s.  Plenty of dew rested in the cockpits as one by one, sleepy heads rose, grabbed a cup and stood outside drinking it all in.

 In single file we got underway mid-morning heading for the Inner Harbor of Baltimore and the Baltimore Marine Center at Lighthouse Point.  The fleet was once again rewarded with good winds and clear blue sky.  The wind was right on our nose as we tacked back and forth attempting to gain on the Bay Bridge.  Soon the day was occupied with too may sailboats to count.  Some of us had to give up sailing and fire up the stink pot in order to make the marina before dark.  Motoring up the Patapsco River afforded us wonderful views of the Baltimore skyline, and Fort McHenry.  The Baltimore Marine Center is an attractive marina and great for the transient mariner.  Just plan well in advance if you need to use the head ashore.

 Our third and last day of the trip was again spectacular (it was getting monotonous now).  Most, if not all of the fleet decided to cruise into the Inner Harbor before heading out and across to Rock Hall.  The water was like glass, there were no winds so the final day saw us all motoring back to Great River Yacht Charters.  What were our achievements as a club?  There was camaraderie, a sense of being, and producing two more qualified skippers for the club.  Congratulations go out to Larry Sherwood and Joe Brozek.

 Peace, and fair winds!