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CHESAPEAKE BAY
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CHESAPEAKE BAY
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The wind in my hair
Blows from where I have ne’er been To where I’ll ne’er go. What do you look for in a sailing trip? The October Trip has been described as the Queen of our sailing season. Why? What is it about sailing on the Chesapeake in October that stimulates sailors so? Keep reading and learn how you might be able to find out this year. St. Michaels is a lovely and quaint little town, its harbor snug and friendly. Talbot Street offers a variety of distractions for most sailors. Oxford has been the starting point for several trips for us but it has been nine years since we sailed into Oxford for an overnight stay. It can be an invigorating sail across the deepest part of the Chesapeake to enter into the Choptank River. Deale has a very nice marina with a lively bar and restaurant within walking distance. Would you rather consider your options for enjoying a quiet anchorage? Have you ever had the pleasure of the wooded shelter of Dividing Creek? Tilghman Creek and Granary Creek have tight entrances and different delights wait inside each one. South River offers several cozy creeks suitable for an overnight stay. The Severn, Chester, and Magothy Rivers have many creeks and coves cut into their shores that beg exploring. Perhaps the thing is to just shove off and ride the wind all day with no place in particular to go. You might put a lot of miles under the keel but at the end of the day not have strayed very far at all from the beginning. It is well to remember that every so often the journey is the destination! Will anyone else hear the music in the breeze and the whispers on the waves? Will you contribute your own harmonies to the virtual melodies flowing all around us? Dave and I are taking a different approach to trip planning this year. There won’t be any. Our theme for this trip is expressed in the verse that opened this article. The trip participants will democratically decide each day’s destination based on prevailing winds and the sage and trusted advice of the skippers serving with us. So where do you want to go? Someplace of which you did not get enough on the last visit? Or possibly somewhere you have never been? Perhaps a mixture of both will calm your wandering spirit. Then maybe, in the wee small hours after the raft party, your face will still be smiling even in your deep slumber. We like to think that our love of sailing and our love of the Chesapeake Bay will be infectious, spreading not only among our own crews but to everyone else on the trip as well. The sight of cat’s-paws scurrying noiselessly across the surface of that magnificent estuary never fails to start my heart racing. Sitting on the rail, the autumn sun warms my neck and shoulders against the crisp October morning. A word to the mate to set the main and soon it snaps full to a smooth foil. Just as quickly the jib unfurls and our ship puts her shoulder down and gallops down the bay. A soft gurgle and a stream of small bubbles is all we leave in our wake. We take our smiles and exhilaration with us. This is our purpose. We exist as a part of our environment. We find joy in its capabilities. We are awed by its majestic power. And we are humbled by how small we are beside its size and forces. Wherever we set our anchor this night, we will have already reached our objective. As you can tell from the heading, this is a four-day trip. You will have a say in where we go. Although you should plan on spending at least one of the three nights at anchor and at least one of the other two nights in a marina somewhere, there are no other real rules or guidelines. Much like the sailors of yore, we will go where the wind and current carry us … but hopefully not onto a shoal or into each other! We will board our boats in Rock Hall. From there we can reach as far south as Oxford or Cambridge. There are lots of interesting and seldom visited towns, creeks, and coves along the way. Join us so that you too can tell us where to go! Sign up early to guarantee a berth for yourself and maybe also for the one who keeps you warm at night. Reserve now and maybe you won’t have to get ALL that email from Rob again…unless of course you enjoy that sort of thing! However, no matter what your reason, just come along and sail with us. For us, sailing is always like the first time. Let us make it so for you too! The cost of the trip is $350.00 per person (Skippers - $195.00). This price covers charter fees, insurance and one nights slip fees. Food, fuel, and other incidental expenses are additional and will be handled by each boat's crew. A $100.00 deposit is required to hold your position. Please make your check payable to The Sailing Club, Inc. and mail it, along with your completed reservation form , to Rob Chichester, at the address below. Reservations will be processed beginning on April 9, 2004 with a random draw of those received by that date. All reservations received after that are on a first-come, first-served basis. The balance of $250.00 will be due on September 7, 2004. A pre-trip meeting will be held at a time and place to be announced.
All crewmembers should make every effort to attend in order to meet your
crewmates, plan your meals and make travel plans.
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