Wandering in the Chesapeake

After our adventurous stay at Onancock with Matthew and Clara, the six of us made the long haul (55 miles with no wind) up to the Potomac. We were able to dock at Camp Fleury and enjoy a few days ashore, crabbing, swimming, and meeting people. The boys managed to catch over thirty crabs in the crab traps, and George showed us how to steam them and then crack and eat them.





Then our wandering cruise started when we left Breton Bay with two other sailboats – Eagle’s Wings and Bravura. Our first stop was St. Mary’s, where Hart-a-Lee also joined for the night. Many of us went ashore that evening for the concert given on the lawn at St. Mary’s College.

From St. Mary’s we had to motor south past Point Lookout, but were then able to raise the spinnaker and sail up to the Patuxent River and Solomons Island. Unlike in the fall when it was rainy and 40 degrees, this time it was hot and humid, so we rigged our boom overboard and people came over and jumped off with us. We hosted cocktail time this night. (I refrain from calling it cocktail hour because it tended to last much longer than that.) We stayed at Solomons the next day, went to church in the morning, and then paid a visit to the Calvert Marine Museum.



After our second night in Solomons we ventured up to the Choptank River where we found a little cove off of Broad Creek. (Our charts showed its name as Baby Owl Cove, but Builder Fleury seemed to have another name for it.) As Ohana pulled into the cove and set anchor, there was one other boat who had up until that point the peaceful cove all to themselves. We had just finished setting up our sun shade when Bravura arrived and rafted up with us. Eagle’s Wings pulled in and secured to the other side of us, and finally Reel Sweet (Builder Fleury’s motor boat) tied on to Eagle’s Wings. The kids managed a dinner of pasta as the adult cocktail hour stretched from 6 until midnight.



The next day we hopped over to San Domingo Creek and dinghied into St. Michaels through the “back door.” There we explored the shops, had a great lunch, and cooled off with ice cream treats. That evening, back aboard the boats, we were treated to an amazing lightning show.

To escape the heat Ohana chose to indulge in some dock time when we got to Oxford. After plugging in and getting the AC running, we were picked up by Reel Sweet and enjoyed an afternoon exploration of the upper reaches of the Tred Avon. That night we all slept comfortably having freshly showered and settled down without sticking to the sheets.

From the Choptank we headed back to Solomons and the next day said our goodbyes before making our way south towards Deltaville. Joining the Wanderers with all their joy and humor made this tour quite the experience and furthered our understanding of all the treasures to be found here.