Solomons Island 10/13-14, Tangier 10/14-15

Solomons Island 10/13-14

We left St. Michaels at around 7:00 am. It was an overcast cloudy day. I stayed down below trying to catch up on the blog. As always I was having a hard time catching up because there is always stuff to see and other things to do. Honestly that is the biggest reason I have been behind on the blog. When we are underway I love being above deck looking around, and when we get somewhere we are always going places and exploring. It was pretty chilly when we left so we were all pretty bundled up. It was a long day so we got to Solomons Island at around 3:00pm. We went to an anchorage that was pretty far down a river. It was cool going there because the river is lined with marinas and docks, so there are so many different types of boats. We even saw another Freeport Islander (thats what our boat is) which is a very rare sight here on the East Coast because they are very slow boats that do not normally cover long distances, and they are built on the West Coast. When we got to the Back Creek anchorage we did a little cleaning and then took the dinghy into the dinghy dock. We walked down a busy highway to the CVS. We got toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo because we had accidentally left ours someplace. It said on mom and dad’s phones that there was a health food store nearby but when we got there it looked like it had just closed down because we looked into the windows and it was totally empty inside. After that we decided to try to go find some ice-cream. Mom found an ice-cream place that was about a mile down the highway from where where we were and it was on the water so we took the dinghy there.

Dad and Stan getting us to Solomons Island

Stan learned his figure eight knot!!!

For our Uncle Jerry Smith, who is a shellfisherman, musician and teacher in Gloucester, MA

Dad and Stan in the dinghy in Solomons Island

Dad teaching us how to whip ropes.

Done!

Jessie and Stan playing with extra lines.

Tangiers 10/14-15

The next morning we left for a long trip back across and down the Chesapeake to Smith Island. ….well we tried to go there. It was overcast with no wind (again). We wanted to go to Smith Island but we ran aground both times we tried to go by the 2nd marker in the channel. Since the tide was going out we decided to abandon the visit to Smith Island and instead head straight to Tangiers which is another isolated island in southern Chesapeake Bay about an hour south. There was a huge Army Corps of Engineers dredging boat right outside Tangiers harbor. The channel that cut through the island was lined with crab shacks built up on stilts. There were some that looked like they were in use and some that were old and falling into the ocean. We passed right by the marina without noticing it, and had to turn around at the end of the channel - this marina was not like any other marina we have visited. I don’t think there is another marina like it anywhere! We were greeted at Parks Marina by the owner Milton Parks who showed up driving a motor scooter down the narrow docks which made mom nervous for him. Milton is so nice and funny and has been running Parks Marina for over 50 years! It was a tricky docking with the shallows, current, old pilings and right when we had our lines tied and stared to settle in another larger boat came in who needed our spot and we had to move to an even trickier spot. Milton really liked Dad. We decided to go for a walk down the main road. Tangiers was very beautiful and very unique but it also made us very sad because the island is simultaneously sinking and the sea level is rising. At moon high tide or during storms the entire island is flooded. The top soil is eroding and running into the storm drains which lead into the channel where it is then being dredged and taken away by the Army Corps of Engineers and brought to other places. The island has handmade signs tacked up on telephone poles saying things like “save our sinking island” and “god bless our disappearing island”. It was very sad.
There were a lot of friendly cats roaming the streets. The name of the church in town is Swain Memorial United Methodist Church. We have seen a bunch of places with the name “Swain” in the Chesapeake which is funny since it’s not a common name at home. After our walk we had dinner on the boat and we were visited by a nice man named Todd who talked with Dad for a long time. He invited to take Dad over to his oyster shack to have some of the oysters that he had harvested. I went with them too. He and Dad had oysters but I do not really like oysters. Dad said that they tasted very different than the oysters that we get on the Cape. That night we were visited by the cat named “Boy Cat” who lived on a nearby boat. Boy Cat came right onto our boat! Dad is a little allergic to cats so we closed the doors that go down into the salon. The doors were open just a crack and we were sitting at the table talking when we saw a paw come in and open the doors. The next morning after we made sure that Boy Cat wasn't hiding on our boat, Todd came over with his daughter Maria who grew up on their family sailboat. She is in 8th grade in Tangiers now and there are 10 kids in her class. She loves to read and said she doesn’t like sailing because her “books get wet”. She also likes old western movies. I wish I had more time to hang out with her. We left early in the morning for a long day back across and down the Chesapeake to Hampton.