Crisfield, MD to Solomons, MD

Date            May 22, 2012                            
Day             329
Departure    Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD  6:45 am
Arrival         Spring Cove Marina, Solomons, MD 12:05 pm
Miles                46.5     
Cumulative   5338.8

Up at the crack of dawn again, what a beautiful sunrise!

Left Somers Cove Marina with Marc's Ark leading and Jims' Joy, Native Son and Erika Lin following.  The Chesapeake Bay was fabulous. No waves, just a small ripple.  The sky was ominous in front and behind us, but bad weather did not materialize.

Arrived at Spring Cove, took on some fuel and got our slip assignment.  Shortly after arrival, Craig, from Brown Eyed Girl came down the dock, they had just arrived at Spring Cove also.  An evening get-together was being planned at a local restaurant for Loopers that were in the area.  Seems that there may be about 20 of us at two of the local marinas and we all met for dinner.

Onward to Crisfield, MD

Date            May 21, 2012                            
Day             328
Departure    Onancock Wharf and Marina, Onancock, VA  7:30 am
Arrival         Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD  10:45 am
 Miles                26.6     
Cumulative   5292.3

We arose early to find fog!!  We waited a bit and it began to lift so we cast off our lines and were underway at 7:30 am along with Sea Biscuit, Marc's Ark, Jim's Joy and Native Son.

Sea Biscuit and Native Son

Jim's Joy and Marc's Ark

Our destination for tonight is to be Crisfield, MD.  However, the fog had lifted, and Sea Biscuit decided to continue on to Solomon Island.

We say good-bye for now to Sea Biscuit

Entering Crisfield Harbor. 

 Crisfield is the self-proclaimed world's "Crab Capital" and crabs can be seen everywhere!

On the restaurants,

On the street signs,

On the water tower,

And of course, in the restaurants.  This is Marc (Marc's Ark) about to enjoy his crabs!

Again, the close to a wonderful day is saluted with the blowing of the conch shells.

Marc (Marc's Ark) and Rich (Native Son)

The sun setting over Somers Cove Marina

Staying Put in Onancock, Again!!

Date            May 20, 2012                            
Day             327
Departure    No travel today
Arrival         Onancock Wharf and Marina, Onancock, VA
 Miles                 0.0     
Cumulative   5265.7

Again, the weather was not cooperating (5 days and counting!).  Today it was somewhat windy, with rain off and on.  I guess it was not too bad if you were a kayaker because a large group of about 25 kayakers came and launched their kayaks in the river right next to where we were docked.

Later in the afternoon we all decided we were getting cabin fever and took a walk up to the Blarney Stone Pub for a brew.  Not to be!  Being Sunday, most of the restaurants and bars were closed, this one included.  Fortunately, though, the restaurant right at the marina, Mallard's, was open and happy to serve us!  Adjacent to the restaurant was the kayak rental shop.  The owner had made clam chowder for the kayakers and had quite a bit left over.  She offered it to us and of course, we didn't turn it down!  Yum, it was made with locally harvested Onancock clams.  Tomorrow looks like we may be able to head out, so it will be up at the crack of dawn!

Staying Put in Onancock

Date            May 19, 2012                            
Day             326
Departure    No travel today
Arrival         Onancock Wharf and Marina, Onancock, VA
 Miles                 0.0     
Cumulative   5265.7

Well, the weather is beautiful, but not for traveling in a boat!  We were up at 5 am to check on the weather conditions and found the reports to be winds of 15-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph and waves to 4 feet.  We all (that would be Loopers Marc's Ark, Jim's Joy, Native Son, Sea Biscuit and Erika Lin) decided to stay put another day.  After all, the town was having the season's opening farmer's market and town wide tag sale, we didn't want to miss that!  Later in the morning, the harbormaster stopped by and confirmed our choice to stay.  He said that a yacht club had been planning on coming to the marina for the weekend and had cancelled because the winds on the Bay were "blowing a gale"!  Thankfully had we stayed!

After the farmer's market, we took a short walk through the residential part of the town.  Here are some of the sights

 

It's time to do laundry and the marina does not have any machines on site.  Lynda asked the dock master if there was a way to get to the laundromat that was about 2 miles away.  The dock master offered his own vehicle!  This is the kind of generosity that is found over and over again on this trip.  People are most kind and generous.  Now with the laundry all done, it's just about time for the second race of the Triple Crown to run, the Preakness.  All us Loopers gathered on "Jim's Joy" and watched "I'll Have Another" win the second leg.  How exciting!  Joy provided her special drink "Joy Juice" and it was enjoyed by all.  As the sun was setting, two conch shells were produced and some folks took there turn and saluting the setting sun.

Jim - "Jim's Joy"

Mary Kay - "Native Son"

Rich - "Native Son"

Marc - "Marc's Ark"

And we have saluted the end to another beautiful day, even though we had to remain in port!

A Visit to Tangier Island

Date            May 17-18, 2012                            
Day             324-325
Departure    No travel today
Arrival         Onancock Wharf and Marina, Onancock, VA
 Miles                 0.0     
Cumulative   5265.7

Today we took a ferry ride to Tangier Island.  The ferry dock is just 5 slips down from where we are docked, so it was an easy walk to meet the ferry for the 10 am departure.

We traveled 5 miles down the channel to Tangier Sound and then another 10 miles to the island.  The island encompasses less than two square miles.

Tangier Island (courtesy Wikipedia)

Prior to the arrival of the European colonists to Tangier, it was a summer retreat for the Pocomoke Indians for centuries. Although not much is known about these people, their existence is evidenced by the thousands of stone arrowheads that have been found all over the island.  Almost any morning after gale force winds have been blowing all night, new arrowheads can be found on the beach, uncovered by the blowing away of sand.  The first known European explorer of the island was John Smith.  He named Tangier and the surrounding islands the "Russel Isles" after the doctor on board his ship.   Today many of the inhabitants still have the surname Crockett.  Pruitt, Thomas, Marshall, Charnock, Dise, Shores, and Parks are other common surnames on the island.

By 1900 there were 1064 inhabitants.  The population was 727 at the 2010 census.  The most unusual attraction on Tangier island is hearing the unusual and old accent of the watermen. Because of the centuries of isolation, the islanders still speak in a unique island way that is similar to the speech spoken when Tangier was settled in 1686. It is still strong enough that some people will not be able to understand everything that is said.  Two bed and breakfast inns can accommodate a limited number of overnight guests. There are several restaurants and gift shops for the tourist-trade.

Lunch with Jim and Joy (Jim's Joy), Michelle and Marc (Marc's Ark), Mary Kay and Rich (Native Son) and Bob

Some of the residents outfit golf carts with passenger trailers to sell "historical tours" of the island. The roads on Tangier are only wide enough for two golf carts to pass each other.

Michelle, our tour guide (yellow shirt) and Bob in our golf cart

Few cars are present on the island because they are not able to get over the small wooden bridges. Tourists and islanders all get around on golf carts, boats, mopeds, and bikes.

The main street of Tangier Island

Tangier Island water tower

 We toured the historical museum and walked around the island again.  It was an enjoyable day and I would recommend a stop on this unique island if you have the time.

An interesting trash can

The island is also populated by many cats!

May 18, 2012
Due to the weather, we ended up staying another day in Onancock.  Will see what tomorrow brings;  hopefully we can move on to Crisfield, MD.

Deltaville, VA to Onancock, VA

Date            May 16, 2012                            
Day             323
Departure    Dozier's Regatta Point, Deltaville, VA  7:00 am
Arrival         Onancock Wharf and Marina, Onancock, VA 11:00 am
Miles                33.9     
Cumulative   5265.7

Left Deltaville with three other Loopers, Marc's Ark, Native Son and Jim's Joy.  Travel was just a little beamy, which caused us to rock from side to side a small amount.  Not too uncomfortable of a ride.  On the way up the channel, we came across some local watermen.  These men work extremely hard setting and retrieving crab traps.

When we arrived, we found another Looper at the dock, but they had gone on the ferry to Tangier Island for the day, something we plan to do tomorrow.  We had lunch, then took a walk into the town.  Bob stopped into a hair salon and got a much needed haircut, we visited the local gift shops and then stopped for a beer in the Blarney Stone Pub, the local Irish pub.

General store, that also sells ice cream.  Unfortunately, they were closed today!

A beautiful entrance to one of the homes

Mallard's Restaurant, where we had lunch.  Located right at the marina

Jackets II, a beautiful Krogen Express.  The other Looper that was already here when we arrived.

A purple martin condo!

Enjoying the early afternoon on Jackets II

Again, I couldn't decide which picture to choose, so here are two beautiful sunset photos.