Chesapeake Sailing Club

August 2010

SCUTTLEBUTT

Newsletter of the Chesapeake Sailing Club

Calendar at a Glance
    July 31 - Broad Creek, Magothy
    August 14 - Picnic 2PM
    August 23 - Start Fall Cruise
See the detailed Cruise Schedule

Vice Commodore's Report
Liz Cingel, Southern Lady

The annual picnic and business meeting will be at Belvedere Yacht Club, 419 Alameda Parkway, in Arnold on August 14 at 2 PM. We will elect a Vice Commodore and Fleet Captain for 2011/2012 and there will be a book exchange table so bring your unwanted books and take some home. The yacht club is on Forked Creek and you can anchor in the creek and dinghy into the dock. Call or email me if you are coming and let me know what side dish or dessert you will bring. Your dish should serve 8 people. Please hit "Reply All" so everyone will know what dishes are coming. We will have fried chicken and pork barbecue. Please send your reservation early because I have to order the chicken and barbecue.

There will be a picnic at Sailing Emporium on September 25 and the menu will include delicious crab cakes we have had for the past two years, corn on the cob, and tomatoes. If you don't eat crab cakes grill chicken breast will be available. Let me know if you want chicken or crab cakes when you RSVP to me. The food and atmosphere at Sailing Emporium have been outstanding so don't miss this party.

Cruise Report-

The CSC Unsailing Weekend
Glenn Whaley, Bay GyPSy

Okay, not really so remarkable. Pretty boring, though, if you're looking forward to a weekend on the water. But never mind; CSC'ers can have fun anyway. The plan was a cruise down to the West River and rendezvous at Pirates Cove Restaurant in Galesville on Saturday evening, July 17th. We did half the plan, at least: We met at the restaurant - but all 13 of us came by four-wheel schooner. There wasn't any wind anyway, so who cares whether you motor by boat or by car? (That's a rhetorical question; actually lots of folks do, since cars have air conditioning and most boats don't. And it was hot.)

The cruisers (using the term loosely) were Vice Commodore Liz and Frank Cingel, Jim and Dona Force, Frank and Judy Lyman, Fleet Captain Judi and John MacDonald, Gina Muha, Fred and Irene Weinfeld, and Glenn and Susan Whaley. We had a really fine meal at one of the more notable seafood restaurants in the area. And we also had a minor adventure, which was kind of fun and kind of not: It had to do with paying the bill. Although many might not think of paying the bill as an adventure, many would be wrong - at least in our case. As it turned out, there was some reason why writing up separate checks was a challenge that night for our server. So each bill got paid separately, one at a time, by credit card or cash, depending. And there was a valiant effort to divide up the bill by couple. But, apparently, not valiant enough. The sum didn't work, and there was an apparent shortfall of some bucks. So there was a scramble until the extra bucks happened. At which point it was discovered that the extra bucks weren't owed after all. So that was a mistake too. All of which was very confusing.

If confusing is fun, we had lots of fun. But we all left full and ready for the next cruise. As long as there is air conditioning :-)

Ashore in June?
Glenn Whaley, Bay GyPSy

Yup. Pretty sad, but there you are. It was just too hot. You can call us a bunch of softies, if you must, but you have to call us cool, comfortable softies!

After giving serious consideration to mounting a fleet assault on the West River during the weekend of June 26, we thought better of it in the face of the serious heat wave that had settled in all week. It was so hot, the wind even refused to blow. It just didn't sound like fun spending the night on a hot boat with no wind and high humidity. An air conditioned restaurant sounded like lots more fun.

The beachhead of choice was the Brio Tuscan Grille in the new Annapolis Towne Centre (I know it looks like there are a couple extra "e"s in there somewhere, but that's how they spelle things there. There were eight intrepid non-sailors in attendance: Commodore Dave and Janet Ewing, Vice Commodore Liz Cingel, John and Judi MacDonald, Gina Muha, and Glenn and Sue Whaley. We were few, but we were hungry. And we made the most of it - the Italian food was really good, well worth a return visit. Maybe someday when we run out of wind again.

And when it isn't so beastly hot!

Member's Corner-

New Waters
Dave and Lois Nance Ariel

You may remember that several years ago I wrote about a cruise Lois and I took to places we had passed on the way to New England and Maine. That trip included stops at Cuttyhunk, the Elisabeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard. Well, this year we decided to stay in the Bay and sail the Potomac River to Washington. It's a trip we had talked about for years but had been deterred by the I-495 bridge that would only open for pleasure craft between midnight and five AM. These are hours that we would rather not spend wandering around a strange river. Last year a new bridge was completed with clearance for us. So, off we went, accompanied by Mal and Ann Marie on Tieve Owna!

Rock Hall to Rhode River, 23 nm.
Wednesday was cool with high clouds but no wind. Ariel and Tieve Owna left Rock Hall for a leisurely and slow trip under power and limp sails to the Rhode River for the night. A simple sail to a quiet anchorage with great friends, beside the Smithsonian's retreat on the river.

Rhode River to Solomans, 40 nm.
For Ariel and Tieve Owna, the usual romp south on the Bay entails a stop in Solomans so we can eat at the CD Café, the last of the civilized food available until Washington.

Solomons to St Mary's City, 35 nm.
Anchorages in the southern third of the Potomac abound. We picked St. Mary's River as it had been years since we had been there and Mal and Ann Marie had never been there. The first night anchored in the horseshoe bend at St. Mary's City we were all entertained by a solo sailor that would drop anchor with about ten feet of rode and drift off downwind. After seven tries he was tired and we were tired from watching and all went to bed. During the night his anchor light drifted farther and farther away and the next morning he was sighted on the far shore. He got himself free and sailed away, probably still puzzled as to why the bottom was so bad where he wanted to anchor. Heat set in that day and the second night found Ariel plugged into the old Dennis Point Marina (now the St. Mary's Yachting Center!) and TIEVE OWNA running her generator and A/C.

St. Mary's City to Cobb Island, 29 nm.
After a brisk broad reach in southerly winds and no tacking we made Cobb Island by early afternoon. There are several anchorages in the Cobb Island area but with the hot weather and strong thunderstorms predicted with a frontal passage we chose to check in at the Pirates Den Marina. It's basic but has a bar so it qualified. In fact the island is basic. Its claim to fame is that NOAA uses Cobb Island as the line between the forecasts for the upper and lower Potomac. As I have heard of Cobb Island for years while listening to the weather, I felt we should see what it was all about. It was such that on the return trip we stopped at Colonial Beach across the river. Oh! The thunder storms did arrive as predicted.

Cobb Island to Port Tobacco River, 22nm.
With a name like that how can you pass it by. Most of the twenty miles to the river was under sail in smooth water on a close reach on a beautiful day. We anchored off the west bank of the river, across from the usual anchorage off Chapel Point as the northwesterly winds from the passing front were still moderate. After setting the anchor Lois pointed out that the farmer on shore had a wind sock at the end of his long drive that we could use as an anchor range point. As I looked at it I realized it was a wind sock for his runway, not his driveway, and it ended right dead center of our anchored boat. Every noise that night sounded like an airplane landing or taking off. Note for next time: Anchor farther north up river.

Port Tobacco River to Mattawoman Creek, 17 nm.
Once again, with a name like that, we have to stop. The river above Port Tobacco River begins to twist and turn and is narrow. Even with this we were able to motor sail the short 17 miles to Mattawoman Creek. The river current begins to be a force and can be over 1.5 knots in places. I had planned on a one knot decrease in speed over ground as an average for a days run and that proved to be reliable. The Mattawoman Creek anchorage is snug and pretty with lots of fishermen running back and forth. At this point we are in the suburbs of Washington and close to the Quantico Marine Base. All I have to say about this anchorage is that we now have another anchoring story to entertain everyone next winter, so watch for it. I don't understand how Tieve Owna can be in the same anchorage at the same time as us and not have the same adventures and stories to tell!

Mattawoman Creek to Washington, 27 nm.
The river is narrow now with lots of turns and very shallow around the edges so it's all motoring. Mt. Vernon is beautiful but looks smaller from the water. As soon as you make the turn above Mt. Vernon the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument are in view. What a sight from a boat and still ten more miles to go against the current. To me, this sight is just as moving as entering New York Harbor and sighting the Statue of Liberty. After passing under the new I-495 bridge and past old town Alexandria it's straight into the Washington Channel and the Gangplank Marina. Now for two weeks of sightseeing.

In summary: As you see, we planned short mileage days as there was no hurry to meet a schedule. Days could have been saved with longer legs. In fact, our return was in five days and Tieve Owna got back in three days thanks to the big boost by the river current. Anchorages above Cobb Island are minimal. The ones we used (Port Tobacco and Mattawoman) were recommended by sailors that cruise out of Cobb Island and Quantico. I "met" them through the web at sailboatowners.com. That is a good place for sailing info anywhere in the US.

Just a note about the Gangplank Marina. Visiting Washington by boat is great. The marina is one block from a "Circulator" bus route and three blocks from the Waterside Metro station and a new Safeway market for provisions. It's a cheap hotel close to the Mall. The marina is huge, over three blocks long, and does have its downsides. We were two blocks to the showers and head, it's on the helicopter flight path to the White House and to the Pentagon (yes we did see the President fly over once). It's across the river from National Airport with the loudest airplanes around. The positives though - we saw the Presidents helicopters, we saw a B-2 stealth bomber fly over very low, and we met some great people at the marina. In fact, the "liveaboards" and boat owners at the Gangplank were the friendliest people we have ever met at a marina, bar none! One of the "liveaboards" gave us all passes to the Senate and House galleries with instructions about how to circumvent the huge visitor lines. That "made" the trip.

We have now checked off two items on the bucket list. Visiting the great city of Washington at leisure and sailing the Potomac River.

Hope you all can do it sometime.

Webmaster and Acting Editor
Frank Cingel

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