“Cruise North” June
1-9, 2013
The 2013 Cruise North
started SOUTH of the Bay Bridge but north of Drum Point on the Wye
River! Eight boats gathered on Saturday, June 1st in the
lee of Wye Island for an evening of feasting and fables. There were
two rafts of three boats and two singletons. Raft #1: Resolve,
Mike Vaccaro and Debbie Smith; Brunelle, Dan
and Martha Bliss; Escapade,
Jon and Marilyn Van Tassell. Raft#2: Andiamo,
John and Betty McElderry; Prego, Mike
and Marie Yates; Bay Wind,
George and Lisa Thuman. Ragtime,
Gerry and Jeanne Helldorfer, and Valinor, Jim
Mosher anchored by themselves.
Everyone
gathered on Brunelle
for a feast of heavy hors d'oeuvres and eventually spread across the
three rafted boats as serious discussions developed. The weather was
delightful in spite of earlier forecasts to the contrary.
Drum Point Raft-up, June 1st
Belle, John and Betty's dog, shows Dory, Dan and Martha's new crewmate, what a beach is for.
Bay
Wind and Escapade
were planning to leave late
morning and opted not to go on a dinghy exploration adventure.
Andiamo also had to
head home but opted to join the dinghies from Brunelle
and Resolve in a
trip to Wye Landing. Marie and Mike Yates joined us too. Mike and
Debbie turned around at the bridge that crosses over to Wye
Island(their 6 horse couldn't keep up) and the other two dinghies
continued on to give the two dogs a chance to run at Wye Landing.
The dinghies didn't get back until 10:30 and found Bay Wind
and Escapade
ready to leave. Weather and the tide had George a bit worried.
Andiamo joined
them---leaving before Bloody Mary's on Brunelle. The remaining 5
boats relaxed and watched the storms brewing to the west, wondering
if they would it while we all were aboard Ragtime
for a sumptuous feast prepared by Jeanne. Sure enough the storm blew
in 10 minutes before dinner, but with 4 guys working, they put
Ragtime's enclosure on
in record time and the diners stayed dry! All was quiet and clear
when we headed back to our own boats (no rafting tonight.)
Monday
meant Ragtime had to
leave us---grandchild's
graduation. The four remaining boats headed out the Wye River and
into the Miles River. We didn't have enough wind to sail, so we
motored past St. Michael's and around the bend in the river to anchor
in Hunting Creek. The weather reports were benign so all four,
Brunelle, Resolve, Prego and
Valinor rafted.
Tonight was Marie's turn to cook. (We realized there would be four
nights at anchor and four boats along for all or part of the week, so
we assigned each boat one dinner, Valinor
had the assignment to provide desserts. Everyone agreed it was a
great plan---and very easy on the cooks!) It goes without saying
that Marie's dinner was fabulous... and so were Jim's desserts!
Hunting Creek, off the Miles River was a lovely quiet anchorage.
We
had arranged to take two slips at the CBMM in St. Michael's because
we wanted to attend the free concert given by the Naval Academy's
Commandant's Quartet. We had heavy snacks aboard Brunelle
before taking our lawn chairs and cushions to join the crowd on the
Museum lawn for the jazz concert. The St. Michael's Fire Department
was selling food and Rosie's bar supplied drinks. It was a beautiful
evening and we all enjoyed the music. Valinor
was up and gone before 6 am the next morning.
Clockwise from the top: Mike, Marie, Jim,
Mike, Debbie, Martha(w/ Dory) and Dan.; Dory was the belle of the
ball, two anchored out, two dockside, Dan's shot from the top of the
lighthouse
and the Quartet in the center.
Our
longest day was Wednesday. As we headed across the bay in a flat
calm, we realized we couldn't keep up with Resolve
and Prego. We
stopped mid-bay and Dan dove down to check the prop. It was covered
with “bumpy stuff” which he proceeded to scrape off in successive
dives. After about twenty minutes, we were up and running again,
making 2 more knots than before! We all missed our old hangout for
the Icebreaker, so we anchored in Harness Creek for the night. Prego
called ou Commodoress and
invited Diane and Richard out for cocktails. It was great to catch
up with them. Debbie's turn to cook tonight and she wasn't to be outdone by the previous dinners, so we had another delicious meal.
Resolve hosted everyone in Harness Creek. Girls chatted: Martha, Diane, Debbie & Marie, while the guys BSed: Mike Y., Richard, Mike V. and Dan
FINALLY
on Thursday, we got a chance to sail. We knew the weather was
forecast to turn ugly late in the day and tropical storm“Andrea”
was going to bring even worse stuff on Friday, so we headed for
Brunelle's home
marina, Lippincott. Dan arranged for Resolve and
Prego to have a slip and
Brunelle slipped into
her own slip. The original plan had been to be up the Chester at
Lankford Bay Marina with a chance for dinner ashore, but instead we
headed to one of Grasonville's best---The Jetty
for our dinner ashore.
Friday
was as predicted---rain, rain and more rain, accompanied by wind.
The girls headed to the Queenstown Outlet Mall while the guys
regrouped and relaxed. The girls returned in time to let the guys
hit West Marine for their “fix”. Dinner was aboard Brunelle,
and not bad if I do say so myself.
Weather
forecasts were lousy for Saturday, but CCYC sailors are not to be
discouraged and several still planned to join the end of our
adventure in Shaw Bay: Raft #1: Brunelle, Dan
& Martha Bliss; Rhiannon,
Al & Vicky Lohman; Resolve,
Mike Vaccaro & Debbie Smith; Raft#2: Prego, Mike
& Marie Yates; Sea Cara, Mario
Taisch & Lori Burkhart; Refuse,
Lewis & Cindy Diana.
Andiamo, John
and Betty McElderry and Southern Pilot,
Ed & Connie Dooley anchored by themselves.
Luckily
the weathermen were wrong and it was a beautiful evening. We
gathered aboard Brunelle
again for more luscious fare. All in all a great week on the Bay.
We called this the Italian Raft: Prego, Sea Cara and Refuge.
Martha blew her conch horn as the sun set on a wonderful week on the Bay.
~~~_/)~~~Martha & Dan and CCYC
