| We have a resident Osprey at Swan Creek Marina. In these photos he is enjoying his
lunch in a tree at the water's edge only yards from the docks, the bath house and the
marina office. In the spring these guys can be real pests when they are trying to find a
nesting site and are testing the boats out on the moorings for their next domicile. Their
droppings are large, dry to cement-like hardness and have a wide variety of indigestible
fish parts and entrails in them. But they sure are beautiful; the birds, not the poop. |
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| Below are a few scenes from a weekend cruise in fall 2011. I was also out
to sail in the fall for daysails. One day the wind was piping up to 35 knots apparent.
That wasn't an easy day. Inter alia, the genoa sheet got away from me and smoked the skin
off a couple of fingers and flogged the sail something awful. |
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 In these
two views of Andante she is sailing under her old rig. In 2012 the old mast was
taken out because it was cracked in several places in the bottom seven feet. The new
rig is a conventional flaking main with full battens. In addition the boat is now
cutter rigged with a solent inner forestay. From a design, heavy weather sailing,
and stregth standpoint this is better than the original factory design.The Rock Hall
rigger that has done the work is Mike Sipala. |
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The faux lighthouse is on a little island behind Dobbins Island on the Magothy River.
This is a popular destination for upper Bay sailors. |
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| The above pair of photos are of Ellsworth, a traditional Chesapeake Bay
work boat. She now resides in Chestertown and is now used for charters and as an
ecology camp and classroom for school kids. |
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| The schooner in the above photos is a replica of the 1768 British revenue
cutter Sultana that spent part of her life on Chesapeake Bay. This replica resides
in Chestertown, MD and is that town's very own tall ship. It had been quite a few
years since I was last on the Chestertown waterfront. On a visit to town for parts and to
visit Jane Hellawell I was skunked on both counts so went down to the waterfront where I
discovered, much to my pleasure, the Sultana and the Ellsworth. |
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This set of three pictures are of another Bay workboat. This is the restored
Sigsbee. It also is now used as a summer camp and classroom for school kids to teach
ecology. I was away from Swan Creek Marina for a day to go visit Diana and found the
Sigsbee tied up at my dock when I got home at the end of the day. |
| Prepare yourself for a rare Chesapeake scenic treat. Early in the
season Lee and Jayme on Breathless made great sport when they saw me wearing socks with my
sandles. Three months later they are still savoring the moment. In my defense
my feet have seldom seen the light of day since I was a lifeguard too many years ago to
recall so I needed to build up to exosing them to the sun. Three months later, and
no intervening sunburn, you can see my lovely sandal tan line. |
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| An annual event in Rock Hall is the Pirates and Wenches Fanatasy Weekend.
I have had the good fortune of being in town for two of these affairs. After
the 4th of July festivities this is probably the biggest tourist weekend in the thriving
metropolis of Rock Hall. The festivities include musical ensembles from rock to
folk, an obligatory parade, a dinghy sailing contest in which the boats and the crew are
in costume. To help the throngs to plan their weekend the town publishes an activity
guide with a time table and a map. This year the action started on Friday with an
audience participation round of sea shanty singing. Photos are shown below.
Keep in mind that 50% of the people in town for this are dressed in costume, although I
show only a couple of examples. |
Cover to the visitors' guide |
 Program of events |
The songbook for Friday evening had about 45 songs in it. |
 Don't get lost traveling from one venue to another.
The town also had a sort of jitney service to drag the crowds around to the different
event locations, waterfront and marinas. |
I never counted, but there were at least half a dozen
different music ensembles performing at different times and locations throughout the
weekend. In addition there were a few street performance troupes: magic, acrobatics
and the like. |
The parade at the end of the day on Sunday was a little
desultory. A lot of the crowd had left and many of the pirates had also gone home. |
One of the many street vendors. I am sure that with
the change in the season this guy becomes Santa Claus. |
Captain Jack Sparrow and Jack, jr. Those in pirate
costume spanned the generations. One couple had their baby's wagon decorated as a
pirate ship; sorry, no photo. |
Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race
37 boats entered (35 pictured below) ranging in size from 20
to 125 feet. To go to the home page for the GCBSR click here. |
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| Fredi
Kronenberg is an amateur photographer par excellence. Below are some of
her photos. The osprey at the top of the picture are hers also. |
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| At the Start Line of the 2014 Great Chesapeake Schooner Race |
Chestertown's own "Sultana", an 18th century revenue cutter |
"Mystic Whaler" out of Connecticut |
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| Some
scenes from the winter of 2015 in Rock Hall. This was a hard winter.
Swan Creek and Rock Hall harbor were frozen over. The Bay was
also ice filled and an ice breaker was necessary to free a tug and
barge. |
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 | This deadrise buy-boat turned up at a nearby marina in spring 2015 to get a make-over. |