I vastly undershot my marks this morning and had to make a couple of hauls straight up stream to get to my first buoy and then to Back Creek. It was just windy enough to make it interesting and not a lot of wave action at all.
Saw a small flock of black ducks flying by quite close to me.
Cool and moist this morning but there was a lovely sunrise and not much wind and wave.
On the way home a cruise ship (AMERICAN CONSTITUTION) was approaching from the Bay. Unfortunately I'd left my VHF on after the last row and killed the battery. She blasted her horn at me to let me know, I presume, that she was restricted in draft and did not intend to give way. Note that I was not in the channel at the time. I made an obvious course correction, shipped my oars, and watched her pass. It was very interesting to row through the wake of such a big ship. No pressure wave at all but the churning eddys from the props shoved Sophie all over the place. It was like being in the Great Falls rapids.
Uneventful row, although the wind was up and the waves high, they were far apart and rolling and not an impediment. It was nice to be out in the daylight again. Out in the anchorage there is what looks to be one of Harold Burnham's pinky schooners, but I don't know what one would be doing way down here in the Chesapeake.
On the way in, in the distance, I saw 100 to 150 birds migrating just above the water in V formation. Too far away to tell what they were though.
Just out among the marshes. Very smooth and clear and air temp around sixty.
Rowed north through the marsh. Saw crabs and Willets on the bank and was attacked by a sneaky crab pot.
I noted high current on the CBIBS buoy before I left the house, just not in what direction. I ended up much farther east than I needed to be and had to row straight upstream to find my Yellow "A" first marker in the pitch back with and glare of the David Taylor spotlights. Other than that, pleasant trip with infrequent low rollers, a few nibling fish, and scattered sleeping ducks.
I sewed on some more leather to protect the cedar gunnels from the roof rack and installed the new super fancy compass. I don't need it for the Severn but might out in the coastal bays. It's mounted on a block of marine plywood with two pegs under it that fit into holes drilled in the aft thwart.
The boat show fleet anchored off Horn Point is down to about a third of it's strength so I had a straight shot to David Taylor, except I misjudged the current and way overshot. There were plenty of herons above me and there are starting to be more rafts of ducks - or maybe it was just because it was so calm out there.
I included the CBIBS wind graph from later in the morning to show why I row so early.
Serious rowing in the dark. I had to turn off the stern facing white nav light to keep my night vision. Wind from the northwest creating a bit of a short chop. Navigating around the anchored boats in the dark I fell far short of my first buoy so I went further east than usual on the way home to try and pick up the #6 nun. Missed that too. C'est la nuit I guess.
Another day of dodging anchored Boat Show sloops and catamarans, but it wasn't so bad since I got out in the daylight today. Sadly that means I missed the heron hour and just had seagulls and cormorants overhead.