Seems like all of the neighbors in the area conspired to have their landscapers come on Thursdays. The noise of lawn mowers and leaf blowers, in symphony, is enough to make me crazy. I can get away from some of it on the water, but those waterfront properties seem to have the same landscaping teams. Ugh.
Crab Creek out to the South River an Shadow Point this morning. Humidity returns.
It's approaching the middle of June, and yet the nights and mornings are still cool and crisp. I know it won't last, so I'll enjoy every minute of it, with open-window sleeping and early mornings on the water.
I have a very tempermental index finger on my right hand. Most of the time it's fine. But sometimes, flaking the mainsail or looking at it funny will cause it to go out of joint. Which is what it did this morning after I'd gotten ready for my morning paddle. Since I'd already dragged myself out of bed and gotten dressed, I decided to chance it anyway, dislocated finger notwithstanding.
Turns out holding a paddle doesn't stress the joint, and in fact, it settled right back into position as I made my Crab Creek Crawl. Spied one of the friendly creek turtles, but he didn't stick around for a photo shoot. Don't know why I refer to the turtle as "him," but I suppose he gives off masculine energy.
Whenever our schedule allows, we try to spend the weekend cruising the Bay.
This weekend, we planned to meet our friends Patrick and Emily and raft together for dinner in Eagle Cove (Gibson Island, Magothy River). Anytime there is a W in the wind direction, docking and undocking are an adventure, and today was no exception. Thanks to the magic of a spring line, we made it out unscathed. We had plenty of breeze sailing from Spa Creek to Eagle Cove, clocking 7+ knots until the current slowed us.
Once anchored in Eagle Cove, the anchoring Olympics were on. One boat dragged halfway across the anchorage, but denied it ever happened. Later, a fellow AYC member anchored almost right on top of us. We went about our afternoon -- swimming, drinking, and dining -- but when sunset was close, we moved away from them. Far away. And it was wise to do so, because their raft dragged in the morning and would have taken us out.
The sail back was even more boisterous, with speed readings over 9 kts (current aided). Our docking system helped us look semi-competent returning back to the marina, but a little help is always welcome.
Yesterday's gunk in our little cul de sac of Crab Creek made the bottom of my 'yak as dirty as I've ever seen it. That's why I always bring a towel -- to clean her up as well as I can (except for the grafitti from last year which lingers). Today, I barely needed to wipe her down, except to get off the gunk that I missed yesterday.
The stroms yesterday cleared the air and the water, but brought a bit of breeze. Went to Church Creek today.
Summer nights with a nice breeze and not too much humidity are rare, so we took advantage and took Heron out for happyt hour cruise. Out the South River, in and around Hillsmere, and then anchored in Harness Creek. Still working out docking, especially when it's windy.
[Edited to reflect that this was the second "day" counted on the second calendar day]
On the way to the kayak landing this morning, I spied a turtle crossing the road. Its shell was decorated with jellyfish designs. Does this mean a bad jellyfish season? Can it be worse than last year's was?
Breezy today, even in the creek, with extra high tides. The breeze helped keep things cool, but made things choppy.
This morning, I decided to join Rick on his SUP trip. That meant getting up at 5:30 so as to be on the water by 6:00 a.m. I don't want to make a habit of it, but there is a beauty to the calm of the early morning on the water. Glassy calm and minimal boat traffic. We went from Crab Creek to Shadow Point.
Long ago, I learned to have compassion (and empathy) for my fellow sailors when misfortune befell them (unless they are aggressive, arrogant, or just plain douche-y -- that's when schadenfreude kicks in). It's been a few years since we've tiptoed into Crab Creek on Calypso, and even with Heron, we take care, because the entrance is tricky and shifty. Unfortunately, this guy -- with a 6-foot draft -- is stuck there on a falling tide. He managed to get in, so he'll manage to get out when the tide comes up. But in the meantime, hope his schedule isn't too tight.
Summer humidity has made its appearance today. Paddled into LIttle Aberdeen with light breeze.
June days that start crisp and continue sunny and warm without getting oppressive and humid are a rarity. We definitely took advantage.
With Skip and Harriet, we took a ride from Liberty Marina to the West River for lunch at Stan & Joe's. A quick and competent-looking docking preceded a Bay-perfect lunch of softshell crab and rockfish sandwiches.
Next stop was anchoring in our usual stop in the Rhode River, but only Rick and I partook of swimming. Our new ladder worked great. Then a meander up Harness Creek.
The wind picked up just in time for us to make a hash of docking at Liberty. It took multiple tries, help from dockmates, and only a single display of impatience.