Catalina Fleet 3 members end the season together! Photo by Sally Jack
On our drive to Galesville for the Catalina Fleet 3 Labor Day event, it occurred to me that this year marks 20 years of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. In that time we’ve had three Catalina sailboats, a Catalina 30, a 36 and our current boat, a Catalina 42.
Our kids grew up on the water. We have made the 4 ½ hour drive from Pittsburgh to the Annapolis area every other weekend from April 1st to December 1st for twenty years now. Besides the miles logged on the PA Turnpike, we’ve covered the Bay from the C&D canal to Hampton Roads and we’ve been to Plymouth and Provincetown MA and back as well. We’ve made many friends along the way. Our boating friends are like our extended family and this year many in our “family” are going through big changes. Many are retiring, selling homes, buying homes and some are finally free to spend long weeks exploring places on the Bay that they never had time for when they were working.
Today is our daughter’s 23rd birthday and we had been hoping the kids could join us for the weekend on the boat in Shaw Bay for the Eastport Oyster Boys concert on the water. But our kids are now 23 and 24, so work and other commitments keep them home while Bill and I now sail as a twosome. I find myself missing the days of family sailing adventures. It’s been long enough now to fondly remember the hot, buggy nights in the southern Bay, plugging the scuppers in the cockpit of the Catalina 30 and filling it with water for the kids to play in and long hours of reading books aloud as we sailed. It was our family time; our escape. In the early years there was no cell phone coverage most places and we had no TV on board. The radio and VHF were our only links to civilization.
We joined Catalina Fleet 3 looking for other sailing families. What we found was a new extended family that we have grown up with, maybe some would say grown old with. I like to think that only our kids are older, but I know that isn’t true. As some of us have changed boats, we have all still remained in Fleet 3, where our hearts are. Our membership has dropped off these past few years, but this summer we have had excellent turn out at all of our events. Maybe it’s quality, not quantity?
Labor Day weekend was beautiful this year with lots of blue skies and sunshine even if the forecast didn’t predict it. We had rain during the night on Sunday night, but no big wind with it so we were able to stay rafted together. Plan A had been to go to the Rhode River for the fireworks, but we found out the week leading up to Labor Day weekend that there would be no more fireworks in the Rhode River. The locals that had put on the fabulous display were retiring.
Then we hatched Plan B. It was suggested that we raft in Waterhole Cove off Harris Creek and hike over to Lowes Wharf. But as the first boats arrived at the spot, there was no protection from the 15 knot southerly breeze. They went to Plan C which was to raft in Dun Cove. Plan C was not communicated as well to the ranks as Plans A and B, so some boats made the longer trip to Dun Cove via Waterhole Cove, with the last boat arriving after dark around 9:30 PM. On Sunday, the winds had eased enough that the remaining boats decided to try Waterhole Cove and the hike to Lowes Wharf Inn. It proved to be a good plan and we enjoyed some cold beverages on the sandy beach to fortify us for the hike back to our boats.
This weekend there was no need for a change of plans. The weather again proved to be amazing with blue skies and light winds. The summer humidity was gone and the feel of fall was in the air as we headed to a favorite anchorage, Shaw Bay off the Wye River. Them Eastport Oyster Boys usually have a free concert on the water there the Saturday after Labor Day every year. Each year they are in a different location, on a different raft of boats. The trick is to guess where they will set up. This year there had to be close to a hundred boats, mostly sailboats, but plenty of power boats as well. Around 4-4:30, as is the tradition, dinghies began to gather and raft together in a huge raft moored to the large mother raft with the band.
The band played for an hour or so, took a short break and then played another hour or more. It was fabulous. How lucky are we to be able to gather on the water with fellow boaters with kids and dogs and an inflatable palm tree, enjoying drinks and appetizers listening to songs about being on the Bay? Some folks actually got up and danced in their dinghies!
We have enjoyed another glorious weekend on the Bay. As we motor back across the Bay to the West River we are already thinking about our next trip, in two weeks, to Baltimore. Fall sailing on the Chesapeake is my favorite! After our Baltimore Cruise, we will finish up September with an Oktoberfest raft up with CCYC in the Rhode River. That will be followed by a week-long cruise to an as yet to be determined destination. After that it’s Boat Show time! We will be “manning” the Catalina Owner’s Booth during the Boat Show, so stop by and say hello!
Fair winds and smooth sailing!
Sally and Bill Jack
Sally J
Catalina 42 #475
