We started on Saturday, October 1 on Sillery Bay at the home of Bob and Elaine Leigh, with Alberg 30s Sookie, Rinn Duin, and Revolution, along with Gendarme, and Leighway at anchor or tied up. We had some rain and moderate air on Sunday to go up the Severn to Maynadier Creek, where we had the largest raft of the week with 11 boats. A30 Laughing Gull joined us for the evening.
The Lodges conducted their ATM (All Things Maryland) game night, with no less than three contests. First a quiz on Maryland State everything (dinosaurs to insects), won by Rinn Duin. Second was “Guess the Cheeseballs,” won by Waconah. Finally it was men vs. women in ATM Jeopardy, with the men victorious.
On Monday we sailed down to the West River where Intrepid joined up and we had four rafts and some enjoyed a dinner out at Pirates Cove. Gilleleje and Sookie left the fleet in the morning. Mike Menucci provided sailing instructions for the first Wild Goose Race from West River to Knapps Narrows, with most of the fleet participating. Intrepid captured line honors, but Rinn Duin won the race on corrected time. Hiraeth participated in her first race, and did very well despite having to turn around to pick up their stray dinghy. They beat Leighway on corrected time, but her crew had dropped back to give them some sail trim advice.
It was a beautiful day of broad reaching, both for the race and after the Narrows all the way to Baby Owl Cove on the Choptank. We again had a single raft and broke up the next morning for another long but terrific sail to Cambridge. Again it was reaching almost all the way, with a few tacks to turn the corner just before Cambridge.
The Davises aboard Isa Lei had arrived early and found us enough room on the bulkhead to raft all the boats out. We had our traditional Soup Night ashore at picnic tables right next to the boats. At that point we were concerned enough about Hurricane Matthew that we decided to abandon our Lay Day in Cambridge. Most of the fleet went to Tilghman Creek, though Isa Lei and Leighway went to Dunn Cove. We had our Pumpkin Night contest on a moonlit night, with Commodore Mike Meinhold taking the prize for his depiction of Hurricane Matthew.
On Friday all except Rinn Duin headed for home. The Commodore spent the night in Whitehall Bay, and then went to Blackhole Creek to pack up, clean up, and complete the cruise on Saturday evening.
Many thanks to Bill Carter and Ann Sharp for their excellent organization and planning of the cruise. Unfortunately Red Rover was still undergoing repairs, so they could not sail with us. Lanny and Chris Helms very kindly offered them the use of Windswept. Bill and Anne sailed her to Maynadier Creek and back to Blackhole Creek on Monday. They joined us by car in Cambridge to setup for Soup Night. alberg30.org
