Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

Bob had intended to see if he could force water through the vent of
the aft head, but we were tied starboard side to the pier and it is on
the port side and he couldn't reach it. It seems to be working better
now anyway.

Somer's Cove Marina, which was almost completely empty when we got
there on Thursday morning, was about half full by Thursday night. The
marina people are extremely efficient and there is plenty of water in
there.

The rates were $1.50/foot for Sun-Thurs, $1.75/ft for Fri-Sat, and
$2.00/ft for holidays

Friday

Again Bob was up and about early - impatient to be off. He poured a
glass of cranberry juice for me and left it in the cockpit.

He told me to hold the spring line to the piling while he took the
rest of the lines off, and after he got back aboard (unlike
in Tangier), this time, I managed to pull the line off the piling
without having it get caught. We were motoring out by 7:40.

I knew he would want me to come back and steer so he could stow the
lines and fenders, but I wanted to take pictures as we left, so I sat
on the deck and ignored him for the 10+ minutes it took to motor out
of the harbor as far as the Janes Island light. As we passed the
condo, I looked up and saw an old lady in her nightgown at the window.
I was chicken to take her picture but I wanted to.

The people using the computer last night asked if we were going to
take the shortcut to Pocomoke Sound through Broad Creek, but we were
not, as I think it is too shallow for us and I don't think it would
save us any time - especially if we ran aground.

I had the radio on and mostly what was on it was Somers Cove Marina. I
heard one exchange that went like this

Boater - This is (indecipherable name) and I have a reservation for
tonight
SCM - Capn could you repeat the name of your vessel and what is your
location?
Boater - I just bought this boat and haven't put a name on it yet and
I don't know where the hell I am.

We passed the Tangier Island light about 10 (again too far away for a
good picture). The wind was from almost directly behind us and was
fairly light at about 8 knots. Bob tried with the jib and main and
for awhile the boat was even heeling, but eventually he pulled in the
jib because of the danger of jibeing.

We passed Tangier light a little too far away for a good
picture. Bob wanted me to take over the wheel so that he could pull
in the main. When we got to the entrance to the Onancock River
(pronounced Oh NAN cock), I started calling the harbormaster on the
phone and on the radio. There was no answer. We motored all the way
in (It is a very pretty little river.) and still there was no answer.
It was about 12:30. The trip was 25.3 miles and took us about 4.5
hours.

The harbormaster doesn't answer the radio (or at least I never saw him
do so) and he only answers the phone if he happens to be in the office
when you call.

Without any specific directions, we started into a slip. The people
on the next boat (TANGLE) helped us tie up, but it would be impossible
for me to get off the boat as the finger pier was short and just
barely above the water at high tide. And even if I could get off, I'd
never be able to get back on.

The dockmaster (who is a substitute retired guy with a dark lens on
one eye of his glasses who apparently only works from7:30-12 and
1-4:30) got back from lunch and surveyed the situation and allowed
as how he could put us on the face dock right outside the bathrooms.
So we moved the boat over there being careful to keep the bow and
the anchors on it back from the boat ramp. Starboard side to again.

We walked over and had lunch at Mallards which is in the old Hopkins &
Bro. store.. I had the chicken salad sandwich and Bob had the same
except without the sandwich part. .

The dockmaster said there was no internet except maybe at the library
(which we found out was 4 miles out of town). We are across from
Bagwell fuel docks. They had three large and one half size tank, a
loading rack and a large and medium size horizontal tank all nicely
painted dark green with yellow accents. As we watched they were
washing one of the trucks. The dockmaster will go over there to let
you get fuel if they aren't there.

The people yesterday in Crisfield had told me about a place to eat
called Shuckers where they would come and get you in a bus. But it
was too new a place to be in the phone book, and the dockmaster
couldn't find their phone number. So I was forced to call information
for the number. Information first asked if the name started with an F
or and S, and then she asked it if wasn't Shockers.

I went and edited photos and wrote up emails. I also took a shower.
In the meantime, several sailboats came in and a 50 foot boat called
SEA BEAR from Florida tied up on the other side of the boat ramp.
After the dockmaster left, a trawler from Solomons came in - they had
two dogs and a bird on board. They said they had 3-4 foot waves and
wind about 25 knots coming over. Probably due to tide coming up the
Bay in opposition to the wind blowing down the bay.

The folks at Mallards were loading all kinds of food on the Capt.
Eulice which is the Tangier ferry - it was a wedding reception, and
they also had two private parties over there - which is one reason why
we were going to Shuckers for dinner.

Bob went out to wait about 5 for a pickup that was to be between 5:30
and 5:45. I looked up at the sky and said it looked kind of cloudy,
but he ignored the hint, which I admit was very gentle. The weather
report said 20% chance of rain. It hasn't rained much all summer.

The Shuckers van came driven by the manager because the guy that
drives it wasn't there yet. As we pulled up to the restaurant, it
started to rain. It rained buckets, and we had left the hatches open.
But we couldn't get back to the boat to fix it, so we went on and had
dinner.

Inside there were billiard tables and a large extensive bar which had
sections in several rooms. They told us to go into the other room
which was where the band (from Philadelphia) would be playing later.
After we were seated, two couples of 'old people' came in and also a
large family group with the grandmother on oxygen. That made us feel
better as everyone had emphasized that Shuckers was 'a redneck bar'
(and emphasized that there was excellent security) and I'm not sure I
know what they meant by that.

Bob had the prime rib special with mashed potatoes and green beans
which he said was excellent although he could not eat even half of
it. I had the fried fish basket (also a special) with onion rings,
and I couldn't eat all of that either. We shared a home-made apple
dumpling for dessert which was scrumptious. Much better, really, than
my mother's apple dumplings. Moist flaky delicious crust and the
apple inside had no spiky pieces of the core in it.

It was still pouring down rain when we were ready to leave, but
stopped when we reached the marina. Everything on the boat was
soaking wet. One hatch over Bob's bunk had soaked the foot of his
bedding through, although it all dried out Saturday. Everything in
the cockpit was also soaked and the bimini was draining down onto the
computer box with the computer in it. The TV and DirectTV controller
which were next to the hatch over Bob's bunk were OK.

Saturday September 1

Today we weren't going anywhere, so after we cleaned up the boat, we
started out to walk up into town. The bench beside the dockmaster's
office which faces the launch ramp is full of old men who sit there
and kibitz people putting their boats into the water.

It's a nice little town with old Victorian homes lining the main
street at least one old time general store (House of Deals - Trust
Worthy Hardware) which sold a little bit of everything. Bob said they
had steamer clams (manoes) in there and there were vegetables, fruit
and flowers displayed out front.

We passed a plaque which said that here used to be the home of Francis
Makemie, who established organized Presbyterianism in America. We saw
a sign about the Scott Hill Cemetery, but I'm not sure where the
actual cemetery was. Across the street was the Cokesbury Methodist
Church (1850) which was a historic landmark and right after that a
marker commemorating General Edmund R. Bagwell. Across the street
from that was the Robert Lee Custis Memorial Garden.

I gather that next weekend is the Onancock Harborfest which includes
an arm wrestling championship, horseshoe tournament, rock climbing,
kayak race, a rubber duck race, bands, a raffle and an auction. The
hotel in town said they had a wireless internet for their guests.

It was almost 11:00, so we stopped for lunch at Bizzottos, which was a
combination art gallery (jewelry, pots etc.) and restaurant. Bob had
a tuna salad plate which included a big heap of tuna, slices of yellow
tomatoes, five large black olives, some canned peaches, thin slices of
apple and two of those yellow-green hot peppers (whole). I had a
pastrami wrap which had the yellow tomatoes in it, and one of those
corkscrew macaroni salads.

While we were eating a man and woman with a dog parked out front,
leaving the dog in the car, and were rearranging the jewelry display.
They provided us with our amusement while we ate. As we walked back
to the boat, Bob pointed out to me that the drug store had a snap hook
on the window frame which was labeled "Dog Tie"

I went into the harbormaster's office to use his phone for the
internet, but it was too late in the day for me to do much. He was
anxious to be off. After he left a bunch of boats came in and we
told them just to go into whatever slip they wanted.

We were going to walk over to Mallards for dinner - I had noticed that
the desserts looked good. Bob started getting antsy about it saying
that people were standing in line at about 5:30. They weren't.
Steamers were on the menu, but we didn't know what kind. They called
them 'middlenecks'. So I ordered some to see. They were little
squashed oval clamshells about the size of my thumb to the joint with
tiny thumbnail sized clams in them, not the manoes that we really
like. They came with some bread rusks and were tasty..

Bob had a plain crabcake for dinner, but he forgot to tell them
broiled and so of course he got it fried. With it was a little
plastic cup of bean salad. I got a lobster roll, which was drippy to
eat, with the same little cup of salad and a bag of those organic
potato chips. We both had Smith Island blueberry cake for dessert. It
was very dense cake and sweet.

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
Bob had intended to see if he could force water through the vent of
the aft head, but we were tied starboard side to the pier and it is on
the port side and he couldn't reach it. It seems to be working better
now anyway.

Somer's Cove Marina, which was almost completely empty when we got
there on Thursday morning, was about half full by Thursday night. The
marina people are extremely efficient and there is plenty of water in
there.

The rates were $1.50/foot for Sun-Thurs, $1.75/ft for Fri-Sat, and
$2.00/ft for holidays

Correct me if I am wrong:
I take it that this rate applies to the length of the boat. A 40 foot
sailboat would pay $80.00 USD per night.
So a three day Holiday week end would cost $240. plus applicable taxes.
Friday

Again Bob was up and about early - impatient to be off. He poured a
glass of cranberry juice for me and left it in the cockpit.

He told me to hold the spring line to the piling while he took the
rest of the lines off, and after he got back aboard (unlike
in Tangier), this time, I managed to pull the line off the piling
without having it get caught. We were motoring out by 7:40.

I knew he would want me to come back and steer so he could stow the
lines and fenders, but I wanted to take pictures as we left, so I sat
on the deck and ignored him for the 10+ minutes it took to motor out
of the harbor as far as the Janes Island light. As we passed the
condo, I looked up and saw an old lady in her nightgown at the window.
I was chicken to take her picture but I wanted to.

The people using the computer last night asked if we were going to
take the shortcut to Pocomoke Sound through Broad Creek, but we were
not, as I think it is too shallow for us and I don't think it would
save us any time - especially if we ran aground.

I had the radio on and mostly what was on it was Somers Cove Marina. I
heard one exchange that went like this

Boater - This is (indecipherable name) and I have a reservation for
tonight
SCM - Capn could you repeat the name of your vessel and what is your
location?
Boater - I just bought this boat and haven't put a name on it yet and
I don't know where the hell I am.

We passed the Tangier Island light about 10 (again too far away for a
good picture). The wind was from almost directly behind us and was
fairly light at about 8 knots. Bob tried with the jib and main and
for awhile the boat was even heeling, but eventually he pulled in the
jib because of the danger of jibeing.

We passed Tangier light a little too far away for a good
picture. Bob wanted me to take over the wheel so that he could pull
in the main. When we got to the entrance to the Onancock River
(pronounced Oh NAN cock), I started calling the harbormaster on the
phone and on the radio. There was no answer. We motored all the way
in (It is a very pretty little river.) and still there was no answer.
It was about 12:30. The trip was 25.3 miles and took us about 4.5
hours.

The harbormaster doesn't answer the radio (or at least I never saw him
do so) and he only answers the phone if he happens to be in the office
when you call.

Without any specific directions, we started into a slip. The people
on the next boat (TANGLE) helped us tie up, but it would be impossible
for me to get off the boat as the finger pier was short and just
barely above the water at high tide. And even if I could get off, I'd
never be able to get back on.

The dockmaster (who is a substitute retired guy with a dark lens on
one eye of his glasses who apparently only works from7:30-12 and
1-4:30) got back from lunch and surveyed the situation and allowed
as how he could put us on the face dock right outside the bathrooms.
So we moved the boat over there being careful to keep the bow and
the anchors on it back from the boat ramp. Starboard side to again.

We walked over and had lunch at Mallards which is in the old Hopkins &
Bro. store.. I had the chicken salad sandwich and Bob had the same
except without the sandwich part. .

The dockmaster said there was no internet except maybe at the library
(which we found out was 4 miles out of town). We are across from
Bagwell fuel docks. They had three large and one half size tank, a
loading rack and a large and medium size horizontal tank all nicely
painted dark green with yellow accents. As we watched they were
washing one of the trucks. The dockmaster will go over there to let
you get fuel if they aren't there.

The people yesterday in Crisfield had told me about a place to eat
called Shuckers where they would come and get you in a bus. But it
was too new a place to be in the phone book, and the dockmaster
couldn't find their phone number. So I was forced to call information
for the number. Information first asked if the name started with an F
or and S, and then she asked it if wasn't Shockers.

I went and edited photos and wrote up emails. I also took a shower.
In the meantime, several sailboats came in and a 50 foot boat called
SEA BEAR from Florida tied up on the other side of the boat ramp.
After the dockmaster left, a trawler from Solomons came in - they had
two dogs and a bird on board. They said they had 3-4 foot waves and
wind about 25 knots coming over. Probably due to tide coming up the
Bay in opposition to the wind blowing down the bay.

The folks at Mallards were loading all kinds of food on the Capt.
Eulice which is the Tangier ferry - it was a wedding reception, and
they also had two private parties over there - which is one reason why
we were going to Shuckers for dinner.

Bob went out to wait about 5 for a pickup that was to be between 5:30
and 5:45. I looked up at the sky and said it looked kind of cloudy,
but he ignored the hint, which I admit was very gentle. The weather
report said 20% chance of rain. It hasn't rained much all summer.

The Shuckers van came driven by the manager because the guy that
drives it wasn't there yet. As we pulled up to the restaurant, it
started to rain. It rained buckets, and we had left the hatches open.
But we couldn't get back to the boat to fix it, so we went on and had
dinner.

Inside there were billiard tables and a large extensive bar which had
sections in several rooms. They told us to go into the other room
which was where the band (from Philadelphia) would be playing later.
After we were seated, two couples of 'old people' came in and also a
large family group with the grandmother on oxygen. That made us feel
better as everyone had emphasized that Shuckers was 'a redneck bar'
(and emphasized that there was excellent security) and I'm not sure I
know what they meant by that.

Bob had the prime rib special with mashed potatoes and green beans
which he said was excellent although he could not eat even half of
it. I had the fried fish basket (also a special) with onion rings,
and I couldn't eat all of that either. We shared a home-made apple
dumpling for dessert which was scrumptious. Much better, really, than
my mother's apple dumplings. Moist flaky delicious crust and the
apple inside had no spiky pieces of the core in it.

It was still pouring down rain when we were ready to leave, but
stopped when we reached the marina. Everything on the boat was
soaking wet. One hatch over Bob's bunk had soaked the foot of his
bedding through, although it all dried out Saturday. Everything in
the cockpit was also soaked and the bimini was draining down onto the
computer box with the computer in it. The TV and DirectTV controller
which were next to the hatch over Bob's bunk were OK.

Saturday September 1

Today we weren't going anywhere, so after we cleaned up the boat, we
started out to walk up into town. The bench beside the dockmaster's
office which faces the launch ramp is full of old men who sit there
and kibitz people putting their boats into the water.

It's a nice little town with old Victorian homes lining the main
street at least one old time general store (House of Deals - Trust
Worthy Hardware) which sold a little bit of everything. Bob said they
had steamer clams (manoes) in there and there were vegetables, fruit
and flowers displayed out front.

We passed a plaque which said that here used to be the home of Francis
Makemie, who established organized Presbyterianism in America. We saw
a sign about the Scott Hill Cemetery, but I'm not sure where the
actual cemetery was. Across the street was the Cokesbury Methodist
Church (1850) which was a historic landmark and right after that a
marker commemorating General Edmund R. Bagwell. Across the street
from that was the Robert Lee Custis Memorial Garden.

I gather that next weekend is the Onancock Harborfest which includes
an arm wrestling championship, horseshoe tournament, rock climbing,
kayak race, a rubber duck race, bands, a raffle and an auction. The
hotel in town said they had a wireless internet for their guests.

It was almost 11:00, so we stopped for lunch at Bizzottos, which was a
combination art gallery (jewelry, pots etc.) and restaurant. Bob had
a tuna salad plate which included a big heap of tuna, slices of yellow
tomatoes, five large black olives, some canned peaches, thin slices of
apple and two of those yellow-green hot peppers (whole). I had a
pastrami wrap which had the yellow tomatoes in it, and one of those
corkscrew macaroni salads.

While we were eating a man and woman with a dog parked out front,
leaving the dog in the car, and were rearranging the jewelry display.
They provided us with our amusement while we ate. As we walked back
to the boat, Bob pointed out to me that the drug store had a snap hook
on the window frame which was labeled "Dog Tie"

I went into the harbormaster's office to use his phone for the
internet, but it was too late in the day for me to do much. He was
anxious to be off. After he left a bunch of boats came in and we
told them just to go into whatever slip they wanted.

We were going to walk over to Mallards for dinner - I had noticed that
the desserts looked good. Bob started getting antsy about it saying
that people were standing in line at about 5:30. They weren't.
Steamers were on the menu, but we didn't know what kind. They called
them 'middlenecks'. So I ordered some to see. They were little
squashed oval clamshells about the size of my thumb to the joint with
tiny thumbnail sized clams in them, not the manoes that we really
like. They came with some bread rusks and were tasty..

Bob had a plain crabcake for dinner, but he forgot to tell them
broiled and so of course he got it fried. With it was a little
plastic cup of bean salad. I got a lobster roll, which was drippy to
eat, with the same little cup of salad and a bag of those organic
potato chips. We both had Smith Island blueberry cake for dessert. It
was very dense cake and sweet.

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

Bob had intended to see if he could force water through the vent of
the aft head

It sure is more fun to read Rosalie's stories than any of the boat magazine
stories, isn't it?....(c;

Larry
--

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

wrote in news:46ddfea8$0$4051
:

Correct me if I am wrong:
I take it that this rate applies to the length of the boat. A 40 foot
sailboat would pay $80.00 USD per night.
So a three day Holiday week end would cost $240. plus applicable taxes.


Yep. I'd have to leave 49A of electrical loads running just to feel
better.

Nothing's cheap about cruising on a boat!

Larry
--
Compare it to our rates, he
http://www.charlestoncitymarina.com/rates.cfm

$2/ft/night. Did you want 50A of power with that for ANOTHER $10/night?
$12/ft/week. $70/week for 50A of power...like getting one night free!

Oops...hope you were sittin' down before you read that.
Holidays are the same price....high.

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:44:44 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:


Again Bob was up and about early - impatient to be off. He poured a
glass of cranberry juice for me and left it in the cockpit.

As I read on, the tension was great as I wondered how this juice would
be spilled, spraying the cockpit with red-speckled stains.
It never happened, and a good sail was had.
Good work, Rosalie and Bob!

--Vic

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:56:34 +0000, Larry wrote:

wrote in news:46ddfea8$0$4051
:

Correct me if I am wrong:
I take it that this rate applies to the length of the boat. A 40 foot
sailboat would pay $80.00 USD per night.
So a three day Holiday week end would cost $240. plus applicable taxes.


Yep. I'd have to leave 49A of electrical loads running just to feel
better.

Nothing's cheap about cruising on a boat!

So I've noticed. But as Rosalie somewhat details it, eating in the
local restaurants significantly adds to the daily costs.
Rosalie and Bob prefer to dock, but great savings can be had by
mooring or anchoring.
There are many kinds of cruising styles, and the same boat might
find one couple spending widely different amounts in their cruising
than another couple.
Thanks for the logs, Rosalie.

--Vic

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:56:34 +0000, Larry wrote:

wrote in news:46ddfea8$0$4051
:

Correct me if I am wrong:
I take it that this rate applies to the length of the boat. A 40 foot
sailboat would pay $80.00 USD per night.
So a three day Holiday week end would cost $240. plus applicable taxes.


Yep. I'd have to leave 49A of electrical loads running just to feel
better.

Nothing's cheap about cruising on a boat!

So I've noticed. But as Rosalie somewhat details it, eating in the
local restaurants significantly adds to the daily costs.
Rosalie and Bob prefer to dock, but great savings can be had by
mooring or anchoring.
There are many kinds of cruising styles, and the same boat might
find one couple spending widely different amounts in their cruising
than another couple.
Thanks for the logs, Rosalie.

--Vic

Looks like it could cost less and more convenient to go on a cruise ship
tour

This as long as you do not go wild on drinks. Just joking.

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

On Wed, 5 Sep 2007 09:02:57 -0300, wrote:



Looks like it could cost less and more convenient to go on a cruise ship
tour

Yep, and if the cruise ship crew would let you lend a hand in fixing
things in exotic places, you'd have it all.

--Vic

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

Vic Smith wrote in
:

Yep, and if the cruise ship crew would let you lend a hand in fixing
things in exotic places, you'd have it all.



If I went on a cruise, would I HAVE to fix their electronics and
electrical problems....like I do cruising on sailboats?...(c;

If you watch the stories from anyone, not just Rosalie, notice how most
of the stories involve the marina, boat maintenance, navigation, etc.
with casual mention of restaurants/sightseeing/etc., which is the reality
of cruising on a boat....that docks.

No matter where you're going, the "view" from the boat is either a ditch
full of bouys in the middle of a non-descript swamp, a river with
mountains and cows on both sides and the occasional town, or the ocean
which never varies the view until something just awful happens in a
storm. After you seen a few hundred hours of these places, I get awfully
bored of them.

I've never tried living like a hermit-on-the-hook, trapsing back and
forth to land begging for a little dockspace to leave a dink, which most
marinas don't want, so you can do a little sightseeing. That's gotta be
just awful boring after day 3. There's only so many times I could
replace toilet parts to keep me occupied.

I always wonder about someone whos boat is packed with books. Books are
an escape from your natural surroundings, traveling to far off exotic
places where terrible things usually happen, if the author wants to stay
in business. It's ESCAPE. Is the guy with all the books trying to
escape the sheer boredom of being a hermit on a boat so much? I've
sailed with guys like that. They open their book and might as well be
walking across Mars, having escaped the boat we were sailing.

This kept me from buying my own boat. I like the occasional sail,
followed by long periods away from boats, entirely, that recharges the
thrill of fighting the sea. I'd hate it if I actually had to own one,
with all the expense and work. I'd hate it much worse if I were forced
to live on one, which is a LOT of really hard work, just hauling life up
and down the docks. I love to sail to X and back. But, when I get back
and have cleaned up the mess, I'm ready to abandon boating for a year,
the thrill being gone, the boredom having set in.

Why people spend half a year going to live in a ditch in Florida is even
a greater mystery. There's nothing in Florida to see from a boat unless
you love Real Estate!

Larry
--
Search youtube for "Depleted Uranium"
The ultimate dirty bomb......

Lower Chesapeake Labor Day Cruise - part 2 - Onancock
 

Vic Smith wrote:

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:44:44 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:


Again Bob was up and about early - impatient to be off. He poured a
glass of cranberry juice for me and left it in the cockpit.

As I read on, the tension was great as I wondered how this juice would
be spilled, spraying the cockpit with red-speckled stains.
It never happened, and a good sail was had.
Good work, Rosalie and Bob!

Sorry not to resolve that - I have spilled the cranberry juice (my
drink of choice) but only in the bunk :-(

This time it took me awhile to find where it was (not that he hid it).
We were just motoring out - it was calm.