Tuesday September 30th, 2008
We waved goodbye to our friends in Solomons last Monday and headed for Crisfield. It felt like leaving home all over again. We don’t know if and when we will catch up with all of them again. Crisfield is the “Crabbing Capital of the World” is really a small fishing village on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. It would have been a pretty ho hum cruise for us except that Al noticed a coastguard ship and what he thought was a marker slowly approaching us from behind. When the “marker” kept moving with the coastguard ship, Al took out the binoculars and realized it wasn’t a marker but the top end of a submarine. He said to me, that we should probably let them go by as they were going faster than us and on a collision course. A few moments later a coastguard dinghy came racing up to the back of our boat. It was the first time we have ever seen a machine gun mounted on the front of a coastguard dinghy. Anyhow, they politely “asked” if we would mind holding back while they were passing us as there was a security perimeter around the sub. We didn’t argue and let them go by (see picture). Who argues with a couple of guys with a machine gun?
When we arrived in Crisfield, we realized that our timing was not very good on a few fronts. It was like a ghost town in Crisfield as most businesses have closed down for the season. We actually believe the place is pretty quiet most of the time. Although the people were great, it felt very economically depressed. Our plan had been to stay one or two nights however a northeaster came in and we were stuck there for 5 nights. It’s a good thing Al and I have learned to relax and entertain ourselves. It also helped that we met Annie a 68 year old woman from northern Ontario who was single handling and 17 foot sailboat in the Chesapeake. Incredible. Annie joined us for happy hour a few times and helped keep us entertained.
We left Crisfield on Saturday and made our way to Hampton which is across the way from Norfolk Virginia. We spent two days there. Nothing very exiting except the Langley Air and Space Museum. Al and I spent an afternoon there viewing old planes and historic documentation and playing with all kinds of simulation exhibits. I have now “attempted” to land a rover on mars and land a shuttle back on earth. Attempted is the key word as I crashed both. I did successfully take off in a small aircraft but crashed it shortly after take off. Al did better than me. I guess all his piloting experience helps.
We are now sitting in a small basin just north of the Dismal Swamp which will be the next leg of our adventure. This is the prettiest anchorage we have had since the Thimble Islands in Long Island. There are trees all around us and, at low tide, a beach. There are some small fish here that jump over three feet into the air. We are the only boat here to enjoy it. Tomorrow or the next day, we will start down the dismal swamp on our way south. The Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge is supposed to be beautiful with lots of hiking and biking trails. We hope it lives up to its reputation.
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