Month-long Sailing Trip: Crisfield-Part 1

--Blogpost written by Maggie

This blogpost (Crisfield-Part 1) covers our first two days in Crisfield.  Our next blogpost will cover Smith Island and the following blogpost (Crisfield-Part 2) will cover our last two days in Crisfield.

Saturday, July 5th

Cast off early after a great night's sleep with no "cat-astrophes", we are off to Crisfield on the eastern shore where my dad grew up.  I spent many weekends there at my grandmother's house, playing with cousins, crabbing with my dad, and exploring the quaint town.  Some of my best memories as a child are of the crab derby on Labor Day weekend watching the crab races and eating crabs.

The wind was just off our port stern so we motor sailed
with the jib and made very good time.

We passed Hooper Strait Lighthouse at 10:15 AM

Along the way we saw numerous brown pelicans which we don't see in the northern bay.  When we hauled in the jib we noticed a distinct drop in the knots we were making, hmmm could it be that we snagged one of the numerous crab pots we were dodging? We continued at the slower pace the rest of the day, enjoying the cool temperatures and the sunny skies.  In one section of the bay we noticed that it was much lighter in color.  We could see a definite line of demarcation between the dark bay and the light bay.  Could it be the difference in the bottom?  

The entrance to Somers Cove Marina is between the new condominium complex on your left and
crab processing facilities on your right.  This inlet bears to the right and into the harbor.

We arrived at Somers Cove Marina about 4:30 and tied up in our slip with the help of our dock master. Uh oh, there was a crab pot behind us.  That WAS what was slowing us down!! 

G Dock at Somers Cove Marina has beautiful floating docks--this makes
getting on and off the boat a lot easier.

We watched the sun set, waiting for the fireworks.

After settling in and having a light dinner we waited for the fireworks. We had a ringside seat right from the cockpit and they were spectacular, best ever!

Sunday, July 6th

We got up to a sunny windy morning and walked into town for breakfast at the Water's Edge Cafe.

The cook who worked at the old Captain's Galley now cooks at the Water's Edge Cafe in Crisfield.

The town looks like it is about to collapse except for the (nearly empty) three modern condominium complexes and a huge marina.  Everything is eerily empty though, waiting for the ferry service from DC that is never going to materialize.

We rented bikes at the office to ride out of town so we could find a grocery store for some resupply.  About a 20 minute ride put us at a Food Lion.  We got what we needed but when we came out Bob's rear tire was flat.  I went on back to the boat while he waited for a truck from the marina to pick him up.  Maybe we can get a rain check on the bikes another day. Bob took apart the starter panel to look for the source of the intermittent starter problems he has been having (it's always something with a boat) while I spent most of the afternoon at the pool.

After happy hour on the boat we walked downtown for a crab cake dinner (of course) at the upscale Watermen's Inn.  It was great, but as always, it was too much to eat.  We walked around the city dock area for awhile and are back at the boat for the evening.  Lizzy still seems a bit traumatized from her swim at Solomon's. I hope she gets over it soon.


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