clean-the-bay day at tangier island.

tom had made an announcement at an MTOA rendezvous back in march about the clean-the-bay day at tangier island on saturday, june 7, 2014, and several members had expressed an interest in going, probably because they were not sure what clean-the-bay day ACTUALLY entailed, however, it sounded like a good excuse for a cruise.  we arrived on a thursday, the day before everyone else so that milton would have help getting all these boats docked. we also wanted to reserve the bulkhead slips for the bigger boats - milton's reservation system at parks marina (there is no reservation system!) could use some tweaking.  tom actually had me print up signs, however,  the thing with making signs is that you are supposed to post them.  tom had a radio show to do which he did at milton's house using milton's phone - this is tangier island - cell phone black hole - thinking that he was going to put up the signs AFTER his radio  show.  luckily, the sailboat that took the main bulkhead slip while no one was paying attention only stayed for lunch and then left but he stiffed milton the $5 for the brief stay.  what a jerk....  anyway, as soon as he left, we put up the signs.

the boats started arriving on friday but there were other boats not in our party that were arriving as well so it got pretty busy at the marina.  milton is NOT supposed to be doing all this work!  so we were kept very busy helping him out.  let me tell you that when the current runs fast at tangier harbor, it can take you by surprise  so if you are trying to help a boat dock, it's a long wait in the hot sun while the boat tries ten times to get into a slip sideways before you even get to touch one of its docklines to help!  there was one guy (not from our group, thank goodness) who said that he would wait for slack tide and come back and he went off and tied up at the ferry dock.  milton sent tom over to ride back with him and handle dock lines.  we finally got him in but man.....  there was a lot of shouting and arm-waving going on.  it was all very entertaining....

four brothers was having free ice cream from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., something they do every year the evening before opening day.  since we were all adults, it was okay to have dessert first and then a group of us had dinner together at lorraine's that evening and ate absolutely way too much.

the next day, saturday, was clean-the-bay day.  we all met up in front of the general store at 8:00 a.m. along with some of the locals and were issued large orange plastic bags, gloves, and reaching tool grabbers.  

john pruitt, the guy in charge, gave instructions about being careful to avoid boards with rusty nails, etc. and then they set us loose in the marsh to pick up trash.  broad-brimmed hats, sunblock fishing shirts and high rubber boots were the standard uniform of the day - every cruiser seems to have these on board.  it was a hot day and it was nasty, dirty work - lots of smelly dead fish around, too, but at the end of the day, one really felt good about picking up all those bottles, cans, plastic bags, light bulbs and all manner of detritus that the tides had brought in and the marsh looked the way it was supposed to look once more.  loni and carol moore of tangier island had all of us in their home for hotdogs afterwards.  there really was a general good feeling all around about having, in some small way, done our part for OUR bay.  everyone dispersed after lunch to do their own thing and then the group got together again for a family-style dinner at hilda crockett's chesapeake house.  5:00 p.m. is last call at the chesapeake house which takes some getting used to when one is not a farmer (or a waterman).  tangier is a dry town and no, you do NOT bring your own wine to dinner.  i suspect people were already drinking on their own boats at 3:00 p.m. (or earlier) anyway after all that hot, sweaty work tramping through mud in rubber boots.  everyone seemed to have a healthy appetite :)  

MTOA PARTICIPATION IN CLEAN-THE-BAY DAY 

tom and i have had a very special relationship with tangier island for the longest time and we were very happy to have been able to share a little bit of this with friends and members of the MTOA.  as for milton - we worry about him.  he does too much and he doesn't ask for help and even if you offer it, he is reluctant to take it.  but it is obvious that he loves what he does and is frustrated by the limitations of his ongoing health.  he said something to the effect of "well, just kill me now if you won't let me work" and i can certainly understand this.  the best that we can do is to bully him into letting us help when we are visiting. 

always spectacular sunset at tangier