after filling up the water tanks again, we left queenstown creek and the chester river and headed north with no fixed plan. everything was dependent on the weather and what the Bay was like. it turned out to be fine and a lot of people were out on their boats. we got buzzed by a carver who cut in front of us not 20 feet away and threw an enormous wake! well, they are out there - boaters who know nothing about boating, like to go forward fast and never look back to see what damage they are doing. we decided to pass on rock hall even though tom really did want to go there at some point. it was july 5 and they were having their fireworks that night, postponed because of the weather. for sure it was going to be a zoo so we moved on. fairlee and worton creeks are popular anchorages as well - for the tiki bar types, which we are not - so we kept going and then turned into stillpond. we hadn't been to stillpond in 8 years but it had always been our favorite place in the upper Bay. it was a zoo, too, but one can anchor further away from the raft-ups and the noise. it was just amazing how many boats there were! but what was REALLY amazing was how those who came and went did so at slow speeds until past the last anchored boat. it was quite unexpected especially from the go-fast types. we went out in the dinghy that afternoon and explored old haunts. it was good to be back. actually, most of the boats were day people and they left after a while. the anchorage became quiet that evening and it was really pleasant. the air was cool and there were no bugs. tom stopped pulling up the outboard because it was all fresh water now. the only thing - no internet! the Eastern Shore in this section of the chesapeake is very different from our marshlands in the southern Bay. here in the upper Bay, we have high bluffs and i guess that blocks the signals somewhat. unfortunately, no unsecured wifi either.
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| tom looking for arrowheads in a midden |
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| rocky point |
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| tadhana at stillpond |
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| sunset at stillpond |
turner creek.
we regretfully left stillpond the next day but we were really looking forward to the sassafras river and the real reason we came up all this way - to see the water lilies again. as it turns out, they are NOT water lilies, but rather, american lotus (Nelumbo lutea) which produces the largest flower of any plant in north america. this plant was once a favored food source for american indians, who ate the starch-rich roots and large seeds. today, american lotus is found in only three locations on the chesapeake: the elk/bohemia river system, mattawoman creek on the potomac river, and the sassafras river. unfortunately, we were a bit early and instead of the acres of flowers that we had seen the last time we were there, they were mostly buds - not quite ready. no signal either at turner creek or we would have loved to stay. we anchored for a little while and dropped the dinghy so that we could take some photos. there were a few blooms though, and wouldn't you know it, they were far from the edge so we looked for a "thin" section where we could cross in the dinghy, shut down the motor and raised it, thinking we would just pole through. no luck there as it was too deep for our pole. that left the oars - the first time the dinghy's oars have EVER been used! but we got our photos, went back to the boat, had lunch and pulled up the anchor.
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| consuelo enjoying the grass at turner creek park |
georgetown.
back out in the sassafras river, it was nuts. boats rushing everywhere, some creating terrible wakes - what a mess. we saw a guy in a canoe in the middle of the river. at the same time, we saw another boat come roaring up the river throwing a humongous wake. i happened to be looking in that direction and saw the wake just flip the guy out of the canoe! tom heard me exclaim and turned the boat around. the guy wasn't hurt and thank goodness he could swim (no life jacket!!!). anyway, another boat arrived at the scene but the canoe guy said he'd rather use our swim platform to get back into his canoe so he swam and pushed his canoe over, climbed out, and he and tom turned the canoe over to empty it of water and then off he went. what was he thinking???
in any case, lots of recreational boat traffic on the sassafras as we made our way to georgetown. we found an anchorage close to georgetown yacht basin, right in their mooring field which is a no wake zone and were pleasantly surprised to find that the wifi was not passworded. we dropped the dinghy and went over to the marina's fuel dock to get some gas for the dinghy. tom made the mistake of suggesting we go inside the marine store. three dresses and two dove bars later, his wallet was a little lighter hahaha....
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