Sailathon 2006

Chesapeake Bay

May 2006

Subject: Pirates of the Chesapeake, aka Moon Over the Choptank

While the Manly Men of H2 and other companies were preparing to gather at West Point for the enshrinement and adoration of Downing and Prince, twelve hearty members of '62 gathered in Annapolis, MD on May 16 for some serious sailing. Wayne Willis was the commodore who put the whole shebang together, and it was some shebang. Three sailboats, the shortest a mere 43 feet, rented and provisioned for a week by Wayne. An intricate itinerary that combined daily sailing, marina dockings every day or two, and safe places to anchor out for the night.

The lineup:

Top Gallant (53 ft.) Crew: Willis (captain), Wertz, Gleason, Fishburne.

Tiki Time (49 ft.) Crew: Carter (captain), Simcox, Harrington, Heldman

Time for Us (43 ft.) Crew: Tomlinson (captain), Kriesel, Carroll, Lair

Our first gathering was Tuesday night, May 16 at the Chart House on the Annapolis waterfront. A handful of wives (Becky Tomlinson, Joann Willis, Jeannine Kriesel, Linda Simcox, Sue Lair) joined us for dinner. The next morning the wives hung around the docks long enough to jeer at our shoddy seamanship as we cast off and sailed away, then headed for a rented house at Rehobeth, DE. They vacationed there for several days, Pat Fishburne joining them, and then scattered in various directions, some to do grandmotherly things in Maryland, Connecticut, and Texas.

Leaving the Annapolis docks we circled in the mouth of the Severn and practiced putting up and taking down sails. Our first day's sail was a manageable trip across the Bay to historic St. Michaels, MD. Our first docking at a marina was interesting. The hotel and marina in St. Michaels apparently had no trained dock hands, so in response to Wayne's radio request for docking assistance for 3 large boats we got a chubby girl from the gift shop who was wearing tall, spiked heels. Just the footgear for digging in one's heels and pulling on a rope. She was joined by the guy who drove the hotel van and skimmed the pool. He stood passively on the dock until somebody on my boat threw him a line. He caught it but just stood there, not attempting to tie it to a piling. Only when our boat began to pull him off the dock did he react, but by then Kriesel was on the pier and tied the line. We could then help the other two boats to dock.

After drinks on the stern of Wayne's boat we adjourned to the Crab Claw, a down and dirty crab house on the St. Michaels waterfront. Our dinner at the Crab Claw was good. However, only 10 of us could cram into the hotel/marina van so the two left-overs walked back to the marina. It took them about five hours to make the 20-minute trek. Before starting out they had more drinks at the Crab Claw, then started walking. They got lost, one fell into a construction hole and was dinged up (not seriously), and they were finally returned to the boats by a St. Michaels policeman. Both adventurers were fit and ready to sail the next morning.

We sailed out of St. Michaels on the 18th and had a good run down the Bay. However, Time for Us ran aground at the entrance to Knapp's Narrows, a shortcut around Tilghman Island. Two locals helped pull us off and refused any payment, which was nice. Then, going through Knapp's Narrows under motor power we lost power and drifted out to the eastern side of the narrows. We eventually grounded at the marker to Knapp's Narrows while radio and telephone conversations ensued with Let's Go Sailing back in Annapolis. While we waited for Tow Jam, the local towing company, we watched our other two boats beat north up toward Dun Cove, where they anchored out for the night. Late in the day Tow Jam hauled us to the Knapp's Narrows Marina where we tied up to the transient dock for the night.

We grilled steaks on the Marina's charcoal grill and slept well. Earlier, two guys right out of "Deliverance" stopped to offer help before Tow Jam arrived, but we declined. That's real Larry, Darrell and Darrell country down there.

On the 19th the marina salvage expert moved our dead boat into their drydock. When we asked him what we could do to help, he said "just stay the hell out of the way." The marina hands lifted the boat out of the water and discovered that our propeller had come off somewhere in Knapp's Narrows, the reason we lost power. Let's Go Sailing got us a new propeller and paid for everything, including the $400 Gene paid Tow Jam the day before for towing our boat. We were back in the water by late afternoon.

Our other two boats were heading down south to Solomons Island that afternoon, but we could not overtake them in the remaining daylight. Instead we headed north up to Dun Cove and anchored for the night. The next day we linked up with the other boats, which were coming north to anchor for the night in Hudson Creek off the Little Choptank River. To assuage our feelings of abandonment when they sailed away from us the day before, we mooned Top Gallant as she passed us going up the Little Choptank. It felt good. Hudson Creek was a good anchorage.

Leaving there Sunday morning we were surrounded by at least a hundred dolphins in the Little Choptank. Marvelous! We raced about that day, then tied up at a marina in Oxford, MD Sunday night. Monday was spent sailing, then we tied up in the Rhode River south of Annapolis for the night.

Entering the Rhode River Ben Carter's boat ran aground. When Wayne Willis attempted to tow them off the sandbar a rope got fouled around his propeller. Gus Fishburne went into the water and removed the danger to the propeller and both boats were able to anchor without further problems.

Tuesday the 23d we sailed and raced north toward the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, then anchored in the mouth of the Severn just before 1400 in order to watch the dress rehearsal of the Blue Angels. That, too, was fantastic. The Angels were in town for Annapolis graduation festivities. After the Blue Angels we chugged back to Let's Go Sailing and refueled the boats. They permitted us to spend Tuesday night on the boats. The eleven of us went to Cantler's for crabs and beer. We were down to eleven because Heldman left early on the 22d to go to West Point for the Distinguished Graduate ceremony. However, Dave Windom drove over from Chantilly, VA and joined us for dinner so we were back up to full strength at Cantler's. Dave drives the biggest pickup truck I have ever seen. I think my boat would have fit into his cargo bed.

Interesting times approaching the mouth of the Severn River the afternoon of the 23rd. As part of Graduation Week, a large warship, (some kind of missile frigate or cruiser, I don't know about such things) was anchored in the US Naval Anchorage outside Annapolis. Every few hours on Channel 16, the emergency radio frequency, we would hear the warning to keep a 500 meter buffer zone around Warship 751. As Time for Us trailed Top Gallant toward the Severn River we looked back to see Tiki Time heading toward the safety zone around the warship. Kriesel was watching through field glasses and said the machine gun crew on the bow of the warship was racing to their weapon. A machine gun patrol boat was also heading around the ship to intercept Tiki Time. No more USS Coles for the US Navy! We alerted Ben by radio and he altered course, avoiding any kind of incident. It probably enlivened a dull afternoon for the security force of Warship 751.

(A question from one member of Tiki Time:  With Kriesel on field glasses and a US Naval vessel in view, was this, in fact, a boarding party?  Did Time For Us plan to seize the frigate?)

On the 24th we turned in the boats and scattered. Sue brought our van and we took the three Colorado guys to BWI. We returned to Annapolis that afternoon and laagered in at the Two Oh One B&B where I soaked my tired body and soul in a Jacuzzi until I was all pruned up. Two nights in Annapolis was a great time to relax and reflect on how much fun I had over the previous week. Waterfront Annapolis was teeming with people on Thursday night, graduation eve. We dined late at a little burrito joint packed with midshipmen, mostly third-classmen. Were we ever that young?

This was one of the great weeks of my life. The laughs and stories over drinks and galley food are priceless. I had not seen Jim Gleason since Hong Kong in September 1965. Other guys I had only seen briefly at reunions over the past decades. Wayne, Ben and Gene are great sailors and boat captains.

The Bay is marvelous although state and federal cutbacks have virtually stopped dredging operations in places like Knapp's Narrows. Bad for boating, good for the towing industry I guess. There is talk of doing this again next year in the lower Chesapeake or north of Vancouver, BC. If invited, I'm in!

Buck

Don L. Lair

6742 Schreiner Street East

Worthington, OH 43085-2489

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