2021 Chesapeake Bay Cruise

We gathered for our 104 class aboard Scholarship on May 14th at Lankford Bay Marina.  The captain and instructor was Frank Mummert, with a crew consisting of Sue, Deb and Alex.  Our goal was to circumnavigate Kent Island, with intermediate stops at Annapolis and Saint Michaels, Maryland.

We spent most of the first day preparing our navigation plan, stowing our gear and groceries and operating in the waters around the marina.  We had to ensure that everyone in the crew had the ability to handle the boat, both as the captain for a maneuver and as the crew.  This is the first time we were using MDSchool's new 104 Training Plan, developed to better integrate our 104 course into a smooth progression from 101 to 108.  Fortunately, all of our students had some experience with the Maryland School processes, so we were building from strength.  That evening, we enjoyed a lasagna dinner, while answering last minute needs and questions. 

As the sun was coming up the next morning, so were we.  Captain Frank's orders were that we be ready to get underway by 0730, which meant people were rolling out of their beds by 5:30, as the sun peeked over the horizon.  Alex was our first Student Skipper for the day and he led the crew through the first of many checklists for the evolutions we would complete.  As we left the marina, we decided that one last pump out would not be amiss, especially since we had four people on board and we would not touch land again for over 32 hours.

The morning was chilly, but the only breeze was coming from the direction we were traveling and most of that was from the boat's movement.  We motored along the Chester River, as Frank pointed out the various places we were passing and quizzed the Skipper and crew on points of navigational interest.  As we passed north of Kent Narrows Bridge, Sue reported that she "smelled smoke." 

Luckily for our little boat, it was just Frank, running the first of many drills on the crew.  Alex and the crew leaped into action and, after ruling out the engine as the source of the fire, discovered that the heat and smoke of the "fire" was from an overheated breaker in the 12 volt electrical panel.  A little fire fighting and some repair work got everything back to "ship-shape" and Alex did a three bearing fix to determine our location.  After we developed a location and new course, we were off again for Annapolis.

As we came into Annapolis and headed for the mooring field, the sea was rough and confused.  This was not from an abundance of wind or an approaching storm - it was from the vast multitudes of boats rushing here and there, taking advantage of the pleasant spring weather.  Just after we picked up mooring ball #29 and paid the Harbormaster, we heard from our sister boat, ACADAME. She, too, was in Annapolis, although in a different mooring field.  We went ashore to spend some time on land and to look for the crew of the other boat, but never found them.  We returned to our mooring and dined in the cockpit, watching boats come and go.  As we dropped off to bed that evening, we could still hear the sounds of Annapolis, going on around us.  In fact, at one point, we were rolling so much that some of the crew considered the possibility of rigging lee clothes!!  Don't these people know that the sun has gone down and it is time for some shut-eye?

Once again, we were up with the sun, as Deb took over the duties of Student Skipper for the day and we headed out of Annapolis.  We had a full day planned as we rounded 1AH, the big light at the mouth of the Severn River and pointed our bow toward the Thomas Point Lighthouse.  As we passed the lighthouse, Sue brought out the Coast Pilot, the Light List and the Chesapeake Bay Cruising Guide that we keep aboard for navigational information and we discussed how each source provided different but complementary information.    As we left Thomas Point behind and turned toward the Bloody Point Bar, suddenly the engine quit.  Once again, Captain Frank, the "disaster master," was running a drill.  Deb's first response was to make sure we weren't in any danger of running aground or being run over, then she gave the most perfect order possible in this situation - "Everyone sit tight while I come up with a plan!"  Various troubleshooting steps revealed that the source of the problem was a simulated "line around the propeller shaft" and we discussed the various options for getting assistance, finally deciding on a request for a tow back to Annapolis and a boatyard.  Wrapping up the drill, we continued on to the Bloody Point Bar light and headed up into the Eastern Bay.

We motored around Rich Neck and into the eastern Eastern Bay, where a shoal guards the mouth of the Wye and Miles Rivers.  Almost all boaters, when they approach this shoal, take the easy and well-marked path to the south, but Frank, wanting to press his crew's navigational and boat handling abilities, had given Scholarship's crew directions to go around the north end.  This requires finding the narrow opening between two sets of shoals and accurately piloting the boat into the Wye River.  Deb and her crew had more than a couple moments of bated breath, but after successfully managing the tricky maneuver, were doubly proud of themselves.  

We continued on to Saint Michaels, where we stopped for the night at the Saint Michaels Marina after pumping out.  As always, the marina, respecting the quality of our school and our students, gave us a tricky location in which to dock, admitting that they keep the easy ones for people that aren't as well trained as our students.  Deb and her crew proved up to the task and we were soon docked stern in, joined a few hours later by Captain Robin and the crew of ACADAME.  Dinner that evening was a rollicking affair, as the two crews shared a table at the restaurant overlooking the two boats, swapping stories and laughs as we regaled each other with stories of problems and solutions.

Our departure was delayed slightly the next morning, because we needed to arrive at the Kent Island Narrows bridge at appropriate conditions of tide and current.  This didn't really mean people slept in; we were still all up by 0600.  However, since we didn't need to leave until 0830, it gave us an opportunity for another set of showers and some excellent coffee and sandwiches from the Blue Crab restaurant in town.  

During the night, any wind that had been present the previous day had departed completely and we motored out in a river that looked like glass.  Individual clouds could be seen reflected in the water.  Sue, our Skipper for the day, took us back out the same path we had come in, traveling once again through the narrow patch of water between the shoat and the spit of land off Bennet Point.  After crossing back across the Eastern Bay, we turned north and caught the tide up toward the Kent Narrows Bridge.  We had originally intended to go through the bridge, a narrow affair that lifts for sailboat traffic every hour and half-hour, at 1130, 20 minutes after the calculated "slack water."  However, because of the tide lift coming out of Saint Michaels and into the Bay, we were able to pass through at 1100, putting us a little ahead of our schedule.

After we completed our circumnavigation of Kent Island, passing the red 6 buoy in the Chester River that we had passed on the way to Annapolis, we turned to the east and headed up the Chester River.  After some time, the Skipper and her helmsman realized that their third crewmember had not been up in the cockpit in a while.  Sue went below to investigate and found Deb "passed out and unresponsive."  Making the smart command decision for the situation, Sue took the conn and sent Alex, a trained Emergency Medical Technician, below to assess Deb's condition (for those of you worried, you can relax - this was just another drill).  Realizing that Deb's condition was "serious" and that the boat was not equipped to deal with it, Sue issued a series of simulated Mayday calls and prepared to turn back to Kent Narrows, the nearest source of "civilized rescue."  

After securing from the drill, we decided to see if there was enough wind to sail.  Using the procedures in the 104 training plan, Sue had the crew raise the mainsail and head up the river on a close reach, the wind coming from the west.  Unfortunately, while we could just about hold the bow on a close hauled course, we actually found ourselves "drifting with rudder authority" back down the river, eventually passing the Red 12 Buoy we had passed going north an hour before.  Deciding that the exercise was useful, but the results were not, we secured the sail and continued motoring toward Comegys Bight, our anchorage for the night.

The cruising guide we had didn't say much about the Bight, noting that the authors had never stayed there because they liked the Corsica River anchorages better.  However, with the very slight wind continuing to come out of the west/south-west, Comegys Bight was well-protected from over 270 degrees, but would funnel what wind there was toward the boat and providing a cooling breeze in the evening.  Of course, Frank, always pushing us to go the extra mile, had us set a two anchor Bahamian moor, adjusting for current.  After a delicious dinner was served below by our resident chef, Sue, we watched the sun go down in the west and the stars come out.  As the light faded, the students took turns quizzing each other on the material in the ASA Bareboat Cruising Made Easy book.

The next morning, Frank directed the crew in raising the two anchors and we did a sun dial compass correction data run, collecting the information needed to validate our deviation graph.  Next we continued out of the Bight and down the Chester River to the area south of the LC lighted beacon.

This area is our usual "classroom" and Frank put it to good use for Crew Overboard training.  Unfortunately, there was still no more than a gentle breeze, so we used the power maneuvers from the training guide.  While our pumpkin-headed crew mate fell over, again and again, the three students repeatedly saved him from a watery death.  Eventually, the crew threatened to clap him in irons and Frank found it necessary to put him back in the lazarette, for his own good.  We headed back to Lankford Bay Marina and wrapped up the course exam, which all three crewmembers passed with flying colors.