St. Michaels
One of the places I've most wanted to explore by boat is St. Michaels over on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It's a quaint little waterfront village situated on a peninsula between Tilghman Island and Easton. 
About 25 miles by water, we chose a route that cruised us across the Bay, around the upper side of Kent Island, down through the Kent Narrows, then up the Miles River. I studied the charts carefully and only had to stop a couple of times to refresh my memory. It paid to be careful because there are some areas of thin water. St. Michaels was colonized in the late 1600s and features lots of historic homes, churches and cemeteries. Now it's something of a boating resort area with many bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and gift shops. It's accessable by car, but certainly not convienent. Although St. Michaels claims to represent the "Southern" side of Maryland, it reminds me more of the little oceanside villages in Maine. 
We arrived in the heat of the afternoon so decided to have a late lunch, then visit some of the downtown shops. Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum was closed for the July 4 holiday. After a few hours exploring, we decided to cruise back toward home. Our plan was to take a different route back, returning down the Miles River, turning South around Hambleton Point, then back North up the main channel of the Bay. However, we had no sooner started out of the harbor when the marine-band radio lit up with word of a severe thunderstorm heading east from Annapolis with 70 mile per hour winds! I decided to keep to the more sheltered Kent Narrows route. We nearly made it to the Narrows before the rain started and hid out under a side channel of the low drawbridge to wait out the lightning and strong winds. The current coming under the bridge was strong, 
but the wind was pushing in the opposite direction so I was able to keep the boat steady beneath the narrow arch without ever touching. After the storm we bounced out across the 3 footers, crossing the main channel in time for more fireworks last night. -S
About 25 miles by water, we chose a route that cruised us across the Bay, around the upper side of Kent Island, down through the Kent Narrows, then up the Miles River. I studied the charts carefully and only had to stop a couple of times to refresh my memory. It paid to be careful because there are some areas of thin water. St. Michaels was colonized in the late 1600s and features lots of historic homes, churches and cemeteries. Now it's something of a boating resort area with many bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and gift shops. It's accessable by car, but certainly not convienent. Although St. Michaels claims to represent the "Southern" side of Maryland, it reminds me more of the little oceanside villages in Maine. 
We arrived in the heat of the afternoon so decided to have a late lunch, then visit some of the downtown shops. Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum was closed for the July 4 holiday. After a few hours exploring, we decided to cruise back toward home. Our plan was to take a different route back, returning down the Miles River, turning South around Hambleton Point, then back North up the main channel of the Bay. However, we had no sooner started out of the harbor when the marine-band radio lit up with word of a severe thunderstorm heading east from Annapolis with 70 mile per hour winds! I decided to keep to the more sheltered Kent Narrows route. We nearly made it to the Narrows before the rain started and hid out under a side channel of the low drawbridge to wait out the lightning and strong winds. The current coming under the bridge was strong, 
but the wind was pushing in the opposite direction so I was able to keep the boat steady beneath the narrow arch without ever touching. After the storm we bounced out across the 3 footers, crossing the main channel in time for more fireworks last night. -S
posted by Shawn | 8:32 AM
1 Comments:
That's lightning, not fireworks, in that last picture!
Dianne
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