OCC Rally Day 4 - Pot luck supper in Crab Creek Annapolis

Position 38:57.46N 076:31.70W Date 2359 – Friday 3 June 2011
(UTC -4) A not quite as early start as intended and we were off
by dinghy back to town for a shop in the very good local Acme store. The
manager, bless him, ran us back to the dinghy dock in his pick up which saved a
great deal of sweat and grumbles. Having seen that we could get a discount for
cash at the fuel dock we up anchored and came in for a fill at the very well
set up fuel dock. Local yachtsmen tell us that the price of a gallon of
marine diesel has gone up from $2.95 to $3.99 per Last away again, with a deadline to get to the venue
for the final event of the Rally and the wind for 70% of the 26 miles to Crab
Creek off the South River in Annapolis being on the nose we had a rapid motor
and sail back across Chesapeake Bay to the western shore. En route we
again passed the Bloody Point Light. The list is subsidence (not my dodgy
photography). Unlike the The entrance to Crab Creek was interesting. Spotting
it was the first problem and finding any water to float in was the second. A
pair of red and green buoys marked the narrowest part of the channel; they
appeared to be no more than three boat width’s apart. Having gone
aground twice; the mud is very soft so we got off easily, and having received
some local advice we realised that rather than approach the buoys head on we
had to slide up at a very oblique angle Local knowledge won the day and we found ourselves in
the beautiful and tranquil anchorage of Crab Creek. As the largest boat on the Rally we were very kindly
offered the use of a mooring buoy by friends of our host which limited our
potential swinging room. Our big friend Alice joined us to raft up. A quick
tidy up and it was into Alice’s dinghy for the run ashore and a quick
change on the jetty into a kilt to keep the locals amused; woollen kilts and
salt water do not mix and dinghies are unpredictable even if in calm water. The party was held in the OCC Port Officers for
Annapolis Wolfgang Reuter and Gemma Nachbar’s garden and was incredibly
well laid on. They had taken the precaution of inviting many of their
neighbours which meant that there would be no objections to the piping. Fred Hallet, a
past Rear Commodore organised some singing; the Mate surprisingly took part
– with gusto! The food was excellent. Wonderful hors
d’oeuvres, amazing venison burgers from the barbeque and a range of cold
meats and salads were followed by a selection of puddings. The Mate provided a
brilliant chocolate and biscuit cake that was marketed as Prince
William’s favourite and disappeared without trace or remnant. We therefore come to the end of four really good
days. We put this event in our diary over a year ago as an objective to get to
and we are so pleased that we have. We have made friends that we no doubt will
see again and again in our travels, have been introduced to a great cruising ground
and have received wonderful hospitality. Thank you Sid and Rebecca Shaw, Rear
Commodores, for organising such a great event and to everyone else that took
part for making us so welcome. |