Chesapeake Bay, Solomon Island 5/23/08 Position 38:20.243N 76:2.619W
SeaTrek
Bill and Judy Stellin
Sat 24 May 2008 00:37
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Last night at anchor in Reedville, and tonight at anchor
in Solomon Island. Slip costs are outrageous. Here, it is $2.25 per
foot per night. That's almost $100 per night for us and out of the
question. Luckily, anchoring is better and free.
We are not 100 feet from the slip that would have cost so
much. Wouldn't you think marina managers with empty slips would discount
them rather than have a potential customer thumb their noses at them and anchor
within spitting distance.
I guess everyone has to run their railway there own
way.
Reedville is another in a string of very pleasant
surprises here in the Bay. It was a fishing port years ago and was very
prosperous. When the menhaden fish market evaporated, so did the
town.
Now it is a sleepy little village with some very fine old
homes that have been well kept and look to be very expensive. All are on
the water which is everywhere in this land of rivers and creeks. We ate
out in a place that serves crab cakes. ( Actually every place serves crab
cakes ). I could eat them three times a day.
Today we sailed to our present anchorage in the Solomon
Islands and are with a bunch of cruisers from New Bern NC who we had a beer with
and traded lots of cruising stories.
Again, we are about 2 miles up a small creek filled with
fine homes and marinas. It is a calm as a millpond here without a ripple
in the water. Sleeping is wonderful.
When I think of all the rolly rotten anchorages in the
Caribbean I realize just how much I disliked the place.
The Chesapeake could hold a cruisers interest for
years. Good sailing in the bay proper and the mouths of the great rivers
that feed the bay, and loads of snug anchorages in beautiful
settings.
Plus, the attraction of Washington DC where you can anchor
in the shadow of the Capitol and the monuments, Annapolis with the Naval
Academy, Baltimore and its magnificent Inner Harbor, and countless little bergs
oozing with history and charm. Add to that great food and easy shopping
and there is all the reason in the world to spend time here. Guess what,
that's exactly what we are going to do.
We will go back to Deltaville and take a slip and haul out
till about this time next year. We will divide our time between the boat
here and home.
Six months out of the water in the Deltaville Marina is
only $1000. An almost unheard of price. Our friends Ron and Julie
who we ran into there have spent three years in the Marina and rave about
it.
The Chesapeake needs a few years of cruising to do it
justice.
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