drizzly morning, but there was an unknown reward for a sleepless night. From
our anchorage, we were treated to front row seats for the Sailing Canoe races.
It is amazing to watch the crews tack these boats and hike out on boards over
the water. When they tack, the boards are thrown to the other side of the boat
and the crew quickly climbs out on these eight inch wide planks in time,
hopefully, to keep the boat balanced. These are actually hollowed out logs with
two spars and up to five sails. One crew was furiously bailing as they were
healed enough to take on water over the side. No shrouds, cleats or winches to
break, but I don’t know how they kept from going over.
Bay Maritime Museum. Noah’s favorite part was the waterman’s wharf where he
tried oyster tongs and pulled up crab & eel traps. During a damp dinghy
ride back to Intuition, “Mystic Whaler” anchored right across from
us. It is an old (or reproduction) whaling schooner out of Mystic Connecticut.
All in all, a day of pleasant surprises.
Sunday dawned sunny and much calmer, bringing the logcanoes back for more enjoyable racing conditions. We shot some footage with the
movie camera, and may figure out how to post some clips once we get a wi-fi
connection.
After the race we explored St Michaels interesting craft shops and
historic homes. Noah found a toy shop and bought a neat puzzle game named
“Lunar Lockout.” St Michaels lore is that they fooled the British by
puttting lanterns in trees and masts so the British canons missed the town
except for one shot that landed in a house that is now referred to as the
canonball house. We were the only visitors on Sunday to the town museum which
is a restored home of an oysterman from the seventeen hundreds. The volunteer
docent had just given up and was walking to her car when Beth asked her where
we could find the museum. She was excited to have visitors and shared an
interesting description of what life might have been like in a three room house
with five kids. We also checked out the town library, but it was closed on
Sunday. A sign on the door said Children’s Book sale 25 cents and up, so we may
have to come back Monday morning to restock Noah’s library. Heading back to the
boat we noticed another Island Packet 35 anchored nearby. We visited with the
crew of “Fairwinds” and enjoyed appetizers while sharing modification ideas and
sea stories.
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| Noah piloting the dinghy in a rainstorm |