June 20, 2009

Ahoy from Namaste on Mill Creek, Solomon’s Island

We left Deltaville and Jackson Creek June 16, Tuesday morning after fueling and taking on water. We had a great sail up the Chesapeake Bay to Reedsville, Maryland and Cockrell Creek just off the Great Wicomico River. The wind speed most of the day was 25 knots and we averaged 7 knots SOG (speed over ground). At times we were weaving through lines of crab pots strung like beads along the channel, adding challenge to our travels on the Bay.

We enjoyed a brief tour of Reedsville Tuesday evening. Elijah Reed settled Reedsville in the mid 1800’s and began one of many menhaden processing plants that flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries along the Great Wicomico River. The oil from the menhaden was once used for lamp oil and is now an ingredient in cat food and a vehicle for spray chemicals. At present there is only one plant remaining on Smith Creek and the fleet of 100-foot fishing vessels continues to net and transport fish for processing in Reedsville.

On Wednesday morning we left the mouth of the Great Wicomico River and sailed north to the Potomac River. We anchored on Smith Creek off the north shore of the Potomac, near the Saint Mary’s River. The small cove where we anchored is surrounded by farm and wetland. Herons and osprey kept us company in this pleasant anchorage. We awoke each morning to the “eeeew” call of the osprey and the barking of herons as they searched for fish, frogs and snakes. There were crabs and jellyfish swimming along side Namaste. We also discovered the ripples created by schools of shiners that serve as lunch to the local seagulls and larger fish. We were the only boat in the cove.

On Friday we left our peaceful cove and sailed up to Solomon’s Island on the Patuxent River. Solomon’s Island is a destination for cruising boaters and has it’s own large fleet of sailing and motor vessels. We are anchored on Mill Creek just outside of the village. We plan to be here a few days taking in the sights, catching up with friends we met in the Bahamas and waiting for better sailing weather.

Here too, we are entertained with diving osprey, a patient and watchful white egret, territorial great blue herons, two devoted families of Canadian geese, a green heron and 4 male mallards. This morning I observed a school of shiners springing out of the water visibly evading a predator. The green heron saw the shiners leaping and flew over to a log trailing just above the school of shiners. The heron confidently perched on the end of the log, leaned into the water and snapped up three shiners within moments. The shiners virtually leapt into the heron’s mouth in order to escape their underwater nemesis. Three cownose rays were swimming under the surface of the water scaring up the shiners. I find myself becoming more patient, still, watchful, alert and present, tending to simple needs, learning from my observations of nature.

We have entered a panorama of greens and grays. The water reflects the lush surrounding forest and marshland and the hazy summer sky. I have been enjoying the soft and subtle hues of the land and waterscape on the Chesapeake Bay. We are enveloped in gray green, hunter and sap green, slate blue, paynes gray, umber, sepia, ochre, cerulean. These colors do not dazzle and excite the eye, demanding my attention, as did the aquamarines of the Bahamas. These Bay tints and shades patiently wait for one to become still and take notice. They are muted, softened by their compliments, inviting, embracing, peaceful. I am drawn into the serenity that is to be found here on the Chesapeake.

This time we have living on Namaste is such a gift! I am so blessed to be able to spend it with my best friend and lover. We are both, at once, grateful and fulfilled by this experience. Today is our 28th wedding anniversary. Lucky us!

Peace and Love