The BAYFARERS

Next Raft-up: Whenever, wherever. If your boat is chomping at the bit to take you for a ride, and the weather looks irresistable, just call around/email around to see which other boats are also chomping at their dock lines. Next scheduled weekend is sail or drive to Jimmy Cantlers Restaurant, July 25-26, in Annapolis, but it's guaranteed that we will be horsing around in the meantime.

Memorial Day Weekend - Dividing Creek (May 24-26, 2008)

Memorial Day Weekend - Dividing Creek (May 24-26, 2008)

Shaw Bay raftup (Aug 23 - 24, 2008)

As an improptu email-organized get together, the weekend raftup worked out well. It was quite cloudy during the day with spotty showers but only one light sprinkle hit us. But the clouds were very interesting viewing. Especially when Bill was on the phone with Chris O'Neill as Felix was coming down from Kent Narrows toward us, he spotted a funnel cloud descending from a dark cloud band directly in front of Felix, which really wasn't what Chris wanted to happen. Fortunately, it dissipated before anything drastic happened and other subsequent small funnels didn't amount to much either. Later in the evening we had some good star viewing - even the Milky Way was clear and Rick Emerson spotted a meteor.

Labor Day Weekend (Aug 30- Sept 1, 2008)

We rafted up in San Domingo Creek (the back door to St Michaels, although only Chris and Rick Emerson actually did the dinghy trip over for a short visit there). Despite earlier concerns, it turned out to be quite nice weather with moderate temperatures. A nice relaxing weekend with some intermissions for fixing various stuff on the boats. (Dennis Lawrence's TV bit the dust) Maggie and Murphy had fun romping on the Island and no one got there feet cut by oyster shells as has happened here in the past. (There were definitely too many sea nettles for swimming) We had a good view at sunset of Venus and Mars on the western horizon. Chris & Suzi had fun practicing kayaking in Sue's kayaks (one inflatable and one regular) as the three explored the anchorage. - And Chris turned out to be the grand winner at Dominos.

Oktoberfest and Columbus Day, Rhode River (October 11-13, 2008)

After much consultation on which direction would be best to sail last weekend, we ended up riding to the Rhode River. The weather was unbelievable for October - it felt like summer was still here with strong sunlight in the 80's. Nightingale got there first (we cheated, we motorsailed downwind - was only 1 to 2 knots apparent from behind when moderately motoring downbay.) Felix the cat was next and put the bigger hook in, followed later by One With the Wind, who was delayed while indulging in Taste of Kent Narrows before they left - but they didn't have to tack at all on the way over. Rick Emerson helped out with fixing some obscure electronics problems on Felix but fortunately, their large TV was working just fine, so we checked out some video shots recorded by Bill Schneider the previous week at the Glacier Jazz Stampede in Kalispell, Montana. They were of special interest to Chris O'Neill since she is currently teaching piano as a part time job and the shots were of an absolutely great piano player/comedian from Montreal, Mimi Blais. Magnifique! Tres Bon. You can see her unbelievable stuff at www.mimiblais.com, although the Youtube videos may require a fairly fast connection. We rafted up between High Island and the shore and weren't bothered much by powerboat wakes. High Island stopped much of the occasional wake even though High Island was only above water for a short while at low tide. The Bayfarer ladies did a mutual kayak trip together (Chris, Chris, & Sue) all over the place and had a good time. The guys were fixing things on the boats in the meantime. Later, we were joined by Catnip. We were a bit concerned about how Felix might react to Catnip, but since Andy & Joyce rafted on the other side of Nightingale, we don't think Catnip noticed. We hors d'oeuvred to excess before/instead of dinner and dominoed in the evenings. There was a fantastic fireworks at Camp Letts on Saturday night. It was better and bigger than most July 4th fireworks displays. We don't know for sure why it happened, but most probably it was because someone had heard the Bayfarers would be there. And a great time was had by all.

Halloween, Kent Narrows (October 25, 2008)

The updated weather forecast of very strong gusty winds with rain haunted us so we (fortunately, since the forecast turned out to be correct) changed the Halloween raftup from Harness Creek to a sail or drive to the Emerson's One With the Wind in her dock in Kent Narrows. The Taliaferros and Schneiders drysailed across the Bay Bridge and joined Rick & Chris on their boat along with Gunther and Barbara Nehrkorn (from Tseunami) and, for their first ever Bayfarer event, David & Veronica Derby, who are using One With the Wind's old dock space on the other side of Kent Narrows. We had a great time, as the winds and rains howled outside (or was that the Halloween ghosts howling), what with the much more that we could eat food, including Chris's traditional pumpkin soup in a pumpkin, and lots of fun conversation, including some very Halloween-appropriate spooky laughs at political candidates. Much later, closing out the evening, Chris showed us a version of Dominos that Gunther had introduced them to the previous week - and she won the series - no wonder she liked that version? Actually it wasn't bad (I came in second). Anyway, good spirits were had by all. ("Punky Pumpkin is a happy pumpkin, cause he's a Jack-o-lantern and not a pumpkin pie" - Teresa Brewer, et al.)

Turkey Stew, Back Creek (November 15, 2008)

Our late fall schedule seems to have been a good prediction of bad sailing weather. This time it was gusts of 30 to 40 mph with periods of heavy rains and even a tornado warning. Freeflight and Nightingale stayed at their docks and the skippers and crew plus a few others rafted up in Jerry & Roanna's place on Back Creek. No one had found any of the traditional Dinty Moore Stew in their bilges to use so we pigged out on conventional food instead. It was a good decision in retrospect since, although we didn't see any tornados, it would have been very uncomfortable (and wet) on the water and we might not have been able to get back to the docks on Sunday since the wind blew a lot of the water out of the western shore. - And the food was great and we had a great time. - And the skipper and crew of One with the Wind (they drove down there) were rafted up in the living room of the new home of the skipper and crew of Thata Wata in North Carolina also having a great time. However, the tornados actually did show up in North Carolina and we hope they stayed away from Thata Wata et al.

Raftup Reports for 2007:

Memorial Day Weekend - Wye Island area (May 26-28, 2007)

Dennis put his new Spade hook down in Dividing Creek and it held well, first with just himself and then with Rick & Chris, and later with Val, Jane, and Brian. The creek was full of cats, e.g. a Gemini cat gathering but we didn't notice too much meowing. Felix, the cat (the O'Neills) anchored near by, at the mouth of the creek. There was the usual visiting back and forth, with snacks, etc. in Thate Wata. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, less the sailing into the Wye and concluded with a round of "full contact dominoes" with everyone winning at least once. Weather-wise, we were lucky. Saturday evening's storm that drenched Annapolis, passed by to the north and was basically a non-event in the Dividing Creek area. Sunday evening it rained a bit, the "son et lumiare" show was more vivid, and the wind came up a bit but, overall, it was mostly an interruption in the late afternoon/evening.

Labor Day Weekend (Aug 31- Sept 3)

We had the right Felix at the raftup. Felix the catamaran (Chris & Dave O'Neill) was the one at this weekend's raftup - most fortunately. Far better than Category 5 hurricane Felix that was cruising in the Caribbean! This was a last minute get-together. Friday afternoon Nightingale rafted up to Felix the Cat (main crewmember, Bequie the dog) in Swan Creek and were joined shortly by Kathy & Mike Anderson in Daze Off. We rode into a marina (Harbor Haven?) in Dave's high powered motorboat/dinghy and were treated to the top of 3 decks with a great private view for the 6 of us. The next day, after much discussion, we flew down (and up) to the mouth of Emery Creek, where it was so nice we stayed there for the next two days. We were joined by Chris & Rick Emerson - they had tried to sail One With The Wind south but the nice breeze kept quitting at strategic moments, which made One With the Wind very mad and the boat said "Enough is enough, I'm going North for a boat Party!". A bit later, Val & Jane Taliaferro blew in and rafted FreeFlight up with us. What can I say? We partied, and relaxed, and partied and relaxed. Daze Off & Felix introduced us to the card game Crazy Rummy, and Nightingale, One with the Wind, & FreeFlight introduced them to Dominoes (Bayfarer version). Great hors d'oeuvres were offered by all - although Chris O'Neill insisted her mango fruit salsa would have been better if she had remembered to bring the cilantro which was on their dock. Dave & Bequie spend a bit of time on the beaches but weren't able to find any ripe cilantro plants to pick. Fortunately, her salsa seemed just great to us as it was. - and a good time was had by all. (Oh, this may be classified information, but we celebrated Sue's birthday on Sunday - see the pictures of everyone on Nightingale)

-One With The Wind, FreeFlight, Nightingale, Felix, Daze Off ---------- Val, Jane, Chris O'Neill, Rick, Chris Emerson ----

---------- Kathy & Mike Anderson, Sue, & Dave --------------------- Sue, Dave, & Bill ----------

Oktoberfest in the Wye Oct 6 - 8)

We were pleasantly surprised that, on the busy weekend, there was actually room to raftup in Dividing Creek in the first cove to starboard with some protection from the Wye River powerboat wakes. Nightingale was slowed up at the Kent Narrows Bridge which was a bit off schedule due to a sailboat running into it shortly before (the boat, with some scarring on the hull, was heading north into the Chester as we were arriving). Rick identified the boat as being from their marina. -And then Nightingale's motor quit in the Miles - luckily it didn't happen while waiting for the bridge - it took awhile to finally find a plugged fuel line at the tank as the problem - so we were a bit late getting there. We had a good Oktoberfest (Eins, Zwei, g'suffa!) and we had a Day of Absurdity Oktoberfest quiz (continued at the following raftup). Val just edged out Rick by half a point, followed by a tie for third between Suzi Lawrence and Sue Schneider. Nice clear nights and we had a great overhead passing view of the International Space Station.

Halloween Postponed to Nov 3-4 from Oct 27-28 due to the weather

The original date on Halloween weekend was blown out by the one of the first windy/rainy days we had all summer - the rain was much appreciated because of the draught, but not so good - especially the winds - for getting to Harness Creek. Then, on the following weekend, Nov 3-4, one of the few Atlantic hurricanes this year, Noel, passed by offshore and sucked in lots of wind on Friday and Saturday so Schneider, Lawrences, & Taliferros just drove over to Kent Narrows to party on Rick & Chris's boat at Mears marina, joined by a number of their marina friends. The breeze did tend to blow stuff of the table in the Pavilion there, but it was easier to recover it than it would have been from the boats - and we managed to go a good job on the pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin dip, pear crisp dessert, and lots more. At least, the winds blew out the clouds so that Comet Holmes overhead was able to check us out - "Elementary, my dear Watson, it just looks like those Bayfarers party animals on One With The Wind. Nothing to worry about!"

Raftup Reports for 2006:

Memorial Day Weekend - Dividing Creek on the Wye (May 27-29, 2006)

Nightingale arrived the night before and staked out a deep-water spot in Dividing Creek. Dennis & Val had a good sail in a brisk breeze up Eastern Bay through the Annapolis -St Michael's regatta racing fleet, reportedly leaving Donnybrook in their wake - although maybe it was the other way around. Freeflight, One with the Wind, and Thate Wata were joined by Tseunami and Impulse - who are docked at Kent Narrows with One with the Wind. The highlight of the weekend was a christening ceremony for Thate Wata, Dennis & Suzi Lawrence's new boat - a Catalina 42. Rick recited the formal verse while Dennis & Suzi popped champaign corks North, South, East, & West. The toasts ensured the proper welcoming of the new boat to the fleet. Thate Wata seemed to be enjoying it's ceremony - definitely a very spoiled boat. Procyon (Procy for short - named after the little dog star), Nightingale's new golden retriever puppy also enjoyed his first cruise, along with Jack, Karl Schneider's large golden retriever. Maggie and Murphy on Thate Wata completed the dog picture - all had a great time on the beaches - especially sniffing the many horseshoe crabs crawling up on the beaches.

San Domingo Creek/St Michaels (July 4th weekend)

Following some independent cruising we met for a long July 4th weekend in San Domingo Creek, the back door to St Michaels. We had Rick & Chris who were well relaxed from messing around on the Choptank the previous week as St Michael's tour experts. We anchored separately in the cove at San Domingo and took the dinghies into the south dock at St Michaels for a nice walk into town. The weather couldn't have been nicer. We hiked & hiked & hiked around town. I think we explored most all of the many stores. The ice cream shop had no fat/no sugar moose ice cream advertised which was an irresistable offer. And it tasted great! Come evening, we wandered over to the waterfront/museum area where we enjoyed some very nice fireworks and some good music. The big band even played "Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay"! However, we did then have to lug all the stuff we (some of us) bought back to the dinghys. Later, we dinghied over to Thate Wata for some socializing. We noticed a Maryland Marine Police cruiser checking out the many boats in the anchorage and it wandered by us asking who belonged to Nightingale since no one was on board. They seems reassured when they found we were with the group. They said they were going to be there all night and, indeed, they seemed to be anchored out at least until we retired for the night. We have some speculation on why they were there but don't want them mad at us if we guessed the reason wrong so we won't post it here on the internet.

Mini-Cruise - South River to Wye River August 19 - Labor Day weekend

FreeFlight and Nightingale had a great initial week cruising short distances and goofing off doing as little as possible so we were well primed for a great imprompto raftup with the Emersons, Stefanciks, Laurences, and some trawler/diving friends of Rick & Chris in Dividing Creek the weekend of Aug 26-27. Andy & Joyce were out for the following week and went down to check out St Michaels on Monday. FreeFlight and Nightingale had already done that for the previous week so we just hung around and fixed stuff on the boats. Val & Jane's big project (a never-ending one) was to constantly reglue the Bayfarer seanettle pool which really wasn't made too well to begin with. The sea nettles were very thick in St Michaels, Leeds Creek, and Dividing Creek. However, Nightingale checked out Pickering Creek since it hadn't been there for awhile and - surprise!- almost no sea nettles (and plenty of water doing the "S" turn around the points into and out of the creek). We all were planning on staying out through Labor Day weekend, but perhaps we listened once too often to the weather forcasts and we decided to head back to wait out Ernesto at home. A good move, it turned out.

Octoberfest and Orionids at Dividing CreekOctober 21-22

This Duck in at Dividing Creek was dominated by the dogs (of course) Jack, Procy, Maggie, and Murphy had many fun beach excursions. Dennis's favorite dog beach on the south side of the Wye had an imposingly large American Persimmon tree loaded with ripe persimmons. The raftup featured some Octoberfest music and we even drank a little bit of German beer. The highlight of the evening, however, was a spectacular meteor that Rick & Bill spotted - it streaked (although we don't know if it had its clothes on or not) from low in the east all the way overhead to the west. Definitely one to remember.