Yesterday evening we had a series of rainstorms and some intense lightning and thunder. I learned from a fellow boater, Fryedaze, that what we experienced in the Solomons was nothing compared to what we would have seen had we stayed an extra night at Colonial Beach where a tornado struck. Looking at the weather reports and radar pictures, we see more foul weather in the area of the Chesapeake Bay for the next few days.
With nasty weather predicted for the afternoon today, Clark targeted a relatively short day on the water to get us into port before heavy rains fell. We left around 9:20 and before leaving Calvert Marina in the Solomons, I grabbed a few pictures of the immediate area.
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| Natural Resources Police (Clark wants to know if Natural Resources misbehave) |
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| NOAA Vessel docked at Calvert Marina |
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| View from our dock in the Solomons |
We had heavy fog with visibility of about one nautical mile. For the first time ever on this boat, we turned on the radar to get the larger picture we could not see with our eyes. The picture showed spots all around us. Since we could see multiple fishing boats near us, we speculated that this smattering of dots comprised yet more fishing boats.
The boaters we saw today were dragging nets behind their slow moving vessels to bring in the "catch of the day". As Clark said, "These guys are a pain in the bottom!" Even when we had the right of way as the stand-on vessel, they did not move and thus we had to circumvent them. Not only did we need to navigate around their boats, we had to watch out for the netting they dragged behind.
If we weren't watching out for nets behind fishing boats, we were dodging crap pots. Initially, we had the front panel of the full enclosure closed, but once we turned into the wind, the mist in the air covered the panel with water droplets such that I found it impossible to see what obstacles might be floating in the water. Consequently, we opened the panel and immediately got chilled right through to our bones with the cold, damp air. After which, we took turns running down below to obtain additional layers of clothing.
We traveled thirty-three nautical miles today and arrived at Tilghman Island around 1:30. A very friendly dock hand, who clearly knew how to do his job, met us to collect our lines. When we come across the ones who know what they are doing, it is a much appreciated relief. After checking in, we took a walk around to see the marina facility before the heavy rains set in.
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| View from our boat at dock: Drawbridge over Knapp's Narrows Tilghman Island |
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| Boat Traffic through the Drawbridge |
Before we finished our tour of the marina, the rain starting falling and came heavier and heavier. We decided to head back to the boat to pull out a DVD and watch a movie.
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| Look closely to see the raindrops captured in the picture |
The previous owners of our boat left behind a DVD set containing a number of movies from the 1980s. All of them are somewhat obscure, and it is a true grab bag. We have no idea what we are going to get until we start watching the movie. This afternoon we watched Somewhere Tomorrow. As the movie progressed, I had no idea if I was watching a comedy, a drama, or a horror movie. It caught my attention if only to figure out its genre.
While making dinner, I mixed up and baked applesauce cake for Clark's midnight snacks. Then, after dinner, Clark found a television special on Roy Oribson, so we enjoyed some lovely music entertainment while I worked on my blog update.
I thought I had all my pictures figured out for the blog, but when Clark went out to walk up to the restroom, he found a sunset just waiting to be captured in photos. He came running back in saying, "Camera!" and I knew I was in trouble.
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| Sunset at Tilghman Island |
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| Sunset at Tilghman Island |
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| Sunset at Tilghman Island |
The sunset is not as magnificent as some we have seen, but given the overcast weather, I found it surprising that a sunset could be seen at all.
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