Pax River and Points South...

When I left off my cruising stories, Tyche & I were in the Pax River boat basin, dragging anchor in a storm. The next morning, I packed up Tyche and headed south, hoping to reach Deltaville, VA. It wasn't to be as the day turned into a Chesapeake broiler... hot, sunny, no wind. Days like that make for slow going, even with the smudge pot engine putzing along.

After some coffee and a quick breakfast of fried fish & scrambled eggs, the good boat Tyche and her occupants started heading towards the Chesapeake. The Patuxent River is a very large, deep river. Here are some facts...

• River Length - 115 miles but only navigable for 52 miles
• Widest part - 2.3 miles
• Deepest point - 130 ft below sea level
• Named in 1608 by Jamestown settler, John Smith of Pocahontas fame

Anyway, putzing along with the sails up to catch any whisper of breeze, the going was slow. Many hours later, towards dusk, we were off Point Lookout. Ahead of us was the mouth of the Potomac River, a place where you can encounter open ocean conditions on the Bay, if the winds & tide are right. Of course, now the winds were up and blowing against the tide making for a lumpy ride. There isn't any place to anchor, so... "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's cross the river we go...." Here are some Potomac River facts...

• The river's mouth is 11 miles wide and it is the 21st largest river in the USA.
• Drainage area - 14,679 sq mi.
• Length - 383 miles
• Avg flow (in Wash D.C.) - 7 billion gallons/day

While Jim was on the helm, I went below and made dinner. After eating, I was off watch and went below to sleep for 6 hrs. About 3 hours into my nap, the motion of the boat awakened me. Going topside, I asked, "What's wrong?" The mainsail had about an 18" rip in it and he was dumping wind to keep it intact. Sigh...

I had mentioned that my friend was suffering from pancreatic cancer. By this time, he really wasn't feeling well. After reefing the main, I suggested he cut short his watch and go below to sleep. He made me promise to wake him when his watch rolled around again. "Sure Jim... I promise."

The night was interesting. We had a lovely full moon and the sails were full. It was a beautiful night for a sail. Around 3am, I noticed that the running lights were getting dim, so I swapped batteries. Hmm... no improvement. Wonderful. Expecting that the batteries to die during the night, I broke out a large flashlight and extra batteries to keep next to me in the cockpit. Throughout the night, whenever I'd see or hear a large vessel (think tugboat, tankers, cargo ships), I'd shine the lamp on the mainsail, illuminating us for them. Fiberglass doesn't show up well on radar.

Sometime after sunrise, Jim poked his head up and chastised me for not waking him. And, we pulled into Reedville, VA on Cockrell Creek off the Great Wicomico River. Next job? Get the mainsail fixed!