After many hot, muggy, humid airless days, relieved only by the occasional thunderstorm, the weather finally moderated, and we took advantage of the cooler temps and breeze and took off for Worton Creek.
As the wind was NE and right on our nose, we motored there. Being a weekday, we saw relatively few other pleasure vessels, but a few working boats and barges. We anchored without difficulty in the lee of the cliffs in the main basin just outside the entrance of the creek and were greeted by the chattering of terns and gulls as they fought over fish. Interestingly, we rarely see terns or gulls at Ferry Point. Besides the birds it was remarkably quiet.
The cliffs ringing the anchorage were topped with trees and other greenery, and the narrow beach was thickly decorated with fallen trees, driftwood and stones.
One palatial home was barely visible through the trees.
The reddish soil of the cliffs themselves near water’s edge was riddled with holes the size of dinner plates. These appeared too round to be accidental features and we later learned these were the nesting places of belted Kingfishers.
It wasn’t an hour before an American Bald Eagle swooped down just to our starboard and snatched a fish from the water. We were hugely surprised and gratified-and unfortunately without a camera handy! The eagles were fairly numerous and we saw them multiple times over the next few days. However, they proved a lot more camera-shy than the ospreys and other birds and tended to circle very high in the sky-well out of the reach of our longest lens.
Therefore, the best results of our photography are limited to one poor blurred shot of an eagle perched in a tree, and a far-away shot in the clouds. ARRRGH!
We went for a dip in the amazingly warm yet jellyfish-free water. Then refreshed, we had crock-pot lasagna made the day before and toasted sourdough garlic bread. The wind shifted from NE to S, SE, in defiance of the forecast, but we were still sheltered and the boat rode easily on its chain.
As we dozed in the cockpit, stuffed, there was a cloudy sunset and distant lightening show after which we turned in like the old people we are.
The morning of day two was consumed by a 5 mile slow kayaking meander along the edges of the anchorage and into the far end of the creek where we admired the boats docked and moored at Green Point Landing and Worton Creek Marina.
Our Hobie Mirage Kayaks, which have both a peddle and paddle option, really extend our kayaking range (or at least mine, as I have better leg than upper body strength, and with the peddle option, I don’t have to call a halt to our adventures if my arms tire). Lunch, swimming, a nap, and lamb for dinner followed.
Next day, after coffee and a quick breakfast, we returned to the kayaks for an exploration of the south shore. We saw an osprey land and carry off a huge fish into the boughs of a nearby tree, and struggled to get a good picture as our kayaks rolled in the mild swell and drifted with the current.
We saw lots of eagles, often presaged by a huge shadow passing over one or the other kayaks-a little scary, although they seemed to ignore us. On the way back to C Ghost, Tom was way ahead-about to reach our boat- as I had stopped to watch two adult ospreys apparently turtledoving on top of a marker. I had never seen this behavior before. They were face to face and almost appeared to be kissing or touching the sides of their faces together periodically, while each made the small peeping noise that I have heard from nestlings.
As I watched, a large cabin cruiser rounded the marker and then stopped abruptly. The captain ran down from the fly bridge and up onto the bow. I wondered if he had somehow hit an obstruction-then saw him snatch up an article of clothing left on the bow and run with it back up to the bridge past his bemused significant other who was seated below in an aft deck chair. At the top of the ladder he paused, and before resuming his seat at the fly bridge helm, turned and called down to her, “Hey, hon, why don’t you run me up a beer now, so you don’t have to do it later while we’re on plane.” The boat took off again with a roar, and I marveled at this clear evidence that chivalry is not dead. I couldn’t wait to rejoin Tom on C Ghost so I could tell him.
After a quick snack lunch and a brief rest, we took the dinghy to explore the Bay side of Handy Point and walk on the beach. This was where we saw belted Kingfishers hunting in pairs (!) and realized that the holes in the cliff face we’d been seeing were their nesting tunnels.
Upon our return, we swam, and Tom, bemoaning the early soft growth on the dinghy and waterline of C Ghost, spent some time scrubbing them clean while I made preparations for dinner: Grilled chicken, sautéed zucchini, garlic, and onions, and edamame succotash.
(Tom) – On day four of our last morning there, we had coffee and breakfast and went through our normal routine to prepare the boat and ourselves to get underway. The anchor came up without a problem (with clear evidence that it had been well buried) and we started back. Once we got out into the bay, we put the sails up in a 10 knot Southeast wind. We couldn’t hold a direct course back to the Magothy, but were able to sail close hauled all the way back across the bay to just a few miles north of our river entrance. The wind strengthened a little along the way giving us one of the best sailing days so far this summer. We were back in the Marina by mid afternoon.