The Old Man The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association Margaret Burri, Editor; Alan Weiis, co-editor
May 2019
"The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet so full of life, so noiseless when it labors hardest, so noisy and impatient when least effective.” - Henry David Thoreau **
Commodore’s Comments
Not another rainy weekend! As Mother’s Day approached, it would make it 15 straight weekends with bad weather in the forecast. The Lunds were leading a cruise to Annapolis Harbor, with brunch at the Boatyard on Sunday morning. But the forecast was terrible, and in an unusual display of common sense (for sailors), nobody but the Lunds had signed up for the cruise. So, late on Saturday afternoon, Chris and I put on our rain jackets and took the water taxi out to Chapter Three, where we found not only the Lunds but Chris Adriance and Kristin Mullins, who had also arrived by water taxi. And despite the weather, we had a great time drinking Dark and Stormies, talking about favorite anchorages, trading funny stories about near disasters, and enjoying the camaraderie that happens whenever sailors get together. A bad weekend turned into a good one by the magic of being on a boat! I have to admit I felt a little bad for the Lunds the next morning when I went down to the dock and saw pouring rain, heavy mist and fog, and wind out of the northeast at 20-25 knots. Thoughts of brunch were abandoned, and the Lunds had an interesting sail back to the Magothy.
On another note, in case you were wondering, after all the installing of thru-hulls, and the tortuous threading of cables, my new depth finder works fine. The new knot meter doesn’t work at all. Sigh…
The racing season is now in full swing, and the first Wednesday night series has been completed. Right now there are only 28 boats coming out on Wednesdays, with a few more expected to join in the near future. This compares to 56 boats in 2010 and 2012, with a gradual decline in numbers since then. It’s not quite clear why this decrease in racers is happening; the river is the same, and the racing is as enjoyable as ever. If you have ever thought about racing your boat, now may be the time to join the fun. You will have a great time, and maybe even become a better sailor. I remember I thought I was pretty good until I came in dead last in my first 3 races.
By the way, there are now nine new 6 second flashing yellow lights on our racing marks scattered around the Magothy, and I believe a much greater number of confused power boaters.
Coming up very soon is the June picnic at Ed and Peggy Poe’s house on Black Hole Creek, to which Chris and I will NOT be sailing Blue Moon. (Actually, we’ll be in New Hampshire, so our absence has nothing to do with our anchoring and navigational skills, or lack thereof). The last cruise taking place in June will be led by Chris and me in Blue Moon to Cascia Vineyards on Kent Island. The passage up Cox Creek can be interesting (there’s that word again…) but the venue is well worth it. See you on the water! This time I mean it.
Norm
Norm Norm Poulsen 2018-19 Commodore, Magothy River Sailing Association
[** Thanks to Jon Anthony for sharing these wise words from Henry David Thoreau]
Cruising Corner
Cascia Vineyard Cruise
The June 22-23 cruise will be to Cascia Vineyards on Cox Creek, Kent Island. Cascia Vineyards is a small vineyard with a beautiful tasting room overlooking Cox Creek. They have tastings hosted by the vineyard owner, Mark Cascia, on Saturdays from 12 to 4 PM.
Saturday June 22 is a special day, however. Following the usual tastings, the Kent Island Running Group is holding The Solstice Stomp, a 5K benefit run at the vineyard, starting at 6:30 PM. Following the run, which should last maybe an hour, there will be food provided by the Running Group as well as a food truck, and a live band on the lawn overlooking the creek playing Jimmy Buffet!
If we each make a small donation to the club for the charity, we can join in the post- race party. I’ll try to get more info on this before the cruise. In any case, if we are anchored in the creek off the vineyard, we'll be able to hear the Jimmy Buffet music. Cox Creek winds a bit, but I can confirm that a Garmin chart plotter shows the channel accurately. The limiting depth at MLW in the channel is 7 feet. You can anchor off the vineyard in 6-8 feet MLW and use their dock for dinghys. The vineyard is the second dock on the left after taking the right branch where Cox Creek meets Thompson Creek.
If you don't want to anchor off the vineyard, you can anchor in 7-8 ft MLW in the wide area just before where Cox Creek and Thompson Creek meet. Distance to the vineyard from the mouth of the Magothy is 28 NM rounding Bloody Point, and 25 miles NM coming through Kent Narrows (for the more courageous among us). Please email me at [email protected] to let me know if you plan to join this unique cruise, or if you have any questions. Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words!
Special Thanks to Peggy and Ed Poe, and Toni Hughes, for these great scenes from the April Sock Burning!
You have heard a lot about our Facebook effort but have you done your part? Please take a moment today and go to facebook.com/magothysailing and “like” each article and each photo. You could click the link right now and then come back to the riveting articles in the Old Man! Put it on your calendar to do all the time! Help us spread the word about MRSA to attract new members!
The Old Man
Magothy River Sailing Association P.O. Box 1135 Pasadena, MD 21122
Please do your part to restore the Bay and actively make it cleaner.
www.magothysailing.com facebook.com/magothysailing