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Tangier Island Homecoming ~ Chesapeake Float 2015

video: Mailboat entering Mailboat Harbor on Tangier Island

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Two other times I’ve been to Tangier. Once as a boy of 12, my grandparents took us – me, my brother and sister – on the ferry from Reedville, Virginia, just up the road from where they lived, where I spent summers. Thirty years later, when my own daughters were the same age, I took them over on the same ferry. Ten years later still, on the mailboat from Crisfield, will be the third time. What’s most surprising is not how much has changed in all that time, but how very, very little.

 

 

 

Our group meets for breakfast down by the town dock at the Waterside Cafe. (It’s good hearty food, with omelettes that cover a dinner plate and endless coffee.) From there the we split and parts ways. Some head back to the campsite to sleep and read through the rainy day; others drive south to scout the lower peninsula; five of us wait on the dock to board a boat for Tangier.

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Tangier Sound Ahead of a Storm ~ Video 4 of 4

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We dallied too long over lunch in Ewell. A message from home said the storm knocked out the power, and was coming our way. The radio said it was bringing rain and wind, with gusts to 30+.

Still calm on the way out, in the lee of the island. But the tide was out now, and we kept getting stuck and bumping bottom on the three mile trek out Big Thorofare. Short tacking across the narrow channel delayed us more. By the time we reached the Sound it was blowing pretty good and spitting rain.

Thanks to Kevin Brennan for the clips of Obadiah.

The companion article appears in the July 2015 issue of Small Boats Monthly, a WoodenBoat publication. A month of access to the current issue and the full archive is $2.99. You can cancel a subscription at any time.


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Within Smith Island ~ Video 3 of 4

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Leaving North End Bottom in the morning, we sailed past Tylerton, through Rhodes Point and on to Ewell.

 

Thanks to Kevin Brennan for the clips of Obadiah.

The companion article appears in the July 2015 issue of Small Boats Monthly, a WoodenBoat publication. A month of access to the current issue and the full archive is $2.99. You can cancel a subscription at any time.


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Smith Island in Big Thorofare ~ Video 2 of 4

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Arriving at Smith Island from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we enter Big Thorofare. A quarter mile wide and very shallow, this main channel into the heart of the island is over two miles long. Beautiful sailing as the sun was getting low.

Once inside at North End Bottom, we sailing up Tyler Ditch before the wind gave out, and the light. Then rafted up in the center of the island for the evening, before anchoring there for the night under clear skies.

Thanks to Kevin Brennan for the clips of Obadiah from across the water.

The companion article appears in the July 2015 issue of Small Boats Monthly, a WoodenBoat publication. A month of access to the current issue and the full archive is $2.99. You can cancel a subscription at any time.


 

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To Smith Island ~ Video 1 of 4

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Leaving Janes Island State Park, past Crisfield, and across Tangier Sound to Smith Island. A beautiful afternoon crossing in light but steady wind and warm sunshine for a mid-Spring day.

The companion article appears in the July 2015 issue of Small Boats Monthly, a WoodenBoat publication. A month of access to the current issue and the full archive is $2.99. You can cancel a subscription at any time.