Kuan Yin's voyage from

Mill Creek, MD to Herrington Harbour South, MD and Return

20-22 June 2003

Updated 08/27/2003 09:14

Click on any thumbnail photo below to enlarge it

A Ship 25 crew consisting of the Skipper, Mary Wills and daughter Hannah, Tim, Phil, Carl, Nyssa, and Devon set sail from Mill Creek, MD on Friday evening, 20 June 2003 after dark onboard Sea Scout Training Vessel Kuan Yin.  Navigation down the creek with its unlighted buoys proved interesting but successful.  Using the chart plotter for the first time after dark, there was a momentary grounding when the skipper misread a contour line, but KY's Yanmar diesel at "all back full" was more than adequate to the task of getting us back into the main channel.  We motored out of Whitehall Bay in to the Chesapeake, and proceeded north under the Bay Bridge.  The twin bridges are a spectacular sight at night.  En route to the mouth of the Magothy River, we passed a brightly-lit Carnival Cruise Liner headed down the Bay from Baltimore.  We anchored in the Magothy's Sillery Bay off Dobbin Island and spent a quiet night.

Saturday morning Tim and Phil launched the Bombard AX-3 dingy and rowed ashore to explore Dobbin Island while the rest of the crew prepared breakfast.  We discovered that it is relatively easy to tell when the sewage holding tank is full:  the sewage oozes out the vent and all over the port teak walkway.  The skipper declared that this was an excellent time to give the decks a complete salt water wash down with KY's installed water wash down system.  In view of the aroma emanating from the port walkway, the crew readily agreed.  

With the meal and cleanup completed, we motored out of Sillery Bay and back under the bridge headed for Annapolis and the nearest sewage pump out station.  Since we had no way of knowing how full the sewage tanks hand been when we got the boat on 4 June, we are not yet able to judge how much usage it takes to fill them.

Pump out completed, we raised the sails off Thomas Point light and sailed close-hauled on the starboard tack for Herrington Harbour.  We experimented with various ways of adjusting sail tension, but must reluctantly agree with Brian Johnson's assessment last week during the BOR ShortTail Race: new sails are a must for better performance.

We arrived at Herrington Harbour South about 1700 Saturday afternoon and the skipper proceeded to check in.  We discovered the marina rate was $2 per foot instead of the $1.50 per foot the skipper had been quoted in his reservation email, but some sleuthing uncovered the reason.  The cheaper rate applies to Herrington Harbour North, the shipyard, while the higher rate applies to Herrington Harbour South, the resort marina complex.   We had no objection to the higher rate, as the amenities at South are among the finest on the Bay.  That rate included four swimming pool passes.   We paid $9 for two more pool passes and $5 for the use of 30 amp 130 volt shore power.  The $100 total marina bill divided among eight crewmembers came to only $12.50 per person, so we still felt we were getting a great deal.

The younger members of the crew headed off immediately to the pool, while the skipper puttered around organizing things on the boat.  As this is only the second real Ship 25 voyage onboard KY since the skipper took title to her, there are still lockers full of odds 'n ends he hasn't even seen yet.

 

 

Pool, showers, and stowage completed, we all headed to Portside South, the marina restaurant, for a seafood dinner. The food was excellent, and the crew was delighted to learn they could return at 2100 for Saturday night karaoke.

 

 

  The skipper went back to his onboard locker investigations while the rest of the crew sang the night away at Portside South and eventually closed the place.  Tired but happy, everyone eventually tumbled into their racks while a gentle rain gave the decks one more cleaning.

 

 

Sunday morning, the skipper was up bright and early to prepare KY for the arrival of her first "distinguished visitor", Chesapeake Flotilla Sea Scout Wardroom Past Commodore Jerry Crabtree, who had graciously agreed to come out of semi-retirement to join Kuan Yin and her crew for the voyage back to Annapolis and Mill Creek.  Jerry brought along a loaf of his famous home-baked bread for the crew to enjoy at breakfast.

There was just time for a quick last look around at the beautiful facilities of Herrington Harbour South before we turned in our shower room keys and made all preparations for getting under way.

                   

Back at Yuan Yin,  we picked up our shoes which we had been leaving on the pier to avoid marring Kuan Yin's beautiful teak and holly cabin sole.  We then brought the dingy in to short stay and planned our departure from the pier.  This required some coordination and team work as we were moored port side to the pier, KY's  right hand screw backs to the left when in reverse, and the wind was blowing the bow to port.  

  

  However, we soon had the situation well in hand and proceeded on our way in good order.

  Eventually we reached the mouth of Mill Creek and started up same to Kuan Yin's berth.

  Jerry acts as navigator and checks the chart.

  There are some VERY nice homes along Mill Creek.

  Cantler's Riverside Inn beckons in the distance, a welcome port of call for weary voyagers.

Voyage done, we gave Kuan Yin a clean sweep down fore and aft, offloaded our gear, gave her a fresh water washdown, and headed home after a GREAT weekend on the Bay.  Sea Scouting as it was MEANT to be!