October 13, 2020

I like to have the hook down well before sunset while we are exploring the shallow waters of the Chesapeake.  It worked out this time on our way to Tangier Island, because we were able to pick a random bay on the Eastern Shore and tuck in for the night.  We weren’t that tucked in, because to get deep enough water we were still a mile off shore, but sandbars and low islands to the west protected us from any fetch.  We both slept soundly.

October 14, 2020
We wanted to see Tangier Island, because it is quickly disappearing into the Chesapeake.  It’s down to just 320 acres or so above water, and loosing about 10% a year.  About 300 people still live on the island, after hundreds of years of history as a haven for true Chesapeake watermen.  We anchored east of the island in the early afternoon, but it is so low lying, we were still pretty exposed.  We went in in the dinghy to take a look, and it was cool the way the channel that cuts right through the middle of the island was lined with docks for oyster/crab boats, with little dock houses for each one.  It was like a residential street, but instead of cars and driveways, people had boats and pilings.  We were tired, and didn’t see an obvious place to tie up and walk around, so we just did the slow tour in the dinghy, and then zipped back out to Renegade for an early dinner.