Tilghman Creek rendezvous 9/18-19 by Jim Perrie
Having called Rai Aubrey, the listed trip leader, with no luck, and having mentioned the rendezvous to Mike Borgman, who was setting out Sat. morning for a sail on his M-26x, I thought I would zip over to check things out. The weather was beautiful, with winds S.E. about 10 kts at 4pm sat when I departed Casa Rio at flank speed under " iron genny". I saved enough time under power to try a little light air/no ballast sailing in the Eastern Bay, staying just ahead of a 26-28' keelboat @ 2-3-kts for about 20 minutes. Switching gears again to power and rounding Rich neck point, it was pretty calm all the way to Tilghman Creek. I was trying to remember which VHF channel CVSA monitors, when I saw a 26x roaring towards Tilghman Creek from St. Michaels. It was Mike Borgman and friend Larry, whom I joined in looking for the CVSA raft. We poked our noses all the way to the head of the creek, with local watermen and a heeled over sailboat on a mooring in the shallow water at the very end. Since our provisions were sparse, and no CVSA was in evidence, we decided to sail towards St. Michaels.
Mike had never sailed without water ballast, but with the devil's encouragement we both sailed quite nicely in the light air. Another 26 powersailor zoomed by. Who DAT? Turned out to be Alan and Cheryl Williams, who keep their boat at Casa Rio in a slip. Alan modified his cockpit by adding a huge opening hatch in the stbd seat fwd, to better access items on the berth underneath the cockpit. They anchored near the harbor entrance and were taking a swim with their dog when we stopped by to say Hi! It was getting dark as we motored past the museum docks when a voice hailed "That you, Cap't Jim?" It was Bill Rudd and family, aboard a friend's C&C 35, with their own M-26x anchored in 2' nearby. Turned out Bill had subbed for Rai who was out of town and in the confusion did not link up with any other CVSA'ers, but stumbled upon other friends anyway. We all tied up (two skinny MacGregors in one fattish slip) and had a nice chat. Mike, Larry and I walked over to the Crab Claw for some eats while the others walked around the grounds with the two boys, Colin and Alex. Things looked pretty quiet when we returned so we got underway as quietly as possible and headed across the river to Leed's Creek for a good night's rest.
The morning mist clung to the water as I left the other MacGregor sleeping peacefully and purred down the Miles River. It was glassy calm, so typical of a hot summer's morning, but this was Fall, and around Rich Neck point the WEST wind stirred the surface to a light chop. (Note upwind both ways, typical sailing trip!) I flooded the ballast tank and hoisted sail at Eastern Bay#1 and headed home across the bay, close hauled, perfectly balanced in moderate winds 3-4 kts boat speed, steering from the trapeze (bos'n chair) suspended over the water on the jib halyard. (Am I still the ONLY MacGregor Sailor who likes to use a trapeze?). The weather was great and after suffering through hurricane Floyd's rainy days, the sunshine was most welcome. Despite the chancy encounters, the CVSA rendezvous was "fun for all who attended".
Cap't Jim