Arrival in Cambridge

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAYS 48 -  May 18, 2017

We arrived in Cambridge in the afternoon on Thursday, May 18th. There is a channel into Cambridge Creek from the Choptank River that opens to a substantial basin. From Active Captain, we learned that there is a concrete wall with cleats just below the Dorchester County Building where visiting boats can tie up for free. There is a (theoretical) 2 day limit, but nobody apparently checks, and today, the wall is only occupied by us and our new friends Ray Schmidt and his grandson Shawn. Ray is a retired marine mechanic from New Jersey and has a 1968 Pearson sailboat. 

 

Daydream Tied to Wall

This afternoon shortly after we arrived, Ray showed us the ropes (literally) of tying up to a wall. The wall has cleats on top and vertical timbers below the cleats, so your boat does not bang against the concrete - concrete versus fiberglass, concrete always wins! We first got tied up with our bow and stern lines. Charlie Vinroot had given us two fenders much larger than our own fenders, and per Ray's direction, we deployed these horizontally opposite the timbers. Then he had us deploy spring lines fore and aft. We rarely needed spring lines in the Pacific Northwest, but we needed them here!  Spring lines are lines that go from a central point on the boat forward and aft to cleats on a dock or wall. They prevent the boat from moving - the forward spring line prevents the boat from moving back and the aft spring line prevents the boat from moving forward. Or mostly they prevent the boat from moving - the tide rises and falls here, so all the lines tighten and slack as the boat goes up and down with the tide, but the spring lines have kept our fenders pretty well aligned with the timbers!

Daydream from Top of Wall

Getting on and off the boat  here is a bit of a challenge! We get on and off from the bow. We both manage fine at high tide. At low tide I can usually step up, grab a cleat and pull myself up, but Patty needs a hand! At low tide, you can see just the roof line of the boat! Getting Baxter on and off is fun too!  It is a good thing he only weighs 15 pounds!

Cambridge Creek Drawbridge

There is a drawbridge a few hundred yards up Cambridge Creek, and its closed height is 9 feet, so virtually every boat passing through requires an opening. The horn blows, the bells clang, and the bridge opens for the boats to pass! Entertaining to watch, and they shut down bridge openings in the evenings, so not a problem at bedtime!

We had a late lunch at Snappers, the restaurant just around the corner from the Wall.  I threw caution to the winds at Snappers and had big BYOB (Build Your Own Burger), which starts out as a half pound cheese burger with lettuce and tomato on a Kaiser Roll, and then two additional toppings. I chose bacon (what else?) and grilled onions! So messy I ended up eating it with a knife and fork! I washed it down with a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, and felt no guilt at all!

We are now using both the Weatherbug and Marine Weather apps on the iPad, and high winds and waves are forecast through Sunday, so we will be here at least a couple of more days. Tomorrow is our day to explore downtown Cambridge!