The Wye River, Kent Narrows and the Chester River

We left San Domingo Creek at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 1st, and were anchored in Pickering Creek, off the Wye East River, six hours later. It was a smoking hot day with limited air movement, so we found a small beach under a shade tree and spent the rest of the afternoon there. That evening we had dinner and played more Catch Phrase on “Knot Tide Down.”

“Knot Tide Down” going under the Knapps Narrows lift bridge.

Re-entering the Chesapeake.

Looking for an anchorage on the Wye East River.

Late Thursday morning we dinghied a short distance to the Pickering Creek Audubon Center and spent a few hours exploring some of the hiking trails. As we were returning to the boat, Todd saw a couple of guys out crabbing and went over to talk to them. A short time later, they brought us a fish to use as bait in Bill’s crab trap so Todd and Bill set out the trap. Then they came back by to ask if we would like some fresh crab. Naturally, we said yes and they proceeded to give us at least a dozen. So, between what Bill caught in his trap and the crab that was given to us, we started gearing up for a crab boil.

About 3:00 p.m. Bill and Todd dinghied to Wye Landing to get some ice, an unexpected score (thanks to Bill) given that we are pretty much out in the middle of nowhere!

Wye River Landing and boat dock.

Bill checks the crab trap as Deoge looks on from the bow of their boat.

Crabbing and chatting on the phone at the same time. Now that’s multi-tasking!

Not sure which one looks meaner – Todd or the crab!

Crab anyone?

Very nice, Bill!

A beautiful sunset looking out toward the Wye East River.

Oh, de crab, he tastes so fine.

Yuh catch um wid a neck an' a line.

Bile de water 'til 'e good 'n hot.

Den eat de crab sraite from de pot!

Bill cooked, cleaned and quartered all the crab for us. What a guy!

As you can see, a good time was had by all!

The lovely couples enjoying their treats from the Chesapeake! Note the fine redneck dinnerware that worked perfectly for this meal!

Hurricane Earl passed by North Carolina on Friday but didn’t have any effect on us, other than some clouds, sprinkles and cooler temperatures. Crab-master Bill managed to snag about fifteen more crab, which he promptly cooked, so Todd & I went over to help him pick the meat off. After Ana got off work, she & Bill came over for dinner but we made an early evening of it since we had been up very late the previous evening.

Nice catch, Bill!

Saturday we woke up to pleasantly cool, but very windy conditions. We had thought about moving north to the Kent Narrows but quickly decided we didn’t want to be anywhere near open water! By early afternoon the wind had died down some and the four of us (and Deoge) went on a dinghy ride around Pickering Creek.

Deoge has her sunglasses on today.

Saturday evening we dinghied over to “Knot Tide Down” for crab enchiladas followed by several games of Catch Phrase.

The Captain serves up dinner.

Sunday was also cool and windy but the wind was supposed to die down throughout the day. So we decided to haul anchor and head for the Kent Island Narrows. We found a nice place to anchor near Kirwan Creek and then dinghied over to Red Eye’s Dock Bar for a few drinks before going to The Jetty for a bite to eat. That evening we went back to Red Eye’s for a rowdy, fun-filled evening of live music by a very good local band called Hyjinx.

Red Eye’s is quite the happenin’ joint, but we felt a little out of place without tattoos!

Monday afternoon we went back in to town for a little while and again got something to eat at The Jetty. Deoge went along for the ride.

Deoge on the bow sporting her new Doggles.

By mid-afternoon it was still very windy and fairly rough in the anchorage, so we decided to go through the Kent Narrows bridge and up the Chester River a few miles to a free dock in the harbor at Queenstown.

The dock at Queenstown is in the background, at the end of the road behind the pick-ups.

There were several crab boats in the harbor.

And the Fire Rescue boat.

Bill chats with a local at the Volunteer Fire Department.

An old courthouse in sleepy Queenstown.

Around noon on Tuesday we left the Queenstown dock and headed up the Chester River about 22 miles to Chestertown. Bill, Todd and I walked in to town while Ana was working and ended up at Lulu’s, which apparently used to be called Andy’s.

A pretty fountain in a park in downtown Chestertown.

About 6:00 p.m. Bill dinghied back to “Knot Tide Down” to give Deoge a potty break and pick up Ana. They brought their darts back and we spent the evening having dinner, socializing with the locals and playing darts.

Wednesday morning Todd & I we went back in to town to do a little shopping. It was still very windy and we were pretty exposed out in the river, so we decided to travel a few hours back down the Chester River to a protected anchorage in the Corsica River, just off the Chester River. “Knot Tide Down” followed suit and met us there within the hour.

Bill, Todd and I went over to a nice sandy beach where Bill cleaned his dinghy and we enjoyed being out of the wind. That evening Bill fixed dinner on “Knot Tide Down” and we played a few more games of Catch Phrase.

Shortly before noon Thursday we decided to dinghy up the Corsica River a few miles to a restaurant in Centreville, MD that Bill had located on Active Captain. On the ride up we were going with the wind so it was just a little bumpy for the most part; the ride back was a whole different story! But it was a nice place with an extensive menu, reasonable prices and very good food, so the soaking we got on the return trip wasn’t quite as painful as it could have been!

After we returned from lunch at Doc’s Riverside Grille, we decided to go back to Queenstown, about an hour-and-a-half downriver, so Todd could go crabbing early Friday morning with Jake. We met Jake when we pulled in to the Queenstown dock Monday evening and he offered to take Todd crabbing if were in the area again. Todd has been trying to find someone to take him crabbing for quite a while now and he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. Rather than going back to the dock, we anchored in Queenstown Creek and spent a quiet evening on the boat.

Todd was up at 4:30 this morning (Friday, September 10th) and Jake picked him up a short time later. They returned after eight hours of crabbing with six bushels of crab, and most importantly, the Captain had a really good time. A BIG thanks to Jake & Mary for having Todd aboard!

The bait bags full of clams and chicken necks head out off the back of the boat. We put out two 2500-foot trotlines.

Jake pulls in the net with one of our loads of crabs.

The washtub is full of crabs and now it’s time to sort and size them!

Jake monitors the progress of the trotline.

About 9:00 a.m. we went back to the dock to pick up Jake’s wife Mary.

Todd, the “official” crab sorter, dumping the net.

Thank goodness for those big orange gloves. Todd didn’t even draw blood this morning!

In the meantime, “Knot Tide Down” pulled anchor in the Corsica River and headed to Rock Hall for the weekend, which is our plan as well. After Rock Hall we may venture north to the Sassafras River or we may cut across to Baltimore on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay and start working our way south. We’ll see how we feel a few days from now and make a decision at that time.