RBSA members cruise to Chincoteague

Imagine covering 55 nautical miles in 10.5 hours on a close reach, sailing through a 25 mile long bay of blue-green water full of life and seeing only 6 other boats all afternoon. After a full day’s sail you get to your destination and friends are waiting to surprise you (and nearly stop your heart) with a formal cannon salute. That night you buy the freshest and biggest softshell crabs you’ve ever had for $20 per dozen, cook ‘em on the grill and wash them down with a cold Corona followed by “wee dram” of Appleton Estate rum. You and your friends exchange sailing and pirating stories (they’re strange but true) on the dock until you can’t keep your eyes open any longer. The next morning you rise at dawn to the sound of commercial fishermen preparing for another’s days work on the bay and walk down the dock for a huge $2 scrapple and egg sandwich cooked to order by the charming Bay Witch girls. To top it all off you’re paying $5 per night for dockage in one of the most secure marina on the peninsula. The next day you sail up and back the length of the 25 mile long bay in 10-15 knot winds and marvel at the many uninhabited islands and beaches. This time you see only 4 other boats the whole day. Ready to reach your final destination, you embark the following day on a 5 mile sail across the Bay followed by a delightful 5 mile cruise via a canal that brings you right through peoples back yards and past a town dock that offers free ice (if you know the right people and ask politely) and fresh tuna for $4 per pound). That afternoon you arrive in a secluded cove with great anchorages, fresh clams to be dug for dinner and a refreshing swim in the ocean waves. Where can such a wonderful sailing experience occur you ask? Chincoteague Bay!!

July 2002 a hardy band of RBSA sailors joined the Delaware Capes Sailing Club (DCSC) for the second year in a row on their annual Chincoteague trip. Dave Cerney (Wind Flower), Scott Gaston (Crazy Lady), Pal Littleton, and Doug Hicks (Bucanier III) rendezvoused with the annual trip’s founding father Bill Moore (Morajesan) in Greenbackville on July 30^th. The intrepid Scott Gaston was actually doing a return trip from his visit the week before when nine boats from the DCSC met for a week in Tom’s Cove at the tip of Chincoteague. The July pilgrimage has been an annual event for the DCSC since the 1960’s. Involvement waned in the 1990’s as many club members moved to bigger boats on the Chesapeake but has been reborn by trip founder Bill Moore. Bill has begun stretching the trip into a two week get-away and talked the RBSA gang into taking the trip last July. One trip is all it took for them to be hooked on the charm of Chincoteague(picture) (picture), Greenbackville (picture), and Tom’s Cove (picture).

If you’ve considered taking your boat a bit farther away than the usual five mile circumnavigation of Rehoboth Bay and don’t mind the “camping” lifestyle this is a trip you should consider. The trip normally takes place on the weekend of the full moon in July and lasts anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks. The trip is mostly on inland waters (Rehoboth, Sinepauxet, and Chincoteague Bays) with only an 18 mile ocean stretch from Indian River to Ocean City inlet. There’s plenty of deep water everywhere except Massey’s Ditch and Sinepauxet Bay both of which were very well marked this year and last. The entrance to Tom’s Cove requires a GPS with the route programmed in or someone who knows the way leading the fleet. The inlets can be a bit exciting on Saturdays so most boats have decided to steer clear of those days for the start and end of the trip. There are plenty of great anchorages and places to provision along the way. Most nights everyone “rafts” up at anchor for a potluck dinner so if you’re not well set-up cooking aboard don’t let that keep you away. When sailing conditions aren’t as perfect as they were on the trip down this year, the fleet normally makes the trip in a relaxed two days and spends the night anchored in the cove north of the Assateague bridge.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the Rehoboth area, Chincoteague is a wonderful place to go to relax. The slower pace of life in sleepy little towns like Greenbackville and empty expanses of water like Tom’s Cove and Chincoteague Bay coupled with the feeling of leaving the world behind when you sail away on your boat is something to experience. Try not to schedule anything important around the full moon in July.

Doug Hicks, Vice Commordore