HOTCR

[Elk River]

Happy New Year, boys and girls!

     Is anyone up for thinking about another rendezvous?  I have in mind the (possibly) first ever Head Of The Chesapeake Rendezvous (hence, HOTCR).  What would this consist of, you blithely ask?  This would be a gathering at the very head of Chesapeake Bay.  You don't need charts to get an idea of what may be involved, an atlas will suffice for the moment.  The community I live in is on the Elk River (Oh Wow!! Look at that! It's the same as my moniker...).  Sorry, I'm easily distracted.  Anyway, what I can offer to start is a free place to park a trailer and tow vehicle, free launching ramp, and free slips (there is a nominal charge if you need to plug in overnight).  You would need your own mooring lines.  Depending on the moon and wind, the tides run about 3-ish feet.  The slips are located 2 n.m. upriver of the C & D Canal (where we can duke it out with tugs & barges and ocean-going ships).  From the slips, the mouth of the Bohemia River (on the Eastern Shore) is about 6 n.m.  There is a bridge about 2 n.m. up that would stop our progress, well, maybe not, as it is listed as fixed 30' vertical clearance.  The next river down is the Sassafras River, the mouth of which is about 14 n.m. from the slips.  That river is about 8.5 n.m. before a bridge is encountered (bascule bridge, 5' vertical clearance).  In between the two rivers is a little indention called Cabin John Creek.  There is plenty of good anchoring in either river and we have been swimming in both.  Turkey Point, at the bottom of the peninsula we live on, is about 9-ish n.m. from the slips.  Clearing the point and heading NW leads to the Susquehanna Flats where there is a sizable area of very shallow water (1 - 3').  The eel grass would tend to knock down the wave action.  On one side of the flats is the North East River, the Susquehanna River is on the other.

     This rendezvous would probably need to be in the Spring or Fall (or both??) to have a good chance of decent wind.  The Bay doesn't have much to offer in the way of wind in the summer, also, it is very hot and humid.  April or May could work well and it would give folks a time-frame to aim for.  Perhaps there could be elaborate prizes for those that trailered the farthest or sailed on the boat's own bottom the farthest???  Who knows?

     There you have it, the seed for the (possibly) first-ever Head Of The Chesapeake Rendezvous.

     Yours for good sailing,

     Elk River

[Bob23]

  Count me in, Capt. Elk. I'll be looking for more details as this event unfolds. Now I finally know what HOTCR means...never could figure it out!
Bob23

[HeaveToo]

Interesting. 

I was thinking about trying to launch something the last week of May and maybe trying to use Point Lookout State Park as a launch site.  We could sail over to Tangier and maybe Smith Island. 

I am probably going to slip my boat for this season so I probably won't trailer sail much.

[Bob23]

Ideally, I'd like to put in at Salem NJ, motor through the C&D and up to your place. Ideally, that is. It'd take a bit of planning but is doable. I guess I should start planning the BBB 2015 in order to keep up with the Elks!
B23

[Elk River]

Geez Bob:

     Keep up with the Elks??  How many times did your 23 pass my 19?  And let's not mention again the fact that you skunked me in the dinghy race!!  You might want to think about slowing down to keep pace with the Elks, not trying to keep up with them...

     Anyone else interested in the HOTCR?  Let's not leave me alone with His Majesty, Mr. 23.  I'd hate to have to resort to N.J. tactics in order to come out ahead.

     Elk River

[Bob23]

I feel so bad about beating you in the race. Haven't been able to sleep. I ordered a drogue to drag next time we race so I don't come in so far ahead.
And to keep the record straight, I didn't actually skunk you in the race- I kicked yer stinkin' butt!!! In truth, a fun time was had and Capt Elk gave me a good run for my money. Of course, let me be honest and disclose that I'd been training all summer for the Blackburn Challenge- I had a slight advantage.
Bob23

[Craig]

Ahh, Cabin John Creek! Many a wonderful night spent there! Was the first nice anchorage from Harbor North marina where I kept my Seidelmann for a number of years. Would love to join in but will have to settle for a vicarious experience via you all.

[Mike K]

Hi all! 
Mike, Cathay and Sophie the dog here.  Remember us from BBB 2014?

We'd love to meet you all again in the Upper Cheaspeake (HOTCR) as the Bohemia River is our home base.

We still own our tiny Com-Pac Legacy, but it now permanently resides near Charlotte Harbor FL. Would it be acceptable if we showed up in a Precision 21 sailboat instead?  I can paste on fake Com-Pac Logos for the day if that would be better. And since the P21 can hold more than the six-pack the Legacy could fit, we can supply a real cooler full of cold beer, and a few bottles of wine.

[Elk River]

Hi Mike:

     You folks will be more than welcome to be included in the HOTCR.  April might be a good month, wind and temperature-wise, and it won't interfere with the southern Chesapeake gathering that seems to be in the planning stages for May.  We can keep the destination plans loose for now and nail them down with at the time depending on weather forecasts.  I will be in FL in Feb and will play around with some ideas then.  Anyone else?  Free parking, launching and slips...

     Elk River   

[Beckeresq]

I'm interested!

I'll plan to trailer my CP 16 to your area from Central Jersey.

The only time I was in the Chesapeake was in 2007, when I brought my then "new" 1974 Sabre 28 to New Jersey from Deale, Md.

That trip was an "adventure", and I'm looking forward to going back.

[Elk River]

That's excellent, perhaps four so far.  Even if Bob shows up with only his Walker Bay, I'm sure one of us can tow him in it...  Perhaps, as host, I'll take that responsibility so I am sure he gets a good look at Blue Heaven's stern.  He certainly knows what her bow looks like at this point. 

     Any other brave takers?  Just like voting, sign up early and often...

     Elk River

[MKBLK]

I'd like to say "count me in" as well, but at this writing I can't be sure of Pegasus being ready for an extended "sail" requiring much iron wind power. The Johnson 2 is in the shop and will hopefully come out "good as new". That is critical. No, as much as I'd like a nice shiny Honda, it ain't gonna happen. There is another possibility - Alex. You remember Alex, Bob. He does have a nice shiny Honda 2.2. I'll give him a call and see how foolish he is to spend a weekend on Pegasus with me. Alternatively, he does own three sailboats... a 15, a 24 (in the water on Barnegat Bay) and something else. They ain't ComPacs, but they are sailboats. Of course, as a last resort, Bob can tow me in his Walker Bay. As everyone knows, I'm intimately familiar with that vessel!

Marty K.

[Elk River]

Marty:

     That would be great if you joined in.  I have a Nissan 2.5 that you could use if need be.  Your registration might not show that engine, but hopefully, that wouldn't become an issue.  Good to see you are keeping your Johnson.  Check out youtube and John Reno's 'Big Ole Johnson' song; he makes a good argument for keeping your Johnson engine.

     Hope you can make it.

     Elk River

[Salty19]

Elk-

Have a blast at HOTCR gents!  Sure sounds tempting but I'll just come out and say it..Can't make it out there to meet you fine gents.

Got a laugh out of the John Reno song.  Truth be told, I didn't have to go to Youtube to listen...I know John and have seen him play many times and have all of his CD's!

P.S. Listen to his song "Beaver Island".  Hilliarious. I think Jim Hoehn actually wrote that song for him.  Jim played a house party at my home last year (Parrothead Club thing) so of course I insisted that he play it.  Got some serious laughs from folks who haven't heard it.  Those from Wisconsin may know Jim Hoehn as the sports writer--same guy.

I think both of these songs belong on the HOTCR DVD if there will be such a thing!

[MKBLK]

Elk,

Thank you for your generous offer. If it does come to that, Pennsy registration only requires powered/unpowered, that's it. Regarding the "Johnson", now I'm really excited. Hope to see you both on Saturday.

Marty K.