Heading Up The Potomac River!

Tuesday morning we lifted our anchor and headed into the little town of Reedville. The picture is of us at anchor just off the main road into town. There is very little to do in Reedville. What is left of a once thriving fishing community are residential homes, a maritime museum, a few marinas and a few restaurants. None of the restaurants were open after Labor Day during the week.  This town is the center for Manhaden fishing. At one time several factories operated here. Now there is only one operating factory. 

We took the dinghy up one of the creeks for a visit to the maritime museum. After Labor Day it was very quiet there also. We had several helpful descents giving us a tour. 

These boats were just a few of the many restored by museum volunteers. 

Time was growing short on our vacation and we wanted to see Tangier Island. It would have taken us the better part of a day to get there and the same again to get back. A ferry operated out of Reedville to and back from Tangier Island. We decided to stay another day and take the trip. What fun it was. 

When we entered Reedville on our boat I was too busy at the helm to take pictures. I took these as the ferry exited the Reedville channel. The chimney above was once an exhaust for the cooking of the Manhaden fish by several of the factories. It now just serves as an icon for a once thriving and wealthy community. 

These were a few of the fishing boats used by the Omega plant for netting the Manhaden fish. You can see the two purse boats on the stern. They help launch the fishing net, then draw it closed like a purse. 

I took these pictures as we entered the channel into Tangier Island. The boat you see in the center is called a dead rise. These boats are and were very popular on the Chesapeake bay with waterman. They were also manufactured by boat builders on the Chesapeake bay. 

The little shanties in this picture are what the waterman use to tend to there soft shell crab business. They are considered the largest supplier of soft shell crabs in the country. 

Thursday morning we lifted our anchor and sailed north to the Potomac River. We took a short day and went up the St Mary's river. The first river off the Potomac. We anchored just off St Mary's College. We went to shore by dinghy to get water, get rid of garbage and go for a walk. 

We were the first into the anchorage but by evening we were joined by one power boat and two sailboats. 

The sunset picture was from last night. 

We lifted anchor around 7am this morning and were underway to stiff winds and waves. We are now several miles up river and the winds have lessened and waves have flattened. It's very pleasant to sail and not have the noise and vibration of the motor but if the wind continues to lessen we will have to invade the silence.