Harve De Grace Seafood Festival - Aug 11th

[jcollins]

Afterglow and crew will be there for the festival. Still searching for a place to tie-up for the day but if you're in the area, let me know. We'll get together.

http://hdgseafoodfestival.org

[loubennett]

There is the city marina that is at the site of the festival. There are also three or four commercial marinas in town. Are you just stopping by for the day? I'm thinking about arriving Friday and staying until Sunday to get the whole day there on Saturday. Let me know where you decide to dock, I may join you. Havre de Grace has been on my list to visit.

[jcollins]

There is the city marina that is at the site of the festival. There are also three or four commercial marinas in town. Are you just stopping by for the day? I'm thinking about arriving Friday and staying until Sunday to get the whole day there on Saturday. Let me know where you decide to dock, I may join you. Havre de Grace has been on my list to visit.

Nice talking to you the other day. We did get the slip at Penns Marina. 1.00 per foot for the day.
http://pennsbeachmarina.com

[RobS]

A $1.00 a foot for the day, the only time I see that rate around here it's hourly

[jcollins]

A $1.00 a foot for the day, the only time I see that rate around here it's hourly

I know what you mean. But, it does double for overnight. 2.00 a foot? Sounds like Florida rates.

[RobS]

Ok, I misunderstood "for the day" and assumed it included the overnight..

[loubennett]

John, see you Saturday. I expect to arrive about 11am and will be spending the night. I'll look for you in transit after I get north of Hart Miller Island.

[jcollins]

If you boat on the Chesapeake and haven’t made the trip to Harve De Grace, do it. The Susquehanna is a beautiful river. I always hesitated because it can get real shallow, real fast, going through the “Flats”. But the channel is wide and very well marked. No worries. We met Lou at Penn’s Beach Marina. Nice place with floating piers, pool, showers, etc. The staff was very friendly…when they were there. If you need assistance docking and securing your lines you should let them know in advance. Personally I was fine without. I had experienced boaters on board and Lou Bennett was there to lend a hand. There was no one there to check in. The attitude was “well, grab someone or mail them a check”. No big deal.

The seafood festival was very good. There was plenty of food, drink, music, and vendors. We walked around for several hours and made our way back to the marina. We met up with some folks that had just returned from Sassafras marina. They were looking at the 2009 TE28 that Joe Smith has for sale. This is a new Albin that is from the Shamrock era I believe. They were very surprised to see two Albins in their home marina.

We left around 5:30 for the 2 hour run home. There was a stiff breeze from the east as we left the marina. The river was fine. 1 foot or less. As we turned south into the bay I could see the clouds forming. It was a typical Chesapeake squall to the southeast. We decided we would be on the edge of it and hopefully avoid the rain. The wind picked up and it was getting quite “sporty” as Carl would say. We had 3-4 footers and blowing around 20 from the east. Not terrible but past the point of comfort for the captain and crew. This is one of those “I should have bought a pilot house” moments. We passed Pooles Island on the leeward side and had a brief period of calm. After passing Pooles I have to turn to the west, then north into our creek. That is where the real fun began. It is now 4-5 footers, blowing 25-30 with that damn stinging rain. We are now at the white knuckle point of our cruise but home was very much in sight. As I turn into our creek Afterglow was surfing at 16 knots a few times. Sharon, who was down below looking out at this point, swears there were 6 footers following us into the creek. I doubt it but it sure it seemed like it.

Our friends Mike and Debbie have a 36 Carver. This was their first trip on an Albin. They were both impressed with the way the Albin handled the storm. So was I. Anyone that boats on the Chesapeake knows how things can get sporty. (I like that term)

Back at the marina…give me a beer and dry clothes!

[RobS]

Nice write-up John. Thanks for sharing. Ric also uses the term "sporty", I like it too. Just as I was thinking "they could use a pilot house right about now" you wrote just that. Sounds like my kind of marina, I like it laid back. I especially hate signs everywhere telling me what to do and not to do. Unfortunately, there are those that need such signs..

[RobS]

This one is in the dock office at Mitchell Marina in Greenport.
I guess it could have been worse, like if the stack of job applications was under it..

[jcollins]

I know what you mean. Unfortunately that sign probably went up after there was violence, shouting, threatening behavior, physical confrontation, and/or verbal abuse.
There are marinas where people nod and say hello then go about their business. At this marina there were people that were genuine. You can tell the difference.

[loubennett]

John, nice seeing you and Sharon in Havre de Grace and nice meeting Mike and Deb. Saturday was a long day for me, having left my dock at 6:30am and walking all over the Seafood Festival. After you left, I went downtown for dinner, but faded pretty early. Havre de Grace caught the edge of a small storm. Just a little rain. My trip home on Sunday was much more calm than yours. The only waves were boat wakes. I took my time, going slow most of the way, and arrived home about 2:30pm. All in all a good weekend. I had never been to Havre de Grace by boat and it's been a long time since I was that far north on the Bay. I agree, it's worth the trip, but the next time I think I'll make it a three day cruise.