Although the Bahamas were beautiful and we never got tired at looking at the incredible crystal clear water, the islands were really a bit sterile. There wasn’t a lot of wildlife on the islands, probably because of a lack of fresh water and very poor soil that didn’t support much vegetation. The view from sea of the rocky, coral islands seemingly floating in the aquamarine water was stunning, but the animals and birds were few and far between.
The Chesapeake Bay is at the opposite end of the spectrum. This is one of the reasons so many people including me find it so appealing I think. There are so many birds-great blue herons, green herons, egrets, osprey, seagulls, bald eagles, pelicans, ducks, cormorants, and a bunch of others that I don’t know the names of. They make a tremendous amount of noise, especially the osprey and great blue herons (they make a terrible raucous cry). Most afternoons after we are settled in an anchorage, we enjoy watching the birds fish. It’s surprising how often they come up with something.
Most of the channel markers have osprey nests built on them. Yesterday we saw our first babies in a nest being fed by the parents. The ospreys get very vocal if the boat comes close to their nests and often one of the parents will fly off to try to get us to follow them and get us away from the nest. They are such majestic birds.
Unlike the water in the Bahamas, the water in the Bay is fairly murky. It seems clean and we have been swimming in it several times, but you can’t see more than a few inches or so down into the water. We have seen turtles just under the service with their heads out of the water to get breath, we’ve seen small fish swimming at the surface, and so many rays flapping at the surface. We can always tell the rays because they have two wings exposed. Sometimes it looks like two mini-sharks swimming together. We visited a maritime museum that explained that rays bear their young live once per year and the baby is about 12-14 inches long which is huge compared to the size of an adult ray. Within two weeks of the birth, they mate again and start the process all over again. We have seen lots of pairs of rays splashing around on the surface so this explains what is going on! We also saw some dolphin in the lower Bay.
There are so many people who make their living off fishing, crabbing, oystering, and clamming in these waters. The crab pots can potentially get wrapped around your prop if you run over them and are pretty annoying at times, especially if they are in a channel where there is a lot of boat traffic. They were everywhere in the southern Bay. They are often hard to see until you are right on top of them, blending in with the dark water. We have also seen lots of poles or sticks in the shallow water with long fishing nets strung between them just below the water’s surface. If you don’t notice them and run your boat through the nets, you could have a real problem on your hands. The clam lines and oyster beds are well marked with easier to see buoys. And then there are all of the boats, many anchored or moving slowly trailing fishing lines or working crab lines with no one at the wheel driving or watching. All of this activity is somewhat of a nuisance for a recreational boater, but you can’t begrudge the people earning a living, especially since then we get to enjoy Chesapeake Bay steamed crabs and the other great seafood they provide to restaurants and stores!
I don’t enjoy the mosquitoes and flies! The mosquitoes really only come out just after sundown and we have screens to keep them out of the inside of the boat. But on the positive side, we have also had all kinds of dragon flies! They just fly onto the boat and hitch a ride for awhile. Very pretty!
And then there is the Bay mud that has all sorts of critters and things living in it. When we pull the anchor up it is usually covered with huge chunks of smelly mud. We have a washdown pump on the bow that we use to pull seawater through a hose so we can spray the anchor and chain off before bringing it onto the boat, but this can be a very slow process sometimes depending on how sticky the mud is! I just keep reminding myself that this mud supports all sorts of living things under the water and it is an important part of this beautiful Chesapeake Bay!
Stephen and Ashley exploring the creek with the paddleboard during their visit last weekend:
Anchorage on eastern shore on Chester River:
Another boat at one of our anchorages with pretty evening light shining on it.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis
Tangier Island on Eastern shore:
