That night on Robinson Creek it rained. And it rained. And it rained some more. All night long we could hear the heavy rain hitting the polytarp boom tent. Sleeping in the sleeping bags inside the bivys was incredibly comfortable and dry.
Bruce got up in the middle of the night and mentioned there was some water in the aft cockpit and also dripping off the foredeck onto the bivys. I tucked myself a little bit tighter into the sleeping bag and went back to sleep.
Usually I do a better job of setting up the boom tent. But this time we had done it incrementally. We had been monitoring the weather on the radio and knew we were in for some rain over night. I hung the tent from the boom while we had dinner in case the rain arrived earlier than we expected, then opened up the forward area but not the back when a light mist showed up, then later put the rest of the tent up.
Because I had done it piecemeal I don't think I had tensioned the lines right. But when you consider the amount of rain that fell that night - the forecast was for an inch of rain - I thought it did pretty good.
(Actually the tent worked very well. If we didn't have it I bet there would have been several inches of water in the boat. We didn't put up the rain fly that covers the front of the tent around the mast. Rain came in and we had some water pool up around where we put our heads. However, when we sleep we place a cushion under our heads so we have about two inches of elevation the bivy sits on. Additionally the bivy sacs are water proof and have a three inch lip around the bottom. So while there was some water inside the boat, we kept dry.)
(Actually the tent worked very well. If we didn't have it I bet there would have been several inches of water in the boat. We didn't put up the rain fly that covers the front of the tent around the mast. Rain came in and we had some water pool up around where we put our heads. However, when we sleep we place a cushion under our heads so we have about two inches of elevation the bivy sits on. Additionally the bivy sacs are water proof and have a three inch lip around the bottom. So while there was some water inside the boat, we kept dry.)
Waking up the next morning was like waking up in all those beautiful paintings you see of the marshes of Chesapeake Bay. A gray mist, marsh grass reaching out of glassy calm water, the muted fall colors on trees in the distance. It was beautiful.A southwest wind out on the bay was pushing the water up in to the marsh. Add to that all the water from the rainfall and the marsh was flooded. Shallow water now had a foot or two more of depth. Narrow openings were much wider. It was a different marsh than the one we had anchored in the night before.
(I did get up in the night, several times. It is much harder getting around the boat with the tent up. With the rain there were no bugs!! So I wasn't worried that my backside would become a smorgasbord for mosquitoes while I took care of business. I did note however that the tent was pushing in on me on my side of the boat. I didn't think too much about it and went back to bed. The sound of the rain made sleeping easy, it really lulled you to sleep. In the morning I discovered that the pushing in of the tent was due to several gallons of water that had collected when the tent side fell inward creating a low point that the rain collected in. The end tie down point hadn't been secured. It took both Steve and me some careful action to push the water bubble back up and force the water over the side. If the tent had given any more, it would have flooded my side of the boat. Steve said he figured that would have been OK with him as it wasn't his side.)
(I did get up in the night, several times. It is much harder getting around the boat with the tent up. With the rain there were no bugs!! So I wasn't worried that my backside would become a smorgasbord for mosquitoes while I took care of business. I did note however that the tent was pushing in on me on my side of the boat. I didn't think too much about it and went back to bed. The sound of the rain made sleeping easy, it really lulled you to sleep. In the morning I discovered that the pushing in of the tent was due to several gallons of water that had collected when the tent side fell inward creating a low point that the rain collected in. The end tie down point hadn't been secured. It took both Steve and me some careful action to push the water bubble back up and force the water over the side. If the tent had given any more, it would have flooded my side of the boat. Steve said he figured that would have been OK with him as it wasn't his side.)
We took some photos with the waterproof camera, even broke out Bruce's nice Canon before the mist got too heavy, but never really got a photo that captured the scene. That's ok, sometimes things are meant to be photographed, sometimes they are there just meant to be enjoyed.
It took about 45 minutes to get the boat dried out (or as dry as it would get in the mist) and everything tucked away. That is me above getting ready to put the boom tent under the foredeck. The boat looks nice and organized in the photo, I'm happy to see it that way. Organization helps a lot when a small boat has gear for three different configurations - sailing, cooking/eating and sleeping. I think we are getting the hang of it.
(I finally figured out how to properly set up my bivy. My bivy uses two poles to create the tent like opening that supports the netting. On the last trip I only used one pole. Now I thought that both poles were the same length. Wrong, one is shorter. Somehow last trip I always chose the longer pole, call it luck. It was too big to properly fit the space between the centerboard trunk and the outside bulkhead. So I was having to use cloths pins to get the opening to hang properly and keep the netting off my face so the mosquitoes couldn't bite me. One night on the last trip Steve heard me roll over, heard the cloths pins pop off and then me cursing softly as I tried to find them and redo the netting. I heard him laughing. I was even considering getting a different bivy because I thought it didn't fit. So, this night, I discovered the shorter pole which fit the space perfectly and I even used the second pole which enhanced my comfort. I was so pleased with myself that I reminded Steve how great it was for the rest of the trip. We had several bug free nights but I zipped up my netting anyway just because it worked so well.)
We motored out of Robinson Creek, no need to worry about the shoal in the flooded marsh, and headed west on Punch Island Creek towards the bay. Taylors Island is the land to the right in the photo below, to the left is the northernmost edge of Hooper Island.
We got out on the bay, motored past some fish traps and then raised the sail. And it rained some more. No big deal in foul weather gear. What was interesting to me is that it was the third day of our trip and this was the first time we raised full sail. That says something about how breezy the trip had been.
We were sailing about a mile or so off of Taylors with a nice breeze. The night before we had looked at the charts and found that with decent wind our next two possible stopping places, Oyster Cove and Trippe Bay, could be reached in just a few hours. We decided to bypass those places and head for Tilghman Island.
It took about 45 minutes to get the boat dried out (or as dry as it would get in the mist) and everything tucked away. That is me above getting ready to put the boom tent under the foredeck. The boat looks nice and organized in the photo, I'm happy to see it that way. Organization helps a lot when a small boat has gear for three different configurations - sailing, cooking/eating and sleeping. I think we are getting the hang of it.(I finally figured out how to properly set up my bivy. My bivy uses two poles to create the tent like opening that supports the netting. On the last trip I only used one pole. Now I thought that both poles were the same length. Wrong, one is shorter. Somehow last trip I always chose the longer pole, call it luck. It was too big to properly fit the space between the centerboard trunk and the outside bulkhead. So I was having to use cloths pins to get the opening to hang properly and keep the netting off my face so the mosquitoes couldn't bite me. One night on the last trip Steve heard me roll over, heard the cloths pins pop off and then me cursing softly as I tried to find them and redo the netting. I heard him laughing. I was even considering getting a different bivy because I thought it didn't fit. So, this night, I discovered the shorter pole which fit the space perfectly and I even used the second pole which enhanced my comfort. I was so pleased with myself that I reminded Steve how great it was for the rest of the trip. We had several bug free nights but I zipped up my netting anyway just because it worked so well.)
We motored out of Robinson Creek, no need to worry about the shoal in the flooded marsh, and headed west on Punch Island Creek towards the bay. Taylors Island is the land to the right in the photo below, to the left is the northernmost edge of Hooper Island.
We got out on the bay, motored past some fish traps and then raised the sail. And it rained some more. No big deal in foul weather gear. What was interesting to me is that it was the third day of our trip and this was the first time we raised full sail. That says something about how breezy the trip had been.
We were sailing about a mile or so off of Taylors with a nice breeze. The night before we had looked at the charts and found that with decent wind our next two possible stopping places, Oyster Cove and Trippe Bay, could be reached in just a few hours. We decided to bypass those places and head for Tilghman Island.By 10 a.m. we could see blue skies coming our way. We were just off James Island moving at 4.6 knots.
Approaching Black Walnut Point, the very southern tip of Tilghman Island, the skies cleared and wind fell off. All of a sudden it was hot and sunny. We got out of the foul weather gear, spread it out to dry and and enjoyed the sunshine.
Approaching Black Walnut Point, the very southern tip of Tilghman Island, the skies cleared and wind fell off. All of a sudden it was hot and sunny. We got out of the foul weather gear, spread it out to dry and and enjoyed the sunshine. 
steve
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