Day 57 – N 39° 12.319’ W 76° 03.824’ Chestertown, MD

After a balmy couple of days in Baltimore with temperatures in the 80s, we’re back in the “arctic”.  We left Baltimore yesterday in a chilly 43°F morning with strong northwest winds, bound for Chestertown, across the Bay and 20 miles up the Chester River.  We saw winds of 30 knots a few times, but it was usually at our back, so we were speeding along under sail only.  In fact, we only had our jib set, and that was furled a bit because the wind was so strong.  But as we surfed down the 5-foot seas we were seeing 8 knots at times.  Our crossing was a total of 47 nautical miles and our average speed for the whole crossing was 5.8 knots, including the 20 miles up the Chester River against a 1 to 2 knot current.  It was invigorating, but we were cold when we arrived in Chestertown at about 15:30 in the afternoon.  Because of the poor holding for our anchor and strong winds, which promised to be the same overnight and Monday (today), we decided to tie up at the marina.  We weren’t disappointed because the forecast turned out to be a bit of an underestimation of the actual winds, and an overestimation of the temperature.  When does Spring arrive?

"Sultana" construction site

We wanted to see Chestertown because it is the home of “Sultana”, the first tall ship we encountered in Annapolis.  It was the dream of one of the citizens to build an exact replica of HMS Sultana, a British warship from 1768.  He eventually got some backing from the state government and private sources and mobilized virtually the entire community of Chestertown to help with the construction of the ship on a construction site right in town.  He got a lot of detailed plans from the British government, as well as the logbooks of the original HMS Sultana, and they started construction in 2001, eventually launching the ship in 2003.  It is true to the original plans in almost every detail, except it has added a modern diesel propulsion system that was not included in the original.  The ship never leaves the Chesapeake Bay, and is used primarily as an educational tool for school children in the state of Maryland.  We wanted to visit a town that would participate in a huge undertaking like that and see it through to a successful venture.

Different houses actually share a common wall

Chestertown has an old-time feeling to it.  There are many 18^th and 19^th century houses lining its brick-paved streets.  In some sections the houses are built right next to each other, with no space at all between the adjoining sides.  Many of the colonial era houses are constructed of brick and are in wonderful condition, externally.  The small front yards are typically planted so densely with varieties of flowers that there is no lawn whatsoever to mow.  Traffic is light on every street in town, except the highway that passes through town and across the river.  We spent the morning walking around the small town center, and also saw the original construction site of “Sultana”.  At lunchtime, we stopped in to a small corner café, the Lemon Tree Café, and sampled some of the best creamy crab soup we have ever had.  It is served with a small carafe of sherry, a teaspoon of which adds just the right flavor to the soup.  We sat down just before noon and the café was nearly empty, but within 30 minutes it had filled to capacity.  The townspeople obviously know where to go for a great lunch, and we agree with their choice!

Colonial home built in 1720

After lunch we walked around the few remaining streets in the town center that we had not already seen, and then returned to Kite in mid-afternoon to think about where we would go next.  The forecast for tomorrow calls for more northwest winds, maybe a little lighter in strength – we’ll see about that.  So our strategy is to sail back down the Chester River, mainly a southwesterly direction until the last 4 miles when it turns to the northwest to enter the Bay.  But at the point where the river turns north, there is a narrow passage to the south that cuts through Kent Island and lets you avoid that northerly part of the river.  We felt there is a strong possibility that the northerly section of the river would be a very miserable place to be in a strong northwest wind, so we have chosen to take the Kent Narrows passage and head for a secluded, well-protected anchorage at the top of Tilghman Island to wait for better weather, possibly Thursday, before continuing our southward exploration of the Bay.