Monday, October 28, 2024

Rock Hall and Fried Chicken


Rogue Harbour to Swan Creek and Rock Hall – 15 nautical miles, 5 kilometres walked

I slept in until the ungodly hour of 8am. I will blame the rum and the midnight bedtime, but in fact I felt pretty good and even had the strength to muscle in the heavy anchor and chain so we could get underway.

 


Our ride was calm and uneventful and we had to motor the entire way as the wind was too light to sail. Chesapeake Bay is full of shallows and reefs and looks quite treacherous for deep draft vessels so we stuck to the deep and well marked commercial channel. To either side of the channel were many crab pot markers, and we know people who have run into these and caused massive damage to their boats, so we stayed clear.

 


Swan Creek is one of the two bays that encircle the village of Rock Hall and we found a cozy anchorage just off the channel entrance. Ben and Kate had arrived earlier and tucked themselves into a spot further into the bay, which was possible with their shorter, shoal-draft keel. Our boat needs at least two feet more of water so they are able to get into places we are not.

Ana and I took the dinghy into shore and tied up at one of the marinas then started walking. It was a sleepy Sunday and the town was very quiet, but beautiful, with its houses on stilts, nautical-themed everything, six marinas, mature trees, and well kept yards. A small bus with the word FREE stamped on the side passed us and I waved him down. The driver opened the door and told us this was a free bus provided by the community and it did a full loop of the town. We jumped aboard and he took us for a ride, along the way telling us his story, all the places he’s lived, and many of his observations about the town and its people. He dropped us off on downtown main street and pointed us towards an ice cream shop, which he heartily recommended.

 


We went into a gift shop sort of place and browsed there for a while then found an incredibly well-stocked fresh food market and picked up some veggies, then wandered down the street, peeking into the shop windows but nearly all the stores were closed. It is a very cute street and I could imagine what the peak season hustle would look like here. We were tempted to stop for a pizza at the one place which was open, but instead decided to grab some HOT TO GO from the grocery store, so with our bag of fried chicken, pot of potato salad, and fresh buns we took the long, slow walk back to the dinghy, had ourselves a nice meal on the boat, then zipped over to Ben and Kate’s boat for a short visit, and were back in time for a most pleasurable 10pm bedtime.

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