| Start: | Harrison House, Tilghman Island |
| End: | Kent Narrows |
| Estimate Leg: | 20 miles |
| Actual Leg: | 20.9 miles |
| Estimate Cumulative: | 164 miles |
| Actual Cumulative: | 175.3 miles |
Predictions called for some big wind today, so I wasn’t sure what I’d be in for. If it lined up South, then I’d have a great ride into Kent Narrows, otherwise, I would be in for some pretty big chop. Big “Fishermen’s Breakfast” of the menu at Harrison’s and I was set for the paddle. Best breakfast of the trip thus far.
At the start of the paddle, it seemed that the wind had a pretty big East component to it. Coming out of Dogwood Harbor was a fight: big swells had had the full width of the Choptank to build up. Pretty wild ride to get out far enough into the harbor so that I could turn and line up for the channel through the Island (“Knapp’s Narrows”) - came into the Narrows as if I had been shot out of a cannon. Fun ride: worth the work.
Rest of the trip up the lee side of Tilghman Island was pretty nice. Once I past Tilghman Point (Northern tip of the island) and came into Eastern Bay, things got pretty wild again. Had to angle across the swells a bit to keep on course for the East side of Parsons Island, then I could swing to a NNW heading and run with the swells. The swells were pretty well formed, and I got some fast and long rides. Had one wave come through while I was paddling on the outrigger side, and somehow I got a bit off center and flipped (huli’d). No big deal: flip the boat back over, collect anything that wasn’t tethered (Camel-Back and visor that I had tucked into PFD), hop back on and go.
Got through the Narrows OK, and met my lovely support. Take-out was public ramp right underneath the Narrows bridge (301/50). Early check-in at local hotel and then wandered over to The Jetty for late lunch. Good crab cake sandwich!
Side note: Ruth and I had been at the adjacent establishment “Bridges” on Sunday to catch lunch after attending church in Baltimore. We were watching the hydroplane races across the bay, and I noticed the spectator boats lined up on the side of the race course. After we left and headed back to Taylor Island, one of the racing boats lost control and collided with a spectator boat, killing a seven year old girl and injuring three other people. It was very sobering to paddle past this site today, knowing what had happened there just two days prior.
Big storm rolled through later in the day - took only about 15 minutes, but I was glad to be off the water. Here is a shot of the Narrows about three hours after I passed through.
