Fog, black flies and other delights of Tangier Island

We pulled out of the Tides Inn at 9:30 into the Rappahanock River, excited about the marine forecast of less than one-foot waves in the Chesapeake. As we rounded the "spit" and turned toward Tangier Island, we felt like we were at home on Lake Chickamauga. We blasted toward the island on smooth waters.

But about 11:00, the overcast skies turned into a low-lying fog. Little by little our visibility decreased to less than 100 yards. I turned on the radar, but got nothing because there were no targets to reflect the transmissions. We slalomed through the hundreds of crab traps and reduced our speed to idle trying to find the entrance buoys to Tangier Island.


This little bird decided Invictus was a good place to rest in the fog.

As we turned into the channel, the sun's heat on the land burned off the fog and revealed a floating trash dump, called Tangier Island. Linda didn't even want to stop, but I convinced her we should at least stop for lunch and explore the Main Street. I mean, we motored 35 miles for this visage.





















We joined another couple off of a trawler in the only open restaurant for lunch. Lorraine's Seafood. We had a crab cake and a soft-shell crab sandwich with two lemonades all marked "Market price." The "sandwich" was two pieces of Wonder bread and a crab. When the bill came marked $45 we could hardly believe our eyes. We paid it, vowing never again to order with out asking the price.



Linda and Olive with 84-year-old Melvin Parks, Tangier's greatest attraction

As we walked on the 8-foot wide "street" from the Marina we were constantly forced off of it by a string of golf carts. We finally figured out that they are just riding back and forth hoping you will pay them for a ride. After taking a few photos (at least the sun came out) we decided to depart for our next stop, Solomons Island on the other side (Western Shore) of the Chesapeake, 45 miles away.

As soon as we departed the channel of Tangier Island, the fog returned. The further we got from land, the thicker it got. I had to go slow, again, and watch the radar and zig zag through the crab pots. While we were doing this, I was worried about a vibration that had started as we left Tangier. When we were finally able to throttle up and go faster, the vibration was so bad we couldn't get to speed. I contemplated getting in the water with my mask to see what was going on. Fortunately, I decided to put the vibrating propeller in hard reverse to see what would happen. When I put it back in gear the vibration was gone. Whew. I think we picked up some underwater trash in Tangier.

So we flew across the calm bay toward Solomons. However, we weren't going to make the Marina before the staff left for the day. They told us on the phone that they would put out a "reserved marker" on the dock to which we were assigned. All of our documents (maps, bathroom and wifi codes) were in a waterproof bag attached to the reserved sign! These guys know how to run a Marina.


Solomons was the polar opposite of Tangier. This is a spectacularly beautiful place. We instantly decided to stay here for two nights and go out exploring on Tuesday. We are now half way up the Chesapeake. We're tired of the rainy, overcast weather but still having fun.





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