Urbanna in a nutshell

We spent a month and 3 days in Urbanna and I cant say enough great things about the town. The people are some of the friendliest people we have ever met. They are kind, helpful and always delighted to stop and visit with you.  The town itself is small, walkable from the town marina. We ate in two of the resturants, The Village and Something Different. Food in both was really really good. Something Different had music on Friday nights and served adult only ice cream, Mmmmm. My two favorites were whisky gingerbread and apple pie. We visit many towns on our journey, some of them you remember because of their history, some their beauty but what we will remember most about Urbanna is the people!

                                                             Main street of town

                                                            View from our aft deck

                                                   Our very dear friends Brendon and Teagon

                              Dinner and music out with our dock neighbors and very good friends,
                                 Syd and

    We helped a local get his boat in a tight spot and when they came back from lunch brought us a
                      few special treats. Can you believe the kindness!

A lesson in Chesapeake Buyboats

  Our month was up, doctors appointments for the nut and I were done and it was time to move on. We said our goodbyes but it wasn't to be. The wind whipped around to the North and thunderstorms were expected. We could mosey down to the mouth of the river but then what. Lets see, anchor with nothing around for 2-3 days or stay in Urbanna and enjoy the Founders Day celebration and the Buyboat reunion. Kind of a no brainer don't ya think? Plus a few more days visiting with our great neighbors Janie and Syd and our fishing/crabbing buddies Brendan and T.  Staying also gave me an opportunity to attend a line dancing class, although my ankle was not happy with me the next day.
    The Founders Day celebration was low key but enjoyable. Pirates in the park demonstrating weaponry of that era, a town crier announcing the days activities a play that reenacted a portion of history, and music.  The highlight of the weekend for me was the Chesapeake buyboat reunion. Standing on the dock watching each of the 15 boats come in one by one. These wooden boats are the last of their kind, lovingly restored by those who have purchased them to preserve a little Chesapeake history. No shiny fiberglass, fancy tinted windows and sleek modern design. Instead beautifully built wooden boats with love and perfection, all by hand. The teak wood that makes up their doors, window frames and railings is polished to perfection.
    Back in 1925 oystermen harvested an estimated 6 million to 8 million bushels of oysters from Chesapeake Bay. That year, the buyboats Nellie Crockett and Agnes Sterling were launched on opposite sides of the Bay. About 5000 of these boats, deckboats that transferred oysters from smaller boats to wholesalers ashore were built. They purchased oysters directly from the watermen so the watermen didn't need to stop oystering. These boats once took as many as 2700 bushels of oysters to shore. They also hauled everything from fuel oil and muskrat pelts to watermelons and mail.  I spoke to a gentleman that told me they were even used to move people from one town to another before roads were worth traveling on. There are only about 50 of these magnificent boats of history left out of the original 5000.

                                        Winding stairway into the sleeping area.

                      These kitchen cabinets look just like the ones my dad built in our house in Gary.
           He even did the ornate top over the window on our just like this one.

                           The woodwork in these is amazing and to think these present day owners lovingly
                          refurbished it all.

                                                                   The town crier

                                                         Weapons demonstration

                                                                    Historical play

                                    model boat builder who builds exact replicas of the buyboats
                                        and skipjacks.

Our new friends and fishing buddies

A father and daughter fishing team came down to the dock almost everyday.  While walking Peanut
the teen asked her name and if she could pet her. I sat with Brendon and daughter Teagan for a
while a visited. Our evening visit turned into a daily ritual. Teagan would look towards our boat and we would come down as soon as we noticed they arrived. Once Teagan understood Toms humor they became pals. Soon Teagan was running down the dock to get us each evening. One Friday evening we went out and on Saturday Teagan informed us that Peanut was sad because we left her. She could hear her whine.  Brandon really wanted to buy a fishing boat but didn't think he could get Teagan on it. They have wave runners but she will only ride with a friend of the family, not dad!  Because she asked about our boat and our "little" boat, our dink, each day we offered to take her for a ride in the "little" boat hoping it might make her comfortable enough to ride on a boat that dad bought. It took several days but one day she announced she wanted to go for a ride. Our smiles were beyond ear to ear when she came running up the dock the next evening with her life jacket on. "Im going on the little boat", lets go! It just so happened it was the day her friend had come fishing as well. We put them in the "little" boat and off to the beach we went.
We walked, picked up shells and ran in the sand. A memory we won't forget! Once back in the boat Teagan announced she didn't want to go back. She wanted to go the other way under the bridge first. Excited that she felt comfortable in the boat we honored her request. You should have seen dads face when we passed the dock and headed for the bridge! When Teagan got off the boat she announced to her dad that he could buy a boat and she would ride on it. HAHAHA, he now had her permission.  Just before we left Urbanna Teagan wanted to go for a ride on the "little" boat. This time we
told her dad was going to come with. It took a little trickery, because she insisted that he not come, to make it work but we got it done and not only had a nice ride but a tour by dad of the homes along the river just outside Urbanna Bay. Tom had taught Teagan the phrase I'm going to send you to the moon, complete with arm pointing. When we left the dock with dad in the boat she told Tom I'm going to send my dad to the moon! Not sure her parents are going to appreciate her learning that phrase, lol.
We had such fun with those two, and will miss them.  We so hope we cross paths again!
Check out Tom and T doing the crabby dance in the last photo.

                                             Brendan, Teagan and Peanut fishing together

                                                              Running on the beach

                                                       Teagans friend climbing a dune

She didn't want her photo taken because I was driving. "What are you

 doing".

                                 Brendon loaned us his crab trap. in three days we caught, cooked, cleaned and
                                froze the meat from 2 dozen keepers.

The crabby dance

Side trip by Ferry to Tangier Island which is sinking!

July 15, 2018

I had read and heard a lot about Tangier Island on our first visit to the Chesapeake but unfortunately we never made it over on Laughter. This time it was at the top of my list of places to visit but because it was somewhat difficult to access in a larger boat we were hesitant. I  happily discovered that we could drive to Reedville and take the ferry over to Tangier for a day trip. Sounding like a much more practical solution we made the arrangements to visit Tangier.
Why Tangier, Why was I drawn to this small island? I felt drawn to the simplicity described in the magazines island known as the "Soft Shell Crab Capital of the World", and like many others who came, Tangier is sinking and we wanted to see it before it was gone. It is only 3 feet about tide level and if that isn't enough it is also eroding, loosing about 15 foot of land a year! Tangier has lost two-thirds of its land since 1850.
A warm but not hot day,  blue skies and calm waters made for a really nice ride across the bay.
As our ferry entered the creek and slowly made its way to the dock, wooden piers, many in disrepair, platforms with shacks and long troughs of water stood in a row out in the water.  The crabbers buzzed around in their skiffs and larger crabbing boats came and went unloading their catch and returning to the bay. Work boats buzzing around like bees  as they brought in their catch of the day. Men young and old in their waterproof overalls and tall boots scurrying around on their platforms.  This is what we saw as we pulled into the harbor dock. A working village today as it was back in the day. No large processing plants or modern equipment, just men and their boats working the water, professional crabbers as were their grandparents and parents.
The town has a main street with several shops and a couple of restaurants. Tom and I choose to rent a golf cart so we could wander the entire island, which was easily done in a little over an hour. What an adventure, we were definitely off the grid, driving down narrow roads, paths that led nowhere, and The sad fact about Tangier is that it is sinking.  It was also washing away about 3 inches per year along the shoreline. Government funding has allowed rip rap to be put along the shore on one side of the island to stop the erosion and it is hoped that the other side can be done soon. Because the island is sinking many of the yards are mushy and the residents have built ramps to keep their cars up off of the ground.  We saw marshlands a very nice beach and standing water in many of the yards.  The houses are very modest, and many are in need of repair.  We drove down to the marina which was basically a large wooden dock with 3 slips.  We were fortunate enough to meet Mr. Sparks. The 85 year owner. He is known throughout the boating world.
I really wanted to get out to one of the crab shacks to take photos and get a better understanding of the evolution of a soft shell crab. I asked around and learned that the mayor, of all people, will take you out for a little fee. I was given his description and told to wait at the dock because he usually comes by the same time everyday. I patiently waited on the dock watching the supply boat unload boxes to people who then loaded them in their golf carts and an occasional truck.  The waterman were coming up to pick up special boxes from the boat for transporting their crabs. About the time  I was going to give up because time was near for us to get back on the ferry when the mayor pulled up . I asked if he could take 15 minutes to show me his operation because that was about all the time I had before the ferry left.
He hesitated for a moment then agreed for $15.00. I hobbled into his skiff with my big boot and off we went. Once up on the dock of his operation I received a quick lesson on the evolution of a soft shell crab. The crabber places a male crab or two in his trap. The male gives off pheromones that attract a female that is ready to molt. Female crabs molt in the summer. They have a tell tale mark on their claw that is white or red. The formal name for these females is Peeler.  Once caught they are placed in tanks and checked about every three hours. Once they molt the male will mate with them and then hug them until their shell is sufficiently hard to protect themselves. Peelers once molted must be moved to a different tank otherwise their peer will eat them. Peelers with white marks are in one tank when the marks turn red they are moved to the "watch tank".  Once molted the peeler is placed in refrigeration colder than 50 degrees to keep the shell from hardening before going to market.  It is obviously a lot of work. You not only catch the crabs you must keep a close eye on them to make your catch worth while. The mayor told me that once he brought up a trap that had 30 females in it. He said that was one stud male crab! He showed me an empty shell of a peeler. You would never know it was just her shell as it was perfect. They just back out of them. He then picked up the female that had just molted. Her shell was soft and leather like. It felt odd as the feel was totally opposite of her look.
How do you tell a male from a female. Part of the bottom of a male crab called the apron is in the shape of the Washington monument. The apron on the bottom of a female is the shape of the US capital building. Also the claws of a male are bright blue those of the female are red tipped. Its as if she has nail polish on. If you google female blue crab molting you can see a video of one backing out of her shell.

                               This was the road on the way to the beach. It ended with no place to park except
                                on the side of the road. We then walked a ways on a somewhat muddy trail to
                               arrive at the beach which was very nice, no garbage but lots of grass that washed
                               up on shore.

                       Definitely a one cart road back to town proper. Not wide enough for one of the few
                      automobiles on the island.

                     The cemetery plots were above ground because of the water table. There were also a
                     few graves in the front of homes.

 Still had their Trump signs in the yard

Garbage cans filled with nets and bouys

                                           This guy lived in the front yard of one of the shops

                                                                    Our ferry

                            People picking up their supplies personally as well as for the restaurants
                           and shops from the mail boat.

                                      One of the oyster shacks that has been abandoned

                                                A waterman's work boat called a deadrise

                                     A row of waterman's crab operations. Each hut and long pier represents
                                  one families business.

            These are the Pellers, they are in a long tub while the watermen waits for them to mulch

                         When ready and the process is about to begin they are moved to a smaller area

                   His line of tanks. Fresh water constantly runs through the tanks to keep the
                  crabs alive.

                                          The one on the left is a male. The one on the right with the red dot
                                    is the female Peller who will be sold as a soft shell crab once she molts.
                                  Once molted they must be refrigerated at 50 degrees to keep their shell from
                                 hardening.

                                        Many of the operations have been abandoned. I would love to
                                         have had time to take a bunch of photos to print..

                           Not only did they leave their operation they left their boat which is now in
                          the mud.

                                             Coming back into Reedville on the Ferry

                                   This Osprey nest like so many we have seen is on the green which our Ferry
                              had to pass extremely close to for depth purposes.

                                   Mama was not happy with us as she had two little ones and we
                               were to close for her comfort.

                                             Reedville had some beautiful old homes