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AUGUST 2002 $4.50

This Issue: Our A n n u a l Res


One Proud Papa
Out for a cruise with his three kids, this dad hoped everything would go well.
Then a waterman's remark really hit home.
11 had been a great day on the water. The temperatures were
[the 90s, the skies were perfectly clear, and the god of the Po-
lac River had blessed us with a beautiful smooth run to
Jlonial Beach from the marina on the Occoquan River.
Her day done, High F'alutin'Floozie gently rocked to the
wind as she lay safely moored at her slip. My three children, 19-
year-old Tara, 13-year-old Jamelle and 4-year-old Charles, were
worn out. They were all, at last, asleep in their bunks. We were
at the end of our first day of a one-week trip to explore the won-
ders of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay from Wash-
ington, D.C., to Tangier, Crisfield, Solomons and return. Though
the kids have spent a lot of time boating on the Potomac River,
this was our first extended family trip in our 1991 28-foot Bay-
liner Ciera. 1 made a quick call to my wife, Cecelia, to update
her on our progress. Then 1 sat calmly at the dinette table with
READER RENDEZVOUS
by chuck R0yster
my Chapman's, maps and cruising guide, and a tall glass of
Bacardi and Coke, reflecting on the day's success: 1 had not run
aground, gotten lost, bent a prop, hit anything or lost a kid. I
hoped I'd be able to say the same thing tomorrow.
I had to prepare for our next run: to Tangier Island. Given
that this was my first return to the Bay in almost a decade, I was
somewhat apprehensive. All of my kids, whom I love and cher-
ish, were on this boat—I didn't want any surprises.
I attacked my planning and preparation with a renewed
vengeance, rechecking my maps, course lines, buoy list and
waypoints, verifying the waypoint coordinates in the loran, and
reviewing the cruising guide's instructions for the approach to
Tangier Island.
The cruising guide provided two notes of interest. Item one
was that during periods of high wind, the mouth of the Potomac
CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE August 2002 67
 READER RENDEZVOUS
is known to be the roughest water on the
Chesapeake. Item two was that pleasure
boats are requested to avoid using the
fuel dock at Tangier between the hours
of 1 and 3 p.m., as this is when the wa-
termen come in. These hardy gentlemen
wake at 3 a.m. to begin their day, and are
eager to refuel their boats before return-
ing home to rest.
Both items gave me some concern,
for 1 knew that the time required to get
my crew moving in the morning, with
breakfast for Charles, showers, hair fixing
and other girlie requirements, was con-
siderable. Try as 1 might, the girls would
not be ready to cast off until their morn-
ing ritual was complete. While I believed
that we could leave early enough to
make the passage across to Tangier be-
fore the afternoon wind picked up, I
knew that it would be difficult to meet
the second criteria—to arrive at the fuel
dock before the watermen did. I would
have to play it by ear and do the best I
could. Planning completed; I took a long
pull on my drink, flopped to my bunk
and allowed Floozie to rock me asleep.
The next morning I took care of the
boat stuff, such as checking the oil and
fluids and topping off the boat's water
supply, before the kids got up. By the time
I had completed these tasks and finished
my coffee, the girls were preparing to hit
the showers with little Charles in tow.
Morning ablutions complete and last
farewells paid to the nearby beach, the
girls finally got little Charles settled in the
cabin with his life vest, toy cars and assorted
GI Joe(s). Then they stepped on the dock,
released the lines and we were off.
I negotiated the tricky channel exit
from Colonial Beach, initialized the lo-
ran, picked up our first waypoint and
settled in on the first leg of our run to
Tangier. Then I turned the helm over to
Tara. Jamelle, at Tara's side, watched
our progress on the chart and checked
our position with her binoculars. I floated
between the helm station and the stern
bench seat, frequently checking the
chart, our course and speed, and ensur-
ing that my "crew" had everything well
in hand.
Even though they are "city girls," both
Tara and Jamelle are extremely comfort-
able on a boat. Both are accomplished
swimmers and love the water. They be-
gan taking supervised stints at the helm
at the age of seven. Over the years, they
learned the chores of running the boat.
Whenever we were docking or depart-
ing, it was a pleasure to watch them nim-
bly negotiate the narrow, three-inch toe
rails on the small cruiser, handle the
docking routine with blazing speed and
dexterity, throwing a clove hitch around a
piling or dealing a line. They moved
around the boat with all the grace of bal-
let dancers and the surefootedness of
true British tars.
We made the first of Tangier's outer
markers with ease. Unfortunately, the
long, slow six-knot trip through the west
channel took a bit longer than I had ex-
pected, and we arrived at the fuel dock in
the middle of the watermen's refueling
frenzy. Chagrined, 1 awaited my turn at
the pump. As a weekend sailor, I felt
somewhat awkward in the midst of a
mass of weathered, seasoned watermen
who watched us intently. I felt like an in-

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68 CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE August 2002

truder, arriving at their dock at the wrong
time, but after a short wait, the captain of
an immaculate 40-foot Bay-built fishing
boat motioned for me to proceed ahead
of him. As we approached the dock, Tara
and Jamelle stood quietly at my side,
with lines and fenders at the ready.
"Tara, take the bow, Jamelle the
stern," I said. They immediately departed
to attend to their respective docking
assignments, and as I negotiated Floozie
to the dock, the loud banter of the nearby
watermen got quieter. In a few short
man looking down at me with a leathery
face broken by a broad smile. "Yes, sir?" I
said, expecting to be admonished for
crowding out the watermen when they
were trying to get into the dock.
"Me and the boys were watching y'all
come in. Nice boat handling."
"Thank you," 1 replied, relieved.
"But we were wondering," he contin-
ued. "How long have those gals been
around boats?"
"Just about all their lives," 1 said. "1
bought my first boat when the older one
tening to the conversation.
For a moment, 1 was literally amazed
and too bursting with pride to continue
pumping gas. Proud? You'd better be-
lieve it. I almost forgot to top off
my tank. •
Chuck Royster is president of Systems Inte-
gration Group Inc., a computer consulting firm
in Lanham, Md. He, his wife Cecelia, Jamelle
and little Charles live in Gaithersburg, Md.
(Tara is now married.) Lifelong boaters, the
family cruises their new Doral 360 from James
Creek Marina in Washington, D.C..

minutes she was safely tied up with fend-
ers in place. The dockmaster approached
with the fuel line and I began filling my
thirsty tanks as he gave me a quick layout
of the island and a slip assignment. He
directed me to Mrs. Brown's Sunset Inn,
which was walking distance and served
breakfast and dinner. He also suggested
that we rent bikes in town. With a "Y'all
enjoy your stay on Tangier," he moved
on to the next boat.
"Scuse me, sir."
1 looked up to see a craggy, 6-foot-
2-inch, sun-drenched image of a water-
was about three."
"Well, sir," he continued, "you should
be proud. Me and the boys were saying
that we've been watermen all our lives,
and we seldom see young 'uns move
around and tie up a boat the way those
gals did."
"Thank you!" I said, stunned as I
reached out and shook his out-
stretched hand.
"You keep it up," he said, "and have a
nice stay here in Tangier." He then re-
joined the group of smiling watermen
who were standing at the fuel shack lis-

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CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE August 2002 69