Century Club: Christopher Perez

I take pride in beating the fishing charters out of Back Creek on my sunrise chasing-runs. The forecast calls for some rain over the next several days so I rolled out to see what the morning had to offer. As often happens, the pre-dawn and immediate post-dawn moments were the start of the show.

A BCI happy hour outing is set for later today if the heat dies down a bit.

So excited to take the BCI exec team on their first ride in the CC that I left home without my phone and wallet. When it came time to pay at Annapolis Landing and I realized the oversight, Capt Tom stepped in and covered it. We returned to port to grab my stuff and headed over to Annapolis City Marina to complete the fill-up with ethanol free gas. But first we wound out the twin 150's on the Severn River. Hit 44.2mph (GPS) at WOT with 4 men and very little fuel.

Then it was on to ACM for 75 more gallons. Called Annapolis Dockmaster for a slip assignment on the bulkhead and then dipped into Dock St for lunch with Erin taking care of us.

After lunch we ran the boat out into the Bay and toward Thomas Point before doing a large circle around a container ship and returning home. It was brutally hot but the breeze was nice as we made about 33 mph on that run. Another fun BCI* outing.

*BCI = Back Creek Irregulars Cigar Society aka ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out)

Around 9am on Sunday morning we set off for Bread & Butter Kitchen in Eastport. They have transient access at the end of a dock on Spa Creek so two crew members hopped off to grab our order. We ate during a slow cruise of Spa Creek all the way back to the boat ramp at Truxtun Park. More on that later...

The cruise consisted mostly of high speed runs just to keep cool. After Spa Ck we headed up the Severn River, around St. Helena Island, and into Forked Creek to see the Severna Park Yacht Basin. Then on up the Severn to the sandbar and back home.

Then at 3pm, the Ericksons and I headed for southern Maryland to pick up the newly acquired 2006 Sailfish 2660 (twin Yamaha 150's). Kyle is an expert at maneuvering a trailer so recovery and getting underway on the road was fairly routine. The seller had a moment saying goodbye to his family boat and I assured him it would have a good home in Eastport.

BCI members Capt Dean and Capt Bill showed up at Truxtun boat ramp to greet us and assist with the launch into Spa Creek. They thoughtfully brought along a bottle of bubbly to mark the event. Maritime traditions run deep in Eastport, after all. Capt Bill accompanied me on the ride over to Back Creek where we toasted a few more times and got her secured for the night. There will be much more content centered around the CC in the days ahead. It was a great weekend.

Assisted Capt Dean with pumpout and Horn Point Harbor Marina, then had to RTB to meet Volvo mechanic sorting out a steering fluid leak on Exit Strategy (which was identified and addressed). Ran over to ACM for 80 gals of ethanol-free gas.