Drum Point
Underway, sailing southeast on a beautiful day
Good, warm gear makes all the difference!
A passing cruiser, Katoumba, sailing south, Bahamas-bound
Grace at Ruke's Memorial Dock
Ewell, west side
West side looking back toward Ruke's Dock
A Mini Free Library!
The long road to Rhodes Point
One of my favorite houses on the island
Looking west along Levering Creek
67/47, sunny, SW5-10
We left Solomons at 7am, and already the day felt warm-ish, misty-soft from the southerly breeze. Not a cloud in the sky. We set sail east of Drum Point and, rounding Cedar Point, came onto a close reach for Smith Island. As hours passed, the breeze freshened and faded in cycles - I think we reefed and shook out three times. The flood running into Kedges Strait made us work for the last 3 miles - like towing a lawn chair while beating to windward. At last, we made it inside the jetties with calm water stretching out ahead - clear green and blue, hinting tropical, encircled by sandy shores and marsh grass meadows. The white-washed houses and church at Ewell beckoned. We tied up Grace at Ruke's Memorial Dock and went walking.
I love it out here. Yes, the water's coming up and the land is settling and lost to erosion daily, but Smith Island is a slice of heaven miles from the mainland and a little closer to the universe. Sometimes, the wind whispering through the spartina grass is the only sound. Down the long road that connects Ewell and Rhodes Point, egrets coasted gracefully on the breeze and a flock of croaking white ibises crossed our path. A few trucks passed, people waving. Rhodes Point consists of about 20 residences and a small boatyard (with a Travellift!). Like in Ewell, the houses are in varying stages of repair or collapse. The blend works, adding to the ethereal feel of the island. We noted several new docks, and dwellings that had been elevated, repaired, and improved since our last visit two years ago. One house offered a Mini Free Library. The land being inundated by saltwater, many residents have taken raised bed gardening to a new level - wood troughs up on stacks of concrete blocks and rows of repurposed buckets in tiered racks. Even golf carts - the primary means of transportation in Ewell - are parked on ramp-equipped decks. Most houses also have a canoe moored somewhere in the yard, for when the roads flood. These folks are not giving up on home, and we'll keep going back to visit for as long as we can.