BMC Boater Blog: Lazy Days of Summer

Sassafras River
July 29 & 30

We met our friends Bob and Barb over 10 years ago through our good friends on The Illusion and have been boating together ever since. They keep their boat in the Sassafras River and we have heard time and again how beautiful their river is and how clean the water and on and on. We've always meant to make it up there but somehow the summers always got away from us and so finally, FINALLY we made it to the Sassafras!

But not without our share of boating frustrations. Buddy has been working diligently all summer trying to repair the dinghy. He has patched and rolled and inflated and deflated that thing more times than I care to count. I threatened to order a new one and went so far as to pick it out with the help of a trusted resource, but he was determined (hard headed) to make it last for this season. So after using fix-a-flat for dinghies a second time, he brought the dinghy to the boat, inflated it just before we were ready to leave, and guess what? It didn't hold air. DOH. No dinghy for us in the Sassafras. Good thing we have generous friends.

So we left a little off schedule Friday afternoon with the All In on our stern. Packed with food and swim toys, we left the Baltimore harbor (and our deflated dinghy) behind. We had smooth seas and sunny skies for the two hour trip north. It is a world of difference from the industrialized port of Baltimore to the tall cliffs and green landscapes of Cecil County. From the mouth of the river, the Sassafras provides lovely, scenic cruising grounds. It twists and turns and is home to lots of wildlife and many beautiful estates, one of which belongs to the DuPonts of Delaware, with its picturesque green boat house and gazebo.

We met up with my birthday twin, Barb (just a few years apart) and her husband across from the DuPont Estate to anchor, making sure to leave plenty of room for the others we were expecting. It was quite a mix of boats from BMC, Middle River and the Sassafras. A great, great group of folks. So we tie up, get settled and start the generator to cool down from the ride, only to hear shouts from the back to shut her down - too much smoke. Uh oh. Must the impeller. Dang it - we don't have a spare. Off to Georgetown to get a new one. Over an hour in the sweltering heat of a hot engine room (thanks for fanning the captain, Eric), and we have a new impeller. Good work Captain. Guess what? That's not the problem, it's the water pump. Hmmmp. No dinghy, no geni. Lucky we have generous friends AND like the heat.

Fanatical as some of us are about the sunsets, on this particular Friday night there would be none for us, so we headed over to Signals at the Skip Jack Marina for dinner. We had planned to dine outdoors on the patio, but the heat and threat of a storm moved us inside. There were 16 of us seated at two separate tables and we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was probably best (we weren't exactly quiet). The meal was reasonably priced and the food good. I had the Steak & Cake, and the crab cake was fantastic, living up to its name as "Best of the Bay". Again, the key lime pie was tasty (what I had of it anyway - inside joke). We made our way on dinghies in the dark back to our raft up, where we disbursed to our respective boats. Some took dogs ashore, some went up on the bow hoping the meteor shower would start early, some had a night cap and talked quietly with the neighbors.

First fish*

Strawberry shots

Saturday was a fun filled day of leisure. The boys did some fishing (caught a few cat fish), we read and swam, went for dinghy rides, made new friends and ate like kings. This is not a recipe blog, but I have to mention the shot Gary had us doing. It's not only delicious, but beautiful! Use fresh strawberries and carve out the inside, pour in some Godiva Liqueur and top with liquor infused whipped cream. Gorgeous and yummy. Gary also put up a dance pole on his boat (!). The only use it got while I was there was by the guys though. I hear it's good exercise... Anyway, we swam more, ate more, watched a boat get towed, even dived for a lost necklace (sorry to say no luck). Unlike Friday night, Saturday promised a fantastic sunset. We grabbed a blanket and a cocktail and headed out to the bow for the sunset ritual. The river runs east-west, so you get awesome sunrises & sunsets without having to take the dinghy out. She didn't disappoint - it was amazing. Afterwards, there was a huge dance party on the Grateful Escape.

Noodle swim party*

Even Lexi went for a swim*

Sunday brought more of the same leisurely activities: swimming, dinking, eating like kings. A final picture show of the weekend on board One Restriction and the Harbor Shark was heading south. An enthralling weekend on an enchanting river. A weekend most of us didn't want to end, and some decided to extend.