23 July Lighthouses and ospreys

 

Travelling up the Chesapeake in day hops to Solomon's Island we spent one night in a sheltered bay on the Wicomico river, a western shore tributary to the mighty Chesapeake. It was late afternoon and a squall was chasing across the river forming cresting waves when we reached the turn off for our spot for the night. We went from wind on the stern to sailable wind on the beam and into calm. The calm of being behind a wooded spit in perfectly flat water and acres of room. Should you be interested, our little oasis of calm is at 37°49.35N 076°18.68W with 5m depth.

While we motor up the river I'm intrigued by the many old lighthouses we pass. With so many shallows on the river they have saved many ships from grounding. My delight as we pass navigation marks is to take the binoculars and watch the many, many ospreys which have built stick nests on nearly everyone of them. Ospreys are a rare sight in Britain, but excitingly common on the US east coast.