This morning we fueled up at Spring Cove Marina at Solomons Island and headed back out into the bay towards Tangier Island. The sunny skies and light winds make for a beautiful day on the Bay.
Tangier Island is about 30 miles from Solomons and we arrive there about 2:00 in the afternoon. Tangier, 3.5 miles at its longest and 1.5 miles at its widest, was first settled in 1686 by a Cornishman, John Crockett and his sons. As British sympathizers during the Revolutionary War some residents, called "picaroons", were infamous as raiders and pirates throughout the Bay. During the War of 1812, 12,000 British troops were quartered on Tangier and it is said that the island was stripped of its native trees in order to repair British naval vessels.
This is the approach to Tangier from the Bay (west) side:
The island is home to a fleet of workboats, soft shell crab pounds, shanties and work docks.
The single canal runs all the way across the island and to Tangier Sound on the east side. A work boat eases by us in the narrow channel.
The docks are piled high with the crab traps (and I thought they were all in the bay directly iin our path).
The local hangout (no alcoholic beverages are sold on Tangier):
Some of the local workers stop and wave. Many of the boats had canine companions.
Since most of the buildings appeared to be on the water, small skiffs darted to and fro.
Although we had originally planned to spend the night at Tangiers, it was still early in the afternoon and the weather forecast indicated 40 knot winds later in the week, we decided to make our way south and anchor out in the Piankatank River.
Here is a shot of the sunset over the Piankatank.
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