October 21

We left Annapolis at 0830 for St. Michaels across the Chesapeake on Maryland's Eastern Shore. This is the most photgraphed Chesapeake lighthouse, Thomas Point Shoal. Annette added many images to its total as we detoured to get closer. Chesapeake lighthouses were kept low because they were very numerous and, if they could be seen from too far away, mariners could become confused. As we motored up the Eastern Bay, we met sailboat after sailboat headed the other way. We began to wonder if there was something we ought to know. It was Sunday and the winds were very light. Many of the boats were headed to the more open part of the Chesapeake to find more wind and, in some cases, to participate in organizing racing. We anchored at St. Michaels by 1245 after a trip of nearly 29 miles. St. Michaels is a great stop. It has many shops and some wonderful museums. A national magazine rated it as the eighth most romantic place in America.
This is a screwpile lighthouse that was moved to become part of the Chesapeake Bay Museum here at St. Michaels. It is called this because the pilings supporting it had cast iron screws that were twisted twenty-odd feet down into the soft mud bottom to keep the lighthouse in place. Families were generally not allowed to live with the lightkeepers, who got five days off per month. The lights had Fresnel lenses which were made in France and were nearly as expensive as the whole rest of the lighthouse. This museum is an active boat restoration site with major activities centered on saving boats unique to the Chesapeake. One of the interesting facts about the Chesapeake is that it is really a flooded river, the Susquehanna, and drains land as far away as Cooperstown, NY.