Boats in Motion

I'm sure that most of us living in Southern Maryland have seen boats docking.  Solomons has plenty of marinas, and waterside restaurants so you must have seen the good, the bad and the really... exciting docking maneuvers.

The other day, while on the back deck of the Solomons United Methodist Church, two boats grabbed my attention.  One was a Watermen's boat.  One the far side of the creek it lay tied up to the dock.  The seamanship of the operator was amazing.  The way he directed the boat with quick bursts of the throttle, and using forward and reverse was mesmerizing.  The level of skill was masterful.

Today, the Waterman's Festival at the far end of the island displayed even more skills in docking.  The docking competition timed a boat from leaving one slip  and docking into another slip two spaces away.  Can you guess at how long that might take?  Five Minutes?  Three? One?  Nope.

Most captains could get it done in around 23 seconds!  I sadly don't have any photos of the competition.  It was completely packed by the time we arrived and I could barely see at all.  I did manage to see what must have been the best effort of the event.  A young captain, I would guess around 16 years old, drove like a seasoned pro three times older.  He got out of the first slip quickly, backed down and ran around the cockpit to lasso the pilings.  The fourth piling was hard to reach, so instead of tossing the ring of rope like the rest of the competitors, he ran, jumped and did a small toss to the piling!  You read that right; he jumped, knowing he would have a water-landing.  Once back alongside the boat his mate pulled him up by his arm with no effort at all. All to the loud cheers and applause of the large crowd.  Awesome!  I have to go back next year and go early to get good seats.

The last description is of the Marchelle.  Again, from the deck of the Solomons UMC, I watched the poetry of motion as this 47 foot Tiffany Yacht was backed into its slip. Marchelle is one vessel in Bunky's Charter Boats.  Take a look.

 Did you notice that there is only ONE person docking this yacht? No help from anyone on the dock either.

To satisfy my thirst, I went over to Bunky's for a drink.  They have hot dogs, and ice cream too by the way.

I met the Captain of this vessel while in the store. Melissa is a humble, and extremely skilled, young lady.  She said she's been driving boats for as long as she can remember -  and it shows.  I told her it was a pleasure to see someone handle a boat so well. Melissa is not yet settled on a career path, but has earned her Captains License this year, and is taking classes in a local Community College.

So if you want to go out fishing from Solomons, check out Bunky's.  For more information take a look at their site: http://www.bunkyscharterboats.com