Today we exited the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal, into the Cheaspeake Bay. Before we were 10 minutes out, the bolt holding one of the pulleys on our port engine's belt system sheared AGAIN. Luckily we had purchased extra bolts in Tarrytown and we were back under way in less than an hour.
The Chesapeake is a beautiful cruising ground. We spotted many oystering boats, usually manned by one sailor who handled the oyster rakes and the boat controls. This area is quite the historical seafaring area.
Here is one oysterman's catch. His boat had two sailors, and they got over 20 bushels of oysters. The oystermen come to a central town dock for unloading, where we are berthed as well. The commercial oyster dealer has a large refrigerated truck which takes the catch from one boat after another, measuring the bushels of oysters onto a conveyor.
Here are bushels of oysters, and the "claw" which the oystermen use to scoop them off the bottom of the bay in about 10 feet or less of water. The boats have booms with pulleys, which they use to scoop and then pull in the harvest.
Monarch is docked on the Rock Hall Town Dock. The name seems to derive from the traditional name for oysters and the oyster beds, "rock". There was plenty of room at the town dock, with one other trawler in front of us, and the commercial oyster fleet offloading in front of both of us.
This area historically and currently takes its meaning from the oystering professionals, as is witnessed by the bronze statue in tribute to the oyster men of the community for generations.
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