Day 211 – 5/2/24

Starting location: Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD.

Weather: 60s, sunny

Ending location: Tied to free dock in Tylerton, Smith Island, MD

Statute miles: 12

General summary: Wanted to check out the other isolated island in the Bay, similar to Tangier in that it has no connecting bridge. There are three inhabited island sections on what is collectively called Smith Island. We did not see the town of Rhodes Point as there is no public dock, marina, or anchorage and it is primarily residential. The most popular place to stop is the marina on Ewell as this is where the famous Smith Island Cake, the official Maryland State Cake, originated. We chose to check out the less visited town of Tylerton, as they have a free city dock. On arrival, we walked around the town (took about 20 minutes) and got fish cakes for lunch from the only grocery store/restaurant. They used to be famous for crab cakes, but have new ownership and were not serving them.

Interestingly, there is a Chesapeake Bay Educational Program here that brings schoolchildren of various ages (by boat) to stay for a few days to learn about environmental and conservation topics. We met some of the young and enthusiastic kids and saw the historic building which is their dorm for the visit. Also waved to them as they passed by on the boat.

We were visited by nature in two unpleasant ways. 1) So many no seums we couldn’t sit outside 2) A snake came on board. Good thing we had tongs!

We went to Ewell the following morning, intending to tie up briefly to the Smith Island Bakery dock and check out the bakery, but it was full.