Best or Worst Idea Ever?

This spring as I was getting excited about my summer on the Eastern Shore, I spent a great deal of procrastination time researching St. Michaels and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. In that, nothing intrigued me more than log canoe sailing.

Picture this: smallish, narrow boat. Two ridiculously tall masts. A stupidly large amount of sail. And people dangling off of springboards on the side of the boat in order to keep the whole thing from tipping over. In short, an incredible boating experience!

As excited as I was about seeing log canoe racing (which is only done in this part of the Chesapeake Bay), I had read that it was nearly impossible to get onto a crew as there is so much tradition…some people have been racing on the same boats for decades! I expected to just be a spectator, which was fine.

After making friends in the sailing community, though, I found my way onto the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s boat, Edmee S. Last weekend I devoted a whole weekend to helping sand and varnish Edmee, to get her ready for this weekend’s races. And boy, was it worth it!

Though the huge amount of bruising on my legs from a weekend of racing might make it seem a little crazy, I’ve found my new random sport of choice. I’ll never look at sailing the same again!